Customer Reviews

The Beiderbecke Tapes

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

NOW FINALLY available, #2 in Alan Prater's made-for-TV trilogy. This comical "live together" pair have a fun relaxed relationship; better than most married couples. But mystery is in the making when Trevor (James Bolam) receives an audio tape (from John the Barman but intended for Dave the Wimp), which was to be Bix Beiderbecke music, but in reality is a discussion by men plotting the disposal of nuclear waste in the Yorkshire Dales. Dastardly!

Trevor had moved in with colleague, Jill. Headmaster Wheeler calls it co-inhabiting. Disapprovingly! Jill (Barbara Flynn--you'll love her in "Cranford" and "The Forsythe Saga") sees the just need to get to the truth of the tape. Dangerous! The headmaster blackmails the pair into chaperoning the school's student trip to Holland. Despicable!

Thus the action begins, that ends up mysterious, adventurous, a nuclear espionage thriller, but centered around the humorous activity of the amiable couple which occasionally becomes closer. Amorously!

The trail to Amsterdam, Edinburgh, and Yorkshire seeking the secret of the tape leads the pair into a hive of others more ruthlessly desiring the tape. Sounds scary but there's more laughs than fears.

A list of some of the oddball characters in "The Beiderbecke Tapes":
Trevor Chaplin...not quite grown-up shop teacher who slouches, mutters, and needs a haircut, but is a gentleman to Jill
Jill Swinburne...radical environmentalist and English teacher, gutsy & swanky divorcee, male magnet
Mr. Carter...teaches history and laughs at the other's school misfortunes
Mr. Peterson...dubbed 'man with no name', a breaking & entering government man, and 'the neighborhood CIA-KGB'
Mr. Wheeler...the headmaster that NOBODY likes
Sylvia...Oldest Suffragette in town
Pronk...Dutch innkeeper with a terrified Rottweiler
The Ancient Order of Elks from San Diego...seniors touring Europe for action
The Scotch drinking fighting-Scots bagpipe band
Oh, the crazies list is endless...

The wonderful background music, 1920's Bix Beiderbecke jazz style, was nominated for an award. Bonus material is filmographies of Flynn and Bolam.

Sleuthing, scenery, and comedy in one well written package.

THIS 2ND SET IS SUPERIOR THAN THE 1ST SET AS WE AGAIN FOLLOW THE EXCITING,DRAMATIC AND HUMOROUS ADVENTURES OF THIS PAIR OF "CO-INHABITORS". CAN'T WAIT TO VIEW FINAL SET.

The Beiderbecke Tapes, (1987), is a light-hearted British mystery/comedy/drama, in the format of a television series. It's a two-part sequel to the Beiderbecke Affair, made by Yorkshire TV, set in that part of the U.K, I imagine, two years after the events of the "Affair." The series was broadcast in the U.S. on public TV in the 1990s, along with The Beiderbecke Affair,and The Beiderbecke Connection.

It finds teachers/amateur investigators Jill Swinburne (Barbara Flynn) and Trevor Chaplin (James Bolam) dodging mysterious armed men in gray, apparently with some government secret service or another, who seem to want their copy of an ordinary jazz tape. As it turns out, the cassette doesn't contain music by American jazz artist Bix Beiderbecke. Instead, it has apparently captured something far more valuable. The set comes boxed; two DVDs, two episodes, one per disk, that runs approximately 154 minutes. Unfortunately, there are no subtitles. And the cast, from Bolam and Flynn - each of whom has frequently appeared in entertainments set in this part of the world, Bolam in Loneliness of Long Distance Runner [VHS], among others; and Flynn in Cracker: The Complete Collection, and Cranford: The Collection (Cranford / Return to Cranford), among others --has been encouraged to trot out their local accents. It makes for tough going for some of us, who may miss some of the witty byplay among the characters, but the plot, such as it is, is easy enough to follow. Dudley Sutton (Lovejoy: The Complete Collection) is along as another school teacher; Beryl Reid (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) is along as the oldest suffragist around. (She is still calling herself a suffragette.)

