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Shoestring

THE PRIVATE EAR.

CrimeDrama

Shoestring is a BBC detective drana set in Bristol and starring Trevor Eve as private detective Eddie Shoestring, who operatee his own show on Radio West, the local radio station. The programme ran between 30 September 1979 and 21 December 1980, in two series with 21 hour-long episodes. Eve opted not to return after two series, as he wanted to diversify into theatre, so the production team changed the setting to Jersey and created Bergerac, also following a detective returning to work after a bad period in his life.

Sep 30, 19792 seasons21 episodesEndedEN

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Trevor Eve

Eddie Shoestring

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Doran Godwin

Erica Bayliss

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Liz Crowther

Sonia

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Michael Medwin

Don Satchley

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Seasons

Series 1

11 episodes

Premiered Sep 30, 1979

Series 2

10 episodes

Premiered Oct 5, 1980

Episodes

1–6 of 11

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Ep 1

Private Ear

Sep 30, 1979

Private detective Eddie Shoestring is asked by Radio West to look into the life of Sarah Marshall, a prostitute who has committed suicide. She died in a Rolls Royce belonging to David Carn, the station's most popular disc jockey, immediately after she had desperately tried to see him, and Radio West wants Eddie to show Sarah had no connection with their man.

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Ep 2

Knock for Knock

Oct 7, 1979

Eddie nervously does his first ""Private Ear"" program and tries to locate the drivers of a van who are responsible for killing a young woman's husband in a car accident.

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Ep 3

Higher Ground

Oct 14, 1979

Eddie goes to work for Jean, the wife of Major Hansford, a tough prep school headmaster (and retired Army officer) whose small school is being threatened by a series of nasty pranks.

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Ep 4

An Uncertain Circle

Oct 21, 1979

Marion Cutler, a social worker, asks Eddie to look for Nick Forrest, one of her charges who has gone missing. Nick is a remarkable fellow who had been living in a hut on the beach. But Steve, the owner of the hut, tells Eddie he's never heard of him. The mystery begins to centre on some aerial photographs of the coast-line taken by Nick, and Eddie soon finds he is onto a dangerous gang of drug-smugglers.

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Ep 5

Listen to Me

Oct 28, 1979

Mel Shepherd threatens to throw herself off the roof of the Radio West building unless Eddie investigates her claim of a miscarriage of justice. Her husband Harry was jailed for killing a shop assistant while robbing a local jeweller's shop — but did he do it?

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Ep 6