The Beiderbecke Tapes

Trevor Chaplin teaches woodwork and likes to listen to jazz. Jill Swinburne teaches English and wants to help save the planet. They live together and just want a quiet life. Then they meet John the barman who died but is much better now. John gives them a tape, which leads to meeting Dave the wimp. They find out about The People's Front for the Liberation of West Yorkshire. The man with no name called Mr Peterson came to see them. He was followed by the six men in grey suits. Jill goes to see The Oldest Suffragette in Town. Trevor and Jill go on a trip to Amsterdam with their class from "San Quentin High". Trevor and Jill meet The Honourable Order of Elks who are "looking for a bit of action".

The tone throughout is deliberately discursive and undramatic. Trevor and Jill are mistakenly given a secret tape recording, which results in their harassment by security forces, their home being invaded, their private lives used to discredit them at school and their being pursued all the way to Amsterdam and Edinburgh. Eventually the tapes are revealed as just a charade invented by shady government forces as a part of a disinformation campaign.

• Trevor Chaplin – James Bolam
• Jill Swinburne – Barbara Flynn
• Mr Carter – Dudley Sutton
• Mr Peterson – Malcolm Storry
• Mr Wheeler – Keith Smith
• Sylvia – Beryl Reid
• Mr Pitt – Robert Longden
• John the Barman – David Battley
• Charlie the Gravedigger – Peter Martin
• Tracy – John Alderson
• Leo – Don Fellows
• Harry – Peter Carlisle
• Sam Bentley – Victor Maddern
• Pronk – Bill Wallis
• Yvonne Fairweather – Judy Brooke
• Tour Guide – Marlous Fluitsma
• Bella Atkinson – Maggie Jones
• Dave the Wimp – Christopher Wilkinson
• Man Opposite – Dave Leslie
• Minister at Funeral – Geoff Oldham
• Man at Funeral – Alan Starkey
• Carstairs – Timothy Carlton
• First Grey Guardian (uncredited) – Philip Wilde

• The Beiderbecke Tapes at IMDb