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,
Polly James actress "Once More with Music" in 1976, appeared as a soubrette in Alan Clarke's 1982 production of "Baal", and in "Doctor Who" in 1984. She appeared, too, in the West End musicals "I and Albert" and "Anne of Green Gables". In 1971, James appeared with the Royal Shakespeare Company in "The Merchant of Venice" with Judi Dench. She was particularly praised for her performance as Jenny Wren in the 1976 BBC adaptation of Dickens's "Our Mutual Friend". She is divorced and has one child. Polly James Polly James (born 1941) is an English actress with a career in theatre, film,