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
Polly James Polly James Polly James (born 1941) is an English actress with a career in theatre, film, television and radio. She was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, under the name Pauline Devaney. After graduating from RADA, James's TV career began in BBC2's "Thirty-Minute Theatre", followed by the role of a drug addict in "Z-Cars" in 1967. She played Audrey Hargreaves in "Coronation Street" in 1967. She is best known for her role as Beryl Hennessey in the first four series of the British sitcom "The Liver Birds" (1969–74), mostly alongside Nerys Hughes. She played Cicely Courtneidge in the biographical musical of the