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Bread
1986 - 1991 7.1 (23 votes) 7 Seasons
Genres
Comedy
Networks
BBC One
Created By
Carla Lane

Bread

Overview

Bread is a British television sitcom, written by Carla Lane, produced by the BBC and screened on BBC1 from 1 May 1986 to 3 November 1991. The series focused on the devoutly-Catholic and extended Boswell family of Liverpool, in the district of Dingle, led by its matriarch Nellie through a number of ups and downs as they tried to make their way through life in Thatcher's Britain with no visible means of support. The street shown at the start of each programme is Elswick Street. A family called Boswell had also featured in Lane's earlier sitcom The Liver Birds and Lane admitted in interviews that the two families were probably related. Nellie's feckless and estranged husband, Freddie, left her for another woman known as 'Lilo Lill'. Her children Joey, Jack, Adrian, Aveline and Billy continued to live in the family home in Kelsall Street and contributed money to the central family fund, largely through benefit fraud and the sale of stolen goods.

Top Cast

Jean Boht
Jean Boht

Nellie Boswell

Bryan Murray
Bryan Murray

Shifty Boswell

Graham Bickley

Joey Boswell

Nick Conway

Billy Boswell

Jonathon Morris
Jonathon Morris

Adrian Boswell

Deborah Grant
Deborah Grant

Leonora Campbell

Kenneth Waller
Kenneth Waller

Grandad

Melanie Hill
Melanie Hill

Aveline Boswell

Seasons

Season 3 (1987)

No overview available.

13 episodes

Episodes
Episode 1: Episode 1
1987-09-06

Aveline has been mugged and the Boswell boys make a mass protest at the police station. Billy, meanwhile, has to break the news to his mother that his baby is to be christened in a Protestant church!

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 2: Episode 2
1987-09-13

Joey suspects that he's found his dog that went missing some years back, and Grandad proves to be as shrewd in negotiation as any of them.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 3: Episode 3
1987-09-20

Freddie loses a valuable ring at a party. Jack, who found it and tried to pawn it, is filled with remorse. Meanwhile, Adrian has gone through a personality change and insists on being called Jimmy!

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 4: Episode 4
1987-09-27

Lilo Lill pays a visit to the Boswell home and indulges in an all out war with Nellie on the doorstep. Roxy has returned into Joey's life and Adrian buys an enormous statue.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 5: Episode 5
1987-10-04

Aveline is taken to hospital and the family gather to comfort her. Joey finds out that Roxy is married.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 6: Episode 6
1987-10-11

Joey is forced to confront Roxy's husband, with unusual results, and Aveline decides to give up her modelling career.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 7: Episode 7
1987-10-18

Freddie has been arrested for running off with his dust cart after getting the sack, and Grandad has been taken to hospital after wandering off on his own.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 8: Episode 8
1987-10-25

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 9: Episode 9
1987-11-01

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 10: Episode 10
1987-11-08

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 11: Episode 11
1987-11-15

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 12: Episode 12
1987-11-22

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 13: Episode 13
1987-11-29

Runtime: 30 min
Season 4 (1988)

No overview available.

14 episodes

Episodes
Episode 1: Episode 1
1988-11-20

Jack has left home to go to America for a while and Nellie is missing him greatly. Cousin Shifty is coming out of prison and heading for the Boswell home, and Aveline is engaged to a protestant vicar who none of the family have met.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 2: Episode 2
1988-11-27

Aveline brings Oswald home and he finds a family in chaos when they all show him their true colours. Adrian is accepted as a male model after a less than impressive interview and Shifty is back to his old ways.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 3: Episode 3
1988-10-02

Freddie's visit to the doctor has left him unsure of his future, but only Joey notices that his father is suffering from a serious heart complaint. Celia Higgins arrives in the street but finds getting access to her new home a challenge thanks to the Boswell's fleet of battered vehicles.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 4: Episode 4
1988-10-09

Yizzel's mate involves Shifty in an insurance job on his car but forgets that he didn't have an MOT certificate. Meanwhile, Shifty's romance with Martina continues and Celia starts to bond with Nellie.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 5: Episode 5
1988-10-16

Billy and Adrian both leave home and Nellie decides to teach them a lesson by delivering their belongings to them personally. They both realise that the grass is not so green on the other side and return home, while Shifty appears to be heading in the opposite direction.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 6: Episode 6
1988-10-23

Nellie advises the family against fussing over their dad, but she knows that she's wasting her breath. Shifty attempts to move in with Martina but finds it impossible to leave Grandad on his own. Meanwhile, Adrian's joy at publication of his poems is short-lived when he is nearly arrested.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 7: Episode 7
1988-10-30

Joey gives Freddie an ultimatum - Lilo Lill or his mum. Linda McCartney opens an Animal Rescue Centre and, while getting her autograph, Billy invites her round for tea if she's ever "passing". She does - and an unwitting Nellie tells her all her troubles.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 8: Episode 8
1988-11-06

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 9: Episode 9
1988-11-13

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 10: Episode 10
1988-11-20

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 11: Episode 11
1988-11-27

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 12: Episode 12
1988-12-04

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 13: Episode 13
1988-12-11

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 14: Christmas with the Boswells
1988-12-25

In this Christmas Special the Boswells holiday in Rome and find their time is filled with happy memories, and new or renewed relationships.

