138 The Kids From 47A

First  watched :  Summer   1973

I  don't  think  I  saw much  of  this;   I  seem to  recall  tuning  in  to  see  if  it  was  like  The  Tomorrow  People  when  it  could  hardly  have  been  further  removed  from  sci-fi  camp. The  Kids  From  47A  introduced  me  to  the  concept  of  "latch  key  kids"  who  didn't  have  any  parents  to  open  the  door  when  they  came  home  from  school. The  show  has  basically  the  same  premise  as  the  sixties  film  Our  Mother's  House  with  the  youngsters  trying  to  stay  together  after  widowed  mum  goes  to  hospital. By  the  start  of  the  second  series  she's  died. Oldest  sister  Jess  who's  just  started  work  has  to  balance  her  career  aspirations with  looking  after  her  younger  siblings. The  series  mixed  socially  realistic  situations with  broad  comedy  and  I  wouldn't  mind  betting  Shameless  creator  Paul  Abbott  caught  the  odd  episode,

Despite  the  writing  team  including  future  TV  gods, Phil  Redmond  and  Lynda  La  Plante, the  show  , which  ran  from  1973  to  1975  , seems  little  celebrated  today.