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| Making Out | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Comedic drama |
| Created by | Franc Roddam |
| Written by | Debbie Horsfield |
| Directed by |
|
| Starring | |
| Theme music composer | New Order |
| Opening theme | Vanishing Point |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 24 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Franc Roddam |
| Producers | Michelle Mendoza John Chapman |
| Editor | Nigel Cattle |
| Camera setup | Alf Tramontin |
| Running time | 1:00:00 |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC One |
| Release | 6 January 1989 (1989-01-06) – 12 November 1991 (1991-11-12) |
Making Out is a British television series, shown by the BBC between 6 January 1989 and 12 November 1991.
The series, created by Franc Roddam, and written by Debbie Horsfield, mixed comedy and drama in its portrayal of the women who worked on the factory floor at New Lyne Electronics in Manchester, tackling the personal lives of the characters as well as wider issues of recession, redundancy and retrenchment as the factory goes through various crises and takeovers.
The music for the series was composed by New Order (The Other Two in final episodes). The main theme for the show is an adaptation of the song "Vanishing Point". There is a specific mix of this song called the Making Out Mix.
In September 2023, the series was made available on BBC iPlayer.
Cast
The girls
- Queenie (Margi Clarke), the fiery Scouse ring-leader of the women.
- Pauline (Rachel Davies), the union shop steward for the women.
- Jill (Melanie Kilburn), a new girl at the factory who starts work in the first episode.
- Donna (Heather Tobias), a middle-class woman who is desperate for a baby with her husband.
- Ariadne, known as "Klepto" (Moya Brady), a young woman bullied by her Greek Orthodox family.
- Carol May (Shirley Stelfox)
The factory
- Rex (Keith Allen), a randy boss at the factory who is having an affair with Carol May.
- Norma (Tracie Bennett), an ambitious, efficient company secretary.
- Bernie (Alan David), a supervisor of the women on the shop floor.
- Simon (Gary Beadle), the only man on the floor, romantically attached to "Klepto".
The blokes
- Chunky (Brian Hibbard), Queenie's no-good petty criminal husband.
- Ray (Tim Dantay), Jill's husband who eventually leaves her and their kids for another woman, a dimwitted hairdresser called Rosie (Jane Hazlegrove).
- Frankie (John Forgeham), Pauline's husband.
- Colin (David Hargreaves), Carol May's husband.
- Gavin (John Lynch), a footballer with whom Jill starts a relationship after her husband walks out on her.
- Gordon (Jonathan Barlow), Donna's Building Society manager husband.
Episodes
Series 1
Broadcast Friday evenings on BBC1 at 9:30pm
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Episode One" | Chris Bernard | Debbie Horsfield | 6 January 1989 (1989-01-06) | |
| Who's going to bring the money in? Jill has a young family to feed and an unemployed husband. So she is off to work for the first time and earning her spurs among the girls at Lyne Electronics. | ||||||
| 2 | 2 | "Episode Two" | Chris Bernard | Debbie Horsfield | 13 January 1989 (1989-01-13) | |
| Who's getting the push and what's Pauline got to hide? | ||||||
| 3 | 3 | "Episode Three" | Chris Bernard | Debbie Horsfield | 20 January 1989 (1989-01-20) | |
| Who's behind the new order? When mysterious men from the East arrive, the games have got to stop and the pressure is on at work and at home for the girls at Lyne Electronics. | ||||||
| 4 | 4 | "Episode Four" | Chris Bernard | Debbie Horsfield | 27 January 1989 (1989-01-27) | |
| Who's turned up from the other side of the world unannounced? | ||||||
| 5 | 5 | "Episode Five" | Richard Spence | Debbie Horsfield | 3 February 1989 (1989-02-03) | |
| Modern management techniques hit Lyne Electronics with unexpected consequences for Klepto and Simon. | ||||||
| 6 | 6 | "Episode Six" | Richard Spence | Debbie Horsfield | 10 February 1989 (1989-02-10) | |
| What do you get for a pair of brass cupids and 500 pounds in Your Auntie Jessie's will? | ||||||
| 7 | 7 | "Episode Seven" | Richard Spence | Debbie Horsfield | 17 February 1989 (1989-02-17) | |
| Who's going to make the factory run like clockwork from top to bottom? Dawdlers and skivers had better watch out when Bella Grout is around. The dice are down for the girls at Lyne Electronics. | ||||||
| 8 | 8 | "Episode Eight" | Richard Spence | Debbie Horsfield | 24 February 1989 (1989-02-24) | |
| Will Rex finally leave Stella, who's Ray's new girlfriend and what will happen if the Koreans pull out now? Orders from top office threaten chaos for everybody at Lyne Electronics. | ||||||
The series was repeated on BBC2 on Saturday evenings at 9:35pm from 6 January to 3 March 1990.
