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Hi Ian,

Ah, excellent tip! I will try and bear that in mind. Sorry you were unwell. My cold just goes and goes! I wish it would disappear but at least I'm getting better now before Christmas. Happy Christmas, and welcome back if you're in the library reading this in 2009!

Abby

Hi Abby,

Yep, Shoestring's disappeard from Alibi again.
So glad they showed 'Dangerous Game' though.

Wasn't too well myself on Sunday/Monday but thank goodness I'll be fine for Thursday..fingers crossed!!!

I'm sure you'll get all your Xmasy things sorted before the 25th!!!

Do you remmember The Cult Of Sunday Night TV on BBC4?

Well they're re-running the whole series again every night from December 28th.
Shoestring is on Monday 29th but it's at 2am.
You should get the half hour documentary( with interviews with all cast members and writers) followed by the episode 'Mocking Bird'

Hope Xmas treats you well!
Not sure when I'm back 'cos the library closes on Wednesday!

Have fun.
Ian

Hi Ian,

Oh, I thought about you the other day cos "The Dangerous Game" was on! Christmassy. I think it was on on Friday. This morning when I turned on the telly it wasn't "Shoestring", it was something else..... Dorothy Sayers Mystery or something? No sign of Shoestring or Bergerac! So I suppose you're not missing much!

Have an excellent Christmas Ian. I've been a bit stressed cos all my plans came to nothing, I was ill, and so stuck at home with no chance to sort out the Christmas shopping or the food, but luckily I felt a bit better today so was able to get out shopping. I think honour is satisfied in terms of presents, give or take a forgotten Christmas card to an uncle. But it's impossible to remember everyone isn't it?

See you soon,

Abby

Hi Abby,

I certainly will try to catch more of Trevor in WTD.

I'm feeling really hard done by at the moment as I cant watch any of Alibi's daytime output...But I checked the schedule and it looks like the final Shoestring episode 'The Dangerous Game' will air either on Monday or Wednesday which is great as it's a fab episode to watch at Xmas!! Not sure if it was planned or just a fluke though!!

Regarding the 'budget' on Return Of The Saint... I didn't know it had one!!! lol

I know exactly what you mean though. I always think in the days pre video, serials like this were made to be viewed once only and they thought they could get away with those types of anomalies(<
Hope Christmas isn't getting you too stressed out.
Should be back on in the next few days.
Catcha later.

Ian

Hi Ian,

Yes, you should definitely see more "Waking the Dead". It's got this great dynamic between all these team members getting shouted at by Boyd who has this perpetual blobstrop. And Sue Johnston is in it, she's good too, they're always fighting while all the younger, hotter cast members make worried expressions in the background. And the plots are good, although occasionally they are very disturbing and dark and may give you nightmares if you are of a nervous disposition.

I'm not sure if I like that more or the same as "Silent Witness" the post-Amanda Burton episodes. There's a lot of fun chemistry between the three cast members in "Silent Witness" too.

In "The Return of the Saint" today the episode started out in a glamorous ski resort. Just like the episode from the other day so we thought it was the same one. But then, would you believe Simon Templar was wearing exactly the same pair of blue salopettes as the previous episode! I think maybe they were pretending to have a bigger budget than they actually had on that show. I mean Simon Templar ought to have been ashamed to be wearing the summer season of skiing fashion when it was definitely autumn! What a fashion faux-pas!!

Abby

Hi Abby,

Wow David McCallum...that IS a 'claim to fame'

I don't think anyone actually knew what the heck Saphire and Steel was all about!! I reckon the writers were on drugs when it came to script writing! It used to freak me out.
Wasn't it funny that David McCallum had a 'Purdy' pudding bowl hair-cut alongside Joanna Lumely!!!

Trevor has definately aged well. He was cool in Shoestring but I like him as Boyd... my 'stubble beard's' has that hint of grey in it these days!!! But I must see more Waking The Deads...


Catcha soon.

Ian

Hi there,

I do remember "Sapphire and Steel"! I used to watch it and my Mum would always trot out her claim-to-fame that her piano teacher was also the teacher of the Scottish actor in "Sapphire and Steel" whose name escapes me. Ah, hang on, I'll Google it. David McCallum.

Trevor Eve in the 21st century just keeps on getting better. I think he's improved with age, just a shame that Boyd's so unlikeable. Although when he's intimidating suspects, I wish sometimes it were me in the interview room. He could intimidate a confession out of me any time he likes!!!

I have been watching "The Return of the Saint" and if its watched after "Shoestring" its realism (or lack of) is quite risible. Today, the Saint was chatting up a lady ski instructor. Then her brother skis downhill. Then the brother gets shot. Then the sister is slightly upset. But Simon Templar doesn't break a sweat, and about a minute later accuses her of being in on some scam that put him in front of a bullet. Whether the onset of grief or shock? The woman's brother's just died right in front of them!!!! What a load of tosh. Sadly my kids are getting into it in a big way now. I would switch over to Channel 4 but "Just Shoot Me" is also not very child friendly. (Sex gags about once a minute, stuff I don't want to explain to young kids!)

