Shine on Harvey Moon

Shine on Harvey Moon
Created byLaurence Marks
Maurice Gran
StarringSuzanne Bertish
Kenneth Cranham
Leonard Fenton
Nicky Henson
Nigel Planer
Pauline Quirke
Linda Robson
Colin Salmon
Elizabeth Spriggs
Maggie Steed
Fiona Victory
Lee Whitlock
Derek Benfield[1]
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series5
No. of episodes41 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producerAllan McKeown
ProducersCentral Television
(1982–1985)
Meridian Broadcasting
(1995)
WitzEnd Productions
(1982–1985, 1995)
Running time
  • 30 minutes (series 1 & 5)
  • 60 minutes (series 2 – 4)
Original release
NetworkITV
Release8 January 1982 (1982-01-08) –
18 August 1995 (1995-08-18)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Shine on, Harvey Moon is a British television series made by WitzEnd Productions and Central Television for ITV from 8 January 1982 to 23 August 1985 and briefly revived in 1995 by Meridian Broadcasting.

This generally light-hearted series was created by comedy writers Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran. The series is set in the East End of London shortly after the Second World War. On being demobbed, RAF serviceman Harvey Moon, played by Kenneth Cranham, returns home and finds his family involved in various troubles. His wife Rita, played by Maggie Steed, is not interested in resuming their relationship and works in a seedy nightclub frequented by American servicemen. He becomes involved with the Labour Party and campaigns against the local Hackney branch of the far right Union Movement, after his mother expresses support for the UM, albeit briefly.

The name of the series is a wordplay on the title of the popular 1908 song "Shine On, Harvest Moon!". The first series was commissioned and recorded by ATV, (the forerunner to Central Television), at their Elstree studios, with the second series recorded in the same studios under the ownership of Central Television and with the remaining series filmed at Central's new facilities in Nottingham.

  1. ^ "Shine on Harvey Moon (1982)".