A Tribute to Carla Lane Artsnight

to describe her work as "situation tragedy".

I started writing for radio. And that was about 15 years ago. And

then I wrote for magazines, newspapers. And 11 years ago for

television. It was a question of sending a script in, announcing my

genius and thinking nobody would take any notice, and then having to

try to prove something. Carla Lane was a housewife from Liverpool who

became one of the country's most successful sitcom writers. From flat

sharing singletons to board housewives and formidable mothers,

she redefined the role of women on television. And for 25 years she was

at the forefront of British comedy. Well go on, Adam, help it. It was

unusual to have to work with somebody who was so extremely

successful, and part of that period of writing when most of the writers

that were that successful at that point were meant. The conviction

with which she wrote her characters was, I think, about what was in

hair. Everything that was in her, everything that she wanted to say,

all the things that she felt about being a woman was in her writing.

Inside she had a lot of turmoil, she had a lot of sadness, she had quite

a bit of sadness in her life. And that's what she drew on when she

wrote. Carla Lane became famous in the

early 70s with the Liver Birds. A comedy about two young women sharing

a flat in her hometown of Liverpool. Carla's was a fresh voice in the

male dominated world of television. Putting female characters at the

centre of comedy for the first time. Are you ready? Yes. Right. Get a

load of this. The wedding ensemble. The Liver Birds ran for more than

ten years and launched the careers of some of the country's best young

actresses. I think what made Carla quite special was that she wrote

from in her heart. She actually spoke to you through her characters.

What was great about it was that we were the first two girls to play the

leading part. Women up to then had been wise and lovers and friends,

but never to girls actually talking to each other and being the stars of

the show. It was a one-off, really. People often talk about the Liver

Birds as though they were two, it was a huge feminist series. We

didn't feel that at the time. And I still don't. I think it was just

simply of its time. Did you fix the food, Beryl? What food? I did all

the packing, I arranged the removal van, and doing all the young packing

now, I've got 1001 things to think of, gas, electricity, heating, all

you had to do was prepare a snack. We were not burdened down by

political correctness. We did not have to watch every single thing

that we said. Now we had guidelines. I remember there being lots of

discussion as to whether we could mention the subject of possibly

going to... With a man. And I remember it being firmly decided

that you couldn't talk about possibly going to... With a man, not

at all. It could be implied. And of course Carla was very good at

getting the fun out of that. So she was bound in, possibly, in many

ways, but she liked that. She liked the kind of playfulness between men

and women. And do you know what? She was a married woman, she had growing

up children, perhaps she was writing her girl that, the one she never

lived, I don't know. Carla married Eric Collins, a naval architect,

when she was 19. They had two sons, Nigel and Powell. But theirs would

not be a conventional family life. From the beginning it was pretty

observable, at least to me as a young man, ma'am, you know, I'd

always dread her picking me up from school because she just didn't look

like anybody else. I really wanted a mum wearing a Mac and a headscarf.

