PRIMITIVE SCREWHEADS

Bergerac Series 8

A bit of a big change at the start of the 8th Series of Bergerac. Jim Bergerac's on and off girlfriend Susan is found dead on the beach. There were 10 episodes in the series and they aired at the start of 1990. A Christmas Special aired that December. The rest of the episodes have Jim investigating a man masquerading as Bergerac, a murder at an archaeology site, two more bogus policemen, the death of a French private eye in Charlie's house, a South African resident, missing nerve gas, a dead pop idol, his kidnapped ex-wife, and the assassination attempt on a political economist on Jersey for a conference. Always a full day for Jim Bergerac. Over the series Jim develops a new relationship with the daughter of a wine grower in France. In the Christmas Special, which are usually a half hour longer,Bergerac is finally off the force and living in France. An young English man, there to pick grapes. is also a computer hacker. He figures out how to steal money from deposits going into the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Now some bad men are going to use his idea or kill him. Maybe both. Jim has to help him out.  Kind of rocky start to the series, what with Susan's death, but it was about as entertaining as the previous series were. Only the one series to go.

Bergerac Series 6

Done with the 6th series of Bergerac. John Nettles is Jim Bergerac, a police man on the island of Jersey. There were 7 episodes this series and they aired in January and February 1988. The DVD set also includes the December 1988 Christmas Special. In the first episode Jim is minding a supergrass's mom. His constant working has put his girlfriend Susan, played by Louise Jameson, on the outs. That's Jim's life in a nutshell. He hasn't had much luck with the ladies in the series.  In the second episode a family feud leads to murder. A kidnapped horse leads Jim into the world of horse racing. Crooked financiers and Nazis are all in a days work for Jim in the 4th and 5th episodes. The series has had several stories with Nazis. Jersey was occupied during World War 2 and there are still strong feelings towards the Germans. Jim's boss tosses him into undercover drugs operation without telling him everything he should know. It doesn't sit well with Jim. Jim's an alcoholic and someone fixes it so he appears drunk. Jim is suspended but that doesn't keep him from catching the crooked guy. In the Christmas Special Jim visits the Costa Del Sol to help out his ex-father-in-law Charlie. Some gangsters are trying to muscle in on Charlie's business deal. Back on Jersey some crazy guy nearly kills Susan. Another good batch of episodes. Jim does well catching the crooks but it would be nice for him to catch a break in his home life once in a while.

Bergerac Series 5

The 5th series of Bergerac has 8 regular episodes and they aired in January and February 1987. There was a Christmas Special that aired Boxing Day of the same year. John Nettles continues to catch the crooks as Detective Sergeant Jim Bergerac of the Le Bureau des Étrangers on the island of Jersey. The island is only about 45 square miles. By comparison Minneapolis is 58 square miles. The episodes are about as good as the previous lot. Bergerac continues to screw up in the relationship department. He's on the outs with girlfriend Louise Jameson because he's always working and puts the job first. Common problem with cops. Not much different to say. The show is still watchable and fairly entertaining.

Bergerac Series 4

The fourth series of Bergerac came out in the fall of 1985. There were 9 episodes in the series followed by the 1st Christmas Special. The regular episodes are about 50 minutes but the CS is 90 minutes. John Nettles is Detective Sergeant Jim Bergerac and he works for the Le Bureau des Étrangers (The Foreigners' Office) on the isle of Jersey near the French coast. The cases are varied and occasionally topical. One episode was about a hush hush arms deal between the British and some made up Arab country. It goes down unpleasant with a reminder that the rich businessman working with the top government types don't have any scruples about how they get their way. The creepy politician that sets up the deal even threatens Bergerac's daughter who's off at school in England. There's another that features an actor who has a connection to a German who was an occupier of the island in World War II. The Christmas Special has a plot that revolves around seances and a murdered 10 year old girl. It continues to be a good solid show but I'm still thinking that it won't ever get to the level Midsomer Murders has gotten too.

