The Liver Birds sequence for series one also exists but in poor quality. The first series was stopped after four episodes because Polly James' hectic schedule—working every evening on "Anne of Green Gables" in the West End, then rehearsing all day for the TV show—was proving too much. By the time James was available again, Pauline Collins had moved to LWT's "Upstairs, Downstairs". The producer Sydney Lotterby remembered having worked with Nerys Hughes on "The Likely Lads" and, wrongly believing the Welsh actress was from Liverpool, asked her to read for a part in "The Liver Birds". (Neither actress really had a Liverpool
The Liver Birds the BBC revived the series, reuniting Beryl and Sandra as they coped with the aftermath of their respective failed marriages. As the BBC's own website admits, some liberties were taken with continuity: Carmel McSharry, who had played Carol's mother in series 5–9, returned transformed into Beryl's mother, and Carol's rabbit-obsessed brother Lucien Boswell, played by Michael Angelis, became Beryl's brother Lucien Hennessey. The revival was not a ratings success and only lasted one series. Only the second series was released on DVD, by Universal Playback in the UK in 2003. It has since gone out of print, with retailers such