The Beiderbecke Tapes

PG1987•1h 30m•6.8/10

ComedyDrama

Ratings

🎬TMDb

6.8/10(9)

The Beiderbecke Tapes is a two-part 1987 British television comedy-drama serial written by Alan Plater. The second installment in The Beiderbecke Trilogy, it stars James Bolam and Barbara Flynn as schoolteachers Trevor Chaplin and Jill Swinburne. When a tape recording of a conversation about nuclear waste inadvertently falls into Chaplin's hands, he and Swinburne find themselves being pursued by national security agents.

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Production

Yorkshire Television

Language

Status

Ended

First Aired

December 13, 1987

Last Aired

December 20, 1987

Networks

ITV1

Created By

Alan Plater

Where to Watch

Region US · Lang EN

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Seasons & Episodes

Select a season to view episodes. Reddit links may contain spoilers.

Season

Part 1

Air date: 1987-12-13

Trevor & Jill meet John the barman who gives them a jazz tape without any jazz on it. At a meeting with Dave the wimp they find out about The Peoples Front For The Liberation of west Yorkshire. John the barman has died but is feeling much better now. The man with no name called Mr Peterson came to see them. He was followed by the six men in gray suits. Jill goes to see The Oldest Suffragette In Town. Trevor and Jill go on a trip to Amsterdam with their class from "San Quentin High" but miss the boat.

Part 2

Air date: 1987-12-20

Trevor and Jill go on a trip to Amsterdam with their class from "San Quentin High" - but the class has decamped. Trevor and Jill meet "The Honourable Order of Elks" who are "looking for a bit of action". Jill & Trevor find their action in Edinburgh. The gray men get attacked by a bagpipe band but Jill & Trevor have to go home where they find that the jazz tape with no jazz wasn't all it seemed.