Marriage Lines is a British television sitcom first broadcast between 1963 and 1966. The series gave Richard Briers and Prunella Scales, its lead stars, a significant boost in their careers. At first titled The Marriage Lines, the programme was written by Richard Waring, and was later adapted for radio. Cast Richard Briers as George Starling Prunella Scales as Kate Starling Edward de Souza as Miles Ronald Hines as Peter Christine Finn as Norah Diana King as Mrs Starling Geoffrey Sumner as Mr Starling Dorothy Black as Kate's mother Background When Richard Waring was writing Marriage Lines, he had Richard Briers in mind, and also worked with him on Brothers in Law. Graeme Muir, the producer of Marriage Lines, also worked on Brothers in Law. In early episodes, The Marriage Lines was subtitled A Quizzical Look at the Early Days of Married Life. Plot George and Kate Starling were a newly married couple, and the comedy came from many ordinary domestic situations. George was a junior clerk in an office and wanted the public house camaraderie of the single man in his office, while Kate got increasingly frustrated by her domestic duties. In the third series, Kate gave birth to a daughter, Helen. The last episode of the fourth series, "Goodbye George – Goodbye Kate", showed the couple going to live in Lagos, Nigeria because of George's job. This was meant to be the last episode, however a fifth series was commissioned. The Starlings returned to England as Kate was pregnant again, and gave birth in the final episode. Episodes All episodes were 25 minutes, except the fifth series, when the episodes were 30 minutes long. Many episodes are missing from the television archives. Series One (1963) "The Threshold" (16 August 1963) "Trial Separation" (23 August 1963) "The Bed" (30 August 1963) "The Parting" (6 September 1963) "Four-Part Harmony" (13 September 1963) "The Old Flame" (20 September 1963) "The Good Neighbours" (27 September 1963) "Party Mood" (4 October 1963) "The Anniversary" (11 October 1963) "The Old Place" (18 October 1963) Christmas Special (1963) Short special as part of Christmas Night with the Stars (25 December 1963, missing) Series Two (1964) Entire series not known to survive. "The Job" (22 May 1964) "The Loan" (29 May 1964) "Among Our Souvenirs" (5 June 1964) "The Move" (12 June 1964) "The Convention" (19 June 1964) "Happy Birthday" (26 June 1964) "Celebration Night" (28 June