THE XYY MAN to THE ZOO GANG @ Memorable TV's Guide to British Television

Crime/spy drama series. Spider Scott is a cat burglar with an extra Y chromosome in his genetic makeup which means he is unable to go straight - British Intelligence decide he will be useful to them and recruit him into their ranks. The character of Bulman spun off into two other series first Strangers and then Bulman. It's worth noting that the character of Bulman is a radically different person in this show being much more mean spirited. The series began life as a self contained 3 part serial before coming back as a fully fledged 13 part series the following year.

cast
STEPHEN YARDLEY as Spider Scott / DON HENDERSON as Det Sgt George Bulman / DENNIS BLANCH as DC Derek Willis / VIVIENNE McKEE as Maggie Parsons / MARK DIGNAM as Fairfax / WILLIAM SQUIRE as Laidlaw / PAUL FREEMAN as Ray Lynch (original serial) / ROY BOYD as Brian (original serial) / DON WARRINGTON as Jomo Ibbon (original serial)

A YEAR IN PROVENCE

BBC1 / 12x30m-e / 1993 28 Feb - 16 May

Writer: Michael Sadler / Book: Peter Mayle / Producer: Ken Riddington / Director: David Tucker

Drama serial. Executive Peter Mayle and his wife Annie give up the rat race to live in a farmhouse in France. This much hyped show turned into a bit of a disaster for the BBC on it's UK showing but proved surprising popular in other parts of the world.

Peter Mayle......................................JOHN THAW

Annie Mayle......................................LINDSAY DUNCAN

Colombani........................................JEAN-PIERRE DELAGE

Marcel.............................................BERNARD SPIEGAL

Amadee Clement..............................JO DOUMERG

THE YEAR LONDON BLEW UP: 1974

C4 / 1x120m / 1 September 2005

Director: Edmund Coulthard / Producer: Mark Hayhurst

Drama documentary re-telling the story of the sustained IRA bombing campaign in London during 1974 ending in a six-day siege as the bombers hole-up with hostages.

With:- MICHAEL COLGAN as O'Connell / CHRIS O'DOWD as Dowd / JONJO O'NEILL as Duggan / JENNY HOWE as Mrs Matthews / TIM PREECE as Mr Matthews

THE YEAR OF THE FRENCH

RTE/FR3 / 6x60m-e / 1982

Writer: Eugene McCabe / Novel: Thomas Flanagan / Music: The Chieftains

Period drama serial. In 1798 an Irish uprising is engineered by French revolutionaries.

With:- ROBERT STEPHENS / NIALL O'BRIEN / ANNE LOUISE LAMBERT / KEITH BUCKLEY

THE YEAR OF THE SEX OLYMPICS

BBC2 'Theatre 625' / 1x105m-e / 1968 29 July

Writer: Nigel Kneale / Design: Roger Andrews / Producer: Ronald Travers / Director: Michael Elliott

Scifi drama. In an England of the future, the population is split in two, those who make TV Programmes and those who watch. One family agree to have their lives broadcast 24 hours a day. Talk about prophetic, the strangeness that is Big Brother has clear echoes of this play.

With:- LEONARD ROSSITER as Co-Ordinator Ugo Priest / SUZANNE NEVE as Deannie Webb / TONY VOGEL as Nat Mender / VICKERY TURNER as Misch / BRIAN COX as Luger Opie

YELLOWBACKS

BBC1(Scotland) 'The Play on One' / 1x80m-e / 1990 30 August

Writer: Malcolm McKay / Design: Alan Wright / Executive Producer: Bill Bryden / Producer: Peter Broughan / Director: Roy Battersby

Scifi drama. In a Britain of the future, a deadly virus (obviously AIDs - although it is never mentioned) is causing a panic throughout the country. Dr Juliet Horwitz is interrogated over a missing homosexual, Martin Pitt, who is suffering from the virus.

