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51-587: The Beiderbecke Trilogy is a trilogy of television serials written by Alan Plater and made by Yorkshire Television for the ITV network in the United Kingdom between 1984 and 1988. Each serial centres on schoolteachers Trevor Chaplin ( James Bolam ) and Jill Swinburne ( Barbara Flynn ), who work at a rundown comprehensive school in Leeds . Woodwork teacher Trevor enjoys football and jazz music whilst English teacher Jill

102-500: A London hospice at the age of 75. His death was announced on 25 June 2010. Jobsworth "Jobsworth" is a British colloquialism derived from the notion that something being asked of one in a work environment is too great to risk their job over, as in, "I can't do that; it's more than my job's worth." The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as "A person in authority (esp. a minor official) who insists on adhering to rules and regulations or bureaucratic procedures even at

153-530: A "non-violent thriller". Using characters inspired by Nick and Nora Charles, the detectives in the film The Thin Man (1934) and its sequels, Plater sought to juxtapose the conventions of the hardboiled thriller , as expounded by the likes of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett , with the mundanity of life in Yorkshire. Originally to be called "Lost And Found", the scripts were written in late 1979 and early 1980 and

204-599: A comprehensive school in Leeds , in West Yorkshire . Jill is a keen conservationist , interested in the environment as well as social issues. Trevor on the other hand is interested in jazz , football and snooker and has little interest in conservation. Jill, the more headstrong of the pair, often coaxes Trevor into involvement in her political activities. In each of the three serials – The Beiderbecke Affair , The Beiderbecke Tapes and The Beiderbecke Connection – Jill and Trevor inadvertently become embroiled in

255-506: A film adaptation of George Orwell 's Keep the Aspidistra Flying , Belonging and the theatre play Peggy for You , based on the life of Plater's former agent Peggy Ramsay , which was nominated in 2001 for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award. He also contributed to the BBC series Dalziel and Pascoe , and adapted Chris Mullin 's novel A Very British Coup (1988) for television. He

306-399: A novel, also titled The Beiderbecke Tapes . YTV later decided that they would film the novel as a two-part serial, each episode of ninety minutes duration. To fit the shorter length, Big Al, Little Norm and Hobson were dropped from the script. Financial constraints meant that the action originally intended for Athens had to be relocated to Edinburgh , an event which became an in-joke when it

357-499: A rare set of Bix Beiderbecke records that would kickstart the plot, he would use the title The Beiderbecke Affair . The individual episodes were titled from the first line of each episode e.g. "What I don't understand is this..." (episode 1), "We are on the brink of a new era, if only..." (episode 6). The Beiderbecke Affair was broadcast in six parts in January and February 1985 and averaged 12 million viewers over its run. Shortly after

408-456: A refugee, for Big Al and Little Norm. Plater originally intended that Trevor and Jill would have to keep Ivan hidden from his pursuers by means of different disguises and cover stories – for example, one scene called for him to pose as a school inspector – but this was dropped. A subplot concerned the challenges of teaching in the face of budget cuts that meant the necessary books and materials were not available. In this respect, Plater sought to ask

459-469: A rented flat at the top of a large Victorian house and drives a beaten up Bedford HA van. He later moves in with Jill, her house being one of a small terrace in Chapel Allerton . Although Trevor shows little overt interest in politics, his natural sympathies are with society's underdogs and, when provoked, he defends Jill's left leaning political views. Jill is a liberal minded English teacher. Jill

510-419: A series of unlikely adventures involving such things as political corruption, nuclear waste dumping and serious fraud. In each serial the plot rambles, moving from one seemingly unrelated event to another, all of which are eventually shown to be interconnected. However it is the clever interplay between the characters that is the core of each of these stories. Each episode unfolds to a soundtrack of jazz music in

561-473: A threat to this equilibrium. Mr McAllister is eventually sent to prison for his corrupt dealings. Brother of Mr McAllister, Councillor McAllister is never seen without dark glasses, and usually driving a Jaguar . Councillor McAllister is also imprisoned for his part in the corruption scandal. Peterson, at first known as the 'man with no name', until Jill finally asks him his name, is an 'Old Etonian' style employee of some sort of special branch. Peterson gives

