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COLLECTION · Series · 1968

Nearest and Dearest

Nearest and Dearest is a British television sitcom that ran from 1968 to 1973. A total of 46 episodes were made, 18 in monochrome and 28 in colour. The series, produced by Granada Television for ITV, was set in Colne, Lancashire, in the North West of England. Nellie and Eli Pledge may be siblings, but their personalities are polar opposites. If not for inheritance, they would never even think of becoming business partners for five years.

Source: TMDB
* 7.5 (4)ComedyUnited Kingdom
Creators
Vince Powell
Countries
United Kingdom
Studios
ITV1 · Granada Television
Runtime
30 min/ep
Release
15/08/1968
Score
7.5 / 10 (4)
Where to watch
Loading providers…
Seasons and episodes
Season 1
Season 1
6 episodes · 1968
Episode 1. It Comes to Us All
1968-08-15 · 30 min

The sun is setting on twelve tons of pickled onions. A dynasty is dying – and who's left?

Episode 2. Lead Me to the Altar
1968-08-22 · 30 min

A little late love for Nellie – but was it worth keeping the home fires burning?

Episode 3. The Danger List
1968-08-29 · 30 min

If you go a funny colour, lie low; it's all in the mind. They can cure anything these days.

Episode 4. Take a Letter
1968-09-05 · 30 min

No synopsis

Episode 5. You Make Me Feel So Young
1968-09-12 · 30 min

The elixir of youth – an old wives' tale or a racing certainty? Well, if it worked for Stan!

Episode 6. The Wrong Side of the Sheets
1968-09-19 · 30 min

An accident of birth – but does it really matter what you are? It happens in the best families.

Season 2
Season 2
5 episodes · 1969
Episode 1. A Breach of the Peace
1969-07-08 · 30 min

Nellie arrives at the front door to meet two constables accusing her of shoplifting.

Episode 2. Wish You Were Here
1969-07-15 · 30 min

Nellie and Eli are off to the seaside on holiday, but it isn't long before familiar faces start appearing.

Episode 3. The Demon Drink
1969-07-22 · 30 min

When Eli's drunken antics prevent Nellie admission to the Women's Town Guild, she becomes determined to stop him from drinking.

Episode 4. All You Wish Yourself
1969-07-29 · 30 min

When Eli realizes that he's forgotten Nellie's birthday, he manages to plan an evening at The Starlight Club.

Episode 5. Now Is the Hour
1969-08-05 · 30 min

With the business not doing so well, Nellie decides that cuts are needed: first the horse, then Stan.

Season 3
Season 3
7 episodes · 1969
Episode 1. What Seems to Be the Trouble?
1969-10-09 · 30 min

Nellie takes Eli to the doctor, who is far more interested in Nellie's behaviour than in Eli's cough.

Episode 2. The Birds and the Bees
1969-10-16 · 30 min

Nellie and Eli agree to look after their teenage nephew Nigel, who Nellie believes it's time he learns the goings-on of the birds and the bees.

Episode 3. Get Up Them Stairs
1969-10-23 · 30 min

When Lily discovers that she and Walter aren't legally married, Nellie takes it upon herself to put matters right.

Episode 4. The Power Behind the Throne
1969-10-30 · 30 min

Eli installs an executive toilet in the factory and faces industrial action as a result.

Episode 5. Getting to Know You
1969-11-06 · 30 min

Eli plans an away weekend and Nellie wants to decorate the cellar, but an error strands the siblings together.

Episode 6. Two Pennies to Rub Together
1969-11-13 · 30 min

With growing competition, the factory faces closure, leaving Eli and Nellie penniless, starving, and staffless.

Episode 7. The Ghost of Picklers Past
1969-12-26 · 30 min

Boxing Day in the Pledge house: Lily and Walter join Nellie and Eli in a seance.

Season 4
Season 4
5 episodes · 1970
Episode 1. A Price on Your Head
1970-05-14 · 30 min

Eli isn't pleased to learn that Nellie has taken out an insurance policy on him in case of accident or death, so he takes one out on her, and the pair eagerly await an accident.

Episode 2. A Young Man's Fancy
1970-05-21 · 30 min

Eli has brought a new fur coat for his fiancée Marlene. Nellie takes an instant dislike to her and determines to prove that she is no good.

Episode 3. When You've Got to Go
1970-05-28 · 30 min

Nellie's had enough. She's reached the end of her tether and can no longer skivvy for her brother so she's decided to move out.

Episode 4. When Love Walks In
1970-06-04 · 30 min

Eli is trying to sell the business to Leonard Longbottom, but he also needs to convince Nellie to sell. Then Leonard falls for Nellie.

Episode 5. An Open-and-Shut Case
1970-06-11 · 30 min

With the workers off sick, it falls on Nellie, Eli, Lily, and Walter to keep the pickle production line going.

