Rent The Beiderbecke Trilogy: Series (1988)
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- Synopsis:
It's been 22 years since the public was first hooked on 'The Beiderbecke Affair' - the first instalment in what was to become Alan Plater's award winning trilogy of comedy-thrillers starring James Bolam and Barbara Flynn. They play Trevor Chaplin and Jill Swinburne, two reluctant teachers drawn into a web of intrigue when Trevor is paid a mysterious visit by a dazzlingly beautiful platinum blonde. Since that moment 'The Beiderbecke Trilogy' has held its position as one of the nation's favourite television shows, with its easy-going plots, dryly humorous dialogue, deftly-drawn characters and superb Jazz score by Frank Ricotti and legendary trumpeter Kenny Baker.
The Beiderbecke Affair (1985)
All Trevor Chaplin wants is a set of Bix Beiderbecke records. All Jill Swinburne wants is to stand for the council as an independent candidate. So where does the slightly tarnished platinum blonde come in...?
The Beiderbecke Tapes (1987)
Dragged into the murky world of national security, Jill and Trevor find themselves pursued and threatened by sinister grey men. But all Trevor wanted was a tape of Bix Beiderbecke music!
The Beiderbecke Connection (1988)
Trevor and Jill are back - this time with a baby in tow! Taking their family addition for a walk they bump into Big Al, who asks them for a favour...- Actors:
- James Bolam, Barbara Flynn, Dominic Jephcott, Terence Rigby, Dudley Sutton, Keith Smith, Danny Schiller, Colin Blakely, Keith Marsh, Alison Skilbeck, Sue Jenkins, James Grout, Robert Longden, Sean Scanlan, Ian Bleasdale, Stephen Tomlin, Deborah Langley, George Malpas, Martin Pitman, Bernard Atha
- Directors:
- Brian Parker, David Reynolds, Frank W. Smith, Alan J.W. Bell
- Producers:
- Michael Glynn, Ann W. Gibbons
- Writers:
- Alan Plater
- Studio:
- Network
- Genres:
- British TV, TV Classics, TV Comedies, TV Dramas, TV Mysteries, TV Thrillers
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Reviews (1) of The Beiderbecke Trilogy: Series
Inhabiting Greenhouses - The Beiderbecke Trilogy: Series review by CH
Four decades on, and three episodes into the six which comprise the first series, one is soon transported across time and place. That is, up North, where a schoolteacher of carpentry at a secondary school (James Bolam) is in a form of relationship with an English teacher (Barbara Flynn) but perhaps more ardent about jazz. Here is a world of trimphones and cars with problematic chokes and starter motors on ticky-tacky estates. This being written by Alan Plater, there is a surreal take to it all (some of the school staff, and others including a dog walker, could almost spring from Twin Peaks) as Bolam sets off in a quest for discs by the eponymous musician. This leads to the murky world of a church crypt and, via an allotment, brings him further attention by the Law which has taken on an ever-suspicious graduate.
So much for the plot which finds their homes as vulnerable as a smashed greenhouse. There is a beguiling humour to all this dialogue, played at a slower pace by the two main characters than it would be across the Atlantic but with some of the spirit of Nick and Nora about it.
How will it turn out? And what will the other series bring? We shall wait and see - and also go back to an earlier series by Plater, included here, which was re-worked into this high entertainment.