Abby

Hi Abby,

No I didn't see Waking The Dead...
I really should watch more of Trevor in the 21st century!!!

As you say, Alibi are fairly consistent in their re-runs!!!

I was just thinking, if they stick to the schedule, they might be running Shoestring's final episode ('Dangerous Game') around Christmas time...That would be great!
Whatever happens that's what I'm watching on Christmas Eve anyway!!!

(DO YOU REMEMBER SAPPHIRE AND STEEL???) Spooky!!!!

Bye for now,

Ian

Hi Ian!



Yes, I liked Lettie Ross, I liked the way she sent out glamorous looking photos of herself to get the attention of Shoestring!

Did you see "Waking the Dead" last night? There was a funny moment in that where Peter Boyd was completely defeated by having to open an email attachment (ahh! Diddums!) For some reason the scene reminded me of Shoestring. Unfortunately I missed the last half hour as I was knackered and fell asleep. I'll have to watch for next time it's repeated. I'm sure Alibi won't keep me waiting long.

Abby

Hi Abby,

Managed to catch the last 2 Shoestring episodes.
In 'I'm a Believer'...Oh Dear! How great would it be to join the Sunshine People??? (Not)
I'll just give all my worldly goods to some dodgy cult crook and I'll find inner peace!!!!!
Shouldn't really take the mick 'cos lot's of folk have been conned into this type of thing over the years with tragic consequences on occasions.

On a lighter note, todays episode 'Room With A View' was such fun if only for the fabulous actress Madoline Thomas who played Eddie's 'sidekick' Lettie Ross.

I did a check on her and did you know she was 90 years old when she played that part!!!
She was fantastic for her age. Sadly she passed away in late December 1989 just a few days before her 100th birthday.

Got to go for now

Ian

It would be *extremely* cool if the Saint was actually about a stick man with a halo jumping off bridges and getting his halo all mixed up with a lady's feather boa. The show for me now also reminds me of a scene in "Alan Partridge" where he's air-drumming along to the theme tune while his employee Lynn is at a cemetery. Have you seen that? I must have been the same age as you when I saw "The Saint". But it annoyed me! Isn't it funny watching things you last saw as a little kid? The episode I saw the other day had a London setting, and that's cool, watching London streets from "them days".

The episode the other day featured the woman who was the girlfriend in the film "The Odessa File". It took me a while to place her because I had thought she was German. Doh! She must be English and can do a good German accent.

Hiya Abby,

I once heard that Bergerac couldn't swim!! That's why Eddie had the upper hand...come to think of it I'm not sure if Eddie was a very good swimmer either!! Lol


I was 9 yrs old when 'Return Of The Saint' was first broadcast in 1978 and it's the opening titles that still intrigue me....
The stick man's meant to be 'The Saint' but that was something I just used to accept as a kid (Never questioned anything when I was wee!).

"The name's Templer...Simon Templer"....as Ian Ogilvey looked up to his 'Halo'....Priceless stuff.
Watching now as a mature adult (Ha ha) I find the opening titles are the highlight of the epiodes!!!...and weren't most of them filmed outside the UK (France or Italy??)

Hey but how cool would it have been if it HAD been about a cartoon stick man with a halo??
And he does all these cool things like jumping off the bridge and 'swimming' onto a boat...and the sunglasses!!!!!!

It's shoved Bergerac back into the sea.

I'm watching The Saint but the opening credits confuse and enrage me just as they did when I was a kid.... why does the stick man have a halo? Why is the stick man not actually in the programme?? All these conundrums used to do my head in as a child. And now my own children are just as annoyed as me that it's not a zippy show about a stick man with a halo. The credits promise much but don't deliver.

That's great news Abby,

Wow they don't give you any warning!!!

What's the time-slot?...Have they given 'Big Jim' the heave-hoe or have they ditched Simon Templer???

I'm on a course at the moment so can't see any morning or afternoon TV!!!

HIGHLANDER! SHOESTRING WAS BACK ON THIS MORNING!!!!!

That made my day.

It was the Toyah Willcox episode. I hope they keep going up to the one called "Teddy Bears Nightmare" cos I never saw that one.

Hi BrianK78051

The BBC didn't actually cancel Shoestring....Trevor Eve decided to leave after the second series.

I agree with your Bergerac comment...He never really did it for me either...He was always gonna 'batter' the baddies...Eddie was a vulnerable character, and I guess, that's why I liked him!

I couldn't agree more with AO90023, when the BBC Cancelled Shoestring I refused to watch Bergerac and only did so when it was repeated on UK Drama many years ago.

You might say both series were formulaic but the fact is Trevor Eve was a brilliant actor and gave the character depth, more so than John Nettles and Bergerac, even today in Midsomer, Nettles is wooden.

I watch it cos I have a sort of loyalty to Nat Parker from his days in the late eighties when he starred in an excellent drama. So I watch him as Lynley and wonder if he's still got it. Whether he has or not very much depends on the length of his hair.

