8 January 1983 (1983-01-08) – 30 March 1984 (1984-03-30)
The Lady Is a Tramp is a television programme in the situation comedy format that was one of the first series to be shown on the then-new British television channel, Channel 4, between 1983 and 1984. (It started on 8 January 1983; the channel had begun broadcasting only the previous November.)
Written by Johnny Speight, the programme lasted for two series, and totalled 13 episodes.[1]
Old Pat and Lanky Pat are a pair of elderly tramps or "bag ladies" who have spent many years sleeping rough in such places as on park benches in London.
The two move into a derelict van in an apparently unused yard. They then resist repeated attempts to move them from their new home.
The character of Old Pat echoes the title role in the Jeremy Sandford drama "Edna the Inebriate Woman" which Hayes had played in 1971, but is done with a greater sense of comedy. According to her autobiography, Hayes used costume items from her performance as Edna in the role of Old Pat.[2]