Dr Juliet Horwitz................................ JANET McTEER

David Caesar.................................... ROY MARSDEN

Peter Pike........................................ TIM ROTH

Alex McPherson............................... BILL PATERSON

Cheryl Newman................................ IMELDA STAUNTON

Martin Pitt....................................... CIARAN HINDS

Normal Jarvis................................... KENNY IRELAND

Colin Skye...................................... LUKE HANSON

Carol Fairwater................................ LINDA HENRY

Philip Colthard................................ JONATHON PHILLIPS

THE YELLOW SANDPAPER

BBC / 1x90m-e / 1989

Based On The short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman / Adapted By Maggie Wadey / Producer: Sarah Curtis / Director: John Clive

Period thriller. Charlotte is a young wife suffering from what Victorian doctors termed "nervous fatigue". Her physician-husband, John, takes her to a strange country house he rented to help her recover. A strongly creative woman, Charlotte is desperate to work, primarily to write, but her husband will have none of it. He insists her cure lies in doing nothing. Confined to a top-floor room, Charlotte begins to be obsessed by its wallpaper. It's a stickly yellow color that both fascinates and disgusts her as she lies in bed and tries to trace its intricate patterns. Descending rapidly into insanity, she thinks she sees the figure of a woman behind the paper, trapped behind the bars in the paper's design. Slowly but surely the wallpaper's tortuous pattern finds its way into her mind until she finally comes face-to-face with the woman who has been haunting her.

With:- Julia Watson / Dorothy Tutin / Carolyn Pickles

YELLOWTHREAD STREET

Yorkshire / 6x60m-e / 1990

Producer: Ranald Graham

Crime drama series. Cases of a group of cops stationed in Hong Kong.

Vale.....................................................RAY LONNEN

Brady...................................................MARK McGANN

Kelly....................................................CATHERINE NEILSON

Eden....................................................BRUCE PAYNE

Marenta................................................ROBERT TAYLOR

YES, BUT SERIOUSLY

BBC / 1x30m-e / 1963 16 October - Wednesday 6.35pm

Writer: Ken Hoare / Producer: Lennie Mayne

Comedy. A pair of scriptwriters struggle to complete a script for a film star who is to star in a new TV show.

Tony..................................................TONY TANNER

Barbara ............................................BARBARA YOUNG

YESTERDAY'S ENEMY

BBC / 1x90m-e / 1958 14 October black and white

Writer: Peter R. Newman / Design: John Cooper / Producer: Chloe Gibson

Wartime drama. In 1942 a British army unit are stuck in the Burmese jungle.

With:- GORDON JACKSON / ALEX SCOTT / TERENCE BROOK / BARRY FOSTER / BURT KWOUK / LEE MONTAGUE

YOU CAN'T BE TOO CAREFUL

ITV Network - Meridian - Blue Heaven 'Ruth Rendell Mysteries' / 1x60m-e / Broadcast 24 December 1998

Writer: Ted Whitehead / Story: Ruth Rendell / Music: Brian Bennett / Costume Design: Rita Angell / Production Design: Christine Ruscoe / Executive Producer: Graham Benson / Producer: Neil Zeiger / Director: Matthew Evans

Psychological thriller. Delia Galway takes in co-worker Rosamund to help with the rent on her flat, Delia is extremely timid and obsessed with making sure that doors are locked and everything is secure. Rosamund is a much younger partying free spirit and when she begins staying out late events begin to take a sinister turn.

Entertaining thriller that is a little like an extended episode of Tales of the Unexpected.

Delia Galway......................................SERENA EVANS

Rosamund.........................................JANE HAZLEGROVE

Gerald Adrain.....................................SIMON CHANDLER

Chris.................................................PAUL BLAIR

Mrs Swanson....................................JUNE BARRIE

Bearded Man.....................................LES DOHERTY

Valerie..............................................KATE BINCHY

Jackie..............................................DEBBIE CHAZEN

YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU

BBC / 1x90m-e / 1947 black and white

Writers: Moss Hart, George F. Kaufman / Producer: Joel O'Brien

Comedy. When a wealthy bachelor falls for a girl she introduces him to her eccentric family.