Season 5
Season 5
8 episodes · 1970
Episode 1. Make Yourself at Home
1970-12-17 · 30 min

When Walter and Lily's house suffers damage, Nellie and Eli must put them up.

Episode 2. Compliments of the Season
1970-12-24 · 30 min

Mother Nature scuppers Nellie's plans for a surprise Christmas lunch at a nice hotel for Eli and herself.

Episode 3. Barefaced in the Park
1971-01-14 · 30 min

A prowler has been tormenting ladies in a local park. When Walter is arrested and questioned, Nellie wants to prove his innocence.

Episode 4. A Man and a Woman
1971-01-21 · 30 min

Nellie isn't happy when the new coal man, Snatcher Snelling, becomes rather taken with a newly-styled Lily.

Episode 5. Bottoms Up
1971-01-28 · 30 min

Despite having no bartending experience, Nellie takes over running the Spread Eagle Pub for a friend.

Episode 6. X Marks the Spot
1971-02-11 · 30 min

Eli is struggling to cope with his role at the pickling factory, so he sends for a manager. The Labour Exchange sends Major Lovelace.

Episode 7. Something in the Night
1971-02-18 · 30 min

A burglar has been operating in the local area; his latest victims are Lily and Walter. Keen to protect her valuables, Nellie hides her treasured possessions.

Episode 8. Lucky for Some
1971-02-25 · 30 min

Desperate for funds, Nellie and Eli install Stan as a company director; their motive: to share in his recent windfall.

Season 6
Season 6
8 episodes · 1972
Episode 1. For Better, for Worse
1972-06-01 · 30 min

The problems of Pledge's Purer Pickles must take second place; for each of its co-owners are hearing wedding bells. But when the Pledge's enter the Matrimonial Stakes they inevitably fail to come under starter's orders.

Episode 2. A Place in the Sun
1972-06-08 · 30 min

Fourteen days' holiday in sunny Spain for 10p all in! It sounds too good to be true. And it is!

Episode 3. The Female of the Species
1972-06-15 · 30 min

A tiff in a launderette, under Nellie's gentle touch, bids fair to becoming a national crisis.

Episode 4. Worker's Playtime
1972-06-29 · 30 min

The Pledges consult an industrial efficiency expert in a bid to improve production. When the workers strike, it is left to Nellie and Eli to keep the pickles flowing.

Episode 5. The Right Spirit
1972-07-06 · 30 min

Annoyed with Eli for treating the home like a boarding house, Nellie kicks him out. The alternative living arrangements suit neither party.

Episode 6. A Question of Taste
1972-07-13 · 30 min

Can dandelion leaves picked at the time of the full moon really win for Pledge's Purer Pickles the coveted Golden Gherkin? Nellie's wonder ingredient lands her greatest rival, Arnold Guttersby, in a real pickle.

Episode 7. A Pair of Bloomers
1972-07-20 · 30 min

The long arm of the law reaches out for Eli from the distant past; but, with Nellie in court, all is set for the Law to get its knuckles rapped.

Episode 8. Episode 8

No synopsis

Season 7
Season 7
7 episodes · 1972
Episode 1. Cindernellie
1972-12-21 · 30 min

Eli gives the Christmas club money to a promoter who promises a share of the profits from the Christmas play he's producing. He promptly spends it, and when Nellie and the gang find out, they offer to take over the roles. During…

Episode 2. Good Time Girl
1972-12-28 · 30 min

When local lothario Harry Hampton demands Eli repay a loan, Eli invites him to stay with him and Nellie in lieu of payment. This leads to Nellie getting a reputation as a good-time girl.

Episode 3. The French Disconnection
1973-01-11 · 30 min

After a visit from a French restauranteur, the Pledges travel to Paris to introduce their pickles to the European market.

Episode 4. Get Out of That
1973-01-18 · 30 min

The Pledges and the Tattersalls visit a health farm but when the diet proves inadequate, the call goes out to the pickers to bring them food.

Episode 5. The One That Got Away
1973-01-24 · 30 min

Ex-POW Siegfried, who was taken in by The Pledge Household, returns and vows to help Nellie and Eli.

Episode 6. The Visit
1973-01-31 · 30 min

Pledge's Pickles is all set for a Royal visit, and Nellie goes to great pains to get The Factory and staff ready.

Episode 7. Far from the Madding Pong
1973-02-07 · 30 min

Nellie is keen to buy a second home in the middle of nowhere, Eli is more keen on his Spanish holiday, and tries to put her off.

Cast by season
Hylda Baker
Hylda Baker
Nellie Pledge
Jimmy Jewel
Jimmy Jewel
Eli Pledge
Joe Gladwin
Joe Gladwin
Stan Hardman
Bert Palmer
Bert Palmer
Bert Taylor
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Keywords
sibling relationshipnorthern englandinheritancesitcomlancashirebrother sister relationshippicklelaugh track
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