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Lovejoy | |
---|---|
Genre | Comedy drama, mystery |
Created by | |
Starring | |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 6 |
No. of episodes | 71 [2] (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Running time | 50 minutes |
Production companies | BBC Tamariska Productions WitzEnd Productions |
Original release | |
Network | BBC1 |
Release | 10 January 1986 – 4 December 1994 |
Lovejoy is a British television comedy-drama mystery series, based on the novels by John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. [3] The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six series, was originally broadcast on BBC1 between 10 January 1986 and 4 December 1994, although there was a five-year gap between the first and second series. It was adapted for television by Ian La Frenais.
The series concerns the adventures of the eponymous Lovejoy, a roguish antiques dealer based in East Anglia, and was filmed around Long Melford. [4] Within the trade, he has a reputation as a "divvy", [5] a person with almost unnatural powers of recognising exceptional items as well as distinguishing genuine antiques from fakes or forgeries.
The series was notable for its style and pace. Lovejoy would frequently break the fourth wall, revealing his thoughts and motives by addressing the audience directly. The first series was shown on BBC1 in the first half of 1986. It concluded with a two-part special.
Despite the first series being a moderate ratings success, Lovejoy was not brought back until January 1991. The original four cast members returned for the next two series between 1991 and 1992. With the start of the fourth series in 1993, Malcolm Tierney reprised his first series role as Charlie Gimbert.
During the fifth series, several cast changes were made. Phyllis Logan left the show in the second episode and Chris Jury departed in the sixth episode, although both characters returned for the sixth series finale. Two new regular characters were added: Lovejoy's new apprentice, Beth Taylor, and Charlotte Cavendish, who ran a local antiques auction house.
The sixth and final series of ten episodes was broadcast between October and December 1994. Two ninety-minute Lovejoy specials for Christmas were shown in 1992 and 1993. The theme tune used in the opening and end credits, as well as the incidental music for each episode, was composed by Denis King.
In the United States, the series was first broadcast on the A&E Network. It was marketed as The Lovejoy Mysteries on VHS in the United States. The DVD release of the entire series has returned to the title of Lovejoy. [7]
David Dickinson is an English antiques dealer and television presenter. Between 2000 and 2004, Dickinson hosted the BBC One antiques show Bargain Hunt, where he was succeeded by Tim Wonnacott. Dickinson left the BBC in 2005, and between 2006 and 2024, he hosted the ITV daytime show Dickinson's Real Deal. The show saw members of the public bringing antiques and collectables to sell to a dealer or take to the auction.
The Bold and the Beautiful is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. It premiered on March 23, 1987, as a sister show to the Bells' other soap opera The Young and the Restless; several characters from each of the two shows have crossed over to the other since the early 1990s. Set in Los Angeles, California, the show centers upon the Forrester family and their haute couture business.
Ian David McShane is an English actor. He is known for his television performances, particularly as the title role in the BBC series Lovejoy (1986–1994), Al Swearengen in Deadwood (2004–2006) and its 2019 film continuation, and Mr. Wednesday in American Gods (2017–2021). For the original series of Deadwood, McShane won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama and received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. As producer of the film, he was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie.
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Chris Jury is an English actor, writer and director with a range of television credits. He is best known for his role as Eric Catchpole in the BBC television series Lovejoy, which he played between 1986 and 1993, with a brief return in 1994, for the show's finale.
Malcolm Tierney was an English actor who appeared in many stage, film and television roles.
Phyllis Logan is a Scottish actress, widely known for her roles as Lady Jane Felsham in Lovejoy (1986–1993) and Mrs Hughes in Downton Abbey (2010–2015). She won the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer for the 1983 film Another Time, Another Place. Her other film appearances include Secrets & Lies (1996), Shooting Fish (1997), Downton Abbey (2019) and Misbehaviour (2020).
The Judas Pair is a crime novel by Jonathan Gash. It is the first book in the Lovejoy series. The story was first published in 1977 and won a John Creasey Award.
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The first series of the British medical drama television series Holby City commenced airing in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 12 January 1999, and concluded on 9 March 1999. The show was created by Mal Young and Tony McHale as a spin–off from the BBC medical drama Casualty, intended to follow the treatment of patients from Casualty as they were transferred onto the hospital's surgical wards. McHale served as the programme's lead writer throughout the first series, which ran for nine episodes. Young cast actors who were already established names in the acting industry, particularly from a soap opera background. Several cast members shadowed real surgeons and nurses in preparation for their roles to increase the show's realism. The series received mixed reviews from critics. It was compared favourably with Casualty, but received negative reviews in which it was contrasted poorly with the American medical drama ER. The series première attracted 10.72 million viewers, falling to 8.51 million by the series finale.
NCS: Manhunt is a British television crime drama series, starring David Suchet, and based on the National Crime Squad. Created by Malcolm McKay, the series premiered with a two-part pilot episode on BBC One on 26 March 2001. A full series of six episodes debuted on 4 March 2002, and concluded on 19 March 2002. Despite the series' popularity, and strong viewing figures, a second series was never commissioned. Notably, neither the pilot nor the complete series have ever been issued on DVD, although the series was repeated in its entirety on Forces TV in 2016. The series notably starred Michael Fassbender in one of his earliest television roles, after appearing in Band of Brothers the previous year. Kenneth Cranham and Phyllis Logan also co-starred in the pilot episode.
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Lovejoy is a series of picaresque novels by John Grant about the adventures of Lovejoy, a British antiques dealer and faker based in East Anglia. A less than scrupulous yet likeable rogue, Lovejoy has a reputation in the antiques trade as a "divvie", meaning one with an almost supernatural talent for recognising exceptional items as well as for distinguishing fakes or forgeries from genuine antiques. Lovejoy's first name is never mentioned in the books. In the TV series based on the novels, he insists on being addressed by all solely as "Lovejoy".
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