With:- FINLAY CURRIE / WILLIAM KEMP / BESSIE LOVE / CONNIE SMITH / DIANA DECKER

YOU CAN'T WIN

Granada / 7x60m-e / 1966 black and white

Writer: Roy Madron / Books: William Cooper / Producer: Margaret Morris

Period drama serial. Stories of a young would be novelist between the years 1939 and 1949.

Joe Lunn...............................................IAN McSHANE

Myrtle...................................................PATRICIA GARWOOD

Robert..................................................JOHN HUMPHREY

Tom.....................................................PETER BIRREL

YOU CAN'T WIN 'EM ALL

BBC / 1x70m-e / 1962 7 February black and white

Writer: Alun Owen / Producer: John Jacobs

Drama about an out of work sailor. This production led to the series Corrigan Blake.

Corrigan Blake..................................JACK HEDLEY

YOU MUST BE VIRGINIA

ABC (Armchair Mystery Theatre) / 1x60m-e / 1964 6 September - Sunday 9.35pm

Writer: Richard Harris / Design: David Marshall / Director: Don Leaver

Thriller. A young couple find their marriage under strain when a stranger pays them a visit.

With:- RICHARD JOHNSON / TOBY ROBINS / NIGEL STOCK

YOU'LL NEVER SEE ME AGAIN

HTV / 1x60m-e / 1986

Writer: Terence Feely / Story: William Irish / Executive Producer: Patrick Dromgoole / Producer: Terry Miller

Crime drama. A detective investigates the disappearance of a teenage girl.

With:- LESLIE PHILLIPS as Det Supt Weston / GEORGINA SLOWE as Margaret Alden / DIANA COUPLAND / PETER GILMORE / WANDA VENTHAM

YOU'LL NEVER WALK ALONE

Yorkshire / 1x30m-e / 1974

Writers: Ray Galton, Alan Simpson / Producer: Vernon Lawrence

Comedy. On a train going to London for the FA Cup Final, three mad keen Leeds Utd fans try to persuade three non football fans to join them.

Maurice................................................BRIAN GLOVER

Marjorie................................................MAUREEN LIPMAN

Trevor...................................................GORDON ROLLINGS

YOU ARE HERE

Channel 4 / 1x45m-e / 1998 30 December

Writers: Mark Freeland, Matt Lucas, Robert Roper, David Williams / Producer: Nira Park / Director: John Birkin

Comedy drama. The small community of the village of Here are up in arms when a local bigwig plans to sell off the village.

Ken....................................................KEITH ALLEN

Laura.................................................SALLY PHILLIPS

Pat Magnet........................................MATT LUCAS

Sheldon Cohen...................................NIGEL PLANER

Rita Cohen.........................................KATE ROBBINS

Peter Kegsie......................................JOHN THOMSON

YOU NEVER CAN TELL

BBC (Play of the Month) / 1x90m-e / 1977

Play: George Bernard Shaw

Period comedy. Shaw's comic tour-de-force is set beside the seaside where a holiday atmosphere prevails. Amidst the sunshine and sea air, against a background of a fancy dress party and luncheon, Shaw uses his lightest touch to explore the battle of the sexes, the absurdities of marriage and the generation gap.

The enlightened Mrs Lanfrey Clandon and her three clever and unconventional children have returned to England after eighteen years of living abroad. Whilst staying at a Hotel in Torbay the family bumps into the staunchly traditional father they had previously abandoned. Add into the equation an inpoverished dentist, an eminent QC and a seemingly all-knowing waiter

With:- Cyril Cusack, Patrick Magee, Judy Parfitt, Robert Powell

YOUNG AT HEART

ATV 'The Sound of Laughter' / 1x30m-e / 1977 4 August - Thursday 7.00pm

Writer: Ronnie Taylor / Producer/Director: Les Chatfield

Comedy. A pair of old age pensioners fall out over their grandson.

