Shoestring

Why isn't this available on video? So many other series are lauded and repeated over and over (Only Fools and Horses, etc.) and go on forever, turning up at Christmas with so called 'specials'. We could certainly do with some more Eddie as the rumours indicate. But I fear, as the times have now changed, and we have become jaded by the amount of detective dramas that the TV channels pump out as a safe bet to win ratings, some new Shoestring wouldn't look as innovative as it quite clearly was. The Beeb for once has repeated something watchable, as a while back, I was able to see some classic episodes again. Especially good was the one where Eddie loses it with a villain at the end.

Get your arse in gear BBC...Put this thing out on DVD!! Now!!

Shoestring, starring: Trevor Eve, Doran Godwin, Michael Medwin and Liz Crowther, is a fun series. Fans, being the resourceful people that we are, share things we enjoy. I would have never gotten to see some of the great British TV series, if I had not met someone on the internet who had introduced me to something that intrigued them. Shoestring is one of those series.

It is the story of a frumpy, private investigator called Eddie Shoestring(Trevor Eve). He had a nervous breakdown while working as a computer analyst and smashed his computer with a hammer. He was instituionalized. After a short period of counseling his psychologist taught him to use art as a stress releaser, so when he begins to get nervous he draws caractures of the object of his stress. Eddie lives in the upper room of a terraced house in Bristol, England. His landlady is the Solicitor Erica Bayliss(Doran Godwin) who works with the police. Eddie is often out of work and owes Erica back rent, but she has a soft spot for him, if not an available g-spot. The fact that these two have a sexual relationship is obvious from the beginning.

Following a widespread British pattern, the local radio station, Radio West, occaisionally invites local people on for interview. The station manager, Don Satchley(Michael Medwin) invites Erica for an interview to help locals with dealing with the police. Radio West is in the process of it's own scandal. It's star Presenter, David Cairn(William Russell), is having a relationship with a young, local prostitute. In the process of visiting one of her clients, she cracks up, steals Cairns Rolls Royce and dies of hypothermia on the beach due to a drug and alcohol overdose. Satchley is at a loss of what to do and asks Erica for help. She introduces Satchley to Shoestring and Eddie solves the mystery. Satchley is impressed with Eddie's abilities and after a suggestion by their receptionist, Sonia(Liz Crowther) hires Eddie to be the station's "Private Ear". Eddie now provides a free service to the public. They write to him and if the need is interesting, he investigates it and the relates the stories on the aire, leaving out the real names, of course to protect the privacy of the listener.

The chemistry between all the actors makes this a fun series. It is lite entertainment that I wish would be available to the general public. There is a large fan base for it and even an unofficial website for fans.

Mr. Eve left the series because of a fear that he would be stereotyped. He had a valid concern. This series would have run for several years. It was that good. But now Mr. Eve has a wider fan base, both in the US and Great Britain, because of his excellant work in film and stage. I hope, now that he has the rights to the show, he might consider releasing it on vhs or dvd.

on UKTVDrama on a daily basis.

Watching now it appears a repetitive.

In each episode....

You they (Eddie & Erica) are jumping each others bones.... but its never really revealed.

He always ends up in a car chase in TV's dullest motor. An orange, Mk3 Cortina estate.

He's guaranteed a good kicking at some point.

He gets a bollocking off his boss.

His fellow DJ's will have a pop at him.

DESPITE all that I am still actually quite enjoying the repeat of the series. He's quite a relaxed, yet you sense "not quite right" character. He seems to be bluffing his way through.

One of the great shows that lives on in the memories.

Based in Radio West, Trevor Eve plays Eddie Shoestring, a former cop who, in a plot line with which those familiar with the US series Midnight Caller will identify, proceeds to investigate the crimes off-the-air.

Whereas Midnight Caller worked better when the main character was confined to the studio, Shoestring works best when Shoestring is out and about.

Unfortunately, the absence any reruns or repeats, and the unavailability of a DVD version (apparently due to copyright and licensing problems) means that it will be virtually impossible to ever see this again, while we are subjected to endless repeats of much lesser shows.

A classic - would absolutely love if the BBC would rerun it.

'Shoestring' is, in my view, the finest detective series the B.B.C. has ever made. The same production team were responsible for the later ( and vastly inferior ) 'Bergerac', but it had something the Jersey-based show lacked - Trevor Eve. In his pyjama jacket, Beatles-styled mop ( Eve had once played Paul McCartney on stage ) and sporting a fashionable moustache, the character could easily have crossed the line into parody ( he also had a habit of sketching the people he met in the course of cases ), but Eve made Eddie warm and believable.

Shoestring was originally a computer programmer who'd lost his job as the result of a nervous breakdown. His landlady, Erica Bayliss, worked in the police archives, and was a big help to him as she had access to confidential files. After a case involving a dead prostitute, Eddie was offered his own show by Radio West. Nowhere was Eve's acting ability more impressive than the scene in the second episode where Eddie suffers a fit of nerves whilst on air for the first time. Admittedly, his cases were small beer by comparison with U.S. detectives such as 'Philip Marlowe' - religious cults, fake antiques dealers, punk rockers and dangerous Christmas toys - but the scripts were good and the cast performed them excellently. Special mention must go to George Fenton for his wonderful music, and Sid Sutton for his titles.

'Shoestring' was a big hit ( Cary Grant was reputedly a fan ), even though its second season clashed with 'The Professionals' on I.T.V., and should have run for five years at least. But it was not to be. Fearing typecasting, Trevor Eve quit after two. Due to complicated music rights issues, we are unlikely to see 'Shoestring' on D.V.D. for the foreseeable future. A great shame.