Comedy | UK | English | Colour | approx. 29min x 28eps w/ Wendy Craig, Geoffrey Palmer, Bruce Montague, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Andrew Hall When Ria Met Leonard Ria Parkinson feels she is drifting aimlessly through her life. Her husband Ben is an affluent but unromantic dentist who collects butterflies, teen-aged sons Russell and Adam are obsessed with chasing girls, Adam has crashed his car and Ben and Russell have not spoken to each other in almost a year. In a cafe she meets charming businessman Leonard Dutton, who makes her feel good about herself. After a second,accidental meeting he suggests they go back to the cafe again next day. Ria arrives but feels guilty and leaves before Leonard turns up. Butterflies stars Wendy Craig as frustrated 'stay at home' housewife, Ria Parkinson and Geoffrey Palmer as her reserved dentist husband, Ben. Ria's early dialogue in the first series suggests her age as early 40s, whereas her husband, Ben, quotes himself to be "the wrong side of 45". Ben is a typically traditional, conservative white-collar professional, ill at ease with his sons' lack of work-ethic and carefree post-punk attitudes (the series starts in 1978) whilst remaining unaware of his wife's impending mid-life crisis. They have been married for 19 years and are depicted as having a comfortable lifestyle, supported by one bread-winner in the household at a time in British history when 'stay at home' housewives were becoming less common. Ria's disastrous attempts at cooking are a recurring gag. The Parkinsons have two sons, both of driving age (at least 17 years of age under UK law in 1978) and unemployed (In 1978 England was heading towards recession under Prime Minister, James Callaghan, with youth unemployment on the increase.) Their youngest son, Adam, is played by Nicholas Lyndhurst and their older son, Russell, by Andrew Hall. Bruce Montague plays Ria's friend Leonard, a successful businessman, aged 44 whose wife has recently left him and is, like Ria Parkinson, approaching his own mid-life crisis. The show also featured two recurring minor characters: Leonard's chauffeur and confidant Thomas (Michael Ripper) and the Parkinsons' cleaner, Ruby (Joyce Windsor), who often lent Ria an ear. Butterflies was hugely popular in the UK, and was also popular in North America under the name "Butterflies Are Free" broadcast on PBS stations. The Butterflies theme song, "Love Is Like a Butterfly", is a 1974 single written and originally recorded by American country music artist Dolly Parton. The cover version used at the opening of each episode was recorded for the series by Clare Torry, with a band conducted by BBC TV composer Ronnie Hazlehurst.