Ain't Misbehavin'  aired for two seasons on the BBC in 1994 and 1995. It starred 
Peter Davison as Clive Quigley. Clive is the proprietor of an office supplies firm, who lives a calm, orderly life, secure in the knowledge of the strength of his marriage to Melissa. 

 
That all changes when he's contacted by Sonia Drysdale. Sonia has a private detective following her husband, Dave, and she knows he's having an affair with Clive's wife. 

 
All isn't a bed of roses for Melissa and Dave, however. Melissa is too guilty about having an affair to actually consumate the relationship. She spends their trysts in the bathroom being sick. Dave spends them waiting for her to make up her mind. 

 
Clive and Sonia set out to make sure there are thorns in the elicit lovers' bed of roses. 

 
Added to the mix is Clive's secretary, Ramona Wales. She'd like to do more than Clive's books, and is extremely suspicious of Sonia. 

 
The result is six enjoyable episodes of anti-romantic intrigue. The series begins on a rather flat note. Episode one presents Clive as a bit too much of a wimp. He faints whenever he's upset and seems completely at the mercy of his mother and his neurotic wife. However, things pick up quickly. After the first episode, Clive faints no more, and by the third episode, he's taking a proactive stance and holding his own against the women around him. 

 
Season One ends on a high note, as Clive and Sonia's relationship begins to warm up, and Dave and Melissa seem to have hit a stalemate in their adultery. 

 
Season Two opens with a surprise for anyone who followed Season One. Melissa has changed more than her attitude. She's played by a new actress. Along with her new blonde hair comes a new aggressiveness and Dave Drysdale is the object of her desire. Dave and Melissa's relationship inverts as she becomes the pursuer and Dave the prey. Meanwhile, Sonia's private eye, Chuck Purvis, gets an expanded role, as he shadows the lovers from picnic to hotel, to cottage. 

 
In Season Two, we meet Ramona Wales' husband, Lester, who is terribly jealous of Clive, perhaps because Ramona keeps telling him how attractive she finds her boss. Ramona's passes at Clive become more overt, and he's faced with dodging Ramona while he decides what he's going to do about Sonia. 

 
The last three episodes of Season Two blend into a single story, as Dave and Melissa take off for Sonia's cottage, with Clive and Sonia not far behind. They manage to throw a spanner in the adulterous lovers' plans, but get themselves in a good deal of hot water along the way. 

 
Season Two has its strengths and weaknesses. In the plus column is the disappearance of the laugh track, which marred many of the better comic moments in Season One. The new Melissa is a great improvement. Karen Drury plays a woman you can believe might be having an affair, unlike her predeceasor, Leslie Manville. In the minus column, is the writing, which often seems to lead up to a big comic moment then miss it entirely. 

Acknowledgements: 
I'd like to thank Chris Sweitzer (http://www.gate.net/~talavera/) for the images in these pages. 
Ain't Misbehavin' and all characters within are property of the BBC, and used here only for purposes of review. 

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