Billy

what a relief to find out I am not imagining this programme! the summary from taxman is great. I too remember finding it haunting and not particularly family viewing, I must have been 10/11 at the time I watched it. I think for a girl that age part of attraction was lead's very blond hair, and his permanently sad state. The theme was played on a flute I recall - although I cannot remember how it went. I think the intro showed him playing it - or maybe he played a flute in the programme and especially when he was sad? Maybe I am destined never to know how it ended or to see clip or hear the tune, but at least I now know it is not just me.

So nice to read reviews of Barriers. I loved it, I was hooked on it. The theme music was sooo haunting and Benedict Taylor was so gorgeous (I was so in love with him, I think I was 13). Only one other girl in my whole school, watched it. I'm 41 now and was also starting to think I'd imagined the series, because no knows of it. Does anyone know how it ended? I don't know if I missed the final episode (cant imagine I would have) or if I cant remember the outcome or if they never screened it. Billy was such a loner and you just wanted to be the girl to take care of him, lol. I would love to watch that series again. Would be interesting to see what we all think of it now.

37 years ago on a Sunday afternoon this was required viewing.! Just finished watching it again after all these years, and well! Each week, great! Back to back, and in hindsight, this series has more holes than a Swiss cheese. Billy wants a damn good slap; Robert Addie, dressed as a purple crested spaceman, haggling with a drunk in a Newcastle Cafe (spam I think?). The drunk, considering it was 1981, was haggling pre decimalisation, was it tanner or tenner! I don't think these are spoilers, they just made me laugh! Throughout, I kept thinking that I'd missed an episode, I hadn't. The continuity of everything back to back was excruciating, laughable, and innocently beautiful. Mr Whittaker and Pricey were wonderful, and considering it was TyneTees, I didn't see anyone from Byker Grove or Spender in it! Bravo to TV from a more naive era, and although I've been a little bit critical, I had a great, yet brief period wallowing in a pool of sweet nostalgia. Well done!!

Barriers seems to be one of those series that have been lost in the mists of time. After it's transmission in the early 80s and one repeat, it's since sunk without trace. This is a crying shame.

I originally watched this when it was transmitted in the Southern TV region on Sunday afternoons and was classic tea-time viewing. Although I don't remember a great deal about the program, a few things stuck in my mind. Most notable were the unforgettable titles. The mournful flute music accompanying the attempted escape across an East European border and the subsequent car crash (and that scene has left me with an abiding love of 'fintail' Mercedes models as they used a Merc 200). Although it wasn't obvious at the start, the solution to the series' mystery was in these titles.

The plot about a young music student trying to unravel what really happened when he discovers he was adopted had lots of twists and turns but Barriers was a surprisingly 'adult' children's drama. Benedict Taylor was excellent as Billy and it was a shame he didn't do a lot more.

This was a quality drama, well overdue for a DVD release and I hope I'll get the chance to re-acquaint myself with it in the future.

A fond memory from my childhood

Loved that show. Shame it's not on DVD.I have tracked down the Barriers theme tune on Youtube for those that were looking to hear it again.....just key in Barriers TV show. It's quite a moving piece of music and quite an eerie opening, set around the war but I don't remember much about the storyline at all. All I know is the series starred Benedict Taylor as Billy Stanyon, a teenager facing up to the loss of his parents in a sailing accident only to discover that he was adopted. Billy then set off on a journey to find his real parents that takes him across Europe. The series was filmed on location in Scotland, Germany and Austria. But I remember watching it every week. I remember Benedict Taylor well, the start of career. The last time I saw him on TV was in Darling Buds of May. It would be great to see this series again, so if anyone knows if it's available on DVD, I'd appreciate it. Like many great children's TV shows of the era, it's gone without a trace.