Two Up, Two Down is a Britcom that aired on BBC1 in 1979, starring Paul Nicholas and Su Pollard.
Stan (Norman Tipton) and Sheila (Claire Faulconbridge) are a pair of strait-laced newlyweds moving into their first home together. Jimmy (Nicholas) and Flo (Pollard) are members of the alternative society, a pair of New-Age Retro Hippie squatters living out of a house that hasn't been moved into yet... which turns out to be Stan and Sheila's.
Stan and Sheila want Jimmy and Flo out of their home, but with the law dragging its feet at evicting them, Stan and Sheila decide to share the house and learn to live with their squatters, having to confront their differing lifestyles.
The series was never repeated after its initial run, has never been released on home media, and is currently not available to watch online. However, the theme tune is available to listen to on YouTube, here
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Not to be mistaken for the later BBC Sitcom, Three Up, Two Down, which aired six years after.
Two Up, Tropes Down:
- British Brevity: Only one series of six episodes was made.
- Corrupt Politician: In "Paper Tigers", Jimmy gets his bike crushed at the golf club by Councillor Foley, so in retaliation, Jimmy sets out to expose the corruption in high places.
- "Do It Yourself" Theme Tune: The series' theme was sung by Paul Nicholas in character as Jimmy.
- Feminine Women Can Cook: Sheila is a typical example, happy with being in the kitchen and content to spend a morning going through her spice rack, whereas Flo, a more unconventional woman, does nothing of the sort.
- Five-Finger Discount: Jimmy has no problem with shoplifting, seeing it as "self-sufficiency".
- Insane Troll Logic: How does Jimmy excuse his shoplifting habit? He claims it is an example of "self-sufficiency".
- Minimalist Cast: Both "The Swap" and "Pyramidiocy" featured only the four leads: Jimmy, Flo, Stan, and Sheila.
- New-Age Retro Hippie: Jimmy and Flo live a hippie lifestyle, taking a relaxed view towards how society expects them to act and gladly squatting in Stan and Sheila's house.
- No Full Name Given: We don't get to find out any of the four lead character's last names.
- Odd Couple: Stan and Sheila couldn't be any more different from Jimmy and Flo if they tried: Stan is strait-laced and holds on to conventional concepts of property, whereas Jimmy is a free-spirited Anarchist-Leninist who has no problem with squatting or shoplifting; Sheila is content with a typical life in the kitchen, while Flo is more "out there" and makes her own smocks out of "special Third World material, all hand-woven, all organic, all recycled".
- One-Word Title: Episodes four and six were "Pyramidiocy" and "Meadowlarks".
- The Pollyanna: Jimmy and Flo are relentlessly enthusiastic and good-willed, which makes it all harder for Stan and Sheila to evict them.
- Roommate Com: The series' premise is that two married couples share a house, the pair who own the house (Stan and Sheila) and their squatters (Jimmy and Flo).
- Short-Runners: The series ran for only six episodes.
- Status Quo Is God: In "I Know What You're Thinking", Stan decides that he and Sheila need to be less ordinary after seeing Hoover's telepathic display. This goes back to normal by the end of the episode, with Stan and Sheila once more becoming the reserved ones in comparison to Jimmy and Flo.
- Swapped Roles: "The Swap" revolves around Jimmy and Flo asking Stan and Sheila to try out a "life swap" with them.
- Telepathy: In "I Know What You're Thinking", a visitor from America, Hoover, shows off his telepathic powers to the four, which leads Stan to decide that he and Sheila need to stop being so ordinary all the time.
- The Thing That Would Not Leave: In the first episode, "What's Yours is Mine", Stan and Sheila move into their new home only to find Jimmy and Flo squatting in it. The former two are unable to get rid of the latter two, setting up the situation for the rest of the series.
