~ NAVIGATION ~
- About the Show
- Cast & Characters
- Episode Guide
- Quotes!!
- The Theme Tune
- FanFic Corner
- Fan Theories
- Big Questions
- Awards
- Links & Webring
~ NEW! ~
NEW! Series 4 episode
titles confirmed!! See the
Episode Guide page!!
~ E-MAIL ME ~
primrosefangirl42
@hotmail.co.uk
~ HIT COUNTER ~
~ JOKE OF THE WEEK!! ~
WESLEY SNIPES stares at them until they tell him what he wants to know.
- sent in by Dazza!! :-)
Best viewed at 800×600 in Internet Explorer 5 or Netscape Navigator 4.7.
This page may not display correctly in WebTV.
★ About the Show ★
Time Bigamist is the BAFTA-nominated BBC1 sitcom that's stolen the nation's hearts (and at least two of its souls). Premiering in March 1998 to a sniffy reception from broadsheet critics and an overnight rating of 11.4 million, it has since become the kind of show that strangers nod about on the bus.
The premise: Reggie Finch, a mild-mannered television repairman from Crouch End, takes a routine call-out to a flat above an off-licence in Stepney in the spring of 1996. He turns the wrong way down Duck Lane and finds himself, somewhat abruptly, in 1942. There he meets the glorious Primrose Bellamy, ARP warden, rock-cake virtuoso, and unflinching defender of the realm. He returns home that evening to his wife Yvette in 1996. He returns the following Tuesday to Primrose in 1942. He continues this for the next four series, telling neither of them, and gradually convincing himself this is fine.
It is not fine. That, broadly, is the joke.
★ Cast & Characters ★
Reggie Finch
Played by Nicholas Bramwell-Tate
Our reluctant hero. A man whose moral compass spins so wildly across the decades that it has effectively lost magnetic north. Reggie is convinced that bigamy doesn't really count if your second wife was born sixty years before your first. The show makes a quiet, devastating case that he is WRONG.
Yvette Finch
Played by Carolyn Pettifer
Reggie's wife in 1996. Works in PR for a charity that rehomes greyhounds. Believes Reggie is doing extra evening shifts at a TV repair branch in Whitechapel. Drives a teal Renault Clio. Has a suspicious sister named Marjorie who is on to him by Series 2 and tells him so, repeatedly, in whispered asides at family barbecues.
Primrose Bellamy
Played by Eleanor Ashworth
Reggie's wife in 1942. ARP warden. Knows him as "Reggie Finch, Special Services," which she has never once questioned because she is from a generation that didn't. Fierce, kind, makes rock cakes that could be deployed defensively. The show's moral centre, which is to say: the person who would be most destroyed if she ever found out.
Trevor Bagshaw
Played by Mick Hollowford
Reggie's best friend in 1996 and sole confidant. A struggling cartoonist for a free North London paper. Permanently aghast. Trevor's role in any given episode is to say "Reggie, you can't keep doing this" and then, inevitably, help Reggie keep doing this. Won the National Television Award for Best Comedy Performance in 2000, despite never having a storyline of his own.
Marjorie Pell
Played by Diane Ruskin-Boyd
Yvette's older sister. Senses something is off about Reggie from the cold open of the pilot and is still being ignored four series later. The audience's ambassador. Drinks Liebfraumilch.
★ Episode Guide ★
Series 1 (1998)
| # | Title | First Aired |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Time Heals All Vows | 05/03/98 |
| 2 | Two Rings, One Finger | 12/03/98 |
| 3 | Anniversary in Stereo | 19/03/98 |
| 4 | The Best Man Knows Too Much | 26/03/98 |
| 5 | A Pyjama Drama | 02/04/98 |
| 6 | Goodnight, Goodnight | 09/04/98 |
Series 2 (1999)
| # | Title | First Aired |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Honeymoon Period(s) | 14/01/99 |
| 2 | Mothers-in-Law Squared | 21/01/99 |
| 3 | The Wartime Wedding Album | 28/01/99 |
| 4 | Whose Lipstick Is This? | 04/02/99 |
| 5 | Christmas Twice Over (1942) | 11/02/99 |
| 6 | Christmas Twice Over (1996) | 18/02/99 |
Series 3 (2000)
| # | Title | First Aired |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Other Mrs Finch | 06/04/00 |
| 2 | Forty-Eight Years of Breakfast | 13/04/00 |
| 3 | Marjorie Suspects (Again) | 20/04/00 |
| 4 | The Vicar Comes to Tea (1942) | 27/04/00 |
| 5 | The Vicar Comes to Tea (1996) | 04/05/00 |
| 6 | A Telegram From the Future | 11/05/00 |
Series 4 (2001) NEW!!
| # | Title | First Aired |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reggie Meets Reggie | tba |
| 2 | Primrose's Sister | tba |
| 3 | The Diary in the Loft | tba |
| 4 | Yvette Buys a Map of Stepney | tba |
| 5 | Trevor Cracks | tba |
| 6 | Goodnight, Goodnight (Reprise) | tba |
★ Memorable Quotes ★
"Trevor, I literally have to. I'm in Stepney by half past." — Trevor & Reggie, "Two Rings, One Finger"
"Oh, they are, my love. They've never once asked where I am." — Primrose & Reggie, "The Wartime Wedding Album"
"Reggie, that is the worst thing you have ever said in this kitchen." — Reggie & Trevor, "Anniversary in Stereo"
★ The Theme Tune ★
The opening titles — sepia photographs dissolving into VHS-grainy North London streets — are scored by Alistair Pemberton's "Goodnight, My Darlings." A waltz. A clarinet. A man smiling through the bridge.
