Shillingbury Tales

Shillingbury Tales is a British television comedy-drama series made by ATV for ITV and broadcast 1980–81.

Shillingbury Tales
GenreComedy drama
Created byFrancis Essex
Starring
Theme music composerEd Welch
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes7
Production
Executive producerGreg Smith
Producers
  • Paul Harrison
  • Christopher Baker
Running time50 minutes
Production companyITC Entertainment for ATV
Release
Original networkITV
Original release6 January 1980 (1980-01-06) –
21 June 1981 (1981-06-21)

Comprising a single feature-length pilot, 'The Shillingbury Blowers ', starring Trevor Howard, and six one-hour episodes, the series deals with life in an idealised English village and stars Robin Nedwell, Diane Keen, Nigel Lambert, Jack Douglas, John Le Mesurier, and Bernard Cribbins.

Unusually for a British situation-comedy at that time it was recorded entirely on location on 16 mm film, and consequently there was no laughter track. Much of the filming took place in the village of Aldbury, Hertfordshire, in the Civil Parish of Tring.

The show ended when ATV lost its franchise licence to broadcast, and its replacement Central declined to continue production of the series. The series was broadcast in a number of countries around Europe.

Episodes

Pilot
  • The Shillingbury Blowers (6 January 1980) is a feature length (79 minutes – 90 mins with adverts) film starring Robin Nedwell.

Newly-weds Peter, (Nedwell), and his wife Sally, (Keen), have moved into Rose Cottage, an idyllic half-timbered cottage in the small English village of Shillingbury, close to the village church and the pub, the Oddfellows' Arms. The local brass band, the Shillingbury Blowers, is struggling to survive. A meeting of the village council, headed by John Le Mesurier, looks at the financial position of the band and debates the poor quality of the playing. Peter is brought in to replace the ageing conductor. Peter tells the band they are awful and they walk out.

A second meeting of the village council with two band members results in a work-to-rule, where the band decide to remove all individuality. Ironically this solves the problem and the band get their first clap. When they reconvene in the pub, they resolve to play with further restrictions. When they then decide to play staccato it unintentionally works very well. When the now very unconfident old bandleader, Saltie (Trevor Howard), is persuaded to return, he plays lead trumpet very melodically, which works in counterpoint works very well.

Peter helps Jake (Jack Douglas), the lead cornet, deliver a calf on his farm and a new bond of trust is formed. This night-time ordeal causes Jake to oversleep and he misses the bus taking the band to a competition. He catches up in time and convinces the band to cease their work to rule and return to their original style of playing, which whilst disastrous musically, results in a very much happier band of men.

Series 1
  • "The Shillingbury Tinker" (17 May 1981)
  • "The Shillingbury Melon" (24 May 1981)
  • "The Shillingbury Cloudburst" (31 May 1981)
  • "The Shillingbury Legend" (7 June 1981)
  • "The Shillingbury Miracle" (14 June 1981)
  • "The Shillingbury Daydream" (21 June 1981)

Cuffy

In 1983, a spin-off sequel series entitled Cuffy was made and broadcast by ATV's successor Central. The show this time was about Bernard Cribbins's eponymous character but didn't feature Robin Nedwell or Diane Keen.

DVD release

The show was released on DVD by Network in 2005.

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