With rollers in, you know. But she'd arrived with stilettos and a tight

skirt and her hair done up in a bun with a Spanish co-or something, and

be waving to me as I would be coming out of school. And all the other

mums would be there. I just thought, why have I got a mum like that? And

of course I'd get the Mickey taken out of me by all my school friends

about my mum, and the things that they'd say about her, and I hated

it. But I realise that there was something different right from the

beginning. She would write poetry. She often would recite the things

that she had in her mind over the kitchen table while we were having a

cup of tea, piece of cake, and she'd ask me what I thought about it. I

won competition. I remember we had the Lady Mayoress coming to the

school, and everybody had to contribute something, and I locked

myself in the cloakroom and wrote a little poem. And it was really

tragic. It was called do not despair. And it was really to my

grandmother, whose son had been killed. And I pinned it in the

corner of the board, only because I knew I'd get into trouble if I

hadn't put something in. I couldn't believe it, I won the half crown. I

think it was then that I felt maybe I was going to write. I'd be about

13. She of course had poetry in her intrinsically, that was just what

she had in her. She would be watching all the time for the rhythm

of lines. Something I myself am quite passionate about, the poetic

rhythm of things. And I will know myself, so I know that she was

watching for a line that had too many words in it, or a line that

didn't have enough, quite. And she would know that that would be the

process to get that line absolutely right so that you'd get a laugh, or

that it would be the right feed for another line. He asked me if I was

getting enough sleep, I said I didn't know, I hadn't been able to

keep awake long enough to find out. Then he asked me how my love life

was going. What did you say? I said it wasn't going, it had gone. What

did the doctors say to that with blue he ranted on about romance

being exciting little parcels of life and sometimes when we open then

we have to be prepared for disappointment. He's quite right,

there, Beryl. Well all my little parcels get clobbered in the post.

She had a knife of the whole thing. Of course as it grew that bit was

her world, she was creating that world -- she had and I for the whole

thing. # As soft and gentle as a side. By

the late 70s Carla was spending most of her time away from her family in

Liverpool, writing at BBC Television Centre to produce her most timeless

work. Butterflies drew from her own experience. It told the story of

Ria, disenchanted middle-aged housewife dreaming of a different

life. The time I did Butterflies Carla was kind of at the height of

her powers, really. She was the toast of the BBC, they wanted to

keep hold of her because she was hugely successful. She was aware of

her success. And she was aware of, I think, how attractive she was. She

was a very, very attractive woman. She didn't flaunt it but you could

see her poise and how she behaved. I visualise her wafting about.

Throwing her head back and bit. She was very charming. Personality was

very attractive and she was physically a very attractive woman.

