Ladies in Charge (1986)

Season 1

This touching drama series charts the fortunes of three young women who, having returned from their voluntary service as ambulance drivers during the First World War, decide to set up a 'universal aunts' agency to help those less fortunate than themselves. This set comprises the complete series alongside the pilot episode, scripted by Upstairs, Downstairs' Alfred Shaughnessy and screened in 1985 as a drama in ITV's Storyboard anthology. Penned by a largely female team that includes novelist Fay Weldon, Ladies in Charge stars Carol Royle, Julia Hills and Julia Swift as the ladies of benevolent intent; guests include Imelda Staunton, Julian Glover, Michael Gough, Richard Vernon and, in one of his earliest television roles, Hugh Grant.