Welcome to SciFiOne . literature
butterfly1

Butterflies

Quick Reference Episode Guide by John T Burt 1997
Episode Guides menu
SciFiOne main menu
Updated May 2001		 butterfly2

Introduction:
"Butterflies" is a gentle seriocomic half-hour British sitcom about family, maturity, and a mid-life crisis, in other words- life. On my list, the shows are in the order they were broadcast on KVIE, Ch 6 PBS Sacramento.

Se-Nu stands for the season and episode number in the season. Hr stands for the hours broadcast to that point. Gd is my personal entertainment rating as an ABCDF letter grade - A is best, F is worst. Episode Titles are unofficial. The Summaries were done years ago and might not be entirely accurate.

Cast:
Character Actor - Description
Ria Parkinson Wendy Craig - Intelligent but bumbling fortyish house wife who is unsatisfied with her life.
Ben Parkinson Geoffrey Palmer - Ria's husband, a reserved mild mannered butterfly collecting dentist.
Russell Parkinson Andrew Hall - Ria's and Ben's handsome oldest (?) twentyish son.
Adam Parkinson Nicholas Lyndhurst - Ria's and Ben's comical younger(?) twentyish son.
Leonard Dunn Bruce Montague - A moderately well off divorced businessman who is smitten with Ria.
Thomas Michael Ripper - Leonard's not so silent disapproving chauffer.
Ruby Jane Windsor - Ria's excentric maid.

Quick Reference Summaries: Click the episode number link to see the full summary.
Se-Nu Hr Gd Title Summary BBC Date
1-01 00.5 B When Ria Met Leonard Ria meets Leon. Russell and Ben not talking. 1978 11/10
1-02 01.0 C+ Breaking The Silence Russell and Ben talk. Leon chases Ria. 1978 11/17
1-03 01.5 B- Thinking About A Job Leon loses his driving license. Ria wants a job. 1978 11/24
1-04 02.0
How About Lunch Leon leaves a note in Ria's car but Russel finds it. 1978 12/01
1-05 02.5
The Lovers Russel and Ria try to stop a statue's sale to the US. 1978 12/08
1-06 03.0 A- He'll Have To Go Ria wants everything perfect. Adam curls his hair. Leon and Ria have lunch. 1978 12/15
Se-Nu Hr Gd Title Summary BBC Date
2-07 03.5 B+ Leaving Annie leaves Adam. Adam leaves. Ria meets Leon jogging. 1979 10/29
2-08 04.0 C+ Fox Hunting Ria protests fox hunting. The boys make lunch! 1979 11/05
2-09 04.5 B- Worrying Ben is worried about death. Ria tries doing exercises. 1979 11/12
2-10 05.0 B+ A Dog's Life Ria's tense and can't cope. The boys and a neighbor don't get along. 1979 11/19
2-11 05.5 A Keeping Fit Musical cars. Leon is sick. The boys are caught necking in the parlor. 1979 11/26
2-12 06.0 A An Attractive Visitor Ben's beautiful holiday friend Susanna visits. 1979 12/03
2-13 06.5 C Lunch With Leonard Leon's wife is returning. Ria and Leon lunch at his flat. Everyone is sad. 1979 12/10
Se-Nu Hr Gd Title Summary BBC Date
2-14 07
Christmas With The Parkinsons Christmas special not shown here. Ria does her best with Christmas. 1979 12/22
Se-Nu Hr Gd Title Summary BBC Date
3-15 07.5 A An Empty Cage Adam gets a job driving trucks. Leon's wife has left. 1980 09/09
3-16 08 A Ruby's Crisis One year has passed. Adam driving trucks. Ria tells Leon to "Go Away." 1980 09/16
3-17 08.5 A Pregnancy Russell's girlfriend is pregnant. Leon gets his license back. 1980 09/23
3-18 09 B Problems, Problems Adam is fired. Leon crashes. Ben is ill? Russell is unhappy. Ria is worried. 1980 09/30
3-19 09.5 B+ Happy Birthday Ria Ria's birthday in London with Leon and Ben. Adam crashes into the neighbor. 1980 10/07
3-20 10 B+ Gimme Shelter The boys build a fallout shelter. Ria's old school pal plays around. 1980 10/14
3-21 10.5 A Parting Ben goes to a convention. Leon goes to NY. Did Ria and Leon finally do it? 1980 10/21
Se-Nu Hr Gd Title Summary BBC Date
4-22 11 A+ Back From New York Leon is back from NY. Ria looses his letter. 1983 09/07
4-23 11.5 A- Amanda Ben's old friend Amanda visits. Leon and Ria have troubles. 1983 09/14
4-24 12 B+ Pot Ben and Ria find pot when they return from Paris. Everyone is very frustrated. 1983 09/21
4-25 12.5 B- Cleaning Windows The boys consider buying a window washing business. Ben and Ria start to talk. 1983 09/28
4-26 13 B Calling Russell's girl only wanted a baby. Leon mean to Ria. Ben takes a call from Leon. 1983 10/05
4-27 13.5 A- Breaking Up The boys start making window rounds. Ria and Leon break up. Ben sees Leon and Ria. 1983 10/12
4-28 14 B- Loose Ends The end. 1983 10/19

Theme Music:
The Butterflies theme music is an old Dolly Parton number titled Love Is Like A Butterfly. It was recorded specially for the series by Clare Torry, with a band conducted by the legendary British TV composer Ronnie Hazlehurst.

The Dolly Parton song appeared on:

  • Love Is Like A Butterfly
  • The Best Of Dolly Parton
  • Dolly Parton Collector's Series
  • Super Hits
  • The Essential Dolly Parton Volume 2
I assume the lyrics are copyrighted so I will not post them. But I have them and can email them to you if you need them.

Music In The Park:
The music in some of the Ria and Leonard park scenes is Albinoni's Adagio for Strings in G minor.

Adam's Music:
The avant-garde music to which Adam is listening in the series 2 episode "Leaving" is a track called "Chance Meeting" from the 1972 self-titled album by Roxy Music. -- Contributed by Aron Hsiao

Footnotes
One of the interesting things about maintaining a TV related web site is the email I get. I get more about Butterflies than any other show.

In November of 1999 I was contacted by a producer who needed to know in which episode a specific cooking disaster occured. Unfortunatly, I didn't know. In December I was contacted by a reader of the Waiting for God guide saying I was missing a season. This reader pointed me to another episode guide web site in January 2000. There I looked up a lot of information I didn't have. I also emailed the owner asking if he knew the answer to the producer's question. He did and sent me the information. I sent it to the producer who emailed back that she still needed it and thanks.

The UK Episode Guide of comedy site is here.

In November of 2000 I was asked for info on the theme song, which I didn't have. In February 2001 another viewer asked for information on the song played when Ria and Leonard are in the park. I didn't have that information either but he sent the lyrics for the Dolly Parton version of the theme song. In April of 2001 another producer doing a show on Wendy Craig was able to supply the information on who performed the theme for the show and on the music in some of the park scenes.

In January 2001 a magazine researcher asked for information about the show in which Ria smokes marijuana. That I was able to supply using my notes and the UK episode guide site.

SciFiOne. Content sharing and copyrights.12/11/03 - Information.