Prospects
Prospects (1986)
Drama, Comedy - 1h 0m
60%
Overview
Prospects is a British television comedy drama series that was written by Alan Janes and originally shown on Channel 4 in 1986. Created by Euston Films who had a pedigree of producing successful, gritty drama such as The Sweeney and Minder, it followed the exploits of two East End 'geezer' characters - Jimmy 'Pincy' Pince played by Gary Olsen and Billy played by Brian Bovell and their trials and tribulations of making a living in London's Isle of Dogs. Comprising 12 episodes Prospects - with a comic slant, dealt with many of the major issues affecting British society at the height of the "Thatcherite" '80's including unemployment, crime, poverty, regeneration, social change and racism. Prospects gained a cult following and ratings wise it performed well above expectation for Channel 4. At that time Channel Four received a large subsidy from the rival commercial network ITV in exchange for the right to sell airtime; this gave ITV a significant input into the management of the station. The success of Prospects and the fact that it was produced by a subsidiary of the ITV network's largest station Thames Television meant it was moved to a 9pm prime-time repeat slot on ITV in the Spring/Summer of 1987. This fuelled rumours that the network wanted to develop Prospects into a long-running comedy drama series. However despite seeing potential ITV declined the opportunity to develop it beyond the original first series.
Status

Ended

Original Language

English

Type

Scripted

Seasons

Recommendations

84%
Sep 22, 1994
85%
Apr 03, 1998
77%
Sep 09, 1989
87%
May 06, 2019
83%
Apr 15, 2014
79%
Nov 23, 1963
80%
Dec 20, 2019
74%
Dec 10, 2024
78%
Mar 13, 2025
75%
Apr 29, 1999
80%
Apr 03, 2025
70%
Feb 06, 2005
81%
Sep 15, 1971
71%
May 26, 2022

Comments


No Comments Yet
Be the first to share what you think