Albert Sculley..................................STRATFORD JOHNS

Leonard Jarvis..................................RICHARD PEARSON

YOUNG CHARLIE CHAPLIN

Thames / 1x60 5x30m-e / 1989

Writers: Colin Shindler, Stan Hey, Andrew Nickolds / Producer: Colin Shindler

Period drama serial. In the early part of the 20th Century young Charlie Chaplin treads the music hall boards as part of an act with his mother and father.

Charlie Chaplin.................................JOE GEARY

Charlie Chaplin Sr.............................IAN McSHANE

Hannah Chaplin................................TWIGGY LAWSON

Sydney Chaplin................................LEE WHITLOCK

THE YOUNGER GENERATION

Granada / x60m-e / 1961 black and white

Producer: Peter Wildeblood

An anthology series of dramas with a resident cast of up and coming actors, including JOHN THAW, RONALD LACEY, REGINALD MARSH, MARY MILLER, JUDY CORNWELL AND JOHNNY BRIGGS.

THE YOUNG PERSONS GUIDE TO BECOMING A ROCK STAR

Channel 4 / 6x45m-e / 1998 10 November - 15 December

Writer: Bryan Elsley / Producer: Peter Norris / Director: Sheree Folkson

Comedy drama serial. A group of young Glaswegians try to make it big in the music business.

Jez.................................................CIARAN McMENAMIN

Fiona..............................................SIMONE LAHBIB

Psycho...........................................DUNCAN MARWICK

Joe.................................................NICOLA STAPLETON

Wullie.............................................STEPHEN McCOLE

Ossie..............................................FRANK GALLAGHER

Alice...............................................BARBARA RAFFERTY

Himself...........................................NOEL GALLAGHER

THE YOUNG VISITERS

BBC1 / 1x90m / 26 December 2003

Novel: Daisy Ashford / Writer: Patrick Barlow / Director: David Yates / Producer: Christopher Hall

Period Victorian comedy drama. Alfred Salteena falls for Ethel Monticue whom he meets on a train. He offers to introduce her to dukes and lords to impress her, but finds she is just using him to meet a better class of people. So Alfred attends a finishing school to learn how to be a proper gentleman. Written by Daisy Ashford when she was 9-years old - the spelling mistake in the title was her own.

With:- JIM BROADBENT as Alfred Salteena / HUGH LAURIE as Lord Bernard Clark / LYNDSEY MARSHAL as Ethel Monticue / BILL NIGHY as Earl of Clincham / GEOFFREY PALMER as Minnit / SIMON RUSSELL BEALE as Prince of Wales / SOPHIE THOMPSON as Bessie Topp / SALLY HAWKINS as Rosalind

YOUR CHEATIN' HEART

BBC1 / 6x50m-e / 1990 11 October - 15 November

Writer: John Byrne / Producer: Peter Brougham / Director: Michael White

Comedy drama serial. When her country singer husband is accused of drug traffiking Cissie Crouch determines to prove his innocence.

With:- TILDA SWINTON as Cissie Crouch / JOHN GORDON SINCLAIR as Frank McClusky / KEVIN McMONAGLE as Dorwood / KATY MURPHY

YOU'RE BREAKING UP

BBC2 / 1x30m / 29 October 2003 / 11:20pm
Writer: Bill Dare / Director: Matt Lipsey / Producer: Rob Bullock

Comic drama. A man's life becomes ever more complicated in a series of mobile-phone conversations. A one-hander with only the man's side of his conversations heard.

With:- NITIN GANATRA as Deep

YOU'RE NOT WATCHING ME MUMMY

ITV Network-Yorkshire / 1x50 minutes / Broadcast: Sunday 20 January 1980 @ 10.15pm

Writer: John Osborne / Designer: Jeremy Bear / Executive Producers: David Cunliffe / Director: James Ormerod

Drama. A typically Osborne piece that goes behind the scenes of a West End play, with bitchiness and backstabbing well to the fore.