Bergerac Series 3

Another series of Bergerac bites the dust. The third series aired from December 1983 to February 1984. John Nettles appears as Jim Bergerac. He's a detective for Le Bureau des Étrangers which translates to The Foreigners' Office. It's a fictional department dealing with non-Jersey residents. It's a big tourist destination and there's a bunch of rich people that live there so there's always a gaggle of people coming and going. Perfect for a cop show. It's a nice destination to wind up dead, plenty of scenery and the ocean.

Ninety Per Cent Proof has Bergerac tricked into helping a woman who claims her husband is going to kill her. The baddies knock him out in her hotel room and pour booze on and into him. Jim's supposed to be on the wagon. When he wakes up in the bathroom the woman is lying on the floor covered in blood. He stumbles down to the lobby and passes out. Jim starts digging into things and the tricksters lead him to a guy who's on trial. It was all to make Bergerac look bad in court. Now he's got to figure out how to get those guys.

A Hole in the Bucket has Jim get involved with a woman in the witness protection. Another cop had brought here to Jersey to hid her before the trial. The woman is kind of stupid and puts everyone in danger.

Holiday Snaps has Jim working with the French police. A man wakes to find his wife murdered. When he gets home everyone is so helpful. Then weird things start to happen to the man. It all makes Jim dig deeper and what he finds isn't too pleasant.

Ice Maiden refers to a lady jewel thief. She's cool as a cucumber and Jim's on her case. She's clever and she gets away but not with the loot.

Come Out Fighting is set in the boxing world.

A Touch of Eastern Promise has Charlie, Bergerac's ex-wife's father, entertaining a rich Arab who brings family baggage with him. Charlie's hotel would have a retractable dome that would keep the rain off of the guests. Sadly the thing falls apart.

A Cry in the Night has a dead body wash up on shore. It came from a boat filled with friends. The story doesn't add up and Jim gets right on the case.

The Company You Keep is about house burglars and the foolish wife of a rich guy.

Tug of War is about a dad who kidnaps his son and takes him to Jersey. Jim has to track him down and bring him in.

House Guests has Jim against some terrorists who break into a house to rob the men.

Usually there's a bit of humor and some bit of personal drama with Jim. Last season he had something going on with Celia Imrie but this season he seems to spend some time with his ex-wife. She actually helps a bit here and there. I have read a bit on the show and know he gets another girlfriend or two.

Bergerac Series 2

 

I figure to get back to Bergerac sooner but so many different distractions have popped up since I watched the first series. Series 2 only has 9 episodes so it was fairly quick to watch. The series aired January to March 1983. John Nettles is Detective Sergeant Jim Bergerac and he works for the Le Bureau des Étrangers. That's The Foreigners' Office, a fictional department dealing with non-Jersey residents. As a popular tourist destination that means there's plenty of crime to keep Jim busy. He's also got a new girlfriend this series, Celia Imrie plays Marianne Bellshade. Bergerac drives that cool car below, it's a burgundy 1947 Triumph Roadster.

In A Message For The Rich Jim's daughter is kidnapped by some of his rich father-in-law Charlie Hungerford's ex-servants. They aren't really kidnappers, they're just stupid people who have a grudge for getting fired. Celia Imrie runs a financial agency and she helps Charlie get the ransom money up over a weekend. Philip Davis, looking pretty young, plays one of the ex-servants.

Always Leave Them Laughing has a comedian accused of rape by a losing beauty pageant contestant. Joanna Whalley plays the raped woman.

Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie has Charlie run for office and get framed for murder. Jim sets things right and Charlie gets elected. This is the episode that Jim and Marianne hook up. William Hootkins is guest villain.

Prime Target has Bergerac in France looking for the murder of a Jersey resident.

In Almost Like A Holiday a crook gets mugged and reports it to the police. They town starts a fund for him and when he finally gets caught he asks Jim to take care of the money until he gets out. The guy, played by Norman Wisdom, is a complete liar who spins one tall tale after another. He just can't stop lying and that brings the whole caper out into the open.

Fall of a Birdman has the hang gliding stunt man Charlie hired for a commercial gets murdered. Richard Griffith plays a mountain climber who steals rare bird eggs. He falls to his death when Jim tries to arrest him.

