The Beiderbecke Affair

7.8

1985•55m

The Beiderbecke Affair is a television series produced in the United Kingdom by ITV during 1985, written by the prolific Alan Plater, whose lengthy credits to British Television since the 1960s included the preceding 4 part mini series Get Lost! for ITV in 1981. The Beiderbecke Affair has a similar style to Get Lost!, where Neville Keaton and Judy Threadgold played in an ensemble cast. Although The Beiderbecke Affair was intended as a sequel to Get Lost!, Alun Armstrong proved to be unavailable and the premise was reworked. It is the first part of The Beiderbecke Trilogy with the two sequel series being The Beiderbecke Tapes and The Beiderbecke Connection.

Production

Seasons

6 Episodes • Premiered 1985

1. What I don't understand is this...

Jazz-loving, woodship teacher Trevor Chaplin and his girlfriend Jill are on the trail of a saleswoman who mistakenly delivered a set of records that were supposed to be by Bix Beiderbecke.

2. Can Anybody Join In?

Jill is detained by the police, Trevor goes in pursuit of a platinum blonde, Big Al reveals some of his secrets, and Sergeant Hobson tries to make sense of it all.

3. We Call It The White Economy

Trevor has succeeded in finding the music he's been looking for and Jill's campaign is reaching fever pitch. But who is the mysterious supergrass and the woman 'with a past'? Will the truth ever be revealed to Det Sgt Hobson?

4. Um ... I Know What You're Thinking

Trevor is at the apex of an emotional triangle, Sergeant Hobson is in trouble, and Jill is taken out to dinner.

5. That Was A Very Funny Evening

Jill and Trevor have an emotional crisis, Sergeant Hobson has a policing crisis, and Big Al has a storage crisis. But the question on everybody's mind is: 'Who is McAllister?'.

6. We Are On The Brink Of A New Era, If Only...

Somehow, a bizarre twist of fate plunges the couple into a mystery involving bureaucracy and death threats. All is revealed in this final episode: will Hobson find fame and glory, will Trevor and Jill find true happiness, and will Mr Carter ever really understand his two teaching colleagues?