The Two of Us (1986 TV series)


The Two of Us is an ITV comedy series starring Nicholas Lyndhurst and Janet Dibley as Ashley and Elaine, an unmarried couple living together, at a time when this was becoming increasingly common in Britain, but still considered slightly controversial in some circles. It was produced by London Weekend Television.
While Ashley was keen for the pair to get married and would regularly propose, Elaine saw no reason to get married and was happy to keep her independence. Ashley's roguish grandfather Perce was supportive of the couple, but Ashley's domineering mother disapproved and constantly urged the pair to marry. Ashley's suppressed father seemed less upset, but generally backed up his wife in the hope of a quiet life and the odd sherry.
After initially deciding to get married in the 1988 Christmas special, only to skip the wedding when their flight time for the honeymoon was brought forward, Ashley and Elaine finally married off-screen between the 1989 and 1990 series', with the final series instead focusing on their plans to start a family. In the final scene Elaine takes a pregnancy test, but the result is never revealed.
Two regional remakes were made of the series. In Germany, 41 episodes of Unter einer Decke were produced in 1993/94, using most of the scripts from the original series, combined with new scripts from Germany and the Netherlands. The Dutch version Vrienden voor het leven had 65 episodes produced in 1990-95 of which 64 have been released on DVD in the Netherlands.

Cast

Series 1

Series 2

Christmas Special

Series 3

Series 4

DVD releases