A Very Peculiar Practice

A Very Peculiar Practice was a BBC comedy-drama series, first shown in 1986. It was the first major success for screenwriter Andrew Davies, and was inspired by his experiences as a lecturer at the University of Warwick.

Related Topics:
BBC - 1986 - Andrew Davies - University of Warwick

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The series stood out because of its surreal humour. It concerned an idealistic young doctor, Stephen Daker (Peter Davison), taking up a post as a member of a university medical centre. The centre is staffed by a group of misfits including the bisexual Rose Marie (Barbara Flynn) and self-absorbed Bob Buzzard (David Troughton), and headed by decrepit Scot Jock McCannon (Graham Crowden). A central theme of the series is the increasing commercialisation of further education in Britain with the Chancellor (John Bird) trying to woo Japanese investors in the face of resistance from the academic old guard. Hugh Grant made one of his first television appearances in a bit part, as did Kathy Burke.

Related Topics:
Peter Davison - Barbara Flynn - David Troughton - Graham Crowden - John Bird - Hugh Grant - Kathy Burke

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In the first series, Daker had a romance with a policewoman, Lyn Turtle (Amanda Hillwood), who rescued him from drowning in the university's swimming pool. In the second series, she was replaced as love interest by a visiting Polish academic Greta Gretowska (Joanna Kanska). In a sequel film, A Very Polish Practice, Daker went to live with her in Poland, where he struggled with the Communist system's antiquated health service.

Related Topics:
Amanda Hillwood - Polish - Joanna Kanska - Communist

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The programme was based on the University of East Anglia campus in Norwich, and it was the UEA campus which featured in the programme's title sequence. However, all of the filming for the programme was done at the universities of Keele and Birmingham, several hundred miles away. This was put down to UEA's concern of being associated with a comedy programme, which may have cast the institution in a bad light.

Related Topics:
University of East Anglia - Keele - Birmingham

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The first series was released on DVD (Region 2) in the UK in 2004.

Related Topics:
DVD - 2004

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