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Brush Strokes

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Brush Strokes
GenreSitcom
Created byEsmonde and Larbey
Directed byMandie Fletcher
John B. Hobbs
Harold Snoad
StarringKarl Howman
Gary Waldhorn
Mike Walling
Howard Lew Lewis
Jackie Lye
Opening theme"Because of You" by Dexys Midnight Runners
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series5
No. of episodes40
Production
Camera setupMultiple camera
Running time29 mins approx.
Original release
NetworkBBC1
Release1 September 1986 (1986-09-01) –
7 April 1991 (1991-04-07)

Brush Strokes is a British television sitcom broadcast on BBC1 from 1986 to 1991.[1] Written by Esmonde and Larbey and set in South London, it depicted the (mostly) amorous adventures of a wisecracking house painter, Jacko (Karl Howman). There were 40 episodes spread over five series.

Premise

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Jacko (Karl Howman) works as a house painter alongside his brother-in-law, Eric (Mike Walling), who was married to Jacko's sister Jean (Nicky Croydon). He lives with his sister and brother-in-law. Jacko also shares an anti-authority humour. In this case the butt of his humour is his boss, Lionel Bainbridge.

Gary Waldhorn played Lionel, and Elizabeth Counsell played his wife, Veronica, who had a crush on Jacko. The Bainbridges had a daughter called Lesley who is a spoiled daddy's girl and became Jacko's girlfriend during series one. She was played by two actresses during the life of the show: Kim Thomson in the first series and Erika Hoffman from series two onwards. In series one it was hinted that Jacko was somehow indebted to Lionel and working for him after the pair had become involved with some unlawful money making wheeling-dealing some years prior, for which Jacko almost got caught and was set to stand trial until Lionel used his "respectable business reputation" to fabricate a story and get him acquitted, leaving Jacko "indebted" and working for him, against his better wishes, as a result. This history between the pair was several times hinted at during the first series but was never mentioned from series two onwards.

Jacko is a ladies' man. Much of the humour comes from his attempts at picking up women whilst around town on painting jobs – much to the disdain of his sister, his boss, and his boss's secretary.

Jackie Lye played Sandra, the secretary at work who became Jacko's fiancée in series two (they never actually married but still went on their honeymoon because they had paid for it). Other familiar faces that have appeared in episodes include Janine Duvitski, Tracie Bennett and Pippa Haywood.

The show is remembered by many for the slow-off-the-mark pub landlord, Elmo Putney (Howard Lew Lewis) who ran the pub where Jacko and friends took their lunch breaks. Elmo's catchphrase instead of swearing was "Chisel". In later episodes, Jacko unsuccessfully started his own company, "Splosh". Later Elmo leaves for Australia to set up another business in Alice Springs, which because of its name he thinks must be near a very large body of water. He became a rich man after his dog discovered opals in Australia, before returning to London, buying Jacko's failing company and turning it into a wine bar, where everything was decorated in pink. Jacko returned to Bainbridge's, where Veronica was now in charge after Lionel's death. Veronica subsequently begins a new romance and remarried in the final series. The end of the series sees Jacko walking down the street and flipping a coin to decide who he should end up with, while Sandra and Lesley wait in the wine bar.

Episodes

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SeriesEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
1131 September 1986 (1986-09-01)24 November 1986 (1986-11-24)
2712 October 1987 (1987-10-12)23 November 1987 (1987-11-23)
3628 November 1988 (1988-11-28)16 January 1989 (1989-01-16)
4622 February 1990 (1990-02-22)29 March 1990 (1990-03-29)
5817 February 1991 (1991-02-17)7 April 1991 (1991-04-07)

Series 1 (1986)

[edit]
No.
overall		No. in
series		Directed byWritten byOriginal air date
11Mandie FletcherJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey1 September 1986 (1986-09-01)[2]
22Mandie FletcherJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey8 September 1986 (1986-09-08)[3]
33Mandie FletcherJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey15 September 1986 (1986-09-15)[4]
44Mandie FletcherJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey22 September 1986 (1986-09-22)[5]
55Mandie FletcherJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey29 September 1986 (1986-09-29)[6]
66Mandie FletcherJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey6 October 1986 (1986-10-06)[7]
77Mandie FletcherJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey13 October 1986 (1986-10-13)[8]
88Mandie FletcherJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey20 October 1986 (1986-10-20)[9]
99Mandie FletcherJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey27 October 1986 (1986-10-27)[10]
1010Mandie FletcherJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey3 November 1986 (1986-11-03)[11]
1111Mandie FletcherJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey10 November 1986 (1986-11-10)[12]
1212Mandie FletcherJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey17 November 1986 (1986-11-17)[13]
1313Mandie FletcherJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey24 November 1986 (1986-11-24)[14]

