The Liver Birds and Series 1 starred Pauline Collins as Dawn and Polly James as Beryl Hennessey. In Series 2, Nerys Hughes debuted as Sandra Hutchinson, replacing Dawn for the rest of the programme's run. The Beryl-and-Sandra pairing is generally regarded as the programme's best period. Beryl was the more 'common' one, while Sandra was soft-spoken and more refined, due to the influence of her snobbish, overbearing mother (Mollie Sugden). Carla Lane drew on her own mother for the character – "Mrs Hutchinson, I think she was my mother. I'm sure she was my mother". Beryl's 'common' mother (the Hennesseys live in Bootle,
The Speech of Polly Baker argues, the piece shows more complexity that is initially apparent. Another critic (Aldridge) argues that if taken out of the context of American literature, "The Speech of Polly Baker" can be considered as a "universal myth along the lines of Don Juan and Faust." "The Speech of Polly Baker" was first published in April or May 1747 in "The Gentleman's Magazine". Initially the piece was published anonymously, but in 1905 it was included in "The Writings of Benjamin Franklin", although the editor had yet to prove Franklin's authorship. Max Hall, in "Benjamin Franklin and Polly Baker: The History of a