Travelling Man (1984/5)

[Mark Steels Stockbroker]

13 episodes about an ex-drug squad detective coming out of prison and travelling the land trying to find his estranged son and also the bastards who fitted him up. Written by the creator of Public Eye and with many similarities to that show's 1969 season, particularly with an episode in which the main character has to save a young female suicide.

I loved it, though there's something terribly sad about its voyage around derelict 80s Britain, which is even more effective for lacking the usual political commentary about Thatcher etc. Also features startling appearances by 2 young actors who later became big stars. The filming quality (all on location, no studio sets) was in vogue for a while in the early 80s. It was used in Brookside, but also in a now-forgotten Central TV drama called On The Line, very obviously based on British Leyland. There were even a few ITV sitcoms that tried it, without any studio audience either, though they were pretty dismal with it. It disappeared in the late 80s as everything became slicker, though it's like that later stuff that looks more dated now.

[BlodwynPig]

Bergerac Gets Real

[Mark Steels Stockbroker]

Bergerac Gets Real

Are we not allowed to like Bergerac? I know that Will Smith guy (is he still going?) did a book or show about it, so I wondered if it was an approved snigger-target.

[A Hat Like That]

I found the episode descriptions on wikipedia and the one for the last episode is a belter.