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612-499: A writer and lived in Hull. He first made his mark as a scriptwriter for Z-Cars (1962–65), along with its spin-offs Softly, Softly (1966–69) and Softly, Softly: Task Force (1969–76). His subsequent credits include The Reluctant Juggler in the series The Edwardians (1972), Shoulder to Shoulder (1974), The Stars Look Down (1975), Trinity Tales (1975), Oh No It's Selwyn Froggitt , The Journal of Vasilije Bogdanovic ,

663-471: Is Trevor's former fiancée. Helen is a feeble and impressionable character, who is privately despised by the headstrong Jill, after a drunken night out together in a restaurant. Mr McAllister is father of Helen of Tadcaster. Mr McAllister runs a chain of chemist shops as well as other mainly corrupt businesses. Mr McAllister believes that society should have 'an equilibrium' and sees it as his duty to enforce this. Anything that threatens his businesses he sees as

714-441: Is a pedantic jobsworth , with little idea what is really going on amongst staff and pupils. Mr Wheeler is a conservative character who has a clear idea of how people should live, and shows no restraint in questioning the morality of his staff's private lives. Big Al, along with Little Norm (who he refers to as his brother, as he does to all his friends), runs a largely legal mail order catalogue business, which after his redundancy

765-488: Is a political activist concerned with saving the environment. Bix Beiderbecke. The first great white jazz musician, cornet player. Born in Davenport, Iowa, March 1903. Drank himself to death. Died August 1931, aged 28. Amazing man. They say his playing sounded like bullets shot from a bell. The Beiderbecke Trilogy centres on two schoolteachers – Trevor Chaplin ( James Bolam ) and Jill Swinburne ( Barbara Flynn ) – who teach at

816-409: Is a solitary character, whose only friends appear to be Trevor and Jill. Mr Carter openly fancies Jill, often asking if he can sit next to her and 'kindle my desires'. He seems to make company with Trevor and Jill as they all hate Mr Wheeler, the headmaster. Mr Carter is world-weary and jaded by his job. Mr Wheeler is headmaster of the school, where he is equally despised by staff and pupils. Mr Wheeler

867-418: Is also interested in football and snooker (his footballing allegiances are unknown: he is from Tyneside but - as seen in the opening sequences of The Beiderbecke Affair - possesses a Leeds United mug. Later, reference is made to his use of the phrase "Howay the lads!", an exhortation common to both Geordies and Mackems .) At the beginning of the events portrayed, Trevor lives - in some squalor - in

918-472: Is educated and hard-working, he is also ineffective as a police officer. Hobson participates in exposing corruption in the police force and is quickly promoted. Forrest is a cynical senior police officer, and is Hobson's superior. Forrest shows little regard for procedure and is utterly corrupt. Forrest is resentful of Hobson's middle-class upbringing, education and entry into the police force. Forrest sees Hobson as 'having it easy' as he spent his early years in

969-404: Is interested in conservation and social issues and at one point stands in a local council by-election. Jill's tastes are slightly more sophisticated than Trevor's, being interested in literature, old films and classical music. Jill is a divorcee, with negative memories of her ex-husband. Only ever referred to as Mr Carter, he is a history teacher at the same school as Jill and Trevor. Mr Carter

1020-463: The BBC and ITV and wrote the sitcom Oh No, It's Selwyn Froggitt! (1974). Plater's scripts were noted for their strong depiction of the life of the inhabitants of Northern England. In 1978, Plater was commissioned by David Cunliffe , an executive producer at Yorkshire Television (YTV), to adapt the J. B. Priestley novel The Good Companions for television. Following this, Cunliffe commissioned Alan Plater to write four episodes of what Plater called

1071-477: The Newcastle University School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape ), but only practised in the profession briefly, at a junior level. He later stated that it was shortly after he was forced to fend off a herd of pigs from eating his tape measure while he was surveying a field that he left to pursue writing full-time. Plater stayed in the north of England for many years after he became prominent as