I'm really superficial. I must admit!

Yep Abby,

I take your point. Where else would we get the chance to watch all of these fab programmes if it wasn't for the cable networks?

I think I should watch this Lynley programme at some point!! Doesn't sound like I'll be able to make any sense of it though!!

Hi there,

I suppose so, but in the most part I'm so pathetically grateful that Alibi exists and shows such great shows, that I don't mind about anything else. I find if I can achieve a Zen-like indifference to changes and cancellations in the schedule it serves me better, because the more I care the more frustrated I get. And I find that technology conspires against me when I get too passionate about a show - for example just at the point where I thought "Shoestring is excellent and I should be videoing this", my cable box broke down. And a couple of weeks later my video machine broke down. So I have lots of "Shoestring" episodes on videos I can't watch! If I cared a lot about it, I'd be unhappy. So I'll just think "I am glad I got to see it, maybe it will be repeated again, but my memories will see me through."

Also, with the bonkers continuity of episodes, it's like a little puzzle to figure out, what is going on in the character's private lives in Viscount Lynley (Lord Lynley?? Whatever) and it's like a fun exercise, because the storylines about the murders are all stand-alone, it's just the private lives that run in any kind of causal order, so I just watch and try and figure it out. I like a challenge. Like, is he married, is the baby born, is it dead, is he single, is he chasing after Havers? He seems to wistfully ask her out for a pint in every episode and she knocks him back every time, probably trying to keep their relationship professional. Fair play to her.

Hi Abby,

I know what you mean but isn't it a shame that viewers who pay a subscription for a service have to "hope for the best" regarding any sort of programme continuity?

When Alibi was UKTVDrama, I used to watch Doctor Who (Ok, it was only for nostalgiac reasons!!!).
But it was like you said with Lynley, (which I've never had the chance to watch so far)they would jump episodes from different stories...Eg. many Who's were 4 episodes long. Drama would show prt 1 of a story and the next night show part 3 of a completely different story only to return to the original story a few days later!!!

I'm sure Alibi/UKTVDrama will have Eddie turn up one day in an episode of Waking the Dead as Boyd's long lost twin!!

Bye for now.

Hi Highlander,

You can't trust the Alibi information, I've learnt, you just have to hope for the best. I read on here somewhere they are obliged to show the different shows several times at different times of the day, so I bet we haven't seen the last of "Shoestring"!

No, I haven't ever got into "The Avengers" or any of those shows, they struck me as too camp and cartoonish to really hold my interest. I like programmes that are fairly credible and with characters I relate to. So I'm still on Alibi channel watching "Silent Witness" and "Waking the Dead" and I'm watching "The Inspector Lynley Mysteries" which I keep calling the Viscount Linley mysteries... I wonder if I'm the only one? But Alibi show them in mind bending order. So one day, tune in and Lynley's wife has had a dead baby and she's left him. Next time you tune in, he's just met this lovely young lady he wants to fall in love with. Next time, she's pregnant. Next time, Lynley's partner Havers is hassling him to ask out the lovely lady. I daresay one day I'll tune in and his three kids from his marriage to his next wife will be there hassling him for the keys to the Bentley, and the next episode, he will have just joined the police force and Havers will be sitting her GCSEs.

I'm confused, I admit it.

Hi Abby,

Not been here for a few days.

You enjoying 'Return Of The Saint'??
I really liked it when I was young but my attention span just isn't long enough these days!!!

On a similar note..Beeb 4 are running 'The New Avengers' at the moment although it keeps jumping around the schedule. I can still watch that. It was so much fun and I remember 'Purdy' being my first crush as a 7yr old!!!

Yep, I just don't watch Bergerac (Not really sure why!!)
Be prepared 'cos it ran for, I think, 10 series...

Hopefully Shoestring will be back soon...During the week the episode 'Room with a view' was shown in the information box on Virgin when, in fact, Bergerac was showing!!!

Hi there Highlander,

I'd like to pretend I'm a busy person with a life, but I can't keep it up for long - I'm bereft without my morning dose of Shoestring! Also, I've never seen "The Teddy Bears Nightmare" episode from the second series cos my cable box was on the blink that day so I'll just have to hope that Alibi channel in their munificent benevolence sees fit to run the show again, and that right soon!

That emoticon is me, thinking about my mornings. "Bergerac" just isn't the same. Sorry.

Re your post, yes the final episode of series 2 was a good one to see at Christmas time. What a shame that everyone in that episode was partying and having a good time apart from Eddie.

There's lots of great music in the background, and sometimes the music pertains to the scene in a subtle and clever way, so well done to whoever chose the music, even if the cost of royalties is the reason we can't buy a DVD of the show. I liked the scene where Eddie is interviewing someone and "Video Killed the Radio Star" is on in the background. Although I suppose it could have been even more apt if the final episode was Shoestring being killed by a huge pile of VHS (or Betamax?) videotapes falling on him from a great height.

Shoestring!!!! Can't even spell..it was the shock of Alibi not showing it anymore!!!