4 Idle Hands

4 Idle Hands, aimed at teenage viewers, charts the unsteady progress of Mike and Pete, two 16-year-old school-leavers who are suddenly forced to ponder what are they going to do for a living?

This light-hearted series, aimed at teenage viewers, charts the unsteady progress of Mike and Pete, two 16-year-old school-leavers who are suddenly forced to ponder the bewildering but urgent question: what are they going to do for a living?

As Mike and Pete’s efforts to avoid the dole queue land them a succession of disastrous jobs, 4 Idle Hands humorously details the unremitting difficulties of adolescence. First screened in 1976, the series features an early TV role for future Quadrophenia and EastEnders star Phil Daniels, with George Innes, Royston Tickner and Howard Goorney taking on the principal adult roles. The series is available here for the first time on DVD.

Storyline

Life’s never been easy for school-leavers, and Mike Dudds and Pete Sutton are no different to millions of others. Neither has a vocation to follow, or any demonstrable skills. Their sense of responsibility is slowly maturing, but they still can’t resist practical jokes – like wrapping a master’s car in toilet rolls. They are the despair of the careers officer, and find themselves drifting from job to job – Mike reluctant to use his keen intellect, and Pete with his head filled with romantic but highly unlikely ambitions.