Judith Proctor's Journal

 I've been loaned 'The Beiderbecke Affair', 'The Beiderbecke Tapes' and 'The Beiderbecke Connection' by a friend and greatly enjoyed them.

It's quite an old series, filmed back in 1985, but benefits greatly from slow pacing and a very dry sense of humour.

It took me a couple of episodes to get into it, but I was a total convert by the end.

It's essentially a slow-burning romance between a moderately unlikely couple.  Everyday, Mr Chaplin the woodwork teacher gives Mrs Swinburne , a divorcee, a lift into school.  There's a detective plot as a background framework to everything.

He's a mild-mannered jazz fan, fairly set in his ways, who takes a relaxed attitude to life.  He's also middle-aged, definitely not George Cloony and has hair that's thinking about receding.

She's an English teacher, deeply into feminism, saving the planet and any left-wing cause that comes along.  She's also good-looking.

The relationship between them grows and develops over the series.  They have some great dialogue - especially if you like Yorkshire, and there is a supporting cast of various eccentric characters.

What I like most though is the relationship between the leads.  I don't think they ever so much as kiss onscreen (in spite of having conversations in bed), but there is an affectionate chemistry and the kind of dialogue that shows how well they know one another. 

It's nice to see the way their relationship grows and develops over time (and to understand what makes it work so well).  Trevor, Mr Chaplin, has a definite inner child - in the best of ways.  He's a happy, non-bossy person, and can make friends in about ten seconds with any fellow jazz fan.

 I really like Trevor.  He's not the kind of man you gush over on screen, but he's the kind of man you find in happy marriages (reminds me a little of my husband).

You can see the 

 (and probably more) on You Tube.

Or you can find the whole 'Beiderbecke Trilogy' (search for that title) for about £15 on ebay.