"Lovejoy" (1986) TV series 1986-1994

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Release Date:

10 January 1986 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

Lovejoy is a loveable rogue and an antiques dealer with an amazing talent for spotting hidden treasures...

Plot Keywords:

Antique | Based On Novel | Based On Book | Character Name In Title

Cast

Ian McShane	...	Lovejoy (73 episodes, 1986-1994)
Dudley Sutton	...	Tinker Dill (70 episodes, 1986-1994)
Chris Jury	...	Eric Catchpole (55 episodes, 1986-1994)
Phyllis Logan	...	Lady Jane Felsham (47 episodes, 1986-1994)

(more)

Series Directed by
Baz Taylor		(18 episodes, 1986-1994)
John Crome		(6 episodes, 1992-1993)
John Woods		(4 episodes, 1991-1993)
Francis Megahy		(4 episodes, 1991-1992)
Ian McShane		(4 episodes, 1992-1994)
Jim Hill		(4 episodes, 1993)
Ken Hannam		(3 episodes, 1986)
Roger Tucker		(2 episodes, 1986)
William Brayne		(2 episodes, 1991)
Bill Hays		(2 episodes, 1991)
Don Leaver		(2 episodes, 1991)
Geoffrey Sax		(2 episodes, 1992-1993)
Peter Barber-Fleming		(2 episodes, 1992)
Sarah Hellings		(2 episodes, 1992)
Gordon Flemyng		(2 episodes, 1993)
Ken Horn		(2 episodes, 1993)
Nicholas Laughland		(2 episodes, 1993)
Rob Walker		(2 episodes, 1993)
Paul Harrison		(2 episodes, 1994)
Alex Kirby		(2 episodes, 1994)
Ian White		(2 episodes, 1994)

Series Writing credits
Terry Hodgkinson		(10 episodes, 1986-1994)
Ian La Frenais		(10 episodes, 1986-1994)
Roger Marshall		(8 episodes, 1991-1994)
Jonathan Gash		(6 episodes, 1986)
Douglas Watkinson		(6 episodes, 1991-1994)
Jeremy Paul		(6 episodes, 1992-1994)
Steve Coombes		(5 episodes, 1991-1994)
Dave Robinson		(5 episodes, 1991-1994)
Dick Clement		(4 episodes, 1991-1994)
T.R. Bowen		(4 episodes, 1991-1993)
Alan Clews		(3 episodes, 1991-1993)
Andrew Payne		(3 episodes, 1992-1993)
Francis Megahy		(2 episodes, 1986-1992)
John Milne		(2 episodes, 1993-1994)

Series Produced by
Allan McKeown	....	executive producer: Witzend/Tamariska Productions (10 episodes, 1986)
Robert Banks Stewart	....	producer (4 episodes, 1986)
Richard Everitt	....	producer (unknown episodes, 1991)
Tony Charles	....	executive producer: WitzEnd (unknown episodes)
Paul Richmond	....	associate producer (unknown episodes)
Colin Shindler	....	producer (unknown episodes)

Series Original Music by
Denis King		(1 episode, 1992)

Series Cinematography by
John Baker		(1 episode, 1986)
Alec Curtis		(1 episode, 1986)
Peter Hall		(1 episode, 1986)
Paul Wheeler		(1 episode, 1986)
Jim Fyans		(1 episode, 1992)
Colin Case		(unknown episodes)
Ian Punter		(unknown episodes)
Richard Terry		(unknown episodes)

Series Film Editing by
Martin Sharpe		(7 episodes, 1992)
Peter Harris		(2 episodes, 1986)
Ray Wingrove		(2 episodes, 1986)
Paul Garrick		(2 episodes, 1991)
Anthony Combes		(unknown episodes)
Ian Farr		(unknown episodes)

Series Casting by
Marilyn Johnson		(1 episode, 1992)
Di Carling		(unknown episodes)
Amanda Newland		(unknown episodes)

Series Production Design by
Ken Ledsham		(2 episodes, 1986)
Francis Boyle		(unknown episodes)

Series Art Direction by
Katia Montillet		(unknown episodes)

Series Costume Design by
Pat Godfrey		(4 episodes, 1986)
Betty Barnard		(unknown episodes)
Andrew Duckett		(unknown episodes)
Colin May		(unknown episodes)
Kate O'Farrell		(unknown episodes)

Series Makeup Department
Suzan Broad	....	makeup designer (2 episodes, 1986)
Toni Chapman	....	makeup designer (2 episodes, 1986)
Ann Fenton	....	hair stylist / makeup artist (unknown episodes)
Pippa Hindle	....	makeup artist (unknown episodes)

Series Production Management
Viv Rosenz	....	production manager (2 episodes, 1986)
Alan Wareing	....	production manager (2 episodes, 1986)
Cliff Pinnock	....	production manager (unknown episodes)
Andrew Rowley	....	production manager (unknown episodes)
Jeremy Woolf	....	production manager (unknown episodes)

Series Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Hilary Barrett	....	second assistant director (unknown episodes)
Rob Evans	....	first assistant director (unknown episodes)
Dez McCarthy	....	first assistant director (unknown episodes)
Win Mensah-Larbie	....	second assistant director (unknown episodes)

