I must admit I was not an admirer of 'Fresh Fields' when it first aired on I.T.V. in the mid-Eighties. In fact my nickname for the show then was 'Stale Meadows'! The main problem for me was that it went out at a time when alternative comedy shows such as 'The Young Ones' and 'Saturday Live' were considered the in-things to watch for young people ( which I was then ). Now that I'm middle-aged myself, I can watch and laugh and not feel guilty for doing so. I still dislike the theme tune and opening credits though. The show was about a happily married couple: accountant 'William Fields' ( the late Anton Rodgers ) and 'Hester' ( Julia McKenzie ). He is a pleasant, easy-going chap while she is facing a mid-life crisis and taking up one new hobby after one another, often with disastrous results. When she went to a gym in one episode, for instance, she was so worn out by the experience she had to be helped out of the building by friends. Other episodes had her taking part in a stage musical, cookery contests, art classes, and so on.
Rodgers had an undeniable flair for comedy ( he stood in for Peter Sellers in the film 'Rotten To The Core' in 1965 ) that was put to good use here, while McKenzie had experience of sitcoms with 'Maggie & Her' and 'That Beryl Marsden'. The pair gelled perfectly in 'Fresh Fields'. The show bore a strong resemblance to the B.B.C.'s 'Happy Ever After ( later adapted into 'Terry & June' ) which starred Terry Scott and June Whitfield and was partly written by John Chapman, the creator of 'French Fields'. The main difference was that here the woman was the over-enthusiastic one. Supporting characters included 'Nancy Penrose' ( Fanny Rowe ) who lived in a granny flat close to her daughter, her estranged husband 'Guy' ( the wonderful Ballard Berkeley ), and the Fields' dippy neighbour 'Sonia' ( the lovely Ann Beach ), who had a habit of barging into their kitchen at inopportune moments. The Fields' daughter was 'Emma' ( Debby Cumming ), whom never appeared on screen and was heard only talking to her mother on the phone. Plots usually revolved around Hester's latest hobby or William's problems at work. It was cosy, middle-of-the-road stuff, and that led to it being savaged in some quarters, most notably from critic Nina 'Queen Of The Box' Myskow, who said it was 'so middle-of-the-road as to be a load of old bollards!'. Nevertheless, it notched up four seasons from 1984 - 86 and earned Anton Rodgers a T.V. Times Award ( which they do not give out any more ) for 'Funniest Man On Television'! In 1989, the Fields moved to France and the show continued ( minus Guy and Nancy - Rowe and Berkeley both died in 1988 - and Sonia ) under the title 'French Fields'.
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