CTVA - The Classic TV Archive - UK
Shoestring (1979-80)
Episode Guide compiled by The Classic TV Archive
with contributions by:
Dinosaur TV - Save Our Forgotten British Heritage (David Moore)
references:
Radio Times / British Film Institute,
Internet Movie Database (http://www.us.imdb.com)
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SHOESTRING
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BBC Television Production
Produced by Robert Banks Stewart
Created by Robert Banks Stewart & Richard Harris
UK Crime Drama series 1979-80 21 episodes x 60 min
Starring:
Trevor Eve as Eddie Shoestring
Michael Medwin as Don Satchley
Doran Godwin as Erica Bayliss
Liz Crowther as Sonia
Premise:
Cases of Eddie Shoestring, a radio-phone-in detective based in the West Country of England.
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1.1 [--] Shoestring: PRIVATE EAR
30 Sep 79 BBC1
Guest Cast:
William Russell, Stacy Dorning , Kenneth Gilbert, Sally Sanders, Sean Arnold, Brian Miller,
Tony Haygarth, Michael Crane, Jeanna L'Esty, Patrick Durkin, Carrie Jones
Synopsis:
Private detective Eddie Shoestring is asked by Radio West to look into the life of a prostitute who committed
suicide in a car belonging to their most popular radio personality after trying desperately to see him at the station.
1.2 [--] Shoestring: "Knock For Knock"
7 Oct 79 BBC1
Guest Cast:
Shirley Ann Field, Cassie MacFarlane, Dominic Guard, Christopher Guard, Mervyn Johns, Aimee Delamain
Synopsis:
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.
1.3 [--] Shoestring: "Higher Ground"
14 Oct 79 BBC1
Guest Cast:
Glyn Houston, Anna Cropper, Derek Anders, Pete Wilson, Alan David, Gordon Kaye, Kate Percival, Beau Daniels
Synopsis:
Eddie goes to work for the wife of a harsh former Army officer whose small prep school is being threatened by
a series of grisly pranks.
1.4 [--] Shoestring: "An Uncertain Circle"
21 Oct 79 BBC1
Guest Cast:
Anna Nyoh, John Hartley, Richard Durden, Annette Ekblom, Peter Cartwright, Crispin Gillbard,
Anthony Carrick, Andrew Bradford, Peter Holt, William Rourke
Synopsis:
A lady probation officer asks Eddie to locate one of her missing charges, a very special fellow who had been living
at a holiday beach camp and taking aerial photographs.
1.5 [--] Shoestring: "Listen to Me"
28 Oct 79 BBC1
Guest Cast:
Sandy Ratcliff, Roger Leach, Brian Croucher, Tony Counter, Jeffrey Segal, Jack Lynn, Linda Roberts , Roger Sloman
Synopsis:
The wife of a man imprisoned for killing a shop assistant during a jewelry store robbery threatens to throw herself
off the roof of Radio West unless Eddie investigates the case.
1.6 [--] Shoestring: "Nine Tenths of the Law"
4 Nov 79 BBC1
Guest Cast:
Harry H. Corbett, Geraldine James, Nell Campbell, Karl Johnson, Fiona Scott
Synopsis:
A distraught woman asks Eddie to find her daughter, who she is sure has been kidnapped by her ex-husband.
1.7 [--] Shoestring: "The Link-Up"
11 Nov 79 BBC1
Guest Cast:
Janet Key, John Gregg, John Woodnutt, Keith Buckley, Mela White, Sherman MacDonald
Synopsis:
A militant defender of abused women lodges a complaint with Eddie that leads him to Jimmy Colefax, who is
trying to sail around the world in a homemade boat.
1.8 [--] Shoestring: "Stamp Duty"
18 Nov 79 BBC1
Guest Cast:
David Ashton, Diana Davies, David King, Timothy Block, William Wilde
Synopsis:
Andy Stapleton, an old friend of Eddie, witnesses the murder of a stamp dealer and asks his old friend
for help when the thugs come after him.
1.9 [--] Shoestring: "Find the Lady"
2 Dec 79 BBC1
Guest Cast:
Christopher Biggins, Gary Holton, Touch Wilcox, Christopher Jagger, Peter Dean, Diana Weston
Synopsis:
Toola, a rock singer, asks Eddie to find the missing girl friend of an ex-member of her band but the search leads
to secrets someone is willing to kill for.