Of all the things I've written Ria is more me than anyone, she does

have two children, she does hate the kitchen, she did fall in love with

someone else, it's true. And obviously we all do that at some

time or other. Being married doesn't stop us from being flirted with. And

this is how it began. I thought that I'd write about the lady who was

flirted with. And it was all going to stem from there. It wasn't going

to be a serious as it turned out to be because she did very much fallen

in love with him and he certainly fell in love with her. I thought I'd

write a comedy about how an attractive woman copes with these

little offers that come when in fact she is married. I'll always remember

today. You won't have to remember it, we'll do it all over again on my

birthday. Funny isn't it, how old-fashioned we are? I watched the

boys being free, doing everything, breaking all the rules, stuffing

themselves with life. Sleeping here, sleeping there, no hang-ups, no

guilt. We were born too early, you and I. Not me. If I had my way we'd

go straight back to that hotel. Come back to the hotel. I remember at the

read-through before we started rehearsing, halfway through, Wendy

Craig said suddenly, she said, I think this woman is appalling, I

don't know how I can play her, she spoilt, privileged, she's got a

reasonable husband, wonderful standard of living, and all she does

is whinge about what else there could be. So Carla explained that

she thought it would work. Of course as soon as the first episode was

played in front of an audience, Wendy knew that her doubts were

absolutely of no concern and Carla was right. Ria was 95% Carla. So

Wendy's realisation of the character was joy to Carla, I think. She could

think, I'm getting those laughs, not only as a writer, but as me. They

were great friends. Ria! I made less noise than that when I was in

labour! Would you explain this to me? What. This, this stuff on my

plate. It's your dinner. I know it's my dinner but could you identify the

various heaps. Those are potatoes and that's a chop. I forget what

those green things are. She appeared to comply with the norms of young

married life, it didn't last very long, though. She couldn't cook, she

couldn't clean, she could undo the garden, they were not her thing. She

looked after my dad. She listened to him and talked, and she did

everything else. But domestic issues, they weren't on the cards

for her. She very quickly realised that that just wasn't the way

forward for her. She went on another track. I think she identified very,

very much with the feminine side of society, and the world, as she saw

it. And underneath that was a very, very strong woman. But she didn't

think that you had to appear to be strong, to be strong, or to appear

to be an intellectual to have a good mind. And I think that was also part

of what was happening at the time in the 70s. We were understanding as

where we've got to now is that you can wear very high stiletto heels

and actually still be quite powerful. What do you want? Tell me

and I'll get it for you. I want... I want exciting, mind staring,

unpredictable things. I want a fire engine to rush through the flat. I

want a helicopter to land on my bed. I wonder phone to ring and got to be

on the other end. I was now alone, I was divorced, and apart from my

wolfhound, my sons were grown, and I was alone. Hence we had Solo. Solo

was about Gemma who just wanted to try to be alone and how difficult it

is because even though you are surrounded by all the things you

want, there comes a moment when you think, I've got the band, where's

the music? That's all I was writing about. Everything I was writing

about can be said in a sentence. And that's all that was about. Her quote

about Solo and Gemma, I've got the band but where's the music? That is

a cry for women down the ages, it is. And it's a lot to do with fairy

prince, I'm a princess, and suddenly real life kicks in. She wrote about

these things that were serious, and apparently quite light. But

underneath was a layer of pain and understanding. Is that all you think

about, climbing the mountain, hitting the sky, are we going into

the Olympics or something? Isn't that what women want, to be wanted?

That's how it comes over. Well yes, but one once other things, too. You

mean love? I asked you to marry me. Money? I asked you to stop working.

Loyalty? There is no one else. So what the hell more? Well, a woman

needs... Magic. Playing those parts was important to

me and I still remember it is not just as a comedy series but

something that was very real and reflected in a comic way, what a lot

of women were going through. Especially during that period when

it wasn't an unspoken love so much, we were still in a time when you

were supposed to get married and have children. I think what comes

across, especially that period, is not a strident feminist voice, but

somebody who really loves people, loves swimming, understands women,

understands pain and life, and her view of things was much more that

everything is bound together, and that if you are mistress or someone

wanting to go solo, you were still the same. We are still women going

through... You know, if you are wife or are mistress, you are still going

through the same stuff. She wanted to share what she felt and bring

everyone together. There is probably no greater way of doing that than

getting people to laugh. With The Liver Birds, Butterflies and Solo,

her reputation as a writer was sealed. Her response was to write

The Last Song, the story of a man involved in a disintegrating

marriage. Carla is essentially thought of as a writer about women,

which she did brilliantly, but my own experience, I thought she wrote

my character also very brilliantly, and I suppose, dare I say, I think

she wrote The Last Song for me, so she had moved considerably to write

for a man very perceptively. It was a kind of gritty, very funny but

very bitter and true relationship, as Carla thought she had progressed

I think, and she called a situation tragedy. She had just discarded the

broad comedy of Butterflies with the gooey puddings, and I think was a

superior writer. Did you... Did you want the house

keys? How many times have we been over this business of the house

keys, you give them to me, I give them back to you. Well, do you?

Thank you. Asks Jane to come and see me tomorrow, I don't want to be

disturbed tonight. I understand, yes. And perhaps you would ring in

future, just to make sure I'm in. Of course. I may go away somewhere,

abroad. Not that it concerns you, but I thought I would tell you. Have

a nice time. I think Carla, like a lot who work

in comedy, are rather upset that they think it is a lesser field,

people who try to get laughs, it is not high tragedy, it is not Hamlet.

One of the most difficult things to do on God 's earth that I have ever

done this play a situation comedy where you know the writer, the

director, you and the rest of the cast expect you to get a laugh on

this line, which you do once in front of a studio audience, then it

will be seen by millions. If you don't get it right, Babyface, that's

your only chance. If you think there is a laugh in Hamlet and you don't

get it, nobody is going to notice. You just play the drama, which is

pretty easy and pretty intense, you know.

I see she still doesn't iron your shirts properly. There is such a

thing as to properly, Alice. Like me? Yes, this house is more aseptic

than the theatre I operate in. You use to descend on the dishes while

we were still eating from them, unfinished puddings whisked away in

their prime, it was like living with a magpie. I'm sorry. It's all right.

I know she talked about writing a stage play for me which never

happened, which was going to be a play, not comedy, it never happened.

