Tom Howard is made redundant from his job as a senior aircraft designer and decides to invest his skill, time and redundancy money in a run-down local boat-building yard. The decision puts a... Read allTom Howard is made redundant from his job as a senior aircraft designer and decides to invest his skill, time and redundancy money in a run-down local boat-building yard. The decision puts a great strain on his marriage.Tom Howard is made redundant from his job as a senior aircraft designer and decides to invest his skill, time and redundancy money in a run-down local boat-building yard. The decision puts a great strain on his marriage.
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Thirty odd years down the road and I still have a strangely soft spot for this - not always well written, with annoying contradictions, baffling plots and some hurried directing leading to some rather indifferent acting - yet highly entertaining series.
As the title implies, the series depicts the progress of the Howard family through a colourful multitude of sub-plots, ranging from believable, interesting and touching to baffling, infuriating and preposterous. The central theme is the collapse of the marriage of Jan and Tom Howard, who - despite their difficulties - continue to be devoted to each other. I believe that the producers' original intention was to show their passage from divorce through a variety of affairs back to reconciliation.
The second and parallel theme of the series is the story of Jan and Tom's upstanding son Leo Howard and his touching on-and-off relationship with a girl from the neighbourhood, Abby Urquhart. If Jan and Tom were to be reunited despite all the ups and downs, then it would be logical to expect a similar conclusion for the younger couple.
Unfortunately in the aftermath of the sad demise of Maurice Colbourne who played Tom Howard, the production suffered from chaotic, hastily rewritten ideas. Jan was paired off with some other, less exciting partners, while Abby inexplicably morphed from a relatively level-headed albeit dour young woman into a devious business tycoon and a total monster.
The story of Leo and Abby begins as perhaps the most heart-warming thread in the series. How could the scriptwriters let us down so badly?
I still believe that, had the series continued, the final outcome could have somehow brought these two together again - slowly and painfully (can you imagine all those other delicious twists and turns?), but eventually for good. After all, somewhere half way through the series, Abby states quite resolutely that Leo is her ideal partner for life - and throughout Series 5 and 6, there are strong hints that she does not trust Orrin after all and may even be double-crossing him... oh, bliss! I like to think there was going to be more to the story than we were allowed to see. The creator of the series, Gerard Glaister, left some notes in which he envisaged series 7, which did not materialize. Thus it is reasonable to believe that the actual story remains unfinished and the aim of the last series was to prepare the viewers for more twists and surprises. I cannot resist imagining something like a collapse of the Hudson empire, Abby's return to England with her sons and her attempts to win Leo's trust and affection back. That way the final toast to the Howards would have been so much more satisfying.
As the title implies, the series depicts the progress of the Howard family through a colourful multitude of sub-plots, ranging from believable, interesting and touching to baffling, infuriating and preposterous. The central theme is the collapse of the marriage of Jan and Tom Howard, who - despite their difficulties - continue to be devoted to each other. I believe that the producers' original intention was to show their passage from divorce through a variety of affairs back to reconciliation.
The second and parallel theme of the series is the story of Jan and Tom's upstanding son Leo Howard and his touching on-and-off relationship with a girl from the neighbourhood, Abby Urquhart. If Jan and Tom were to be reunited despite all the ups and downs, then it would be logical to expect a similar conclusion for the younger couple.
Unfortunately in the aftermath of the sad demise of Maurice Colbourne who played Tom Howard, the production suffered from chaotic, hastily rewritten ideas. Jan was paired off with some other, less exciting partners, while Abby inexplicably morphed from a relatively level-headed albeit dour young woman into a devious business tycoon and a total monster.
The story of Leo and Abby begins as perhaps the most heart-warming thread in the series. How could the scriptwriters let us down so badly?
I still believe that, had the series continued, the final outcome could have somehow brought these two together again - slowly and painfully (can you imagine all those other delicious twists and turns?), but eventually for good. After all, somewhere half way through the series, Abby states quite resolutely that Leo is her ideal partner for life - and throughout Series 5 and 6, there are strong hints that she does not trust Orrin after all and may even be double-crossing him... oh, bliss! I like to think there was going to be more to the story than we were allowed to see. The creator of the series, Gerard Glaister, left some notes in which he envisaged series 7, which did not materialize. Thus it is reasonable to believe that the actual story remains unfinished and the aim of the last series was to prepare the viewers for more twists and surprises. I cannot resist imagining something like a collapse of the Hudson empire, Abby's return to England with her sons and her attempts to win Leo's trust and affection back. That way the final toast to the Howards would have been so much more satisfying.
