One Foot In The Grave. Image shows from L to R: Margaret Meldrew (Annette Crosbie), Victor Meldrew (Richard Wilson). Copyright: BBC
One Foot In The Grave

One Foot In The Grave

  • TV sitcom
  • BBC One
  • 1990 - 2000
  • 42 episodes (6 series)

The grumpy complainer and accident prone Victor Meldrew takes early retirement and finds he has far too much time on his hands. His long suffering wife and neighbours just have to grin and bear it. Stars Richard Wilson, Annette Crosbie, Doreen Mantle, Owen Brenman, Angus Deayton and Janine Duvitski

Episode menu

Series 4, Episode 3 - Hearts Of Darkness

A day out in the country and a gentle trip on the river leads to epic complications for the Meldrews, Mrs Warboys and Nick Swainey when they find themselves marooned in the middle of a misty river.

Further details

Victor, Margaret, Nick and Jean go for a day out in the countryside. Typically, Victor's hot-tempered nature gets him into multiple spats before they've even arrived at their destination. After a brief stroll they hire a boat and take a gentle trip down the river, but as a mist descends and they stray too far from their point of origin, the quartet become hopelessly lost - and then lose both oars to boot!

After a joyless game of Trivial Pursuit (Mrs Warboys knows every question and answer off by heart), they finally manage to reach dry land, but find themselves equally lost as a thunderstorm sets in. Taking shelter in a builder's van they come across, seemingly crashed in the storm and abandoned by its driver, Victor and Jean are soon weighed down - quite literally - by a bag of cement.

Eventually night sets in and Victor, exasperated enough to have gone on a rescue expedition on his own, stumbles across a large country manor, now being run as a retirement and nursing home for the elderly. After calling for help, a chance encounter sees him realise that the residents are being badly mistreated by the staff - and he knows just how to achieve justice...

Broadcast details

Date
Sunday 14th February 1993
Time
8:55pm
Channel
BBC One
Length
30 minutes

Repeats

Show past repeats

Date Time Channel
Saturday 19th February 2011 10:15am Gold
Saturday 19th February 2011 11:35am Gold
Thursday 21st July 2011 11:20am Gold
Thursday 21st July 2011 4:40pm Gold
Tuesday 11th October 2011 10:00am Gold
Tuesday 11th October 2011 4:40pm Gold
Saturday 21st January 2012 9:20am Gold
Thursday 16th February 2012 12:40pm Gold
Thursday 16th February 2012 6:40pm Gold
Monday 30th April 2012 1:00pm Gold
Monday 30th April 2012 7:00pm Gold
Sunday 17th June 2012 8:10am Gold
Wednesday 29th August 2012 11:40am Gold
Wednesday 29th August 2012 6:20pm Gold
Thursday 14th February 2013 9:40pm Gold
Friday 15th February 2013 1:30am Gold
Wednesday 22nd May 2013 3:00pm Gold
Thursday 23rd May 2013 9:00am Gold
Tuesday 27th August 2013 6:00pm Gold
Wednesday 28th August 2013 6:30am Gold
Wednesday 9th October 2013 5:35pm Gold
Thursday 10th October 2013 11:40am Gold
Tuesday 10th December 2013 6:20pm Drama
Saturday 8th February 2014 1:35pm Gold
Saturday 22nd February 2014 5:00pm Drama
Sunday 23rd February 2014 4:20pm Drama
Saturday 1st March 2014 11:05am Gold
Sunday 2nd March 2014 9:55am Gold
Friday 4th April 2014 10:10am Gold
Friday 4th April 2014 4:50pm Gold
Thursday 15th May 2014 7:40am Gold
Friday 25th July 2014 10:25pm Yesterday
Saturday 26th July 2014 8:25pm Yesterday
Thursday 11th September 2014 8:40pm Gold
Friday 12th September 2014 12:40am Gold
Friday 7th November 2014 6:40pm Gold
Monday 30th March 2015 7:40pm Gold
Saturday 22nd August 2015 5:20pm Drama
Wednesday 7th October 2015 2:00pm Gold
Thursday 8th October 2015 7:30am Gold
Wednesday 29th June 2016 10:40pm Yesterday
Thursday 30th June 2016 9:20pm Yesterday
Sunday 4th December 2016 10:40pm Yesterday
Monday 5th December 2016 8:40pm Yesterday
Saturday 18th February 2017 6:20pm Drama
Sunday 2nd April 2017 7:50am Gold
Tuesday 13th June 2017 9:00pm Yesterday
Wednesday 14th June 2017 3:00pm Yesterday
Saturday 14th October 2017 10:10am Gold
Sunday 15th October 2017 7:10am Gold
Wednesday 10th March 2021 12:20am Yesterday
Wednesday 10th March 2021 10:20pm Yesterday
Saturday 26th June 2021 9:00pm Yesterday
Sunday 26th September 2021 9:40pm Yesterday
Saturday 23rd October 2021 2:20pm Drama
Sunday 14th November 2021 10:20pm Yesterday
Saturday 5th March 2022 3:20pm Drama
Sunday 6th March 2022 7:20am Drama
Saturday 2nd April 2022 11:20pm Yesterday
Saturday 11th June 2022 10:40pm Yesterday
Wednesday 10th August 2022 7:00am Drama
Wednesday 10th August 2022 6:00pm Drama
Saturday 1st October 2022 10:00pm Yesterday
Sunday 20th November 2022 7:10pm Drama
Saturday 24th December 2022 11:20pm Yesterday
Sunday 30th April 2023 9:20pm Yesterday
Saturday 10th June 2023 11:20pm Yesterday
Saturday 30th September 2023 10:40pm Yesterday
Saturday 6th January 2024 11:20pm Yesterday
Saturday 16th March 2024 11:20pm Yesterday

Cast & crew

Cast
Richard Wilson Victor Meldrew
Annette Crosbie Margaret Meldrew
Doreen Mantle Mrs Warboys
Owen Brenman Nick Swainey
Guest cast
Bill Gavin Mr. Gorshin
Arabella Weir Sonia
Janet Henfrey Miss Lander
Melody Brown Rachel
Nick Scott Martin
Katharine Page Mrs. Endicott
Marcia Myrie Official
Seymour Matthews Official
Writing team
David Renwick Writer
Production team
Susan Belbin Director
Susan Belbin Producer
Mike Houghton Editor
Nick Somerville Production Designer
Richard Winter Costume Designer
Jean Steward Make-up Designer
Eric Idle Composer
Ed Welch Composer
John Rhodes Director of Photography
Nick Wood 1st Assistant Director

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