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After Henry is a situation comedy devised and written by Simon Brett. It was originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4 for four series of eight episodes (with two specials), before it eventually moved to Thames Television.
Sarah France (Prunella Scales) is the 42 year old widow of a GP, Henry. She lives in an often volatile family situation with her mother, Eleanor Prescott (Joan Sanderson), and her daughter, 18 year old Clare France (Jaine Wood), which the late Dr France used to sooth.
After his death, all three members of the family have to find a way to cope with the other two as best they can.
The sitcom is really about generations. Sarah finds herself often in the middle, which is made literal by the fact that her daughter has a flat in the basement, while her mother lives upstairs.
Eleanor, the mother, is ruthlessly cunning, and takes every opportunity to get one over on Sarah. Anything you tell Eleanor will spread throughout the elderly of the area, or the "geriatric mafia". Clare, the daughter, is trying to be independent of her mother, though often has to come running back in times of crisis.
The relationships between the three women change constantly through each episode. Sometimes mother and daughter ally against grandmother; Sometimes mother and grandmother ally against daughter, but usually grandmother and granddaughter ally on long-suffering Eleanor.
The only person Eleanor can always turn to for comfort is her boss, Russell (Jonathan Newth) at Bygone Books (the second hand bookshop where she works), whose homosexuality makes him ideal for her to confide in without fear of advance.
The script of each episode of this genial laid-back comedy is a masterpiece in its own right, with everything coming together with elegant smoothness at the end. Prunella Scales, who plays Sarah, said of it, "these are scripts of rare economy and distinction" after the first series. The dialogue is intelligent, and the plot is detailed and sensitive without being dramatic.
More minor characters were Vera Poiling (Peggy Ann Wood), Mary (Anne Priestley), and Sam Greenland (Edward de Souza).
The first three series and the special episodes were produced and directed by Peter Frazer-Jones, while the fourth series was directed by Liddy Oldroyd, and produced by Bill Shepherd. The executive producer of the fourth series was John Howard Davies.
An equally well-crafted novel, also by Simon Brett, followed the radio series. After the BBC reputedly turned down the opportunity for a television version, 38 episodes were made for Thames Television. This was a surprisingly popular series, which attracted over 14 million viewers, and ran from 1987 until Joan Sanderson's death in 1992. The characters and actors were the same as the radio series, but without Mary (Anne Priestley). It was produced by Peter Frazer-Jones and Bill Shepherd.
Series 1
Series 2
Series 3
Series 4
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