Runtime: 30 min
Season 5 (1989)

No overview available.

14 episodes

Episodes
Episode 1: Episode 501
1989-09-10

Adrian becomes a hero by accident and, despite warnings, starts to embellish his role in the proceedings. Billy is troubled by his forthcoming divorce, Joey gets a worrying letter from the Inland Revenue and Aveline has a check up after failing to become pregnant.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 2: Episode 502
1989-09-17

Joey visits the taxman to plead his case but his words fall on deaf ears, Aveline suggests to Oswald that he should have a sperm count and Billy attends court to get his divorce. But all troubles are briefly forgotten when the family go to the airport to meet Jack who has returned home from America.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 3: Episode 503
1989-09-24

Jack soon gets back into the swing of buying and selling but the piano he buys causes more trouble than it is worth. Joey tells his mother about his debt and the family agree to pull together to help him. Meanwhile, Aveline is making every effort to get pregnant and creating problems for Oswald.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 4: Episode 504
1989-10-01

When Adrian helps Jack to recover his stolen piano, they come into conflict with Yizzel and his mate - once again. Lilo Lill has taken a job in service to be near Freddie, whilst Freddie has sold his flat in order to pay Joey's debt.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 5: Episode 505
1989-10-08

Aveline is causing concern for everybody as she continues to believe in her phantom pregnancy. Adrian is concerned that Magdalena has not replied to his letter, Billy hears that Julie has a new lover and Jack goes for a job as a handyman at the 'big house'.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 6: Episode 506
1989-10-15

Mongy, the family dog, has been accused of biting a little girl and the police are called in to investigate. Billy changes his image in order to make Julie jealous, Jack gets a bumper wage packet thanks to his eccentric boss and Oswald is being pressurized to have a fertility test.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 7: Episode 507
1989-10-22

Aveline has good news about Oswald's sperm count, Adrian finally hears from Magdalena and Joey's loyalty to the family drives a bigger wedge between him and Roxy. Meanwhile, Shifty is in trouble with Yizzel and his mate over money, so he steals their car and heads for London - again!

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 8: Episode 8
1989-10-29

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 9: Episode 9
1989-11-05

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 10: Episode 10
1989-11-12

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 11: Episode 11
1989-11-19

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 12: Episode 12
1989-11-26

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 13: Episode 13
1989-12-03

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 14: A Quiet Christmas
1989-12-25

Christmas for the Boswells brings its usual mix of hilarity, sadness and surprises.

Runtime: 30 min
Season 6 (1990)

No overview available.

11 episodes

Episodes
Episode 1: Episode 601
1990-09-09

When Leonora arrives to take up residence in Billy's former home, Jack and Adrian are besotted but Billy is horrified as Julie neglected to tell him she was moving. Shifty returns full of apologies and gets a final chance from the family. To add to an eventful 24 hours, their pet dog Mongi has died and the family buries its ashes - then Aveline is rushed to hospital as she is about to give birth.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 2: Episode 602
1990-09-16

A double celebration for the Boswells when Aveline brings her baby home in style and Leonora offers Adrian a job as her chauffeur - even though it is Jack she is interested in. Lilo Lill returns to put another spanner in the Boswell works, just as Joey sets his dad up in business.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 3: Episode 603
1990-09-23

To everyone's amazement Shifty has got a job as a bus driver, while Jack and Leonora's relationship is growing ever stronger. Lilo Lill confides in Freddie that she is suffering an incurable illness and hasn't got long to live!

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 4: Episode 604
1990-09-30

Shifty tries to convince Martina that he has changed but ends up taking his passengers on an unexpected trip. Adrian and Jack are both competing for Leonora's affections.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 5: Episode 605
1990-10-07

Billy's van has been broken in to and Joey's new shop has been vandalized - the culprits are unknown. Aveline has decided to leave Oswald and return home to her mother, with her baby. The sibling rivalry over Leonora comes to a head when Jack tells Adrian that he has slept with her.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 6: Episode 606
1990-10-14

Billy's constant complaint of being neglected forces him to make an important decision. Nellie makes plans to go away with Derek, Shifty pledges his love to Martina and Lilo Lill plans a candlelit supper for Freddie.

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 7: Episode 607
1990-10-21

Nellie is away with her "friend" and finding the experience very uncomfortable; meanwhile, the family try to manage without her. Her absence becomes more acute when Grandad has a fall and breaks his leg!

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 8: Episode 8
1990-10-21

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 9: Episode 9
1990-10-28

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 10: Episode 10
1990-11-04

Runtime: 30 min
Episode 11: Another Christmas with the Boswells
1990-12-25

Mrs Boswell finds that little things can cause enormous problems when all should be peace and tranquility.

Runtime: 30 min

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