The Beiderbecke Collection Complete (includes free CD) | 
 enlarge | Directors: David Reynolds, Frank W. Smith, Alan Bell, Brian Parker
Actors: James Bolam, Barbara Flynn, Dudley Sutton, Dominic Jephcott, Terence Rigby
Studio: Network
Category: DVD
List Price: £39.99
Buy New: £29.25
You Save: £10.74 (27%)
New (12) Used (2) from £29.25
Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 2807
Format: Box Set, Pal
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: Parental Guidance
Number Of Items: 6
Running Time: 750
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 1.9
EAN: 5027626256647
ASIN: B000ICLHJ8
Release Date: November 27, 2006
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: In Stock Now. Brand New & Sealed DVD Boxset from UK based company ensuring prompt despatch within 1-2 days. Despatch confirmation email will be sent.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
Not a shoot out in sight May 8, 2008
Ah The Beiderbecke trilogy, I'm going to have to get all nostalgic again I'm afraid!
I will never be a fan of jazz music myself. Although nowhere near as bad as dance music, it still all sounds exactly the same to me. What I am a fan of though is well written, well acted and well made film or television from any era and this is all three of those and a lot more.
I remember with much fondness all three original series (I'm sure 'Tapes' was originally shown in episode form) broadcast through the mid to late 80s which seemed to sum up a time of major political and social changes whilst managing to be polite, gentle and quiet with it. So it was with a deep breath that I decided to re-visit Beiderbecke on ITV3 recently, fully expecting the shows to have dated badly - all day glow leg warmers and hair spray - and for my rose coloured glasses to be smashed into a million pieces. But how wrong I was!
It is a show as fresh now as it ever was and made to look all the more impressive by the current generic drama being churned out with little more than a passing thought. One previous reviewer here mentioned New Tricks as a comparison, a show where you know "who did it" purely by picking the most famous guest star in the opening credits. Thanks to the likes of Big Brother and X Factor, TV has become so low brow that viewers can see an old episode of Sherlock Holmes and think they are watching a Shakespeare play.
The Beiderbecke trilogy was different though. It treated the viewer as an adult, it laughed with you rather than at you and you were treated almost like one of the main characters watching the goings on with baffled amusement along with Jill and Trevor. You actually CARED what happened!
I'll not go into the plots too much but suffice to say that it doesn't involve too much jazz music! If you like your TV to involve a premium rate phone-in or the word 'celebrity' in the title then give this a miss. But if like me you enjoy a thumping good story surrounding characters you can actually care about and have your thoughts gently provoked beyond what you want for dinner then this is one of the best purchases you will ever make.
Brilliant value for money April 10, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
What a fantastic series of shows. Three shows with James Bolan and one with Alun Armstrong. This is subtle, gentle and educated humour. Each of the shows has a similar theme. I watched them end to end which is probably not a good idea as the jazz music starts to grind on the nerves but this is really well worth the money - 5 discs plus a CD. It was such a pleasure to see a programme without screaming noises in the background. By coincidence, I received the latest the latest `New Tricks' (not released in the UK yet) which has both Armstrong and Bolan in as well. Still a good programme but with the annoying addition of spasmodic and disjointed `music' in every other scene, it shows the difference between the decades in programme production. No idea why the additional `undercurrent' music is there in `New Tricks' - maybe the psychologists tell the BBC it holds our attention. It drives me to the computer to write this - so it does not work with me.
Back to the Beiderbeck Trilogy (actually four separate programmes). This is a classy set of programmes; I do wish they would make them this way today. These concentrate on the story and acting not the annoying peripheral such as sound effects.
Buy it if you want calming entertainment.
British TV at it's very, very best August 30, 2007
21 out of 21 found this review helpful
This set contains three great TV comedy dramas: The Beiderbecke Affair (six 50 min episodes); The Beiderbecke Connection (2 hour one-off) and The Beiderbecke Tapes (four 50 minute episodes), all from the mid/late 1980's.
James Bolam and Barbara Flynn play teachers who find themselves embroiled in adventures which set them against local and national state interests. They are helped and/or hindered by a supporting cast including policemen, councillors, allotment owners, ex-husbands, mysterious Russians and the Popular Liberation Front of West Yorkshire!
Despite the serious message being conveyed what comes across most is the warmth of the quirky humour and it's freshingly leisurely pace. Every character, no matter how minor, is well played; Terence Rigby and Dudley Sutton are particularly good and it's all played out against a great soundtrack of swinging trad Jazz.
The Yorkshire Hart to Hart July 15, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Ok, maybe a bit far fetched to make that comparison because Dudley Sutton would make a poor Max and there isn't much 'Moider'.
I fell in love with The Beiderbecke affair, quite literally due to a schoolboy crush on Barbera Flynn (although she had an overtly more sexy role in A Peculiar Practice). I'm over that now, but that means I can appreciate the subtle plot twists and dialogue (yes there is some, honest).
The music is something I've always appreciated as a backdrop to the story. I'm not that much of a jazz fan, but it does match the pace of the plot and the scenery!
"the psychology of Yorkshire" July 10, 2007
18 out of 19 found this review helpful
This is a fine example of gentle, British comedy - or more specifically Northern Humour, set against a backdrop of jazz, education, jazz, intrigue, jazz, the state apparatus and some more jazz. The characters are believable, the humour well grounded and observed and the performances from James Bolam and Barbara Flynn are consummate. Their relationship is nicely off beat and ties in with the skew view of the world from Alan Plater's pen.
This is excellent comedy drama and well worth a try - these DVDs have given me hours of pleasure and the ability to baffle more people with daft quotes. Equally it's a great chance to hear some good jazz - there is even a definition of the three types of jazz...I'll leave you to find out what they are!
Enjoy.
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