''Lovejoy'' is a British television

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

series, based on the

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

s by John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six series, was originally broadcast on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

between 10 January 1986 and 4 December 1994, although there was a five-year gap between the first and second series. It was adapted for television by

Ian La Frenais Ian La Frenais (born 7 January 1937) is an English writer best known for his creative partnership with Dick Clement. They are most famous for television series including ''The Likely Lads'', ''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'', ''Porridg ...

Overview

The series concerns the adventures of the eponymous Lovejoy, a roguish

antiques dealer An antique ( la, antiquus; 'old', 'ancient') is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely ...

based in

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

filmed around Long Melford. Within the trade, he has a reputation as a "divvy", a person with almost unnatural powers of recognising exceptional items as well as distinguishing genuine antiques from fakes or forgeries.

Characters

* Lovejoy, played by Ian McShane, a less than scrupulous yet likeable rogue antique dealer * Eric Catchpole, played by

Chris Jury Chris Jury (born 28 September 1956 in Coventry, Warwickshire) is an English actor, writer and director with a range of television credits. He is best known for his role as Eric Catchpole in the BBC television series ''Lovejoy'', which he pla ...

(series 1–5; guest, series 6), Lovejoy's younger, enthusiastic, but ever so slightly dim, assistant * Tinker Dill, played by

Dudley Sutton Dudley Sutton (6 April 1933 – 15 September 2018) was an English actor. Active in radio, stage, film and television, he was arguably best known for his role of Tinker Dill in the BBC Television drama series ''Lovejoy''. Early life Sutton was ...

, "barker" and tout who is friends with Lovejoy * Lady Jane Felsham, played by Phyllis Logan (series 1–5; guest, series 6), has a friendly, flirtatious relationship with Lovejoy, often helping him with his deals * Charlie Gimbert, played by Malcolm Tierney (series 1, 4–5), Lovejoy's landlord and the owner of a local

auction house An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...

, he is also Lovejoy's nemesis within the antiques trade * Beth Taylor, played by

Diane Parish Diane Parish (born 1 November 1969) is an English actress, who has been portraying the character Denise Fox on the BBC One soap opera ''EastEnders'' since 2006 Born in Chelsea, London and a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Pari ...

(series 5–6), Lovejoy's new apprentice following the departure of Eric Catchpole * Charlotte Cavendish, played by Caroline Langrishe (series 5–6), an auctioneer who becomes Lovejoy's love interest

Broadcast history

The series was notable for its style and pace. Lovejoy would frequently break the

fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...

, revealing his thoughts and motives by addressing the audience directly. The first series was shown on BBC1 in the first half of 1986. It concluded with a two-part special. Despite the first series being a moderate ratings success, ''Lovejoy'' was not brought back until January 1991. The original four cast members returned for the next two series between 1991 and 1992. With the start of the fourth series in 1993, Malcolm Tierney reprised his first series role as Charlie Gimbert. During the fifth series, several cast changes were made. Phyllis Logan left the show in the second episode and Chris Jury departed in the sixth episode, although both characters returned for the sixth series finale. Two new regular characters were added: Lovejoy's new apprentice, Beth Taylor, and Charlotte Cavendish, who ran a local antiques auction house. The sixth and final series of ten episodes was broadcast between October and December 1994. Two ninety-minute ''Lovejoy'' specials for Christmas were shown in 1992 and 1993. The theme tune used in the opening and end credits, as well as the incidental music for each episode, was composed by Denis King.

Releases

In the United States, the series was first broadcast on the

A&E Network A&E is an American basic cable network, the flagship television property of A&E Networks. The network was originally founded in 1984 as the Arts & Entertainment Network, initially focusing on fine arts, documentaries, television drama, dramas, and ...

. It was marketed as ''The Lovejoy Mysteries'' on VHS in the United States. The

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

release of the entire series has returned to the title of ''Lovejoy''.

References

External links

*
''Lovejoy''
at British TV Resources *
Filming locationsLovejoy TV show makes a comeback
{{Clement and La Frenais 1986 British television series debuts 1994 British television series endings 1980s British comedy-drama television series 1990s British comedy-drama television series 1980s British mystery television series 1990s British mystery television series BBC television dramas British crime television series English-language television shows Television shows based on British novels