Experience Preferred... But Not Essential

Experience Preferred.... But Not Essential is a 1982 British TV film directed by Peter Duffell as part of the First Love series. It is set in a Welsh hotel in 1962 where Annie, a student, arrives to spend the summer as a waitress.

Production
Like the other First Love films, Experience preferred.... was shot "in about twenty days for well under £0.5m" though the overall budget was £505,000. Goldcrest Films invested £480,000 in it and received £728,000 earning them a profit of £248,000.

Cast

 * Elizabeth Edmonds (actress) as Annie
 * Sue Wallace as Mavis
 * Geraldine Griffiths as Doreen
 * Karen Meagher as Paula
 * Maggie Wilkinson as Arlene
 * Ron Bain as Mike
 * Alun Lewis as Hywel
 * Robert Blythe as Ivan
 * Roy Heather as Wally
 * Peter Doran as Dai
 * Arwen Holm as Helen
 * Sion Tudor Owen as Nin
 * Robert Gwilym as Gareth
 * Mostyn Evans as Now
 * Paul Haley as Mr. Howard
 * Margo Jenkins as Mrs. Howard
 * Jerry Brooke as Gaiety M. C.

Reception
Variety said “generally the picture looks a treat”. Screen International said that UA Classics had great success with Experience Preferred.... But Not Essential in contrast to P'Tang Yang Kipperbang. In 1984, Gavin Millar said in Sight & Sound that it "had them queueing round the block in New York". Looking back in 1987, David Rose (interviewed by Nicolas Kent) in Sight & Sound described it as “one of Channel 4’s first big successes in America”.