One Foot in the Grave

The complete soundtracks of the first three series of the award-winning sitcom, plus two Christmas Specials

Television’s favourite grumpy old man, Victor Meldrew, railed against the inanities and injustices of modern life for over a decade. His darkly comic predicaments kept One Foot in the Grave fans entertained for six series and seven Specials, and his incredulous catchphrase ‘I don’t believe it!’ became part of the national lexicon.

Now you can follow Victor’s misfortunes from the very beginning, as the cranky curmudgeon is forced into early retirement from his job as a security guard (having been replaced by ‘a box’). Struggling to adjust to having time on his hands, he sets out to make himself useful, doing odd jobs and taking up new hobbies. But events constantly conspire against him, magnifying everyday mundanities into major dramas...

These three series see Victor and his long-suffering wife, Margaret, caught up in all manner of ludicrous situations, from dealing with rogue animals (including a swarm of bees, a dead cat, an escaped snake and a wandering tortoise) to spending a disastrous weekend at their old friends’ seaside B&B, being trapped in a Bank Holiday traffic jam and battling to rid their home of an evil curse. In the Christmas Specials ‘Who’s Listening?’ and ‘The Man in the Long Black Coat’, Victor is besieged by 263 garden gnomes and finds himself in possession of a huge mound of radioactive horse manure.

Written and created by David Renwick, this acclaimed sitcom stars Richard Wilson as Victor and Annette Crosbie as Margaret, with Doreen Mantle as Mrs Warboys, Angus Deayton and Janine Duvitski as Patrick and Pippa Trench, and guest appearances from Jan Ravens and Eric Idle.

Production credits
Created and written by David Renwick
Theme song written and performed by Eric Idle
Incidental music by Ed Welch
Produced and directed by Susan Belbin

Cast
Victor Meldrew – Richard Wilson
Margaret Meldrew – Annette Crosbie
Mrs Warboys – Doreen Mantle
Patrick Trench – Angus Deayton
Pippa Trench – Janine Duvitski
Nick Swainey – Owen Brenman

Guest starring Jan Ravens and Eric Idle

Episode guide

First broadcast on BBC One on the following dates:

Series 1 (4 January-8 February 1990)
Alive and Buried
The Big Sleep
The Valley of Fear
I’ll Retire to Bedlam
The Eternal Quadrangle
The Return of the Speckled Band

Series 2 (4 October – 15 November 1990)
In Luton Airport No-One Can Hear You Scream
We Have Put Her Living in the Tomb
Dramatic Fever
Who Will Buy?
Love and Death
Timeless Time

Christmas Special: Who’s Listening (27 December 1990)

Christmas Special: The Man in the Long Black Coat (30 December 1991)

Series 3 (2 February – 8 March 1992)
Monday Morning Will Be Fine
Dreamland
The Broken Reflection
The Beast in the Cage
Beware the Trickster on the Roof
The Worst Horror of All

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