First Time Buyers

Another sitcom from the prolific duo of Brian Cooke and Johnnie Mortimer.

The first episode of Full House has Paul & Marsha Hatfield looking to move out of his interfering mother's house.

They have found a house they have liked but cannot afford the asking price.

At the same time, Murray McCoy and his girlfriend Diana turn up. They also like the house but cannot meet the asking price.

It just so happens that Marsha and Diana are friends who once knew each other. They propose that they buy the house together.

However Paul is a schoolteacher and is rather uptight. Murray is a bit of a slacker. He turns up in an ice cream van to move his belongings in.

It is a comedy of two mismatched men with some predictable results. The first episode has Paul establishing certain rules that Murray immediately ignores and invites people to an impromptu house warming party. There are a few laughs but it just looks rather tired.

Brian Capron used to specialise in Jack the lad type of characters in the 1980s so this was not a stretch. He became better known as a murderer in Coronation Street.

The series started in 1985 and the asking price of the house was about £40,000. About a year later there would be a housing boom and a house at that price in London would had then been a bargain.