Series 2 (1987)

[edit]
No.
overall		No. in
series		Directed byWritten byOriginal air date
141Mandie FletcherJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey12 October 1987 (1987-10-12)[15]
152Mandie FletcherJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey19 October 1987 (1987-10-19)[16]
163Mandie FletcherJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey26 October 1987 (1987-10-26)[17]
174Mandie FletcherJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey2 November 1987 (1987-11-02)[18]
185Mandie FletcherJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey9 November 1987 (1987-11-09)[19]
196Mandie FletcherJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey16 November 1987 (1987-11-16)[20]
207Mandie FletcherJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey23 November 1987 (1987-11-23)[21]

Series 3 (1988–1989)

[edit]
No.
overall		No. in
series		Directed byWritten byOriginal air date
211Harold SnoadJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey28 November 1988 (1988-11-28)[22]
222Harold SnoadJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey5 December 1988 (1988-12-05)[23]
233Harold SnoadJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey12 December 1988 (1988-12-12)[24]
244Harold SnoadJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey19 December 1988 (1988-12-19)[25]
255Harold SnoadJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey9 January 1989 (1989-01-09)[26]
266Harold SnoadJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey16 January 1989 (1989-01-16)[27]

Series 4 (1990)

[edit]
No.
overall		No. in
series		Directed byWritten byOriginal air date
271John B. HobbsJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey22 February 1990 (1990-02-22)[28]
282John B. HobbsJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey1 March 1990 (1990-03-01)[29]
293John B. HobbsJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey8 March 1990 (1990-03-08)[30]
304John B. HobbsJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey15 March 1990 (1990-03-15)[31]
315John B. HobbsJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey22 March 1990 (1990-03-22)[32]
326John B. HobbsJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey29 March 1990 (1990-03-29)[33]

Series 5 (1991)

[edit]
No.
overall		No. in
series		Directed byWritten byOriginal air date
331John B. HobbsJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey17 February 1991 (1991-02-17)[34]
342John B. HobbsJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey24 February 1991 (1991-02-24)[35]
353John B. HobbsJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey3 March 1991 (1991-03-03)[36]
364John B. HobbsJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey10 March 1991 (1991-03-10)[37]
375John B. HobbsJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey17 March 1991 (1991-03-17)[38]
386John B. HobbsJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey24 March 1991 (1991-03-24)[39]
397John B. HobbsJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey31 March 1991 (1991-03-31)[40]
408John B. HobbsJohn Esmonde, Bob Larbey7 April 1991 (1991-04-07)[41]

Music

[edit]

The theme song "Because of You" was written and performed by Dexys Midnight Runners. Released as a single in November 1986, it reached number 13 in the UK Singles Chart.[42]

Other media

[edit]

Jacko and Elmo also appeared in the 1989 Comic Relief show on BBC1 as a pair of murderous psychopaths.

Brush Strokes is also repeatedly referred to as a running joke in Diane Morgan’s 2018 show Cunk On Britain.[43]

DVD releases

[edit]

Brush Strokes was originally released on VHS and DVD via Universal Playback, a subsidiary of Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, in August 2004. The sets were listed as the first and second series, when in fact, it consisted only of the complete first series of thirteen episodes. This became a common occurrence with Universal Playback as the same issues are present with their other titles, such as Last of the Summer Wine. Acorn Media acquired the distribution rights to the series thereafter, releasing in exactly the same format, mistakenly resulting in a complete series of six series instead of the proper five.

