The Beiderbecke Affair

I've had a heck of a time with this Beiderbecke series. I received the second disk of the Biederbecke Affair before the first, watched it without realizing it, and then received the first disk. Reading what I thought was the synopsis later, it didn't sound like the same story. That's when I found out about "The Biederbecke Tapes" which I guess I'll have to see.

I love James Bolam - this is probably 20 years before New Tricks. Here he plays Trevor Chaplin, a Bix Biederbecke jazz fanatic who teaches woodwork. He lives with a fellow teacher, Jill (Barbara Flynn) - she teaches English and is an eco-activist.

Trevor finds himself mixing with the lower end of society when he attempts to purchase some of his beloved Biederbecke records from a "dazzlingly beautiful platinum blond" who is selling mail order items.

He eventually meets Big Al and Little Norm and some people running a junior football team. Meanwhile, Jill decides to stand for office as a local councillor.

Meanwhile, there is a police detective following them around and suspecting them of all sorts of crime, keeping taped records. Meanwhile his supervisor thinks he's nuts.

I wish I could explain the story better, but I can't. It's a gentle show with some delightful and funny moments and it's about as odd as it gets. All to the soundtrack of Bix Beiderbecke. It's two somewhat ordinary people falling into weird situations. Inexplicably, I liked it.

Having seen several of the later series, my wife and I were looking forward to this (the series opener) and enjoyed it very much. The review provided on this web page could only have been written by an American. There is a world of difference between American humour, which is mainly action based, and British humour, which relies heavily on the dialogue. By fast forwarding through the first two hours, the reviewer could only have made his incomprehension worse! you cannot watch British movies like that. On the other hand, perhaps his copy, like ours, had the content for disc 3 on the CD that was labeled 'Disc 1' in which case he could be forgiven for getting confused.

So far as the characterization is concerned, yes they are a little larger than life, and a little unusual, but as an expatriate Brit., I find most depictions of Americans by American actors equally unbelievable, and frequently find myself asking, "Would that bloke really behave like that?" PS. I spell in English English.

Nothing is ever perfect, but in the world of TV drama – Alan Plater's "The Beiderbecke Connection" gets about as close as you can. The show centres on two secondary school teachers – jazz fanatic Trevor Chaplin (James Bolam) & environmental activist Jill Swinburne (Barbara Flynn). The couple stumble on corruption in high places and reluctantly become involved.

The first thing you notice is that the story is quite weak. No twists to end each episode, no emotional crises to deal with. The show does have characters though. To supplement the main couple we get the mysterious Big Al (Terrence Rigby) and Little Norm (Danny Schiller). Colin Blakely and Dominic Jephcott appear are coppers at different ends of the progressive scale. Dudley Sutton is a teacher colleague of Chaplin's and Keith Marsh is a number of things including a wannabe supergrass.

The actors are important because rich characters need good actors. All of the above are very good but Bolam, Flynn, Rigby and Blakely are supreme. They "get" what Alan Plater wrote about and convey the characters perfectly. When venturing "out of left field" it is important not to overplay your hand. Writing and acting meet and when played correctly are a joy to behold.

So in each of the 6 episodes you take a journey through a slightly unusual yet still believable world inhabited by slightly unusual yet still believable characters. At the end of each episode you are left wanting more but are not left puzzling over any loose ends.

In keeping with the title there is also a jazz soundtrack which accompanies the show well.

well I think the summary says it all.

casting, pace and content are excellent.

I almost purr with pleasure while watching

i also fancy Barbara Flynn something rotten

Adventures under the duvet pfwoooar

Set in and around Leeds in the North of England, Trevor Chaplin and Jill Swinburne are teachers in a typical secondary school. Trevor is a jazz freak whilst Jill is an eco-activist. They stumble across some nefarious goings on in the local community and with the help of some unlikely characters solve a tangled web of corruption.

The humor in this show is absolutely top notch both in situations and dialog and although I have seen it a couple of times, it never seems to get stale. I love this show.