A Miracle Every Week has a naïve guru arrive in Jersey. He seeks answers to who's ripping off his foundation. Dennis Lawson plays a hit man.

A Perfect Recapture has an escaped prisoner return to Jersey. He escaped 10 years ago and had surgery to disguise himself. Jonathan Adams, Dr Scott in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, plays a doctor in this show.

The Moonlight Girls has the death of an escort open a can of worms that leads them to a call girl ring.

The series was produced by Robert Banks Stewart, who also wrote some episodes. He wrote two serials for Doctor Who and plenty of other shows like The Sweeney, The Avengers and Dangerman. Three other writers from Doctor Who also wrote episodes: Dennis Spooner, Robert Holmes and Bob Baker. Bob is also responsible for writing a lot of Wallace and Gromit material.

I enjoyed this series quite a bit, there were plenty of interesting stories and just enough personal drama that it wasn't annoying. There's plenty more to come so that's nice.

Bergerac Series 1

I had become interested in Bergerac after enjoying Tom Nettles so much on Midsomer Murders. It's another cop show and Tom plays Detective Sergeant Jim Bergerac. It started in 1981 and there were 87 episodes over 9 series. Bergerac works for Le Bureau des Étrangers or The Foreigners Office. It's a made up department dealing with non-Jersey residents and it's part of the States of Jersey Police. It's set on the Bailiwick of Jersey, one of the islands in the English Channel. It's off the coast of Normandy but it's a British Crown dependency. That's Terence Alexander and Cécile Paoli in the title picture above. She's his girlfriend Francine Leland in the first series and Terence is Bergerac's ex-father-in-law Charlie Hungerford. Charlie's a rich developer and he manages to last through the whole 9 series, only missing two episodes. Superintendent Barney Crozier is Jim's boss and he's played by Sean Arnold. Annette Badland plays Crozier's assistant Charlotte for 29 episodes.

The show moves at a slow pace and there's drama in Jim's life as he tries to remain sober and on the job. He'd been drinking heavily before the series started and he'd had an accident that broke his leg while chasing a suspect. Now he's sober and back at work. That's Jim with his 1947 burgundy Triumph Roadster.

There were 10 episodes in the first series which aired in the fall of 1981.

Picking It Up has Jim Bergerac return to work to find they want him out of the department. He catches a crook on his won time and gets the job.

Nice People Die in Bed refers to the death of a charity worker. His body was moved says the coroner and Jim works to catch the murderer.  

Unlucky Dip has Jim on the trail of drug runners. Prunella Scales pops into to play a criminal.

Campaign for Silence has a ghost writer killed while writing a book for a former soldier. The book would reveal another soldier's sordid past.

See You in Moscow has a British Civil servant tricked into thinking that a Russian spy is in love with her. She's been feeding him info and now the MI6 are onto her. The Russian just want the last info, he's going to let her hang, so she shoots him deader than a doorknob. I laughed. Sarah Kestelman plays the civil servant.

Portrait of Yesterday has a woman blackmailed on the eve of her wedding by the man she married and never divorced.

Last Chance for a Loser has someone burglarizing the houses of the rich. Jim gets put on the case.

Late for a Funeral has diver find a downed German airplane in the ocean. He turns up dead soon after. Some nasty men are after the plane which they believe has some gold in it. Jonathan Adams, Dr Scott in The Rocky Horror Picture Show starts his run as Dr Lejeune.

Relative Values has the housekeeper of a wealthy recluse arrested for his murder. She didn't do it and Jim believes her, so he finds the real killer. Lynda La Plante plays the housekeeper.

The Hood and the Harlequin has the girlfriend of a French gangster turn up on Jersey. Greta Scacchi plays the girlfriend. Jim and Francine break up during the episode.

Not a bad bunch of episodes, they have a nice variety of stories and characters. Some of the writers of this series were producer Robert Banks Stewart, Bob Baker and Dennis Spooner all were writers on Doctor Who.