This amusing Thames Television sitcom starred Simon Callow and Brenda Blethyn as Tom Chance and Alison Little, a young courting couple who are brought together by a series of strange coincidences. Tom is frequently a member of unlikely circumstances. In the first episode, he is arrested by the police who suspect him of trying to break into a car when all he was doing was trying to force open the door for a young woman who had lost her car keys. Alison is a librarian who underneath her shy exterior is a sultry sex pot.
The two meet by chance in the same hotel where Tom has arranged to meet a blind date and Alison has arranged to meet a relative she hasn't seen since childhood. Typical sitcom plot line, wouldn't you say?
Tom and Alison soon forge a great friendship which soon gives rise to a serious relationship. Eventually, in the final episode, Tom and Alison get married.
Written by Richard Fegen & Andrew Norris ( later to script the superior 'The Brittas Empire' for the BBC ), 'Chance In A Million' is today probably best remembered for bringing then unknowns Simon Callow and Brenda Blethyn to a mass audience. Simon Callow was born to play the eccentric Tom and Brenda Blethyn's performance of the squeaky voiced but sexy Alison was equally as fine. There's a very funny scene in one episode where Alison, dressed for her hen night, goes to make a phone call at a telephone box where outside are a group of prostitutes hanging about, at which point the police arrive and arrest them all, including Alison, under the impression that she is a prostitute as well!
So, while not exactly a classic, 'Chance In A Million' was worth watching for the talents of Callow and Blethyn. In 2010, all three series were given a welcome DVD release by Revelation Films, which as a special feature includes the unbroadcast pilot episode.
Look out. by the way, for a guest appearance in the final episode from a fresh faced Stephen Fry as Reverend Hoblyn
The two meet by chance in the same hotel where Tom has arranged to meet a blind date and Alison has arranged to meet a relative she hasn't seen since childhood. Typical sitcom plot line, wouldn't you say?
Tom and Alison soon forge a great friendship which soon gives rise to a serious relationship. Eventually, in the final episode, Tom and Alison get married.
Written by Richard Fegen & Andrew Norris ( later to script the superior 'The Brittas Empire' for the BBC ), 'Chance In A Million' is today probably best remembered for bringing then unknowns Simon Callow and Brenda Blethyn to a mass audience. Simon Callow was born to play the eccentric Tom and Brenda Blethyn's performance of the squeaky voiced but sexy Alison was equally as fine. There's a very funny scene in one episode where Alison, dressed for her hen night, goes to make a phone call at a telephone box where outside are a group of prostitutes hanging about, at which point the police arrive and arrest them all, including Alison, under the impression that she is a prostitute as well!
So, while not exactly a classic, 'Chance In A Million' was worth watching for the talents of Callow and Blethyn. In 2010, all three series were given a welcome DVD release by Revelation Films, which as a special feature includes the unbroadcast pilot episode.
Look out. by the way, for a guest appearance in the final episode from a fresh faced Stephen Fry as Reverend Hoblyn