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1122-574: The Gypsy and Priest of Love . He was a supporter of Hull City A.F.C. His play Confessions of a City Supporter on his lifelong relationship with the club was staged during the first-ever run of performances at the new home of the Hull Truck Theatre Company . In an interview with Richard Whiteley , Plater claimed he had never intended to write sensational plot-driven sagas with outlandish characters and that he had never intended to make

1173-470: The Vicar is the professional, whereas he being an ardent atheist is just an 'enthusiastic amateur'. Little Norm deals with the more menial tasks of running the business, leaving Big Al to make all of the decisions. At times Little Norm seems dismayed by Al's dominance. Another character whose first name is never known. Hobson is a principled, enthusiastic and somewhat naive graduate police officer. While Hobson

1224-493: The answer's no, I can keep you waiting for hours in the queue, and if you don't like it you know what you can do. The term became widespread in vernacular English through its use in the popular 1970s BBC television programme That's Life! , which featured Esther Rantzen covering various human interest and consumer topics. A "Jobsworth of the Week" commissionaire's hat was awarded each week to "a startling tale of going by

1275-422: The assistant scientist Algernon, exclaims, "Well it's more than my job's worth to stop him when he's like this; he's out to rule the world...if he can get a government grant." An example of the term in its fully formed metaphorical use was by UK folk -singer Jeremy Taylor in a song he wrote in the late 1960s: Jobsworth, Jobsworth, It's more than me job's worth, I don't care, rain or snow, whatever you want

1326-474: The completion of The Beiderbecke Affair , David Cunliffe asked Plater to write a new serial with the same characters. At this point Plater decided to create a jazz-themed trilogy; The Beiderbecke Affair would be followed by The Gillespie Tapes and The Yardbird Suite , referencing Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker respectively. However, YTV felt that they wanted to stick with the Beiderbecke "brand" and so

1377-446: The existence of a secret organisation dedicated to assisting people who want to escape the mundanity of their lives and families and just disappear. Plater apportioned elements of his own interests to his two heroes, making Judy an environmental campaigner and Neville a football and jazz fan. Neville's love of jazz is reflected in the serial's soundtrack which features re-recordings, by Frank Ricotti and featuring Kenny Baker , of tracks by

1428-441: The expense of common sense ." Jonathon Green similarly defines "jobsworth" as "a minor factotum whose only status comes from enforcing otherwise petty regulations". It is a form of passive aggressive obstructionism , using the letter of the law as a weapon to impair progress or prevent change. An example of the phrase in its original context can be found in the 1965 Beatles movie Help! , when Roy Kinnear 's character,

1479-588: The first sequel was renamed The Beiderbecke Tapes . Plater intended The Beiderbecke Tapes to be another six-part serial set in Yorkshire, the Netherlands and Athens . As well as Trevor and Jill, returning characters would include Big Al, Little Norm, Hobson (now an officer in British Intelligence ), Mr Carter and the Headmaster. When financial problems at YTV delayed production, Plater reworked his scripts as

1530-592: The force 'stitching up pieces of dockers' in Liverpool . Although Forrest may not have such knowledge of practice or procedure he is effective in executing his business. Forrest loses his job following the exposure of his corruption. A mention of this affair by Peterson in The Beiderbecke Tapes reveals he escaped a prison sentence and was only sacked. Helen McAllister also known by Trevor as 'Helen of Tadcaster ', after Jill compares her with Helen of Troy , Helen

1581-572: The guise as a foreign refugee. Ivan showed little interest in the money he stole, instead seeing it as a game. Ivan left with Peter from a boat in Flamborough . Peter is Jill's ex-husband, who is an unseen character until The Beiderbecke Connection . Prior to his appearance he was mentioned, always unsympathetically. He turns up in the Beiderbecke Connection and stays with Jill and Trevor. It appears Peter knew Ivan in prison, after Peter

