Life Begins (TV series)
Life Begins is a British television drama first broadcast on ITV between 16 February 2004 and 9 October 2006, starring Caroline Quentin and Alexander Armstrong, Anne Reid and Frank Finlay.
History
The first series of Life Begins began on 16 February 2004. The first series was a success. The show managed viewing figures ranging from 9.51 to 10.45 million winning all of its timeslots. The series has been aired on Channel Seven in Australia and TV ONE in New Zealand.As the first Life Begins was so popular a second series was launched which began on 16 February 2005. Series two received strong ratings of 6.38 to 8.62 million.
A third series started on 4 September 2006 on ITV. Again the viewing figures were still high managing to win half of its timeslots with figures of 5.79 to 6.32 million.
It was always intended by the writers that the third series would be the last. A fourth series, thought possible at the time, never materialized.
Music
The music plays over the "next time" clip and the credits is the specially produced "Life Begins Mix" of Faithless' song "No Roots", from their album of the same name released in June 2004, four months after Life Begins began, meaning the song was debuted on the show in this version. Faithless' Sister Bliss provided other music for the series.Basic plot
The story focuses intensely on Philip Raymond Mee and Margaret Eileen Brenda Thornhill-Mee, and their two children James and Rebecca. It also features various friends and relatives of the couple. The series depicts typical family life and presents the struggles of friends and family members, such as Maggie's parents, Eric and Brenda.Episode list
Cast
- Caroline Quentin – Maggie Mee
- Alexander Armstrong – Phil Mee
- Elliot Henderson-Boyle – James Mee
- Ace Ryan – Rebecca Mee
- Anne Reid – Brenda Thornhill
- Frank Finlay – Eric Thornhill
- Claire Skinner – Clare
- Stuart McQuarrie – Guy
- Ellie Haddington – Kathleen
- Sarah Ozeke – Karen
- Beans El-Balawi – Freddie
- Roy Dotrice – Frank
- Alan Williams – George
- Naomi Allis Stone – Anna
- Nicholas Boulton – Kieron
- Chloe Howman – Helen
- Paul Thornley – Jeff
- Danny Webb – Paul
- Abby Ford – Samantha
- Michelle Holmes – Genevieve
- Finlay Robertson – Kevin
- David Westhead – Brian
- Suzanne Burden – Penny
- Laura Patch – Tina
- Alexandra Gilbreath – Mia
- Matthew Cottle – Nick
- Jon Newman – Simon
- Lewis Rose – Tom
- Kelly Hunter – Mrs Lane
Air Dates
UK air dates
- Series One - 16 February 2004 to 22 March 2004
- Series Two - 16 February 2005 to 30 March 2005
- Series Three - 4 September 2006 to 9 October 2006
International air dates
| Country | TV network | Series premiere | Weekly schedule |
| Channel Seven | 5 December 2006 7 August 2007 | Series One: Tuesday 8:30pm Series Two: Tuesday 9:30pm Series Three: Tuesday 10:30pm | |
| TV ONE | |||
| Vision TV | 29 November 2004 6 November 2006 | ||
| VARA | Series One and Two: 6 May 2005 Series Three: 24 June 2008 |
Ratings in Australia: The first episode of the first series aired over Australia's non ratings period, and the opening episode rated 1.1 million mainland capital city viewers, which was the 12th most watched show for the week. Ratings continued around the one million viewers mark throughout series one. The first episode of series two moved to 9:30pm and rated 998,000 viewers, ranking first in its time slot. The second episode rated 853,000 viewers.