In 1981, following the transmission of the third series of
Only When I Laugh, Peter Bowles informed Yorkshire Television, who produced the sitcom, that he would only sign on to do a fourth run if he was given his own series.
The Bounder was specifically written by Eric Chappell for Bowles to play the lead role. The pair had first worked together on a 1977 episode of
Rising Damp and then the four series of
Only When I Laugh which aired between 1979 and 1982. The series co-starred George Cole, then well known for playing Arthur Daley in the comedy-drama series
Minder, which was concurrently in production at the time. This sitcom marked Cole's return to the format after a three-year gap, after previously starring as troubled writer Gordon Maple in
Don't Forget to Write! Chappell told the
Reading Evening Post in 1982, "Peter played the part [in
Rising Damp] with such flamboyancy and style. It was the first time I had seen him in situation comedy and he did it so beautifully. He was a natural choice to play Archie Glover [in]
Only When I Laugh. And, after watching his performance in the hospital comedy, I thought it would be marvellous to create a likeable rogue who had all the qualities we had seen conveyed by Peter." Bowles aired his delight at the series to the
Reading Evening Post, "It's the first time I have had a series written for me, and I'm thrilled and very enthusiastic about it. I'm also delighted to be working with George Cole for the first time. He is a master of comedy character roles." The series was cancelled after two series, however less than a year after its cancellation, in 1984 a US pilot was produced by
CBS which starred Michael McKeown as Howard,
Jeannette Arnette as his sister Bonnie,
Richard Masur as her husband Charles and
Francine Tacker as Laura. However, the pilot was not picked up and a full series was not commissioned. == Home media ==