Английская Википедия:Chance in a Million

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Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:Use dmy datesШаблон:Use British English Шаблон:Infobox television Chance in a Million is a British sitcom broadcast between 10 September 1984 and 1 December 1986, produced by Thames Television for Channel 4. The series was co-written by Andrew Norriss and Richard Fegen and starred Simon Callow and Brenda Blethyn. The producer and director of the series was Michael Mills.

Plot

The premise of the show is that the main character, Tom Chance, is frequently the victim of unlikely circumstances, although he cares little about this and is, in fact, largely oblivious to much of what happens around him.

He meets his long-suffering girlfriend, Alison Little, by chance. This happens when Tom Chance goes to the same hotel on a blind date to meet a girl (who is also called Alison), that Alison Little has arranged to meet her cousin Tom (for the first time since they were young children).

Tom is shy towards Alison. However, Alison has fallen in love with Tom at first sight and she is keen for their friendship to develop into something more intimate.

Tom has a tendency to get into trouble as a result of unlikely coincidences. This leads to Tom being arrested for crimes he did not commit – which happens so often that police Sergeant Gough eventually gives orders for Tom not to be arrested, no matter how suspicious the circumstances. Tom accepts the unintentional incidents which continuously occur in his life with great stoicism.

Tom has an amusing ability to drink an entire pint of lager in one gulp whilst in the middle of speaking a sentence. (According to Callow in a DVD commentary, a trick glass containing a fraction of a pint was actually used.)

Tom's style of speaking is a key component of his comic nature. He speaks only in short staccato sentences similar to a telegram: "Can’t talk Alison. Car being towed. Problem with lawn furniture."

He also has a fascination with Surrey and England cricketer Alec Bedser, and a cricket bat, which has been autographed by the cricketer, is one of Tom's most treasured possessions. (Or at least was, before it was chewed up by next door's alsatian.) And in the penultimate episode, Alison presents her husband-to-be with a book containing a signed dedication by Bedser, to Tom's great delight.

Cast

• Simon Callow as Tom Chance
• Brenda Blethyn as Alison Little
• Ronnie Stevens (series 1), Hugh Walters (series 2 and 3) as Mr. Little
• Deddie Davies as Mrs. Little
• Bill Pertwee as Sergeant Gough
• Angus MacKay as Terrence Wingent
• Geraldine Gardner aka Trudi Van Doorn as Barbara Wingent – (series 2 & 3)
• Peter Corey as Cousin Thomas
• Rosemary Smith as "Janet" – (series 3)

Home releases

DVD	Release date
The Complete Series 1	1 March 2010
The Complete Series 2	5 July 2010
The Complete Series 3	4 October 2010
The Complete Series 1 to 3 Box Set	4 October 2010

Notes

Speaking about the series following its release on DVD Simon Callow said: "I loved doing it and it's one of the most popular things I ever did. The central character, Tom Chance, was a guy who was plagued by coincidence that was the basic formula of the series. The charming thing about him was that he seemed to belong to another world completely. He spoke in the most extraordinary way, which I think was derived from Mr. Jingle in The Pickwick Papers – he never used the personal pronouns ... He'd say, "... went to bank ... had problem ... sat down ... couldn't get out ... killed a woman ... very sad...". Brenda Blethyn, she's absolutely superb in it. Brenda and I and the writers are desperately keen to do a series, 25 years later on ... same couple ... I think it would be wonderful."

Brenda Blethyn, in her 2006 autobiography Mixed Fancies, speaks of the series at length with clear affection and happy memories of the project.

References

• The Penguin TV Companion (2nd Edition) – Jeff Evans, Penguin Books Ltd., London, 2003

External links

• Шаблон:IMDb title
• Шаблон:British Comedy Guide
• Chance in a Million Шаблон:Webarchive – BBC Comedy Guide
• Chance in a Million — Summary and Cast – British TV Comedy
• Chance in a Million — Episode List – British TV Comedy