Is It Legal?

*Is It Legal?*
Is It Legal?
Created by	Simon Nye
Starring	Patrick Barlow; Imelda Staunton; Richard Lumsden; Kate Isitt; Jeremy Clyde; Matthew Ashforde
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	3
No. of episodes	21 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	25 minutes
Production companies	Hartswood Films; Carlton Television
Release
Original network	ITV (Series 1 & 2); Channel 4 (Series 3)
Original release	12 September 1995 –; 9 December 1998
External links
	Website

Is It Legal? is a British television sitcom set in a solicitors office in Hounslow, west London, which ran from 12 September 1995 to 9 December 1998. It was produced by Hartswood Films and was shown on ITV for Series 1-2 and Channel 4 for Series 3. It was written by Simon Nye, who also wrote other ITV sitcoms such as Men Behaving Badly and Hardware.

Cast[]

Richard Lumsden - Colin Lotus
Jeremy Clyde - Dick Spackman (Series 1-2)
Imelda Staunton - Stella Phelps
Patrick Barlow - Bob Birch
Kate Isitt - Alison
Matthew Ashforde - Darren
Nicole Arumugam - Sarah Chivers

Guest stars[]

John Thomson - Paramedic in 'Death In Hounslow'
Jono Coleman - Radio DJ in 'Hounslow FM'
Ben Miles - Tom in 'Alison Gets Laid'
Chris Langham - Mr Etherington in 'Darren's Revenge'
Alexander Armstrong - Nick in 'New Bloke'
Kate Lonergan - Mrs Beath in 'Office Party'

Characters[]

Colin Lotus[]

Lotus is the junior partner of the firm and succeeded his father once he had retired. Colin is very proud to be a solicitor and is enthusiastic about his work but unfortunately he is naive and very often makes stupid mistakes and it is usually down to Bob to sort out the mess he has made.

He is very helpful to the rest of the firm despite the fact that they all think he is annoying and that he is very strange. He is a bachelor who only has his dog Tucker for company. He remained a bachelor despite having a one-night stand with the wife of a client who was imprisoned in 'Office Party'. In 'Glad To Be Colin' and 'New Bloke' he started a relationship with Sarah who had appeared in the previous two series as the delivery girl from Mr. Bappy, the sandwich shop that was below the office. As a result, there was tension between Colin and Bob as Bob used to have a crush on Sarah and he contemplated having a relationship with her.

Dick Spackman[]

Spackman is one of the senior partners of the firm, but his knowledge of law is limited. Dick is very arrogant and often disregards others in order to make his life more convenient. Most of his time is spent in his office drinking glasses of sherry, watching golf on the television and not doing any work. He sees his position in the firm as bringing the work in which is completed by Stella, Bob or Colin. Dick's last appearance in the series was in "Indecision." In "A Question of Pants" it was revealed that Dick had taken early retirement and therefore Stella became the sole senior partner of the firm.

Stella Phelps[]

Stella Phelps is the senior partner of the firm and had an ambition of being a solicitor since childhood, and always tried to succeed in being the most professional solicitor. However, the rest of the firm, especially partners Colin and Dick, hold her back because of their inept attitude towards law and the legal profession.

Bob Birch[]

Bob is the office manager of Lotus, Spackman & Phelps, and is, aside from Stella, probably the most competent employee of the firm. A very dedicated worker, Bob tends toward bossiness and is a bit of a prude, which tends to grate on many of his co-workers. He fell in love with Sarah, a worker at the sandwich shop - 'Mr. Bappy' - which is located in the same building as the firm. Bob pursued her—despite her apparent lack of interest and his allergy to bread products, which eventually led to the dissolution of his marriage and a drawer full of odd-flavoured baps. During the third series, he and Stella became a couple.

Alison[]

Alison is the sexy secretary who has a job at the firm only because her estate agent boyfriend sends them a lot of clients looking for conveyancing work to be done. She is constantly bored and likes to annoy the other members of the firm, particularly Bob, because of his crush on Sarah.

Darren[]

Darren is the firm's office assistant and general jack-of-all-trades. Generally seen as incompetent at his job, but remains on good terms with Bob and Colin despite Stella's obvious dislike of him. His object of affection is Alison.

Episodes[]

Filming locations[]

Interior shots were filmed at Teddington Studios in south-west London

Exterior shots were filmed in and around Staines and Walton-on-Thames.

Awards[]

It won the British Comedy Award for 'Best ITV Sitcom' in 1995.

DVD releases[]

All three series of Is It Legal? were released on DVD by Network between September 2010 and March 2011.

DVD	Release date
The Complete Series 1	13 September 2010
The Complete Series 2	17 January 2011
The Complete Series 3	21 March 2011
The Complete Series 1 to 3 Box Set	9 July 2018