Just been making my way through this late 70s early 80s sitcom. I'm now half way through the last series.
It is very good. I like Carla Lane's work. I also liked Wendy Craig's Nanny, and would like to see more of it released on DVD - as last time I checked it was only the first series out.
Butterflies has some very funny moments. Most memorable for me when I used to see it when I was a kid was the man across the road getting upset about their cars.
Noticed a difference in the fourth series though. Wendy Craig plays a less cheery Ria. And Nicholas Lyndhurst has changed a lot in appearance. He now looks a lot more like 'Rodney'. Then I see there was a three year gap between Series 3 and Series 4.
I see a lot of similarities between Butterflies and Bread: Ria contemplating an affair, Nellie contemplating an affair; repetition of dialogue; trying to manipulate at the social security office; women as caged slaves; people confused about their identity and what they want from life; hearing characters' inner thoughts; both Rita and Nellie meet their 'lovers' when walking in the park.
Although the gap between Series 3 and 4 is three years, in the story it is only meant to be six months. At the time this probably doesn't matter as people were watching the same time settings as they were experiencing. However, looking at it now it doesn't look right, as there is a sudden dramatic change to early 80s fashion in the 4th series.
Another similarity between Butterflies and Bread is that Ria is a lousy cook and in Bread Avilyne (sp?) is an awful cook.