The episodes are:
Disc 1, Part 1
After his home is demolished for a motorway, Jill invites Trevor to move in with her. He comes bearing his extensive collection of jazz music; she's less than thrilled when the bartender at a local pub adds even more. But one of the new tapes isn't music at all: it's a secret recording that Britain's top security forces want back. Meanwhile Mr. Wheeler, their headmaster at San Quentin High, insists that Trevor and Jill join a class trip to Amsterdam.

Disc 2, Part 2
As he hopes to uncover more about the mysterious tape, Trevor attends the bartender's funeral; he there encounters someone unexpected. Back at the flat, six men in gray suits break in to search for the tape. The pair believe their lives may be in danger, so they leave for Holland, with the mysterious men in hot pursuit. (The break-in has caused them to miss the school bus, and then the ferry, to Amsterdam.) A San Diego branch of the Ancient Order of Elks comes to the couple's aid in that city, but the lodge members are looking for a little action of their own. The couple go to Edinburgh, where they enjoy the honeymoon suite of a fine hotel, with the fun-seeking seniors; the gray suits still hot on their trail.

The script is by the award-winning, well-known British writer Alan Plater, ( Oliver's Travels, A Very British Coup), based upon his own novel. The picture quality, and the sound quality, of course, is not what we're used to: this series was made quite some time ago. However, the entertainment captures the dreary local landscape/cityscape, with its glum weather, well; and is set to a soundtrack in the rollicking style of the 1920's Beiderbecke, by award-winning musician Frank Ricotti. There is no onscreen violence, nor sex, for that matter. All concerned keep their clothes on, which is probably just as well, as all concerned are at least middle aged. And for some of us, a middle aged romance is really rewarding. The script is as light in weight as the production is light of heart, served up with heaping helpings of charm and whimsy, reminiscent of the zany mysteries of the 1930s and `40s: hello, Nick and Nora, and anyone for a Manhattan?

On the trilogy UK edition: There are no extras and the film quality is good, but not crystal clear (remember this was made before the digital age really took off). Typical of its time, this is a slow-paced, sedate, gentle, wry comedy. Today's MTV generation may find it a little toooo slow.

The three stories that make up the trilogy are executed with varying degrees of success. The first, about the "grey" economy (buying and selling "legitimate" merchandise, without all the hassle of taxes and shops rents and the kind of secret handshaking that goes on between big businesses to control the market) is the best. Trevor Chaplin's purchase of some jazz records does not go as expected. Worse, the people he's bought them from are being investigated by the police. In order to extricate himself from the mess, he and his partner, Jill Swinburn, together with Big Al and Little Norm, must deal with corruption and collusion between big business, the local council and the boys in blue (the police).

The second, the Beiderbecke Tapes, is the least satisfactory, partly due to a compromise in Location (Edinburgh substituted for Venice) and partly because the chase sequence, being very laboured, outstays its welcome very quickly. Mostly, however, it's because the McGuffin at the center of the story is totally senseless.

The final story, the Beiderbecke Connection, returns the duo to Leeds and Wakefield and their association with Big Al and Little Norm. The story is more satisfying, because it's on a much more realistic level. Jill and Trevor take in a refugee for Al and Norm, ignorant of the fact that he's wanted by the police. The plot leaves a slightly bad taste in the mouth these days, where cybercrime and financial irregularities are taken much more seriously, but even back then, this was the most cynical and scathing outlook on British culture, the tone coming dangerously close to its contemporary, A Very Peculiar Practice.

The stories are deliberately slight and understated. This is light comedy, producing wry, knowing smiles, gently parodying hard crime dramas and, more prosaically, the teaching profession. At its best, the warmth of the relationship between Jill and Trevor, their astute, sardonic commentary and the portrayal of the British way of life as one of adversity in the face of overwhelming stupidity, are what carry the audience forward.

Recommended, but don't expect belly laughs or high drama.