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Howards' Way

  • TV Series
  • 1985–1990
  • 50m
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
309
YOUR RATING
Maurice Colbourne, Jan Harvey, and Stephen Yardley in Howards' Way (1985)
Soap OperaDrama

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.

  • Creators
    • Gerard Glaister
    • Allan Prior
  • Stars
    • Jan Harvey
    • Stephen Yardley
    • Glyn Owen
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.8/10
    309
    YOUR RATING
    • Creators
      • Gerard Glaister
      • Allan Prior
    • Stars
      • Jan Harvey
      • Stephen Yardley
      • Glyn Owen
    • 26User reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Episodes78

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    Photos11

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    Top cast99+

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    Jan Harvey
    Jan Harvey
    • Jan Howard
    • 1985–1990
    Stephen Yardley
    Stephen Yardley
    • Ken Masters
    • 1985–1990
    Glyn Owen
    • Jack Rolfe
    • 1985–1990
    Susan Gilmore
    Susan Gilmore
    • Avril Rolfe
    • 1985–1990
    Edward Highmore
    • Leo Howard
    • 1985–1990
    Robert Vahey
    • Bill Sayers
    • 1985–1990
    Tony Anholt
    Tony Anholt
    • Charles Frere
    • 1985–1990
    Ivor Danvers
    • Gerald Urquhart
    • 1985–1990
    Dulcie Gray
    Dulcie Gray
    • Kate Harvey
    • 1985–1990
    Cindy Shelley
    • Abby Hudson…
    • 1985–1990
    Maurice Colbourne
    Maurice Colbourne
    • Tom Howard
    • 1985–1989
    Patricia Shakesby
    • Polly Urquhart
    • 1985–1989
    Willoughby Gray
    Willoughby Gray
    • Sir John Stevens
    • 1985–1990
    Tracey Childs
    Tracey Childs
    • Lynne Howard…
    • 1985–1990
    Sarah-Jane Varley
    • Sarah Foster
    • 1986–1988
    Nigel Davenport
    Nigel Davenport
    • Sir Edward Frere
    • 1987–1990
    Lana Morris
    Lana Morris
    • Vanessa Andenberg…
    • 1987–1990
    Kate O'Mara
    Kate O'Mara
    • Laura Wilde
    • 1989–1990
    • Creators
      • Gerard Glaister
      • Allan Prior
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews26

    6.8309
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    Featured reviews

    sophia-nelson

    Howards' Way DVD Release

    We are pleased to announce that Howards' Way will finally be available on DVD Region 2 for the first time ever.

    We hope you will be just as excited about this release as we are ... Join Jan Harvey, Maurice Colbourne and Stephen Yardley for tales of love, deceit, family trials and tribulations in this fantastic long awaited drama featuring the well known theme tune by Simon May and possible extras.

    Howards'Way Series 1 available 20th March 2006 4 DVDs, Region 2 !!!

    Also available later in 2006 Series 2, 3 and 4

    Thanks
    LuisaGallo

    Loved it!

    I was only 12 years old in 1990 when I bought the Howard's Way theme music on audio cassette - it was the first recording I ever bought!!

    It was great to watch on a Sunday night! I always wanted to be out on the sea and be as successful as them!

    Due to the recent repeats on UK Drama, there is now quite a lot of interest from fans on various websites who also seem to love the show and the music as much as I did.

    Those sunsets and seascapes and the fantastic music would be better than ever if they were digitally remastered and released on DVD !!! It's high time it was!
    tsusanboss

    Howards Way I love it

    Having lived and worked on the Solent I can vouch for the characters being very true to life especially the husbands & wives behaving badly!! The clothes were realistic for the time ( I can remember wearing a huge hair bow)and anyone who thinks there's no money in Southampton needs to think again you only need to look at the Port Solent & Ocean Village developments with the Sunseekers parked outside!I'm glad to hear its being released on DVD next year-all we need now is a re-run of Eldorado and my happiness will be complete. I don't think Howards Way would have worked as a soap as it would have been difficult to keep up the great story lines but it has to have been worth a few more series at least!
    9marmir-82310

    How it should have been

    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.
    hillierrichard

    Available on DVD now

    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.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The 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.
    • Goofs
      Considering 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 credits
      The 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.
    • Connections
      Featured in We Have Ways of Making You Think: The Power of Soap (1992)
    • Soundtracks
      Howards Way Theme
      Composed by Simon May and Leslie Osborne

      Played by The Simon May Orchestra

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    FAQ17

    • How many seasons does Howards' Way have?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 1, 1985 (United Kingdom)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • The Boatbuilders
    • Filming locations
      • Waddesdon Manor, Waddesdon, Buckinghamshire, England, UK
    • Production company
      • British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 50m
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 4:3

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