Series Art Department
Chris Ferriday	....	properties buyer (2 episodes, 1986)
Steve Keogh	....	set designer (unknown episodes)
Tony Moore	....	properties buyer (unknown episodes)

Series Sound Department
Malcolm Campbell	....	sound recordist (2 episodes, 1986)
Robin Graham Scott	....	dubbing editor (2 episodes, 1986)
Gareth Hall	....	dubbing editor (2 episodes, 1994)
Martyn Clift	....	sound recordist (unknown episodes)
Tim Hudnott	....	post-production sound (unknown episodes)
Steve Hudson	....	post-production sound (unknown episodes)
John Taylor	....	boom operator (unknown episodes)

Series Special Effects by
Chris Reynolds	....	special effects technician (1 episode, 1986)

Series Visual Effects by
Mike Kelt	....	visual effects designer (1 episode, 1986)
Tony Auger	....	visual effects designer (1 episode, 1992)
Steve Bowman	....	visual effects designer (1 episode, 1992)
David P. Barton	....	visual effects designer (unknown episodes)

Series Stunts
Dave Holland	....	stunt coordinator / stunt arranger (3 episodes, 1993-1994)
Peter Brayham	....	stunt arranger (2 episodes, 1991-1993)
Colin Skeaping	....	stunt arranger (2 episodes, 1992-1993)
Denise Ryan	....	stunt arranger / stunt coordinator (2 episodes, 1993)
Terry Forestal	....	stunt coordinator (2 episodes, 1994)

Series Camera and Electrical Department
Graham Banks	....	camera operator (7 episodes, 1993)
Robert Shacklady	....	clapper loader (unknown episodes, 1994)
Adam Dale	....	aerial camera operator (unknown episodes)
David Hall	....	clapper loader (unknown episodes)
Gary Nagle	....	electrician (unknown episodes)
Steve Phillips	....	grip (unknown episodes)
Dick Reed	....	gaffer (unknown episodes)
Tim Wiley	....	electrician (unknown episodes)

Series Editorial Department
Ian Campbell	....	post-production (unknown episodes)
Chris Packman	....	post-production (unknown episodes)

Series Music Department
Alan Brind	....	musician: solo violin (1 episode, 1993)
Alan Mann	....	music advisor (1 episode, 1993)
Malcolm Sadler	....	music advisor (1 episode, 1993)

Series Other crew
Caroline Sanders	....	finance assistant (14 episodes, 1993)
Lynn Grant	....	location manager (7 episodes, 1993-1994)
Chris Ballantyne	....	assistant floor manager (4 episodes, 1986)
Jeremy Gwilt	....	production associate (4 episodes, 1986)
Frances Alcock	....	production assistant (2 episodes, 1986)
Elizabeth Bruce	....	location manager (2 episodes, 1986)
Jim Capper	....	location manager (2 episodes, 1986)
Katrine Dudley	....	assistant floor manager (2 episodes, 1986)
Jonathan Hewlett	....	assistant floor manager (2 episodes, 1986)
Joan Marine	....	production assistant (2 episodes, 1986)
Irene Chawko	....	script supervisor (2 episodes, 1993)
Eva Nietschová	....	second assistant accountant: Czech Republic (unknown episodes, 1992)
Mike Amos	....	accountant: WitzEnd (unknown episodes)
Alan Ayres	....	publicist (unknown episodes)
Lionel Bailey	....	production operative (unknown episodes)
Sarah Bates	....	programme budget assistant (unknown episodes)
Diana Brookes	....	continuity (unknown episodes)
Richard Burrell	....	location manager (unknown episodes)
Roger Edwin Ferrin	....	title designer (unknown episodes)
George Griffiths	....	production operative (unknown episodes)
George Griffiths	....	production operative (unknown episodes)
Juley Harding	....	production assistant (unknown episodes)
Jiri Husak	....	production assistant (unknown episodes)
Martin O'Malley	....	location manager (unknown episodes)
Pavlina Prikrylova	....	production assistant (unknown episodes)
Mark Shelley	....	weapons armorer (unknown episodes)
Karen Shipway	....	copyright: WitzEnd (unknown episodes)
Rachel Silver	....	researcher (unknown episodes)
Alison Symington	....	assistant floor manager (unknown episodes)

Production Companies

• McShane Productions
• Witzend Productions

Distributors

• A&E Television Networks (1990) (USA) (TV)
• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Runtime:

50 min (71 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Singapore:PG | UK:12 (some episodes) | UK:PG (some episodes) | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Belchamp Hall, Belchamp Walter, Essex, England, UK

Company:

McShane Productions

Trivia:

Something of a mystery surrounds Lovejoy's daughter. In "Lovejoy: Sugar and Spice (#2.8)" (1991), Lady Jane mentions that Lovejoy has just one daughter. In Season 1, she is called Kate and is played by 'Charlotte Edwards'; in Seasons 2 and 3, she is called Vicky and is played by Amelia Shankley; in Season 6 her name is spelled Viki and she is played by Amelia Curtis. Despite information to the contrary on some web sites, Amelia Shankley and Amelia Curtis are not the same actress.

