Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?

1973 · TV Series

Less advocacy-driven than 100% of Comedy titles →
IMDBTMDB
Audience evidenceThe verdict — who this is for, by the receipts

Made first for young men 1

Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'s audience scores lean most toward young men at 76 of 100, with comparable appeal to young women 1. Its overall reach is rated targeted — targeted reach aimed at a specific demographic segment 2. On content balance it reads entertainment-first at 0 of 100, weighting storytelling over explicit messaging 3.

The receipts — every claim above is sourced
  1. 1
    Audience scoreyoung men 76 of 100 is the top quadrant, with young women 68 close behind.WhatSphere audience model, score_version 1
  2. 2
    ReachAudience breadth rated targeted.WhatSphere audience model, score_version 1
  3. 3
    Content balanceContent balance entertainment-first at 0 of 100.WhatSphere content-balance model, score_version 1

WhatSphere presents the sourced record; it does not cast the judgement. Every statement above is drawn from a stored, sourced row — shown beside it — and nothing is asserted beyond what those receipts support.

Data updated March 29, 2026Scored, pending verification.Think a score is wrong? Submit a correction.
Primary audienceYoung MenYoung Men76
Young MaleYoung FemaleMature MaleMature Female
Primary audienceYoung Men
Targeted

Quadrant Scores

Young Men
76
Young Women
68
Older Men
32
Older Women
24
Loading factors...

Audience Representation

Racial audience not shown

Not enough of the cast has a researched race to score this honestly (20% classified).

Why this is blank

Racial audience scores need at least half the actor cast classified. Below that line the page shows this note instead of a number. A blank is not a score of zero.

LGBTQ+
0

Faithfulness

Faithfulness not applicable

Faithfulness is scored only for adaptations.

Why this is blank

An original has no source text to compare. The score is left blank rather than shown as zero.

Advocacy

Advocacy0
Entertainment

Synopsis

Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? is a British sitcom which was broadcast between 9 January 1973 and 9 April 1974 on BBC1. It was the colour sequel to the mid-1960s hit The Likely Lads. It was created and written, as was its predecessor, by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. There were 26 television episodes over two series; and a subsequent 45-minute Christmas special was aired on 24 December 1974. The cast were reunited in 1975 for a BBC radio adaptation of series 1, transmitted on Radio 4 from July to October that year. In 1976, a feature film spin-off was made. Around the time of its release, however, Rodney Bewes and James Bolam fell out over a misunderstanding involving the press and have not spoken since. This long-suspected situation was finally confirmed by Bewes while promoting his autobiography in 2005. Unlike Bewes, Bolam is consistently reluctant to talk about the show, and has vetoed any attempt to revive his character.

Score version: v1Data confidence: 45%How are scores calculated?

What did the audience think? Rate Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? — every voice counts equally, no account needed. Clean reviews appear instantly.

Lineage and popularity

No lineage or popularity yet

This title has no Wikidata match, source work, or Steam player snapshot. A missing snapshot is not zero.

Compare Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?

Put its audience profile side by side with any other title.

Compare with…

Advocacy Over Time in Comedy

The average advocacy score of Comedy titles by release year, with this title marked. Higher is more advocacy-driven.

25507519142026
Average advocacy score of Comedy titles by release year
YearAverage advocacyTitles
191402
192503
193122
193302
193504
193702
194024
194102
194302
194426
194504
194702
194822
195024
195102
195204
1953010
195552
195633
195754
195806
195943
196025
1961510
196216
196316
196438
196519
196616
196807
196965
197037
197105
197216
197319
197418
197509
1976112
197747
197824
197918
198017
198119
1982510
1983112
1984210
1985314
1986020
1987017
1988113
1989224
1990121
1991114
1992017
1993120
1994525
1995319
1996415
1997222
1998324
1999336
2000333
2001131
2002132
2003229
2004240
2005441
2006244
2007153
2008020
2009418
2010210
2011221
2012110
20131013
2014511
201547
20161710
201767
20181012
2019716
2020619
2021919
20222022
20232211
20241217
2025223
2026236
This title (1973)01

● This title (1973): advocacy 0 · explore Comedy →

Cast & Crew