The reason why there were 'only' six series of 'Howard's Way' was that following the filming of Series 5, prior to it being shown on BBC, Maurice Colbourne died whilst on holiday, so the producers and writers had to decide what to do. It was decided that instead of leaving everything up in the air, it was best to film one final series with the aim of tidying up hanging story lines.
One of the central sets used is the pub. This is 'The Jolly Sailor' at Bursledon on the Hamble River between Farham and Southampton. The outside has not changed much including views of Jack Rolfe's boatyard in real life the Elephant Yard. Inside the pub there is a small memorial to the series in the form of a framed photo of the cast.
The pub was closed to the public during the summer whilst filming went on.
One of the central sets used is the pub. This is 'The Jolly Sailor' at Bursledon on the Hamble River between Farham and Southampton. The outside has not changed much including views of Jack Rolfe's boatyard in real life the Elephant Yard. Inside the pub there is a small memorial to the series in the form of a framed photo of the cast.
The pub was closed to the public during the summer whilst filming went on.
Oh how much I loved Howard's Way, and just imagine my happiness when I saw that it was being shown on UK TV Drama every weekday at 12 and then at 6. It is also repeated on Sundays at 2pm.
Watching it again takes me back to the 80s. A time when Sunday evening's were made eating crumpets doused in butter, drinking tea and watching slimy old Ken Masters in his brilliant white suits. Along with Jan Howard and her 'cutting edge' fashion house (mmmn, polka dots and American football style shoulder pads)
Was gutted to read on this site that Charles and Jack are no longer with us - god bless ya, and thanks for making a very warm childhood seem even warmer.
Howard's Way is available on DVD from this link: http://www.play.com/play247.asp?pa=srmr&page=title&r=R2&title=867783
Brilliant.
Watching it again takes me back to the 80s. A time when Sunday evening's were made eating crumpets doused in butter, drinking tea and watching slimy old Ken Masters in his brilliant white suits. Along with Jan Howard and her 'cutting edge' fashion house (mmmn, polka dots and American football style shoulder pads)
Was gutted to read on this site that Charles and Jack are no longer with us - god bless ya, and thanks for making a very warm childhood seem even warmer.
Howard's Way is available on DVD from this link: http://www.play.com/play247.asp?pa=srmr&page=title&r=R2&title=867783
Brilliant.
I totally disagree what this person has written as I think Howard's Way was brilliant! It had great acting, great storylines and a brilliant theme tune. It should have ran much longer in my opinion. It was the BBC's version of "Dallas" and "Dynasty" and I think they did a great job!
Howards Way was the greatest television series of all time and i am sick of continuing to enquire as to why this series is not released on DVD. No one can give a definitive answer if it were on DVD it would be an instant hit. Tony Anholt was by far my favourite character, an extraordinarily handsome man the epitome of suave. I still cannot believe that he is no longer with us, Tony was brill!! Its just wonderful to see him again on the re runs on UK Drama. It seems more interesting now than it did then. i would dearly like to know where all the locations were on the filming of the series. I just wish the series had continued beyond the 6 series.
Did you know
- TriviaThe series suffered the tragic loss of its leading actor when Maurice Colbourne, who played Tom Howard, died of a heart attack in 1989, during a pause in filming of season 5, aged just 49. Episodes of the fifth season were hurriedly rewritten to explain the character's absence before finally killing him off at the beginning of the sixth and final season. The sixth season was made to wrap up all the storylines from the previous season and bring closure to the series.
- GoofsConsidering Jack Rolfe has supposed to have spent all his life building boats in Tarrant on the south coast, he has a surprisingly strong northern accent.
- Crazy creditsThe name of Lana Morris's character changed from Vanessa Anderberg (with an R) in episodes Happy Days (1987) and Japanese Inquisition (1987), to Vanessa Andenberg (with an N) when she became a regular character in Seasons 5 and 6.
- ConnectionsFeatured in We Have Ways of Making You Think: The Power of Soap (1992)
- How many seasons does Howards' Way have?Powered by Alexa
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