1.10 [--] Shoestring: "The Partnership"
9 Dec 79 BBC1
Guest Cast:
Michelle Newell, Terence Budd, David Griffin, Patrick Westwood, Gillian McIver
Synopsis:
Sonia witnesses a casual friend, Jenny Kelson, being harassed by a bully. When Jenny later accidentally leaves
an envelope full of money with Sonia, Eddie picks up the story and looks into what Jenny is hiding.
1.11 [--] Shoestring: "I'm a Believer"
12 Dec 79 BBC1
Guest Cast:
Claire Walker, Jeananne Crowley, David Bearies, Billy J. Mitchell, Preston Lockwood
Synopsis:
A distraught mother asks Eddie to look into a cult her daughter has gotten involved with called the "Starshines",
and who stand to receive her 15,000 pound inheritance in a few weeks.
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2.1 [--] Shoestring: ROOM WITH A VIEW
5 Oct 80 BBC1
Guest Cast:
Madeline Thomas, Michael Culver, Bridget Brice, Oscar James, David Beale, Maggie Riley
Synopsis:
A 76-year-old woman asks Eddie to look into something she saw through the window of the empty house across
the street that she believes to be murder.
2.2 [--] Shoestring: "The Teddy Bears Nightmare"
12 Oct 80 BBC1
Guest Cast:
Dave King, Ken Hutchinson, Charlotte Cornwall, Donald Sumpter, Roy North, Hilary Crane
Synopsis:
Don Satchley witnesses a man stealing a handbag from a lady's car, but when he asks Eddie to return the
empty bag to its owner, he uncovers a morass of blackmail.
2.3 [--] Shoestring: "Mocking Bird"
19 Oct 80 BBC1
Guest Cast:
Frederick Jaeger, John J. Carney, David Sibley, Patti Love, John Vine
Synopsis:
Eddie finds himself on the edge of another breakdown when a caller taunts him with several muggings and an attack
on Sonia, daring the "Private Ear" to catch him.
2.4 [--] Shoestring: "The Mayfly Dance"
b: 26 Oct 80 BBC1
Guest Cast:
Michael Craig, Ann Bell, Lance Percival, Peter Blake, Philip Sayer
Synopsis:
Satchley asks Eddie to find a long-forgotten rock star whose records have found new popularity on Radio West's
nostalgia program.
2.5 [--] Shoestring: "The Farmer Had a Wife"
2 Nov 80 BBC1
Guest Cast:
Ronald Hines, Gary Watson, Yvonne Gilan, Gay Hamilton
Synopsis:
While waiting to testify, Eddie learns about a missing wife case, where all the residents of a small town firmly
believe that the arrogant watercress-farmer husband killed her.
2.6 [--] Shoestring: "Utmost Good Faith"
9 Nov 80 BBC1
Guest Cast:
Carol Gillies, Andrew McCulloch, Annie Hayes, Derek Martin
Synopsis:
Eddie must confront computers again as he investigates a nasty scheme to bankrupt a small electronics firm by
manipulating its credit rating and using a strong-arm collection agency.
2.7 [--] Shoestring: "Looking For Mr. Wright"
16 Nov 80 BBC1
Guest Cast:
Diana Dors, Avril Elgar, Caroline Blakiston, Richard Kay
Synopsis:
Eddie looks into the apparent mismatching of a computer dating service and finds more than just
an embarrassing error.
2.8 [--] Shoestring: "Another Man's Castle"
7 Dec 80 BBC1
Guest Cast:
John Forgeham, Gordon Kane, Debbie Farrington, Dean Harris
Synopsis:
Eddie follows the convoluted trail of a young couple's stolen furniture.
2.9 [--] Shoestring: "Where Was I?"
14 Dec 80 BBC1
Guest Cast:
Philip Bond, Hillary Ryan, Alan David, Colin Jeavons
Synopsis:
Eddie agrees to help a psychiatrist try and restore a man's memory, a move that could put the fellow into danger.
2.10 [--] Shoestring: THE DANGEROUS GAME (final episode)
21 Dec 80 BBC1
Guest Cast:
Michael Elphick, Julie Vidler, Burt Kwouk, Celia Imrie
Synopsis:
Eddie's holidays are ruined when someone steals a load of toys off the back of a lorry.
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