Cast:
Ian Gardiner as Mr. Colbourne / Anna Massey as Jemima / Peter Sallis as Leslie / Alan Rowe as Dr. Ronald Grove / John Gill as Freddie Lamons / Wanda Ventham as Susan / David Sterne as Aubrey / Gillian Martell as Mrs. Colbourne / Christopher Driscoll as Stage Manager / Jeremy Nicholas as Anthony / Tony Goodall as Man in dressing-room / Kim Fortune, Glory Annen and Christine Shaw as Theatregoers / Suzanne Bertish as Lena / Ronald Whelan as Stanley Klob / Karen Mayo-Chandler as Shirley Rose / Douglas Heard as Rene

YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN

BBC1 / x50m-e / 1975

Creators: N.J. Crisp, Gerard Glaister / Producer: Peter Cregeen

Drama series. Ryder an embittered former policeman plots to make his fortune.

Ryder...............................................DENIS QUILLEY

Kathy...............................................JUNE RITCHIE

YOUR MAN FROM THE SIX COUNTIES

BBC 'Play for Today' / 1x90m-e / 1976

Writer: Colin Welland / Producer: Kenith Trodd / Director: Barry Davis

Drama. A young lad from Belfast in an attempt for him to avoid the troubles is sent South to stay with his auntie and uncle.

With:- BRENDA FRICKER

Z CARS

BBC1 / 667 episodes x25/50 m-e / 1962-78

Creator: Troy Kennedy Martin / Music arranged by Bridget Fry and Fritz Spiegl

Crime drama series. Long running and very popular police procedure series following a group of PC's and Detectives in a fictional Liverpool suburb. Major spin off with Softly Softly. The cops squad cars were Ford Zephyrs.

Imported cast members included:- STRATFORD JOHNS as DCI Charlie Barlow / FRANK WINDSOR as DS John Watt / BRIAN BLESSED as PC William 'Fancy' Smith / JEREMY KEMP as PC Bob Steele / JACK ELLIS as PC Bert Lynch / JOSPEH BRADY as PC Jock Weir / COLIN WELLAND as PC David Graham / LEONARD ROSSITER as DI Bamber / JOSS ACKLAND as DI Todd / DAVID DAKER as PC Owen Culshaw / STEPHEN YARDLEY as PC Alec May / STEPHANIE TURNER as WPC Jill Howarth / ALISON STEADMAN as WPC Bayliss

ZERO ONE

BBC1 / 39x30m-e / 1962-65 black and white

Producer: Lawrence P. Bachmann

Action adventure series. Stories of Alan Garnett a detective with International Air Security.

With:- NIGEL PATRICK as Alan Garnett / BILL SMITH as Jim Delaney / KATYA DOUGLAS as Maya

Z FOR ZACHARIAH

BBC 'Play for Today' / 1x120m-e / 1984 28 February

Writer/Director: Anthony Garner

Scifi drama. Following a nuclear war a young girl lives alone in a remote Welsh Valley, until a man turns up from the ravaged city area.

With:- ANTHONY ANDREWS / PIPPA HINCHLEY

ZODIAC

Thames / 6x60m-e / 1974

Creator/Script Editor: Roger Marshall / Producer: Jacqueline Davis / Executive Producer: Kim Mills

Crime drama series. Scotland Yard detective David Gradley uses astrologer Esther Jones to help him on his cases.

With:- ANTON RODGERS as David Gradley / ANOUSKA HEMPEL as Esther Jones

THE ZOO GANG

ATV / 6x60m-e / 1973

Creator: Paul Gallico / Theme Music: Paul and Linda McCartney / Producer: Herbert Hirschman

Action adventure series. After a gap of 30 years four former members of a world war II resistance group are reunited to fight crime in the South of France. The title came from their resistance code names. The theme tune was released as the B-side of the Band on the Run classic single.

With:- BRIAN KEITH as Stephen 'Fox' Halliday / JOHN MILLS as Tommy 'Elephant' Devon / BARRY MORSE as Alec 'Tiger' Marlowe / LILLI PALMER as Manouche 'Leopard' Roget / SERETTA WILSON as Jill Burton / MICHAEL PETROVITCH as Lt Georges Roget

Previous