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1632-495: The impression of being ruthless, however after making a pass at Jill he becomes unmasked as being sentimental and not particularly efficient. Yvonne at first appears as a pupil in class 5C where she runs protection. She reappears as Jill and Trevor's nanny in the Beiderbecke Connection. Ivan is a sophisticated, public school-educated bank robber, who stole from banks using electronic bugs. He spent time in prison, and ended up staying with Jill and Trevor after being sent there under

1683-499: The likes of Duke Ellington . The same team would also provide the music for each of the Beiderbecke serials. Get Lost! aired to respectable ratings – averaging 10.9 million viewers across its run – and Plater soon began work on a sequel. When it transpired than Alun Armstrong would not be available to reprise the role of Neville Keaton, Plater decided that, rather than recasting the role, he would create two new characters and rewrite

1734-512: The musical Close the Coalhouse Door with songwriter Alex Glasgow from the writings of Sid Chaplin , Get Lost! (1981), On Your Way, Riley (1982), Fortunes of War (1987) an adaptation based on the novels of Olivia Manning , The Beiderbecke Trilogy (1985–1988), Misterioso (an adaptation of his novel, 1991), Oliver's Travels (1995), an adaptation of J. B. Priestley 's The Good Companions (1980) for Yorkshire Television ,

1785-469: The northeast in Yorkshire also fitted) while Jill represented his political beliefs such as conservationism, environmentalism and socialism. The couple were based on his earlier characters of Neville Keaton and Judy Threadgold in Get Lost! (1981). Plater was married to Shirley Johnson (1958–85), with whom he had two sons and a daughter, and later Shirley Rubinstein (from 1986) gaining three stepsons. Plater

1836-559: The question, "If education is a universal right, if you are deprived of that by people in authority, how do you think you will resolve that?". One major change to the production team was that David Cunliffe had by this stage moved on from YTV. He was replaced by Keith Richardson, best known as the producer of the thriller serial Harry's Game (1982). The Beiderbecke Connection was broadcast in four parts in November and December 1988 and averaged 8.8 million viewers over its run. Frank Ricotti

1887-485: The result was Get Lost! , a four-part serial starring Alun Armstrong and Bridget Turner that was broadcast in June and July 1981. The plot of Get Lost! concerns the disappearance of Jim Threadgold (Brian Southwood), husband of English teacher Judy Threadgold (Turner). Aided by her colleague, woodwork teacher Neville Keaton (Armstrong), Judy sets out to find out what has happened to her husband. Judy and Neville soon discover

1938-450: The scripts. The sequel to Get Lost! was reworked by Plater into what was to become The Beiderbecke Affair . The central characters Plater created for The Beiderbecke Affair – Trevor Chaplin and Jill Swinburne – were virtually identical to that of Neville Keaton and Judy Threadgold from Get Lost! . Both were teachers of woodwork and English respectively and Trevor was a fan of football and jazz music (especially Bix Beiderbecke) and Jill

1989-499: The sort of "rubbish programmes featuring high-speed car crashes of which there are too many on television". Plater said that he had always tried to make his characters normal people, whose normal lives are interrupted when the outside world comes into their lives. Plater claimed his two best-known characters, Trevor Chaplin and Jill Swinburne in the Beiderbecke series, were based on himself. Trevor represented his personal interests, jazz, football and snooker (the parallel of someone from

2040-419: The style of Bix Beiderbecke performed by Frank Ricotti with Kenny Baker as featured cornet soloist. Extensive use is made of leitmotifs for the various characters. Ricotti won a BAFTA award for his work on The Beiderbecke Connection . Trevor is a middle-aged woodwork teacher. Unruffled and amiable, Trevor drifts through life with few ambitions or principles. He has an abiding passion for jazz , and

2091-501: The third part of the trilogy, in late 1987. At the conclusion of The Beiderbecke Tapes Jill had discovered that she was pregnant with Trevor's child. The new serial would pick up six to nine months after the birth of their child. The presence of the baby was a restricting factor on the plot; hence the introduction of the character of Yvonne, who would mind the child while Trevor and Jill went about their adventures. The plot this time called for Trevor and Jill to look after "Ivan", apparently