"Goodnight, My Darlings"
music & lyrics by Alistair Pemberton
Theme from Time Bigamist (BBC, 1998)
And the lamplight's soft and low,
There's a backstreet down in Stepney
Where my other heart will go.
For the years between us vanish
At the corner of Duck Lane,
And a fellow finds his sweetheart
In the candlelight again.
One in the blackout, one in the light.
The clock on the mantel, the moon up above,
Keep the time for a time-travelling love.
Goodnight, my darlings, sleep tight,
Half a century parts you tonight;
Two rings on one finger, two names on one heart,
And a husband who's never quite all in one part.
And her cocoa going cold;
There's a Primrose in her pinny
With her hair done up in gold.
And I kiss them both at bedtime
Though their bedtimes don't align —
For the calendar's a liar
When the lady's hand finds mine.
Through the decades and the doors,
But a man can't help his footsteps
When they fall on different floors.
And the vicar didn't ask me,
And the registrar didn't know,
That my "I do" was doubled
Forty-something years ago.
One in the blackout, one in the light.
The gramophone crackles, the kettle's on slow,
And nobody's wiser, and nobody'll know.
Goodnight, my darlings, sleep well
With the secret your sweetheart won't tell —
Two wives and two kitchens, two lives intertwined,
And the lovingest liar you ever will find.
(clicking will open the MIDI player — please allow a moment to load)
★ FanFic Corner ★
Anything else can go on the alt.tv.timebigamist newsgroup. THIS IS A FAMILY PAGE.
- The Letter Primrose Never Sent by Sandra (PG) — Primrose writes a letter to Reggie's "real" address. It comes back marked not yet built. Read
- Yvette in the Loft by Sandra (PG) — Yvette finds a 1943 wedding photograph. Reggie has a lot of explaining to do. Read
- Marjorie Was Right All Along by Sandra (PG) — A vindication fic. Read
- Trevor Goes to Stepney by SuburbanBlitzGirl (PG) — What if Trevor used the passageway? Read
- The Two Funerals by Anonymous (PG) — Sandra's note: this one made me cry, but in the good way. Read
★ Fan Theories ★
1. Primrose Knows.
Watch the closing seconds of "Whose Lipstick Is This?" again. Primrose looks at the camera. Directly. For nearly two seconds. Eleanor Ashworth has denied this is significant in three separate Radio Times interviews, which is itself significant.
2. The Passageway Is Reggie's Conscience.
Subscribers to this theory point out that the alley only ever opens when Reggie is at his most contented in 1996, and only ever closes during marital arguments. The 1942 world is, on this reading, the punishment he is constructing for himself. Sandra finds this depressing but compelling.
3. Trevor Is the Real Protagonist.
Self-explanatory. Trevor is the only person in the show who behaves recognisably like a moral adult. He is also the only character with no plotline of his own. The show is, in this view, about him.
★ The Big Unanswered Questions ★
- What did Reggie tell the registrar in 1942?
- Why does the passageway only work on Tuesdays?
- How does Reggie keep getting 1942 money? (Sandra's theory: Trevor.)
- Has Primrose ever been to a 1996 GP? (See the cliffhanger of S3.)
- Will Marjorie ever be believed?
- Is Reggie, in any meaningful sense, a good man?
★ Awards This Site Has Won! ★
of the Day! 14th August 2001
Webring Pick Spring 2001
Top 50 Ranked #38
Award "It's very nice, dear"
★ Recent Guestbook Entries! ★
Thanks to everyone who's signed!! Here are a few of my favourites —
brilliant page sandra!! glad the lyrics are finally up. trevor is the real hero of the show, no question. any news on when the s4 trailer's dropping???
Dear Sandra, a lovely page. Do you happen to know what became of the actress who played Trevor's mother in Series 2? My husband swears blind she was also in The Bill but I am quite certain she wasn't. With thanks — Maureen P.
oi sandra heres one for ya — WESLEY SNIPES doesnt watch the telly. the telly watches WESLEY SNIPES. lol cheers mate, see ya down the cricket
★ Links & Webring ★
- The Official BBC Time Bigamist Page (a bit boring)
- Nicholas Bramwell-Tate Appreciation Society
- Eleanor Ashworth Online (unofficial)
- Stepney 1942: A Visual History
- alt.tv.timebigamist FAQ
- Marjorie Was Right (campaign blog)
Sister Sites — Other Brilliant BBC Sitcoms!!
- Gaslighting the Stupid Woman — Sue's Fan Page — loads of episode caps and her brilliant fanfic where Edith works it all out at last!!
- That Bucket Woman — Sheila's Tribute — the candlelight supper recipes page is a hoot, and she's catalogued every single phone call
- Retired Complaining Man Online — Victor's funniest moans, sorted by category (the council, the traffic, the youth of today)
- Lovable Cockney Criminals Trading Post — the show that made Nicholas Bramwell-Tate a household name!! His breakout role — swap your VHS spares with other fans
This site is part of the British Sitcom WebRing.
« Prev: That Bucket Woman | Next: Gaslighting the Stupid Woman »
[Random] [List Sites] [Join]