Troubleshooter (TV series)
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Troubleshooter was a British
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series, produced and shown by the
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, focusing on experienced business leaders visiting and advising small and often struggling UK businesses. It first aired in 1990 with Sir John Harvey-Jones, formerly of ICI. After the series won a BAFTA, Harvey-Jones decided that he didn't want to become a television personality, after one newspaper called him the "most famous industrialist since
Isambard Kingdom Brunel Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "on ...
." The greatest achievement of the ''Troubleshooter'' programmes was to make
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a popular discussion subject in the homes of millions of British people, and to provide a role model for people wanting to enter business. A follow up series titled Troubleshooter - Back in Business aired in the year 2000 and saw Sir John return to companies featured in the original series from a decade before. In that time there had been a number of changes, Tri-ang toys had been unable to turn its fortunes around and its UK factory had been demolished. Morgan Motor Company, where previously Sir John had encountered great resistance, had in fact made many of the changes he suggested. The series was revived a decade later in 2004 under the stewardship of
Gerry Robinson Sir Gerrard Jude Robinson (23 October 1948 – 14 October 2021) was an Irish-born British business executive and television presenter. He was non-executive chairman of Allied Domecq and chairman/chief executive of Granada. Early life Robinso ...
, under the title ''I'll Show Them Who's Boss!'


Format

The premise of the show is pretty simple: struggling small British business needs help, is offered free advice by former plc-level director; advice often given over number of months is then edited into 1hour duration television show. However, the reason that it made Harvey-Jones Britain's most notable and public business person was the fact that he engaged both the audience and the company on a human level. By both observing key issues (Harvey-Jones was always very focused on markets and customers first, and then systematic efficient production secondly, focused around people and responsibility), and then asked simple questions to confirm his view or see if the management actually saw the problem.


Production

After originally approaching companies to produce the first series, the BBC production team for the subsequent series were overwhelmed by applications from various British businesses and enterprises. This was in part for the quality of consultation that Harvey-Jones gave, but also for the publicity, which often resulted in an immediate revival for the company through increased sales. After selecting a breadth of companies, industries and situations, Harvey-Jones and executive producer Richard Reisz would review the applications to choose the selected applicants. Harvey-Jones would nominally only have access to any published accounts, management provided plans, and any items of press and media that could be found, before engaging the company. The period of consultation was given over a period of at least three months per company, resulting in the third series requiring Harvey-Jones to have reserved dates in his diary for 50weeks of the year: the major reason he gave up the programme, to concentrate on his charitable activities and family. The original six show proved so popular, that Harvey-Jones was contractually engaged for a second series of six show, and signed on to a further three series of seven shows each - the maximum Harvey-Jones would agree to sign-on for.


Harvey-Jones style

At its peak, ''Troubleshooter'' gained 3million viewers per episode. This was in great part for Harvey-Jones personable, frank and straightforward style, with judgements given through his own manic cackling style: *You are being killed by slow strangulation *The situation is barmy and intolerable *It is possible to break through but only if you charge the guns Organisations featured included
Morgan Motor Company The Morgan Motor Company is a British motor car manufacturer owned by Italian investment group Investindustrial. It was founded in 1910 by Henry Frederick Stanley Morgan. Morgan is based in Malvern Link, an area of Malvern, and employs a ...
, Copella
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and Triang toys, where Harvey-Jones put his finger on the problems they faced or in some cases had created, and pointed the way to success. Sometimes they followed his advice, such as at Copella, and sometimes, notably at Morgan, he was met with absolute resistance. (Dead link)


Businesses and organisations featured

Series 1 *
Apricot Computers Apricot Computers was a British company that produced desktop personal computers in the mid-1980s. Outline Apricot Computers was a British manufacturer of business personal computers, founded in 1965 as "Applied Computer Techniques" (ACT), late ...
* Churchill China * Copella Fruit Juices *
Morgan Motor Company The Morgan Motor Company is a British motor car manufacturer owned by Italian investment group Investindustrial. It was founded in 1910 by Henry Frederick Stanley Morgan. Morgan is based in Malvern Link, an area of Malvern, and employs a ...
*Shropshire Health Authority * Tri-ang toys Series 2 *Bradford Hospitals Trust *Charles Letts *Double Two (Wakefield Shirt Group) *
Norton Motorcycles The Norton Motorcycle Company (formerly Norton Motors, Ltd.) is a brand of motorcycles, originally based in Birmingham, England. For some years around 1990, the rights to use the name on motorcycles was owned by North American financiers. From ...
*
South Yorkshire Police South Yorkshire Police (SYP) is the territorial police force responsible for policing South Yorkshire in England. The force is led by Chief Constable Lauren Poultney. Oversight is conducted by Police and Crime Commissioner Alan Billings. T ...
*Tolly Cobbold


Publications

* * *


I’ll Show Them Who’s Boss!

Trying to revive the series in light of the rise of
reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...
, in 2004 the BBC engaged former Allied-Domecq CEO
Gerry Robinson Sir Gerrard Jude Robinson (23 October 1948 – 14 October 2021) was an Irish-born British business executive and television presenter. He was non-executive chairman of Allied Domecq and chairman/chief executive of Granada. Early life Robinso ...
. In deference to Harvey-Jones, Robinson insisted that the show be given a different name, which was agreed on as '' I'll Show Them Who's Boss.'' Now co-produced by the
Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...
. The concept was that he'd go into struggling businesses and try to turn them round through advice and mentoring.


References


Similar programmes

* '' Badger or Bust'' * ''
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'', '' Kitchen Nightmares'' and ''
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'' * '' Get Your Act Together with Harvey Goldsmith''


External links

*{{IMDb title, 1183237, Troubleshooter BBC Television shows 1990 British television series debuts 1993 British television series endings 1990s British reality television series