The show is named after The Mamas & the Papas song with the same name, though does not feature the song as a theme tune. The show was commissioned by ITV's director of drama, Laura Mackie. Mackie said that the show aimed to "entertain, engage and strike a chord with the audience". Although the show was initially announced as part of ITV's Winter 2007 press pack, it was put on hold until 2009 due to falling advertising rates in the wake of the economic downturn. According to Broadcast, the show aimed to "shed light on a world of alcoholic HR bosses, power-crazed managers and sexually unfettered PAs". Towards the end of the first episode, Christine is shown to be an alcoholic, which she eventually admits. As the series progresses the failing life of Christine becomes more central to the plot.
Plot
The show features a group of head office workers for struggling supermarket chain Butterworths. As a result of downsizing, the workers are forced to move cities, relocating from London to Leeds.
Cast
Management
Clive Merrison – Gavin, Chairman, Butterworths Group
Peter Wight – Roger Sorsby, Chief Executive of Butterworth's Stores
Jenny Agutter – Jenny Mountfield, PA to Roger Sorsby
Other Services than Retail are Insurance Sales. Each department is managed by a Department Head and each department head has a personal assistant
Episodes
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4
Episode 5
Episode 6
Episode 7
Broadcast and reception
The show did not receive good reviews. Tim Walker of The Independent stated that the shows rival in the same timeslot, BBC One show The Street was "a darn sight more interesting than watching Fay Ripley walk into doors". Walker said that the show was filled with shots of Leeds, saying that the show was purely "advertising it as an attractive nightlife destination" or "to prove beyond doubt that ITV was fulfilling its obligations to the regions.". Sam Wollaston of The Guardian also criticised the show saying that it was "lame and laboured, tired and predictable". The poor reception was reflected in the show's ratings, the show bringing in 3.7 million, a 16% viewing share, six percent and 1.3 million viewers lower than The Street. The show, however, was second in its timeslot, beating the other three terrestrial channels in the slot. Despite being second in the timeslot, the show was down on the 5.6 million for ITV1's channel slot average so far in 2009. Not helping matters in terms of viewing figures was the fact that STV continued its recent trend of declining high-ticket ITV productions, thereby avoiding having to contribute to the production cost on a pro rata basis, and so Scottish viewers of terrestrial broadcasts were unable to view the series. The series average, based on overnight ratings was 2.90m, equating to a 13.2% viewing share.
Date
Overnight rating
Share
Official rating
Weekly rank
Source
Episode 1
3.65
16.2%
3.81
19
Episode 2
3.40
15.0%
3.20
24
Episode 3
2.62
12.1%
n/a
30+
Episode 4
2.63
12.2%
n/a
30+
Episode 5
2.68
12.3%
2.69
28
Episode 6
2.47
11.3%
2.54
29
Episode 7
2.84
13.2%
2.86
24
International broadcasts
In Australia, this programme aired each Friday at 8:30pm on ABC2 from 28 January 2011. In Serbia, this programme aired on Fox Life. In the United States the show is on Hulu.com and currently available via Netflix and YouTube.
