Last Tango in Halifax

Did You Know?

• In October 2013, Diane Keaton acquired the rights to remake the series for HBO.
• The series was also set to be remade for French television by BBC Worldwide France and NEWEN.
• Sally Wainwright described the series as 'the most personal thing I've ever written'.

Synopsis

Celia Dawson and Alan Buttershaw, both widowed and in their seventies, live in Yorkshire. They first felt a spark in the 1950s but never acted on it, and Celia moved away with her parents. Decades later, their grandchildren persuaded them to join Facebook, leading to a reunion. Alan has loved Celia since he was sixteen, while Celia was unhappily married to a man she came to despise and felt unfulfilled. Reunited, they find their passion for each other as strong as ever. Their romance unfolds alongside the lives of their grown daughters. Alan’s daughter Gillian, a widowed farm worker, worries about managing without her father’s help. Celia’s daughter Caroline, an Oxford-educated head of a private school, struggles with depression and divorce, but her mother’s unconventional love gives her the courage to accept her own identity.

Production

The series is based on lead writer Sally Wainwright's personal experiences. Her mother, Dorothy, lost contact with a childhood friend, Alec Walker, when she was 15, but they reconnected on Friends Reunited 60 years later and married within six months. Wainwright's colleague Nicola Shindler suggested turning the story into a television series and became executive producer. Through Caroline, the series explores LGBT themes. Celia struggles with her daughter entering a same-sex relationship and later coming out. Anne Reid believed her character might show and change homophobic viewers. In series three, Celia refuses to attend Caroline's wedding to her girlfriend. Wainwright felt killing off Caroline's partner, Kate, would propel the drama, though she was conflicted over this decision and wrote two versions of the fourth episode; the unaired one would have seen Kate survive. Derek Jacobi and Anne Reid were cast as the leads.

Broadcast audiences

The series premiered to overnight ratings of 6.160 million viewers, 25.6% of the available audience, as the highest rated show at 9 pm on 20 November. The first series finale achieved an overnight series high of 6.290 million viewers, 26.6% of the available audience. Consolidated figures showed the premiere reached 7.304 million viewers and the finale 7.480 million. The overall series average was 7.316 million viewers. The programme was the highest rated new mid-week television drama of 2012. In September 2013, the series began airing on PBS in the United States.

Critical reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, Series 1 holds a 94% score based on 17 reviews, Series 2 and 3 each hold 100% based on 6 and 7 reviews respectively, and Series 5 holds 86% based on 7 reviews. Jane Shilling of The Daily Telegraph called the series a triumph against TV's ageism, praising Jacobi and Reid's performances. Lucy Harmer of Age UK endorsed the portrayal of two normal, healthy, and sane older characters. Caroline Frost of The Huffington Post found the series reminiscent of Alan Bennett's dialogue and sensibility. Andrew Anthony of The Guardian had his low expectations confounded, praising the dialogue and central performances. Jane Simon of the Daily Mirror noted a mid-series dip but praised the finale and the lead quartet. AfterEllen's Jill Guccini called it some of the finest television she had seen.