DVD title Actual series Release date BBFC
rating
Region 2 Region 4
Series 1 & 2 One 30 August 2004[44] No release PG[45]
Series One One (ep 1–7) No release 18 March 2009[46] —
Series Two One (ep 8–13) No release 24 June 2009[47] —
The Complete Series One and Two One 5 September 2011[48] 3 July 2013[49] PG[45]
The Complete Series Three and Four Two and Three 16 April 2012[50] 24 October 2012[51] PG[45]
The Complete Series Five and Six Four and Five 19 August 2013[52] 20 March 2013[53] PG[45]
Complete Series One to Six One to Five 7 October 2013[54] No release PG[45]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "BBC - Comedy Guide - Brush Strokes". 30 December 2004. Archived from the original on 30 December 2004.
  2. ^ "Brush Strokes Series 1, Episode 1". BBC Genome. September 1986. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  3. ^ "Brush Strokes Series 1, Episode 2". BBC Genome. 8 September 1986. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  4. ^ "Brush Strokes Series 1, Episode 3". BBC Genome. 15 September 1986. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  5. ^ "Brush Strokes Series 1, Episode 4". BBC Genome. 22 September 1986. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  6. ^ "Brush Strokes Series 1, Episode 5". BBC Genome. 29 September 1986. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  7. ^ "Brush Strokes Series 1, Episode 6". BBC Genome. 6 October 1986. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  8. ^ "Brush Strokes Series 1, Episode 7". BBC Genome. 13 October 1986. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  9. ^ "Brush Strokes Series 1, Episode 8". BBC Genome. 20 October 1986. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  10. ^ "Brush Strokes Series 1, Episode 9". BBC Genome. 27 October 1986. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  11. ^ "Brush Strokes Series 1, Episode 10". BBC Genome. 3 November 1986. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  12. ^ "Brush Strokes Series 1, Episode 11". BBC Genome. 10 November 1986. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  13. ^ "Brush Strokes Series 1, Episode 12". BBC Genome. 17 November 1986. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  14. ^ "Brush Strokes Series 1, Episode 13". BBC Genome. 24 November 1986. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  15. ^ "Series 2, Episode 1". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  16. ^ "Series 2, Episode 2". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  17. ^ "Series 2, Episode 3". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  18. ^ "Series 2, Episode 4". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  19. ^ "Series 2, Episode 5". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  20. ^ "Series 2, Episode 6". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  21. ^ "Series 2, Episode 7". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  22. ^ "Series 3, Episode 1". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  23. ^ "Series 3, Episode 2". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  24. ^ "Series 3, Episode 3". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  25. ^ "Series 3, Episode 4". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  26. ^ "Series 3, Episode 5". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  27. ^ "Series 3, Episode 6". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  28. ^ "Series 4, Episode 1". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  29. ^ "Series 4, Episode 2". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  30. ^ "Series 4, Episode 3". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  31. ^ "Series 4, Episode 4". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  32. ^ "Series 4, Episode 5". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  33. ^ "Series 4, Episode 6". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  34. ^ "Series 5, Episode 1". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  35. ^ "Series 5, Episode 2". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  36. ^ "Series 5, Episode 3". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  37. ^ "Series 5, Episode 4". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  38. ^ "Series 5, Episode 5". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  39. ^ "Series 5, Episode 6". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  40. ^ "Series 5, Episode 7". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  41. ^ "Series 5, Episode 8". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  42. ^ "Dexys Midnight Runners". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  43. ^ Dessau, Bruce (31 March 2018). "TV: Cunk On Britain, BBC2". Beyond the Joke.
  44. ^ "Brush Strokes: Complete Series 1 & 2 [Region 2] by Karl Howman". Amazon. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  45. ^ a b c d e "Brush Strokes". bbfc.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  46. ^ "Brush Strokes The Completes Series 1". booktopia.com.au. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  47. ^ "Brush Strokes The Completes Series 2". booktopia.com.au. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  48. ^ "Brush Strokes – The Complete Series One & Two". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  49. ^ "Brush Strokes Series 1 – 2". booktopia.com.au. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  50. ^ "Brush Strokes – The Complete Series Three & Four". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  51. ^ "Brush Strokes – Series 3-4". sanity.com.au. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  52. ^ "Brush Strokes – The Complete Series Five & Six". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  53. ^ "Brush Strokes – Series 5-6". sanity.com.au. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  54. ^ "Brush Strokes – Complete Series One To Six". comedy.co.uk. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
[edit]
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