Quotes:

Lovejoy: Do we have to bring mistrust and suspicion into this.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Code Name: Diamond Head (#7.8)" (1994)

Perfect British escapism.

When I sat first sat down for a rerun of Lovejoy after nearly eight years of last seeing its final episode, I was prepared for some nostalgia. However, the nostalgia turned out to be not just mine, but an integral part of the show. This is not necessary something you would associate with Jonathan Gash's novels about the shady exploits of the no-less shady antique dealer Lovejoy. The first series was a bit closer to the spirit of the novels, as some of the scripts were adaptations, but the results were still somewhat uneven, jumpy pieces of television drama. It was only after the show was revived five years later that it broke loose from the original guidelines, and by the third series it had developed a more polished and delightful identity that is as much its own as Gash's creation. And this identity is all about fantasy and nostalgia.

Just look at the characters: There's Dudley Sutton's Tinker Dill, the tipsy but lovable olde-world gentleman with his perennial beret, tweed suit, campy army reminiscences, and a ready selection of antique trivia, poetry quotes and the admonishment "Visigoths!" for every occasion (this character particularly was softened from the cynical lush portrayed in the first series). And Chris Jury's Eric Catchpole, the leather-jacketed, heavy-metal-gobbling working-class youth and butt of jokes, ever aspirant but almost never bright or classy enough to strike out on his own. His somewhat neglected replacement from the fifth series on, Diane Parish's lively Beth Taylor, seemed to pose problems for the writers, perhaps because it's okay to take the mickey out of a young white man but less okay to take it out of a younger black woman.

Then there's Phyllis Logan's Lady Jane Felsham, the white, far-from-brittle English rose, who doubled as the unreachable object of Lovejoy's romantic longing and as a "nice aristo" with cash and class to support his operations - much to the chagrin of her too-stuffy-by-half husband. Caroline Langrishe's Charlotte Cavendish, who replaced her in the fifth series, may have been airbrushed as a more independent career woman, but ultimately she too was designed as a beauty with a posh accent and suspectibility to roguish charm.

And finally Ian McShane's Lovejoy himself, scampering along as if his jeans were too tight, spinning endless yarns to get him out of a tight spot (and often in them, as well), or taking a double-take glance at something precious - either antique or female - among the junk. As one guest character points out, he is an eternal boy, never "Mister Lovejoy", always unattached, always living basically from hand to mouth. So quite different from the Lovejoy of Gash's novels: the cynical, sexist, womanising, manipulative little schemer whom we should still like, because he supposedly does it all with oh such charm and is occasionally even capable of such great displays of basic human decency as putting people above things. And despite the occasional corpse and threat of bodily harm, the adventures of Lovejoy and his entourage in the series are really boyish romps in search of hidden treasures and a bit of budding romance, providing ample opportunity for excitement, witty banter, humorous escapades and lectures in art history - both real and invented. As if to confirm the juvenility of it all, three of the six series featured Malcolm Tierney's delightfully slimy rival dealer Charlie Gimbert as a bullyboy to be dodged and sent up.

But there's more to it, namely Lovejoy's love for antique for its beauty and preciousness - which doesn't stop him from making profit with it. The highly romanticised view of all that's old and hand-crafted with skill and love is a good excuse to hide from the anxiety about the new. This is why the series has dated little over the years: apart from a stray blast of instantly dateable pop music or fashion, almost all of it takes place in the affected timelessness of dusty antique shops, stately country homes or picturesque small towns where the newest thing in sight is Lady Jane's Range Rover. Of course Range Rover, because this is also about saving British heritage - whether it be medals, paintings or the right people - and pulling a fast one on those who see it as nothing more than a business opportunity or an obstacle to progress. Those who are helped are the little people, loveable eccentrics or down-on-their-luck gentry who still harbour the old skills and crafts or are bit useless but decent folks who deserve a helping hand. And those who get shafted are scheming dealers, greedy real-estate developers, yuppie upstarts or brash Yanks and ockerish Aussies with more money than manners - all those Thatcher's disciples clamouring for ruthless efficiency and frightful modernity.

In short, this combination of British archetypes, ironically tinged nostalgia about the old world and jolly adventuring makes for a perfect British fantasy world, the kind that, to outsiders like myself, is probably more real than the real Britain. Like Lovejoy's loaned Volkswagen, Miriam, in series three, it may be a bit rundown, and quite a bit inefficient, but it's got history and character - and it's all we can afford. It's a world where quick wit, a dash of style and knowledge of the past and the crafts of old can still win over ruthless economic realities, tasteless pomp and all the newfangled technology. It's an enticing vision. It's almost complete and utter tosh.

And it works brilliantly. Apart from a slight drop of quality during the final series, the show maintained a high standard of stories, dialogue and acting that kept me watching long after a mere nostalgia trip would have lost its potency. In fact, it's disturbing to see how different this series is from much of today's programming. Few subsequent shows have tried such an almost naïvely waggish approach and fewer still have made it work without coming across as cynical or calculating. Or perhaps I'm just getting old...