Shoestring (TV series)

infobox television
show_name = Shoestring


caption = "Shoestring"'s title card.
format = Drama
runtime = 1 Hour
creator = Robert Banks Stewart
Richard Harris
starring = Trevor Eve
Michael Medwin
Doran Godwin
Liz Crowther
country = UK
network = BBC
first_aired = 1979
last_aired = 1980
num_episodes = 21
imdb_id = 0078690

"Shoestring" was a BBC television show set in Bristol. It featured a private detective with his own show on the local radio station, Radio West.The programme ran between 30 September 1979 and 21 December 1980, in two series with 21 one hour-long episodes. Star Trevor Eve decided not to return to the role after two series, as he wanted to diversify into theatre roles, so the same production team changed the format to be based in Jersey and created "Bergerac", also about a detective returning to work after a bad period in his life.

The episode "Utmost Good Faith" with the outdoor swimming pool was filmed on location at Severn Beach Blue Lagoon Swimming Pool.

Premise

Eddie Shoestring is a computer expert who suffers a nervous breakdown. (In those days, computers were large bulky machines with open reel tape drives creating considerable noise; in one episode Shoestring visits such a computer room and finds it hard to maintain a steady grip.)

After a period of convalescence he decides to try his hand at detective work. His landlady, solicitor Erica Bayliss arranges for him to investigate a potential scandal involving an entertainer who works for the local Radio West.

After sorting the matter out, Shoestring is hired as the station's "private ear": members of the public are offered his services in order to investigate cases affecting them like disappearances or the unsolved deaths of loved ones.

The Real Radio West

Almost a year after the show finished, 27 October 1981 Bristol's first independent radio station was started under the name of Radio West. The franchise battle had been hard fought and two groups, Radio Avonside and Bristol Channel, came together to form the winning consortium. The choice of on-air name presented few challenges as the BBC had provided two years of free publicity courtesy of Eddie Shoestring [http://www.transdiffusion.org/rmc/commercial/radiowest.php] .

Cast

*Eddie Shoestring – Trevor Eve
*Don Satchley – Michael Medwin
*Erica Bayliss – Doran Godwin
*Sonia – Liz Crowther

Episode list

DVD release?

"Shoestring" was scheduled to be released on DVD (Region 2, UK) by DD Home Entertainment in 2005 but was abandoned due to the high cost of music rights licensing (the series being set at a radio station). Afternoon repeats on BBC1 in 2002 were highly edited, sometimes cut by several minutes, to bring the episodes down to a standard duration and remove material unsuitable for daytime transmission. It seems highly unlikely that "Shoestring" will soon be made commercially available in its original, unedited form.

External links

* [http://www.eddieshoestring.com/Homex.html Unofficial Web Site]
* [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/986651/index.html British Film Institute Screen Online]