Dear John is a British sitcom, written by John Sullivan. Two series and a special were broadcast in 1986 and 1987. The sitcom's title refers to "Dear John" letters, usually written by women to their partners as a means of ending a relationship. John discovers in the opening episode that his wife is leaving him for a friend. He is kicked out of his home, while still being expected to pay the mortgage, and forced to find lodgings. In desperation, he joins the 1-2-1 Singles Club and meets other people (whom one could describe as misfits), who have fared equally unfortunately in their romantic lives. The outside shots of houses were filmed in Melthorne Drive, South Ruislip. In 1988, an American adaptation of Dear John was produced by Paramount for the NBC network, starring Judd Hirsch. That series lasted for four seasons. Characters Major characters John Lacey (Ralph Bates) — a secondary-school teacher whose wife leaves him for his best friend, Mike. He is thrown out of his home but has to continue paying the mortgage on it, while living in a bedsit. Although John's wife is manipulative and John can be considered the wronged party, he admits in retrospect that he may have neglected her emotionally. He feels cut off from his son, to whom he has access only on Sundays. They end up at the zoo because it's the only place open; his son saying they've seen one penguin so many times that the first time they came "he was an egg". John's problems come from an inability, or unwillingness, to confront people or from being "too nice" – giving rise to situations that can rebound in unexpected ways. Kate (Belinda Lang) — an outwardly frigid woman with three failed marriages. She continually spars with Kirk, whose growing lust for her becomes a running theme. At one point, she shares a bed with John, although it is suggested that nothing more than sleeping happened, as they were both drunk at the time. Eventually, she goes to Greece and finds a boyfriend (much to Kirk's dismay), only to make a surprise reappearance in the show's final episode. Ralph Dring (Peter Denyer) — a shy, timid and rather glum man with absolutely no image at all; whose only real friend is a terrapin named Terry and who married a Polish woman called Blomlika. She was a defector who (as Ralph