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 Polly Bergen Show Side". Luther Henderson, Jr., conducted the orchestra. In the series finale on May 31, Jack Carter helped Bergen reminisce in a nostalgic look at the past seventeen episodes. Bergen sang "Today I Love Everybody" and "You'll Never Know". The cast was said to be leaving for Las Vegas after the concluding episode. Songs performed were "I'm Late", "Cuanto Le Gusta," and "Ridin' High." "The Polly Bergen Show" and "Club Oasis" followed "The Perry Como Show" and preceded "The Gisele MacKenzie Show", both NBC variety programs. Cast opposite "The Polly Bergen Show" was "The Gale Storm Show", a CBS situation comedy,