Terry Collier

Terence Daniel Terry Collier

Collier is a The Likely Lads, Whatever Happened to the
character in Likely Lads?, The Likely Lads film character
British sitcoms
The Likely Lads,
Whatever
Happened to
the Likely
Lads?, and The
Likely Lads film.
He is played by Terry Collier in Whatever Happened to the
Sunderland- Likely Lads?
born actor
First Entente Cordiale (The Likely
James Bolam. appearance Lads)

In The Likely Last

The Likely Lads (film)
appearance
Lads Terry
works with Portrayed
James Bolam
by
friend Bob
Ferris as an In-universe information
electrician at Gender Male
Ellison's Electrician (by trade), corporal
Electricals, in the British Army, car washer,
before joining Occupation hospital porter, fork lift driver,
the British taxi driver and mobile salesman
Army. During (through the series and film)
his time in the Cyril Collier (father)
Family
Army he Edith Collier (mother)
married a West Jutta Baumgarten (1969-1976;
Spouse
German divorced)
woman, Jutta Audrey Collier (sister)
Relatives
Baumgarten, Linda Collier (sister)
from whom he Nationality British
separates a few
months later. Terry's army service is not shown, nor is his
marriage (although his wife was due to appear in the episode
'End of an Era', and remains on the credits despite the scene
not being shown). Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads
begins with Terry being finally discharged from the army, and
for the duration of the series he spends most of his time
unemployed, although he takes brief short-term work as a
car washer, hospital porter, fork-lift truck driver, and finally
as a minicab driver. In The Likely Lads film, he works briefly
as a mobile salesman.

Contents
1 Early life
2 Army service and marriage
3 Personality
4 Army service ambiguity
Early life
Terry was conceived during an air raid on Newcastle upon
Tyne and born on 29 February 1944 (possibly in Hartlepool,
as mentioned in dialogue in the first episode). From an early
age Terry was seen as a disruptive threat to other children,
and teachers would often warn other children not to talk to
him for fear his disruptive influence would transfer to other
children. According to Terry during "No Hiding Place", his
mother wanted him to be a doctor. Terry showed little
aptitude in school, generally cheating his way through
exams. After leaving school at 14, Terry went to night school,
where, despite cheating at the exams, he still failed. He
eventually qualified as an electrician and began working at
Ellison's Electrical factory.

Army service and marriage

In 1966, Bob decides to sign up for the British Army. Terry,
not wanting to be away from Bob, also signs up. However,
Bob is discharged due to flat feet, whilst Terry is accepted,
to his initial horror. He is stationed for most of his time in
Cyprus, and also serves in Malta and West Germany. He also
loses contact with Bob. In November 1969, he married a
West German woman, Jutta Baumgarten. They separated in
June 1970 after West Germany defeated England in the
World Cup, before finally divorcing in 1976. Terry is
discharged from the army in 1973.

Personality
Despite being particularly proud of his working class status,
Terry is notably workshy, informing Bob in one episode that
he has 'dropped out of the rat race'. Terry often uses his
previous army service (in "the hot tropic night") to avoid
working, because of his "dodgy spine", "Burmese malaria",
and other mysterious ailments (including a never-explained
leg injury). Terry is down to earth, quick witted, po-faced and
cynical. He aggressively dislikes being referred to as 'thin' or
'slim', preferring instead to describe himself as 'wiry'. Terry
has old-fashioned views about women, seeing them
primarily as sex objects. However, these views seem to
mellow as the series goes on. Terry drinks and smokes
heavily, tempting Bob to also indulge in the two vices he is
always trying to cut down on.

Much of Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? consisted

of reminiscent nostalgia, while the film was largely made of
observations of the current status and lifestyles of the main
protagonists, and perhaps fear of the future. Terry was in
both cases largely the main catalyst behind these features of
the series. Terry is usually the character to make the apt and
sometimes ironic observations on life, often in a drunken
state, and these observations are largely the basis for the
humour and pathos of the latter parts of the series. Terry is
scornful of any habits he sees as being 'southern',
pretentious or middle class, as well as treating modern fads,
conservatism and religion with the same sarcastic scorn.

Terry has a strained friendship with Thelma, Bob's wife.

Thelma viewed Terry as the biggest threat to her and Bob's
marriage, though the two are known to have had a brief
courtship (which Thelma described as "mistreatment by
something coarse and vulgar"). As the series goes on,
Thelma's attitude towards Terry begins to mellow, as she
describes him as "honest" and "unpretentious" when a
snobbish friend of hers insults him, and she turns to him for
advice when she and Bob experience marital problems.

Terry is a fairly politicised character and often airs his views,

which Bob refers to as The Thoughts of Chairman Collier. A
staunch socialist, Terry states that his grandfather and uncle
were on the Jarrow March (with Bob keenly reminding him it
was only until the pubs opened).

Terry holds great prejudices. In the episode of Whatever

Happened to the Likely Lads?, "No Hiding Place", Terry
describes his impression of several nationalities; the Italians
and Spaniards are greasy, the Russians are "sinister", the
Americans are "flash", Germans are "arrogant", Orientals are
"cruel" and the Danish are "pornographic". He then moves
onto the British Isles; 'I've never liked the Welsh', the Scots
are 'worse than the Koreans'. Bob then points out that Terry
never liked Southerners, to which Terry adds that he doesn't
like many local people, in fact he hates his next door
neighbours. Bob eventually narrows it all down to the fact
Terry only really likes himself. During "Count Down", when
choosing suits for Bob's upcoming wedding, Terry initially
refuses to let a shop assistant adjust his trousers (believing
the assistant to be homosexual) until the assistant reveals he
is married.

Army service ambiguity

The number of years Terry actually serves in the army is
disputed.

In the first episode of Whatever Happened to the Likely

Lads?, in 1973, Terry has been discharged from the Army
and states that he served for five years. However, there was
a gap of seven years between the last episode of The Likely
Lads (1966, when Terry signed up for the Army) and its
sequel (1973). Bob mentions that Terry originally signed up
for three years, before signing on for a further two, which
means he should have been discharged in 1971. In the first
episode, when Terry asks Bob how things have changed
while he was away, Bob mentions that they can now receive
BBC2, with Terry replying that they were able to before he
left. BBC2 did not arrive in the North East until 1967, which
implies that Terry had not joined the Army by then.
During the episode "Moving On", when discussing the
various changes in Newcastle during Terry's time away, he
asks if "there is one pre-1967 brick left standing on top of
another" and in the episode "I'll Never Forget
Whatshername", Terry, Bob and Thelma all refer to a shared
trip to Blackpool Illuminations in September 1967, further
implying that Terry had not yet joined the Army at that point.

A potential explanation is that a version of the original series

was broadcast on BBC Radio in 1967 and 1968, which may
suggest Terry's military career actually lasted from 1968 (the
end of the radio adaptations) to his discharge in 1973 (the
beginning of the TV sequel).