Carla Lane

Writing

Carla Lane

Born August 5, 1928 · Liverpool, England, UK

Died May 31, 2016 · aged 87

Carla Lane (born Romana Barrack) was an English writer and producer, known for "The Liver Birds" (1969), "Butterflies" (1978) and "Bless This House" (1971). She was married to Arthur Hollins. She was a lifelong vegetarian who inherited her interest in animal welfare from her grandfather, an RSPCA supervisor. In 1989 she awarded an O.B.E. (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) for her servi…

Known For

The Last SupperThe Last Supper · 1990
The Last Supper
1990
MovieComedyDrama
Terence is a butcher, his wife Eden a vegetarian. At their last supper together before their divorce, he tries to fathom why she has left him. After all, he is a reasonable man.
The Funny Side of ChristmasThe Funny Side of Christmas · 1982
The Funny Side of Christmas
1982
MovieComedyTV Movie
Skits from: "The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin"; "The Les Dawson Show"; "Yes Minister"; "Only Fools and Horses"; "Three of a Kind"; "Last of the Summer Wine"; "Sorry!"; "Butterflies"; "Smith and Jones"; and "Open All Hours".
Happy Christmas, I Love YouHappy Christmas, I Love You · 1989
Happy Christmas, I Love You
1989
MovieComedyDrama
It is Christmas Eve. Bruce and Renee speak to us from the appropriate corners of their home and we discover that, after 23 years of marriage, they know absolutely nothing about each other.
Over the HillOver the Hill · 2018
Over the Hill
2018
MovieComedy
Keeping it real and raunchy in the valley.
Comedy PlayhouseComedy Playhouse · 1961
Comedy Playhouse
6.01961
SeriesComedy
Comedy Playhouse is a long-running British anthology series of one-off unrelated sitcoms that aired for 120 episodes from 1961 to 1975. Many episodes later graduated to their own series, including Steptoe and Son, Till Death Us Do Part, All Gas and Gaiters, The Liver Birds, Are You Being Served? and Last of the Summer Wine, which is the world's longest running sitcom, having run from January 1973 to August 2010.
BreadBread · 1986
Bread
7.01986
SeriesComedy
Bread is a British television sitcom, written by Carla Lane, produced by the BBC and screened on BBC1 from 1 May 1986 to 3 November 1991. The series focused on the devoutly-Catholic and extended Boswell family of Liverpool, in the district of Dingle, led by its matriarch Nellie through a number of ups and downs as they tried to make their way through life in Thatcher's Britain with no visible means of support. The street shown at the start of each programme is Elswick Street. A family called Boswell had also featured in Lane's earlier sitcom The Liver Birds and Lane admitted in interviews that the two families were probably related. Nellie's feckless and estranged husband, Freddie, left her for another woman known as 'Lilo Lill'. Her children Joey, Jack, Adrian, Aveline and Billy continued to live in the family home in Kelsall Street and contributed money to the central family fund, largely through benefit fraud and the sale of stolen goods.
ButterfliesButterflies · 1978
Butterflies
7.21978
SeriesComedy
Ria Parkinson is a bored housewife and mother. She spends her time daydreaming, and meets regularly with wealthy businessman Leonard to relieve the monotony. Husband Ben, a dentist and avid butterfly collector is oblivious to it all, and her unemployed grown up sons, who both live at home also have other things on their minds, especially girlfriends.
The Liver BirdsThe Liver Birds · 1969
The Liver Birds
6.11969
SeriesComedy
The Liver Birds is a British sitcom set in the city of Liverpool, in the north-west of England, which aired on BBC1 from 1969 to 1978, and again in 1996. It was created by Carla Lane and Myra Taylor. These two Liverpudlian writers had met at a local writers club and decided to pool their talents. Having been invited to London by Michael Mills and asked to write about two young women sharing a flat, Mills brought in sitcom expert Sydney Lotterby to work with the writing team. Lotterby had previously worked with Eric Sykes, Sheila Hancock and on The Likely Lads. Carla Lane in fact wrote most of the episodes, Taylor co-writing only the first two series. The pilot was shown as an episode of Comedy Playhouse, the BBC's breeding ground for sitcoms, in April 1969.

Filmography

Sort
BreadBread · 1986
Bread
7.01986
SeriesComedy
Bread is a British television sitcom, written by Carla Lane, produced by the BBC and screened on BBC1 from 1 May 1986 to 3 November 1991. The series focused on the devoutly-Catholic and extended Boswell family of Liverpool, in the district of Dingle, led by its matriarch Nellie through a number of ups and downs as they tried to make their way through life in Thatcher's Britain with no visible means of support. The street shown at the start of each programme is Elswick Street. A family called Boswell had also featured in Lane's earlier sitcom The Liver Birds and Lane admitted in interviews that the two families were probably related. Nellie's feckless and estranged husband, Freddie, left her for another woman known as 'Lilo Lill'. Her children Joey, Jack, Adrian, Aveline and Billy continued to live in the family home in Kelsall Street and contributed money to the central family fund, largely through benefit fraud and the sale of stolen goods.

Writer

The Liver BirdsThe Liver Birds · 1969
The Liver Birds
6.11969
SeriesComedy
The Liver Birds is a British sitcom set in the city of Liverpool, in the north-west of England, which aired on BBC1 from 1969 to 1978, and again in 1996. It was created by Carla Lane and Myra Taylor. These two Liverpudlian writers had met at a local writers club and decided to pool their talents. Having been invited to London by Michael Mills and asked to write about two young women sharing a flat, Mills brought in sitcom expert Sydney Lotterby to work with the writing team. Lotterby had previously worked with Eric Sykes, Sheila Hancock and on The Likely Lads. Carla Lane in fact wrote most of the episodes, Taylor co-writing only the first two series. The pilot was shown as an episode of Comedy Playhouse, the BBC's breeding ground for sitcoms, in April 1969.

Creator