I think there was a hankering there for more serious recognition in a

way. The shift in Carla's writing reflected a more serious tone in her

wider life. The childhood passion for nature was now blossoming into a

more public role as an activist. Carla found a kindred spirit in her

love of animals when she formed a close friendship with Linda

McCartney. Mum and Linda were very good

friends, they were best friends. They would talk to each other on the

phone on a regular, if not daily basis. Both vegetarians, lifelong

vegetarians, and they loved their animals. They never stopped talking

about them, and the work they can and did do to support the welfare of

animals. I'm so proud of you. Mum did it through Animal Line, which

was a charity, and her animal sanctuary. And Linda supported all

that work and did whatever she was called to do really. They wrote and

sang together. In 1985, Carla pushed her writing

even further towards drama with I Woke Up One Morning, the story of

alcoholics who meet while undergoing therapy. Take it easy. I have done

the deed, said the word, she is waiting now for respectability. We

have all been caught in the trap, life is like a minefield, an awesome

space dotted about with women. It is impossible to get from the cradle to

the coughing -- coffin without treading on one of them.

It wasn't well received, and many thought Carla had lost her touch.

Throughout her life, Carla was compelled to write. Every time she

picked up the pen, she couldn't wait to see what came out. Her response

to the criticism was to go back to her hometown and write about what

she knew best, the people of Liverpool. My childhood in Liverpool

was streets, the sound of the big ships, the Scouse accent, the sheer

magic of Liverpool. Within a year, Carla had written the most

successful comedy of her career. Read became her biggest hit with

nearly half the nation tuning in to watch the escapades of the Boswell

family. -- Bread. Won't be long now. Must she always be filing her nails?

She spends her whole life doing herself up. I'm a model, aren't I?

If it's not that, it's shaving legs, dabbing spots, nothing is allowed to

grow on her! When you got the call to say Carla Lane has written a new

series and you are going to audition for it, it was as big a deal as it

got. I walked in with this blonde hair and obviously did something

that she saw that had essences. She worked very much with the essence of

people, what is the essence of that person, what makes them tick, what

makes them go that extra mile, what are their weaknesses and strengths.

Even Joey, who was the protector of the family and the most confident

and the most assured member of the family, he had his Achilles heel

too. She gave everybody things they had to deal with, things they

couldn't quite reach out and grab. Why don't we talk about life instead

of nightmares, why don't we dream? One day, I'm going to go into an

attic and in the corner there will be a Leonardo, a pale maiden with

hands clasped and an enigmatic smile. I thought somebody had

already found that one. I will say, that's a nice little print, I will

give you a tenner to take it off your hands, then off I will be to

Sotheby's, Christie 's and the Bahamas. I'm going to open my own

business in London. Why London, they are all show-offs. They are all

funny down Saddam's, they have a bath every day. We haven't heard

what our Joey dreams about yet. I dream about keeping the art of

dreaming. Isn't he deep! I think she allowed drama to have a place at the

comedy table and vice versa and I think that has helped shows like The

Office and some single camera comedies we see now where the

writers don't feel the need to be funny all the time. We are just

human, we make mistakes and mess up, humans are oddballs, and Carla just

wrote about that. This is Mrs Boswell, I would like to know why my

gas bill is ?206, it's ridiculous. Are you sure I'm not connected up to

the Olympic torch? I would like a detailed account please, in English,

not abbreviations. Any good writers see the world through their own

unique perspective, through their own particular glasses that they

wear, and Carla had unique and individual classes. They weren't

Rosie or dark, they were multifaceted and she wrote down what

she saw. Good writers have got to write, there is nothing they can do

about it, and she had to get these people out, their lives and troubles

and sort them out. She felt duty bound to sort Ria, out, Joey out,

and the girls from The Liver Birds. Her legacy now is that she got us

involved with people, she got us to care about them. All I can say is

that it was very rare that I had to do a scene or speak any lines that

didn't ring true. She had this ability to be actually quite

impressive in her writing, in that I think it was mirror imaging

something that was going on in society very, very accurately. Carla

was a very big presence always in my life because that series... You

know, I had 42 years in theatre and none of it had the impact that The

Liver Birds had. I always remember her with huge affection and may I

say gratitude because Butterflies was a very important show in my

so-called career. Thank you, Carla.