In drama series Gazette, James Hadleigh gives up his job in government to return to his Yorkshire roots. His father, owner of a substantial estate, has recently died and left everything to James. Hadleigh also inherits a newspaper, The Westdale Gazette.
The editor of the paper is no-nonsense Frank Walters who has done much since his arrival to boost the paper’s circulation and the key reporters are Sue Jackson and Bill Spence. Initially Hadleigh and Walters have an antagonistic relationship having had a major falling out over a story about Hadleigh’s return run on the front page of The Gazette.
The series only lasted for one season before leading on directly to the very popular series Hadleigh which focused on the running of the Hadleigh estate rather than the newspaper. Gazette also wasn’t fully networked around the ITV regions airing just at the tail end of the era when the regions still did pretty much whatever they wanted when it came to programming. Always giving preferential treatment to their own shows and sometimes not bothering to even show series from other regions or not showing complete runs of shows.
Jon Laurimore as Frank Walters, The editor of the Westdale Gazette.
production details
UK / ITV – Yorkshire / 13×50 minute episodes / Broadcast 2 August – 25 October 1968 (Generally seen Fridays @ 9.00pm)
Creator: Robert Barr / Theme Music: Alan Moorhouse / Producer: Terence Williams
cast
GERALD HARPER as James Hadleigh
JON LAURIEMORE as Walters
GILLIAN WRAY as Sue Jackson
MICHAEL BLACKHAM as Bill Spence
THE EPISODES
5. MISSING (30 August 1968)
In Missing a young schoolgirl goes missing, sparking a major hunt. Susan gets the chance to cover the story as a stringer for the Fleet Street based Daily Standard; Bill has his nose put out of joint because he normally handles the Standard cases but was out on another story at the time this one came in. With another young girl having been found murdered in the area two months earlier things are not looking too good for the missing girl. The Daily Standard decide to go all out on the story and send up one of their top men to cover it. Bill manages to wangle himself and Susan onto the story as his runabouts – Susan is less than impressed with the way The Standard does business.
It’s a good episode contrasting the ways of the rural weekly with that of the no nonsense London daily. The plot is excellent too, it turns out that Turner has arranged the kidnap of his own daughter in a bid to bring his estranged wife back home. Susan is disgusted that Todd, the Standard man won’t let the police know the girl is safe until the story has gone to press. Hadleigh does not appear in this episode and Walters is only in the opening scene.
Broadcast Friday 30 August 1968 at 9.00pm
Writer: James Doran / Production Design: Alan Pickford / Director: David Andrews
Guest Cast:John Nettleton as Todd / Harold Goodwin as Turner / John Barrett as Supt Nelson / Norman Mitchell as Sgt Williams / Michael Beint as George / Ronald Clarke as Sloan / Roy Evans as Yardley / Ian Cooper as Inspector Davis / Anne Corfield as Sandra / Christopher Woolgar as Tom / Derek Keller as Powell / Tony Cerrone as 1st P.C. / Peter Dudley as 2nd P.C. / Cyril Varley as Fireman / Eliza Goulding as Housewife / Jill Summers as 1st Neighbour / Ruth Wynn Owen as 2nd Neighbour
1. ARRIVAL (2 Aug 68)
2. TURN A BLIND EYE (9 Aug 68)
3. EXPOSURE (16 Aug 68)
4. IT’S ALL HAPPENING (23 Aug 68)
6. BETWEEN THE LINES (6 Sep 68)
7. IN LOVING MEMORY (13 Sep 68)
8. THE OLD FOLKS AT HOME (20 Sep 68)
9. ANNOUNCEMENT (27 Sep 68)
10. WHY STAY IN WESTDALE (4 Oct 68)
11. STRANGER (11 Oct 68)
12. NOT FOR PUBLICATION (18 Oct 68)
13. THE CRITIC (25 Oct 68)