Series 2
Broadcast Tuesday evenings on BBC1 at 9:30pm
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 1 | "Episode One" | Carol Wilks | Debbie Horsfield | 6 March 1990 (1990-03-06) | |
| How is Rex going to pay the bills when there's no money in the bank? Dodgy solvent has unexpected consequences for Donna and the girls. | ||||||
| 10 | 2 | "Episode Two" | Carol Wilks | Debbie Horsfield | 13 March 1990 (1990-03-13) | |
| The VAT man cometh. Rex and Chunky get their collars felt leaving Queenie and the rest of the girls at New Lyne Electronics in the lurch. | ||||||
| 11 | 3 | "Episode Three" | Carol Wilks | Debbie Horsfield | 20 March 1990 (1990-03-20) | |
| What do you say to your late husband's mistress? Stella faces Carol May. | ||||||
| 12 | 4 | "Episode Four" | Susan Rogers | Debbie Horsfield | 27 March 1990 (1990-03-27) | |
| Donna's put home and baby first while Jill tries to leave her past behind. | ||||||
| 13 | 5 | "Episode Five" | Susan Rogers | Debbie Horsfield | 3 April 1990 (1990-04-03) | |
| Trouble at home for Pauline and Carol May. | ||||||
| 14 | 6 | "Episode Six" | Susan Rogers | Debbie Horsfield | 10 April 1990 (1990-04-10) | |
| If it's not last night's Vindaloo, what's giving Queenie a belly ache? | ||||||
| 15 | 7 | "Episode Seven" | Noella Smith | Debbie Horsfield | 17 April 1990 (1990-04-17) | |
| What are Klepto and Simon doing on a scouts' outing to Blackpool? Strange encounters at the seaside for the girls of New Lyne Electronics. | ||||||
| 16 | 8 | "Episode Eight" | Noella Smith | Debbie Horsfield | 24 April 1990 (1990-04-24) | |
| Will she or won't she? Jill has to make up her mind, while Bernie and the girls try to scupper Norma's best laid plans. | ||||||
Series 3
Broadcast Tuesday evenings on BBC1 at 9:30pm
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | 1 | "Episode One" | John Woods | Debbie Horsfield | 24 September 1991 (1991-09-24) | |
| Gutsy Queenie and the girls of New Lyne Electronics are back in the third series of the comedy drama written by Debbie Horsfield. This time the comedy is somewhat blacker as the factory and its volatile workers continue to lurch from crisis to crisis. Once again the women lead the drama. Klepto prepares to exchange factory life for that of a student at Newcastle University. Will Jill marry her young Manchester United footballer? Whatever will the eight-month-pregnant Queenie make of motherhood? Can Carol May put her marriage together? The men - whether they're husbands, lovers or bosses - are nothing but bother. | ||||||
| 18 | 2 | "Episode Two" | John Woods | Debbie Horsfield | 1 October 1991 (1991-10-01) | |
| Queenie and Rosie prepare for motherhood. But is the hospital prepared for Queenie? | ||||||
| 19 | 3 | "Episode Three" | John Woods | Debbie Horsfield | 8 October 1991 (1991-10-08) | |
| Pauline is underwhelmed by Frankie's over-enthusiastic seduction techniques. | ||||||
| 20 | 4 | "Episode Four" | Tom Cotter | Debbie Horsfield | 15 October 1991 (1991-10-15) | |
| Carol May's husband Colin switches obsessions from fish to dance in one pirouette while a handsome young stranger arrives on Queenie's doorstep. | ||||||
| 21 | 5 | "Episode Five" | Tom Cotter | Debbie Horsfield | 22 October 1991 (1991-10-22) | |
| What with one thing and another it's amazing that New Lyne produce any electronics at all. A creche is set up on the factory floor, and Klepto, back from university doing a holiday job, cheers the place up with a mural painting and discovers a hidden talent. | ||||||
| 22 | 6 | "Episode Six" | Tom Cotter | Debbie Horsfield | 29 October 1991 (1991-10-29) | |
| A night out at the working-men's club is a tonic for Pauline and gives Queenie the chance to display her talents. | ||||||
| 23 | 7 | "Episode Seven" | Alister Hallum | Debbie Horsfield | 5 November 1991 (1991-11-05) | |
| When Chunky's mate Kip persuades the girls to invest in a racehorse, Queenie finds herself in for a bumpy ride. | ||||||
| 24 | 8 | "Episode Eight" | Bren Simson | Debbie Horsfield | 12 November 1991 (1991-11-12) | |
| Spangles, sequins and fancy footwork abound as the factory workforce takes part in a local Latin-American dance competition. But amid the glitz it's decision time as Queenie faces up to her past and Pauline looks to her future. Featuring Tommy Docherty as himself. | ||||||