Coast To Coast (BBC-2 1987, Lenny Henry, John Shea)

In Coast To Coast Karl Karloff (an American pilot who has gone AWOL) teams up with Ritchie Lee to start their own mobile disco business in Liverpool. Richie has bought the van they are using from petty crook Kicks McGuiness who also persuades them to do a little delivery job for him. When it turns out that Kecks has a fortune in counterfeit money and the plates to manufacture it stashed away in the van boys realise they may be a little bit more involved than they want to be. When two hit men then make a mess of Kecks, Karl and Richie are forced to go on the run across the country.

As befitting a comedy drama (which was made for BBC-2’s Screen Two strand) centred around 1960’s soul music the soundtrack is quite fabulous and the dialogue is pretty funny too, Hey had recently been working on the second series of Auf Wiedersehen Pet and the same sort of vibe permeates this production.

Coast To Coast also has good performances all round especially from George Baker and Peter Vaughan as the ageing cockney hitmen. Watch out to for a cameo from the always brilliant Tony Haygarth as a beligerent Mortuary Attendant.

production details
UK / BBC-2 – Britannia – Dean Clough Productions / 1×96 minute episode / Broadcast 4 January 1987

Writer: Stan Hey / Script Editor: Martyn Auty / Music: Alasdair MacNeill / Band Music Arranged by Simon Webb, Pierre Tubbs / Costumes: Paula Bruce / Production Design: Chris Robilliard / Executive Producer: David Nicholas Wilkinson / Producer: Graham Benson / Director: Sandy Johnson

Series: Screen Two / Season 3 Episode 1

cast
LENNY HENRY as Ritchie Lee
JOHN SHEA as John Karloff
PETER VAUGHAN as Chiropodist
GEORGE BAKER as Greaves
CHERIE LUNGHI as Susan
PETE POSTLETHWAITE as Kecks McGuiness
AL MATTHEWS as Curtis Duchamps
EDWARD PEEL, PAUL BOWN as Police Constables
BOBBY KNUTT as Garage Owner
MAGGIE OLLERENSHAW as Courier
IGGY NAVARRO as Cato
KEN SHARROCK as Police Inspector
GERRY WHITE as Desk Sergeant
ALAN BIRD, ROBBIE DEE as Reporters
STACEY ZUCKERMAN as Mabel
DICK BRANNICK as Hotel Porter
NEVILLE SMITH as Wedding Guest
GREGORY FLOY as Pathologist
TONY HAYGARTH as Mortuary Attendant
JOHNNY SHANNON as Cockney Gangster
TIM BARKER as Lakeland Pub Landlord
MARY KUROWSKI as Waitress
CARL CHASE as Liverpool Barman
PETER KERRIGAN as British Rail Inspector
PEARL-ANN TURNER as Doreen
MAC McDONALD, MARK BURTON as USAF Airmen
JOHN MUNDY as Newscaster
GRAHAM WAYNE, GLENN NIGHTINGALE, BIMBO ACOCK, GEOFF DRISCOLL, MIKE O’GORMAN, JOHANNE JAMES, STEPHEN STAPELY as USAF Band