Saturday 17 June 2017

712 Travelling Man




First  viewed :  July  1985

This  is  one  that  got  away  for  me. I  saw  odd  bits  of  it  when  the  first  season  was  repeated  in  the  summer  of  1985  and  was  intrigued  but  it  was  on  too  late  and  for  most  of  the  second  season  I  was  living  in  a house  without  a TV.

Travelling  Man  was  made  by  Granada. It  was  written  by  Roger  Marshall  one  of  the  original  team  on  The  Avengers. Leigh  Lawson  played  Max  Lomax, an  ex-policeman  who  has  recently  been  released  from  stir  after  being  framed   for  a   drugs  offence  . He  retreats  to  his  narrowboat  Harmony  on  the  Cheshire  Ring , observed  by  various  parties  who  believe  he  has  access  to  a  stash  of  money. Max  is  looking  for  both  his son  Stephen  and  the  man  who  framed  him   and  this  is  the  overarching  narrative  although  Max  has  diversionary  adventures  along  the  way  so  that  many  of  the  episodes  are  self-contained. There  are  obvious  similarities to   Out  and  The  Fugitive  and  Shoestring  were  also  influences.

What  made  Travelling  Man  unique  was  the  setting, the  grim  storylines  working  themselves  out  against  the  picturesque  and  lesisurely-paced   lifestyle  of  the  canal  traveller  although  unfortunately  it  was  all  shot  on  VT. The  series  was  successful  and  the  haunting  theme  tune  was  a  minor  hit  for  Duncan  Browne  but  a  third  season  had  to  be  scrapped  because  Lawson   fell  out  with  the  producers.

The  series also  introduced  some  young  talent. Alan  Cumming  made  his  TV  debut  in  one  episode  as  Max's  pal  Jamie  and  it  also  provided  my  first  sighting  of  Kate  Hardie  as  jailbait  Susie.

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