Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?

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1. #001

   After the series ended, Rodney Bewes and James Bolam had no contact with each other for 40 years. The day after Bewes's death in 2017, Bolam told the BBC that there had been no "falling out" (as Bewes had often claimed), that they had gone their separate ways after working together and had never been close friends, only colleagues. Bolam nonetheless spoke warmly of his late co-star and of their work on the series, expressing his sadness and sense of loss at his death.

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2. #002

   James Bolam was ten years older than his character.

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3. #003

   Of the main cast, only James Bolam had the accent appropriate to the setting. Rodney Bewes made little or no attempt to hide his native Yorkshire accent, relying on the dialogue to convey Bob's North Eastern identity. Relatively few characters in this series or in The Likely Lads (1964), including the other members of the Collier family, have appropriate accents.

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4. #004

   In some episodes, James Bolam noticeably stumbles over certain lines and has to correct himself mid-sentence. Because of the tight recording schedules in the BBC studios, these were left in and not re-shot (episodes were recorded in the evening and recording had to be finished by 10:00 pm).

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5. #005

   After the series ended, the two stars' careers diverged significantly: James Bolam went on to a highly successful television and stage career, while Rodney Bewes's career went into a gradual decline with only occasional film and television appearances. He eventually had to rely mainly on small-scale, one-man touring plays that he wrote and produced himself.

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6. #006

   In the opening episode, Strangers on a Train (1973), James Mellor plays the gay buffet attendant who passes the ball to Terry. He would reappear in One for the Road (1974) as the police officer who analyses Bob's breath and arrests him for drinking and driving.

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7. #007

   Terrance Daniel Collier's birthday is 29 February 1944.

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8. #008

   Dick Clement revealed that in the 1990s he and Ian La Frenais considered writing a new series to catch up with Bob and Terry, now in their late middle age and approaching retirement, and began drafting potential storylines such as Terry having become a self-made millionaire. However, although the BBC and most of the original cast were very keen to take part, James Bolam was not interested and the idea went no further.

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9. #009

   In the opening and closing title sequences, the order in which James Bolam and Rodney Bewes appear varies from episode to episode. Steptoe and Son (1962) had used a similar principle to prevent conflict between its stars.

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10. #010

    The character Podge (played in this series by Christopher Biggins) was played by Geoffrey Hughes in The Likely Lads (1964).

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11. #011

    Terry was a corporal, number 2381444, in the 2nd Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (real British Army units).

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12. #012

    The opening sequence, in which Terry fails to flag down a bus, was filmed in the Byker area of Newcastle. The street used for filming has since been redeveloped with trees and grass and is now called Bolam Road (because it is located near the former Bolam Street).

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13. #013

    Robert Andrew Scarborough Ferris's birthday is 22 February 1944.

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14. #014

    Joan Hickson and Bill Owen, who played Mrs and Mr Chambers, were part of the Carry On series' recurring cast. Julian Holloway and Margaret Nolan were too.

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15. #015

    As of 2026, all the actors who appear as the Ferris and Chambers families have now died. Only James Bolam and Sheila Fearn (Terry Collier and his sister Audrey) are still alive. Bolam, now 92, is also the oldest surviving main cast member of both series.

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16. #016

    Sheila Fearn, who played Terry's older sister, was in fact five years younger than James Bolam.

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