Bert and Maisy (1988)

A seven-part dramedy series about the about the precarious dignity of old age in New Zealand 

Regular Cast

Bert - Grant Tilly
Maisy - Alice Fraser
Maude - Glenis Lesestam
Shaona - Katherine Beasley
Ted - Micheal Haigh
Sam - Antony Groser
Tommy - Ken Blackburn

1) We’re too old to go flatting! (28/7/1988)
Summer-time in Windsor and Dad’s old place looks lovely. For Bert and Maisy, life couldn’t be sweeter. So why would they want to go and change it?
Director: David Copeland
Producer: Steve La Hood
Writer: Robert Lord

2) Have we done the Right Thing> (4/8/1988)
Goodbye to Dad's Old Place. Bert gets hot under the collar, Maude tightens the Noose... but Maisy finds the key.
Producer: Steve La Hood
Writer: Robert Lord
Director: Ginette McDonald 

3) Whatever happened to my tomatoes? (11/8/1988)
Big changes at Dad’s old place. Bert and Maisy suspect vandals.
Producer: Steve La Hood
Writer: Robert Lord
Director: Ginette McDonald 

4) She’s funny at the moment — they both are, Christmas. (18/8/1988)
Sad memories make Christmas a hard time for Bert and Maisy. So Bert tries to liven things up.
Producer: Steve La Hood
Writer: Robert Lord
Director: Ginette McDonald 

5) You couldn’t have better weather. (25/8/1988
Bert has a grand plan for the future, but Peter knows Maisy has another one.
Producer: Steve La Hood
Writer: Robert Lord
Director: Ginette McDonald 

6) You told my sister and you didn’t tell me! (1/0/988)
Bert’s in the dogbox. His investment has gone down the drain. Has he lost Maisy too?
Producer: Steve La Hood
Writer: Robert Lord
Director: Ginette McDonald

7) I could get used to it. (8/9/1988) Final
Are all Bert and Maisy’s dreams demolished? It seems that nothing else could go wrong. And then the dust settles ...
Producer: Steve La Hood
Writer: Robert Lord
Director: Ginette McDonald

Elderly focus

Older folk get centre stage in Television New Zealand’s latest drama offering, “Bert and Maisy,” and this has allowed producer Steve La Hood to put together one of the “most experienced and most recognised casts” ever assembled for a local show.

The seven-part series, now in production at Avalon, is about the precarious dignity of old age in New Zealand and most of the key characters are in their sixties. It has been adapted for television from his play “Bert and Maisy” by the writer, Robert Lord.

Grant Tilly and Alice Fraser take the title roles of Bert and Maisy — roles they first made their own in the Lord stage play performed at Wellington’s Circa Theatre in 1986. “Bert and Maisy” is set in a fictional country town called Windsor and tells the story of Bert and Maisy Roach, who are persuaded they can no longer maintain the big, old home they live in. They sell to their younger in-laws and move in with Maisy’s sister, Maude.

The tension that creates begins to drive them crazy and apart. At the same time, they learn a lot about themselves, their capabilities and their relationship. La Hood describes the series as life affirming. “It empowers old folk to believe in themselves and not take all the crap from young folk that they’re over the hill. ‘Bert and Maisy’s’ entertaining, but with some reason for being there,” he says.