Concerned about being typecast as a woman who wrote only for women, Carla Lane centred this sitcom on the problems of a man, Leo Bannister (played by Geoffrey Palmer, who had also appeared in her series Butterflies). At the start of The Last Song. Leo, 50, is separated from his wife Alice and awaiting a divorce; the last thing on his mind is another relationship, but he has reckoned without the 24-year-old Liz, who slips under his defences and into his heart. This 'spring and autumn' relationship causes more than its fair share of problems, especially when the petulant Alice begins back-pedalling on the divorce proceedings. By the second series Liz had disappeared and the emphasis switched to Leo's interaction with his daughters Jane and Alison, and his attempts to enjoy an amicable relationship with his estranged wife.

Mark Lewisohn

Last Update: 07:01:2002