Brits who still remember the old sitcom The Liver Birds were left disheartened after discovering that the beloved show has been wiped from existence.
The long-running sitcom, which followed the exploits of flatmates Dawn and Beryl in the heart of Liverpool, first arrived on our screens back in 1969.
It didn’t take long before the TV show became a huge hit with fans up and down the country, which ran for an impressive 27 years before it was axed in 1996.
Now, more than 28 years after it was pulled from the airwaves, viewers have discovered that the first series of TV show has been deleted.
A discussion on revealed the sad news that certain episodes of the sitcom are now lost forever. One poster lamented: “Remember The Liver Birds? Apparently Series 1 was wiped and lost forever. Is this true?”
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The Liver Birds hit our screens in 1969 (Image: IMDB)
Sadly, one person confirmed: “Yes, before the digital age, many episodes were taped over to save costs. Classics like Dad’s Army, Doctor Who and others have missing episodes.”
Another pointed out: “TV Brain tells me there are four episodes missing. I suspect the rest made it to DVD.” A third sadly added: “From what I’ve seen, series 1 is not available anywhere.”
The Liver Birds was a trailblazing sitcom created by Liverpool housewives Carla Lane and Myra Taylor, who had no previous experience with working on scripts for TV. The show was based on their own lives and followed the story of two young women sharing a flat in Liverpool’s Huskisson Street.
It was set during a time when women in Britain were first experiencing financial and sexual freedom. This meant the series ended up resonating with working class women who were also forging a life for themselves during the 60s and 70s.
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The first series of The Liver Birds is no longer available to watch (Image: BBC)
During its tenure, the central two characters in the cast changed several times, but the women always faced the same boy problems and career issues with humour.
In the first season Beryl (played by Polly James) and Dawn (Pauline Collins) were flatmates, before the prim and proper Dawn got swapped out for similarly naive Sandra (Nerys Hughes) in series two.
When Beryl eventually left the city to marry a Londoner at the end of the fourth season, she was replaced by the brash and eccentrically-dressed Carol (Elizabeth Estensen).
The show also featured standout performances from Mollie Sugden, later famous as Mrs. Slocombe in Are You Being Served?, and Jonathan Lynn, who went on to co-create Yes, Minister.
In 1996, The Liver Birds brought Beryl and Sandra back for a short-lived revival. The updated series explored their lives as older women dealing with new challenges, but it struggled to recapture the magic of the original run.