Two years on from the events portrayed in 'The Beiderbecke Affair' teachers Trevor Chaplin and Jill Swinburne find themselves living together when Mr Chaplin's house is demolished to make way for a motorway. A visit to the pub leads Mr Chaplin to a fellow jazz enthusiast who gives him a collection of tapes; they aren't all jazz though
one of them features men talking about dumping nuclear waste in West Yorkshire. It isn't long before Mr. Peterson, AKA 'The Man with no Name' turns up asking about the tape in a menacing manner and they hear that the person who gave them the tape has died
clearly things are rather dangerous. Peterson isn't the only official person after the tape; six armed men turn up and search Jill's house. If that wasn't enough the headmaster doesn't approve of them cohabiting and instructs them to accompany the school trip to Holland
needless to say that does not go according to plan.
Anybody who enjoyed 'The Beiderbecke Affair' will be sure to enjoy this too. It is somewhat shorter, two episodes edited together to form one two and a half hour film on my VHS copy. Some may be disappointed that many of the secondary characters from the first series are absent but I don't think it suffered for that. James Bolam and Barbara Flynn put in excellent performances as Trevor and Jill enabling us to believe the surreal events that intrude into their lives. Their chemistry is such that we believe in their relationship; a couple who have grown comfortable with each other. Malcolm Storry is suitably menacing as Peterson yet still manages to be amusing at times. Alan Plater's writing provides just the right blend of mystery, comedy and romance to keep the viewer happy from start to finish as our protagonists travel from Yorkshire to Amsterdam and then to Edinburgh before returning home to learn the significance of 'The Beiderbecke Tapes'.
Anybody who enjoyed 'The Beiderbecke Affair' will be sure to enjoy this too. It is somewhat shorter, two episodes edited together to form one two and a half hour film on my VHS copy. Some may be disappointed that many of the secondary characters from the first series are absent but I don't think it suffered for that. James Bolam and Barbara Flynn put in excellent performances as Trevor and Jill enabling us to believe the surreal events that intrude into their lives. Their chemistry is such that we believe in their relationship; a couple who have grown comfortable with each other. Malcolm Storry is suitably menacing as Peterson yet still manages to be amusing at times. Alan Plater's writing provides just the right blend of mystery, comedy and romance to keep the viewer happy from start to finish as our protagonists travel from Yorkshire to Amsterdam and then to Edinburgh before returning home to learn the significance of 'The Beiderbecke Tapes'.