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2142-429: Was Big Al's way of saying 'bollocks to the system'. Big Al is the dominant and headstrong of the two, whose input to the business seems greater. He describes their business relationship by saying 'I deal with the wisdom, Norm deals with the installation'. Big Al runs his business from an allotment and a church crypt and later from a bowling green. Big Al often makes quite abstract philosophical comments, however he claims

2193-521: Was again nominated and this time won the 1988 BAFTA Award for Original Television Music for The Beiderbecke Connection . All three series are available as individual DVD releases, as a boxed set, The Beiderbecke Trilogy , and as a boxed set Beiderbecke Trilogy 21st Anniversary Edition (containing The Beiderbecke Trilogy plus Get Lost! , cast interviews, CD soundtrack and collectors booklet), released on Region 2. The stories were also published as books by Alan Plater. The book of The Beiderbecke Affair

2244-460: Was an environmental activist just like Neville and Judy. Since Neville's surname had been Keaton, Plater named his new male character Chaplin (after Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin respectively). Similarly, since Judy Threadgold had been named in homage to Sunderland A.F.C. goalkeeper Harry Threadgold so Jill Swinburne was named after Newcastle United F.C. goalkeeper Tom Swinburne. Plater decided that, since it would be Trevor's pursuit of

2295-613: Was born in Jarrow , County Durham, although his family moved to Hull in 1938. He attended Kingston High School . Jarrow was much publicised as a severely economically depressed area before the Second World War (Plater joked that his family left Jarrow just after the Great Depression to catch Hull just before the Blitz ). He trained as an architect at King's College, Newcastle (later

2346-754: Was president of the Writers' Guild of Great Britain from September 1991 until April 1995. He received honorary degrees from the University of Hull and Northumbria University in Newcastle . In the New Year's Honours List published 31 December 2004, he was created a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to drama. He is commemorated with a green plaque on The Avenues, Kingston upon Hull . Plater died of cancer at

2397-464: Was re-issued with the re-issued 21st anniversary DVD set.) Alan Plater Alan Frederick Plater CBE FRSL (15 April 1935 – 25 June 2010) was an English playwright and screenwriter, who worked extensively in British television from the 1960s to the 2000s. He is best known for the sitcom Oh No It's Selwyn Froggitt and the comedy drama serials The Beiderbecke Trilogy . Plater

2448-558: Was sent to prison following a scam involving greetings cards. Peter is somewhat suave, and always dresses in a business like fashion (in the yuppie style fashionable at the time in 1988, wearing red braces and a trench coat ). Peter leaves with Ivan on a boat from Flamborough. Alan Plater had begun writing for television in the early 1960s and had been a regular writer on the police series Z-Cars (1962–78) and its spin-off series Softly, Softly (1966–69) and Softly, Softly: Task Force (1969–76). He had also written several plays for

2499-492: Was the driving force behind the TV version of Flambards , which under his influence was claimed to be slanted well to the political left of K. M. Peyton 's original books . Jazz is a recurring motif through much of Plater's work, often referenced explicitly as well as underpinning his story structures. Among his few feature films he collaborated twice with Christopher Miles on two successful D. H. Lawrence projects The Virgin and

2550-467: Was worked into the script as a planned trip to Greece being changed at the last minute for the trip to Scotland. The Beiderbecke Tapes was broadcast in December 1987 and averaged 9.9 million viewers over its run. Frank Ricotti was nominated for a 1987 BAFTA Award for Original Television Music for The Beiderbecke Tapes , losing out to Porterhouse Blue . Plater began work on The Beiderbecke Connection ,

2601-479: Was written after the TV series was made. The other two books were written before the TV shows were made and contain an earlier version of the stories. All three were later compiled into a single, omnibus edition. Music from all three series (seasons), played by the Frank Ricotti All Stars, featuring Kenny Baker, was released as The Beiderbecke Collection on CD, LP and cassette by Dormouse Records. (The CD

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