An excellent comedy series by Alan Plater concerning a married couple who are befriended by a charismatic if untrustworthy character played by Francis Matthews. They plan to get rich by becoming the middlemen of the title - basically attempting a variety of scams to make money without working, including starting their own religion based on seven suggestions rather than 10 commandments because they don't want to be too dogmatic.
Where this differs from your standard caper comedy is that as the series progresses, society begins to break down in the background and England starts to turn into an anarchist republic. This goes almost unremarked by the characters, and is treated in an entirely deadpan way by the script.
There's also some subtle interplay between the three central characters, the mercurial Matthews, prosaic Windsor and the actress playing Windsor's wife whose name I shamefully cannot recall (Gwen Watford?) - while there's nothing so obvious as an affair, you can see her interest shifting from one to another and back as events unfold and the values of society change.
Some big ideas handled with a light touch and (like "Don't Forget to Write" also featuring Matthews) another gem lost in the BBC archives which is long overdue for a repeat showing.
Where this differs from your standard caper comedy is that as the series progresses, society begins to break down in the background and England starts to turn into an anarchist republic. This goes almost unremarked by the characters, and is treated in an entirely deadpan way by the script.
There's also some subtle interplay between the three central characters, the mercurial Matthews, prosaic Windsor and the actress playing Windsor's wife whose name I shamefully cannot recall (Gwen Watford?) - while there's nothing so obvious as an affair, you can see her interest shifting from one to another and back as events unfold and the values of society change.
Some big ideas handled with a light touch and (like "Don't Forget to Write" also featuring Matthews) another gem lost in the BBC archives which is long overdue for a repeat showing.
