Howards' Way
Encyclopedia
Howards' Way is a television
drama series produced by BBC Birmingham
and transmitted on BBC One
between 1 September 1985 and 25 November 1990. The series deals with the personal and professional lives of the yachting and business communities in the fictional town of Tarrant on the South Coast of England
, and was filmed on the River Hamble
and the Solent
. Most of the location filming
for the series was carried out in Bursledon
, Hamble
, Swanwick
, Warsash
, Hill Head
, Lee-on-the-Solent
, Southampton
and Fareham
- all in Hampshire
.
's history, when the organisation was making a concerted populist strike against ITV
in its approach to programming. Howards' Way debuted on BBC One
in 1985, the same year that the BBC launched their first ongoing soap opera
EastEnders
as a challenge to the ratings supremacy of ITV's Coronation Street
. Although Howards' Way is commonly cited as an attempt to provide a British alternative to glossy American sagas such as Dallas
and Dynasty
, it also acts as a continuation of plot themes explored in a previous Gerard Glaister series, The Brothers, which involved a family's personal and professional crises running a road haulage firm and embraced several soap opera touches in its characterisations and storylines.
The original working title for the series was "The Boatbuilders", which was ultimately rejected when it was felt that it sounded like a documentary
series and wouldn't grab viewers’ attention.
The theme music was composed by Simon May
and performed by his orchestra. Marti Webb
reached number 13 with "Always There", the lyrical version of the theme tune, in 1986.
Inspired by a storyline in Howards' Way, producer Gerard Glaister
went on to create Trainer
(1991–1992) set in the world of horse-racing, and also featured several of the same cast members.
), wife Jan (Jan Harvey
) and grown-up children Leo (Edward Highmore
) and Lynne (Tracey Childs
). Tom is made redundant from his job as an aircraft designer after twenty years and is unwilling to re-enter the rat race again. A sailing enthusiast, Tom decides to pursue his dream of designing and building boats, putting his redundancy pay-out into the ailing Mermaid boatyard, run by Jack Rolfe (Glyn Owen
), a gruff traditionalist, and his daughter Avril (Susan Gilmore
). Tom immediately finds himself in conflict with Jack, whose reliance on the bottle and resentment of Tom's new design ideas, threaten the business, but has an ally in Avril, who turns out to be the real driving force behind the yard with her cool, businesslike brain. Jan, who has spent the last twenty years raising the children and building the family home, is less than impressed with her husband's risky new venture and finds herself pursuing her own life outside the family through establishing a new marine boutique whilst working for flash "medallion man" Ken Masters (Stephen Yardley
).
Other major characters introduced during the first series are Kate Harvey (Dulcie Gray
), Jan's sensible and supportive mother, the suave, scheming millionaire businessman Charles Frere (Tony Anholt
) and the wealthy but unhappy Urquhart family. Gerald (Ivor Danvers
) is a financial wizard and the right-hand man of Charles Frere. Polly (Patricia Shakesby
), a friend of Jan's, is a bored corporate wife preoccupied with preserving her social status and their daughter Abby (Cindy Shelley
) is a socially awkward young woman who has returned to Tarrant after completing her education at a Swiss finishing school and who establishes a friendship with Leo Howard. Unlike the comparatively close and secure Howard family, the Urquharts have secrets to hide. Gerald and Polly's marriage is a sham - an arrangement to cover the fact that Gerald is bisexual to give him respectability in the business world and a name to Abby, Polly's illegitimate daughter after an affair at university. Abby herself is pregnant, after a brief relationship in Switzerland.
The first series establishes the narrative blueprint for the remainder of the programme's run: combining standard melodramatic storylines involving family drama, romance and extramarital affairs (Tom and Avril, Jan and Ken) with business-related plots of corporate intrigue and scheming for power, climaxing with an end-of-series cliffhanger. In the first series, Lynne Howard is seduced by the ruthless Charles Frere. She runs tearfully across the Tarrant harbour during a rainstorm after finding him in bed with another woman, trips and falls unconscious into the water... Later, cliffhangers would involve a fatal water-skiing accident, a plane crash and an accident during a powerboat race.
By virtue of being transmitted during the late 1980s, Howards' Way could be described as almost a textbook time capsule of Thatcherite values, in its portrayal of the years of boom and bust, of individual aspiration and enterprise, and the conspicuous consumption of wealth. The class clashes during the decade were reflected in the character of Ken Masters, a nouveau riche
chancer always involved in shady schemes to establish himself as a credible figure in the business world, but generally looked down upon by those with "old money" (for example Charles Frere and merchant banker Sir John Stevens (Willoughby Gray
)) and often used as an unwitting pawn in their wider power games. Whilst through the character of Jan Howard and her attempts to go it alone as a businesswoman through establishing her own fashion label, the series explored a standard 1980s melodramatic motif of female emancipation via capitalism cf. the characters of Alexis Colby in Dynasty
and Abby Ewing in Knots Landing
and the ITV
drama series Connie.
, both domestically and in overseas sales. Whilst the series was unable to compete with the likes of Dallas
and Dynasty
in terms of opulence, its stylistic aspects did develop as it went on, with the staging of powerboat races and fashion shows and extensive location filming in Guernsey
, Malta
and Gibraltar
as the storylines dictated. A number of new characters were also introduced later in the series, such as Sarah Foster (Sarah-Jane Varley
), a glamorous business partner for Ken Masters, Sir Edward Frere (Nigel Davenport
), the rich tycoon father of Charles Frere, Orrin Hudson (Jeff Harding
), the American father of Abby Urquhart's baby, Emma Neesome (Sian Webber
), a beautiful engineer who came to work with Tom Howard and Jack Rolfe at the Mermaid yard and Vanessa Andenberg (Lana Morris
), an elegant widow and old flame of Jack Rolfe. Perhaps in a conscious move to make Howards' Way seem more and more like a British Dynasty
, actress Kate O'Mara
, who had previously starred in The Brothers and had recently appeared in the American supersoap as Caress Morrell, was also brought in to play ruthless businesswoman Laura Wilde.
The roots for the demise of Howards' Way were sown in 1989 when, during the production of the fifth series, lead actor Maurice Colbourne
, who played central character Tom Howard, suddenly died from a heart attack during a break in filming. Episodes were hurriedly rewritten to explain the character's absence, before he was finally killed off at the beginning of the sixth and final series, commissioned to end the programme and to tie up all the storylines. Despite these tragic events, it could be legitimately argued that Howards' Way was such a quintessential part of the era in which it was produced that a continuation could not have been sustained. It is perhaps fitting then that the final episode of Howards' Way was transmitted on 25 November 1990, three days before the resignation of Margaret Thatcher
as the British Prime Minister
.
The following actors also made guest appearances in the series: Kathleen Byron
, Tony Caunter
, Richard Wilson, Bruce Boa
, Pamela Salem
, Burt Kwouk
, James Warwick, Annie Lambert
, Stephen Greif
, Andrew Burt
and Catherine Schell
.
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
drama series produced by BBC Birmingham
BBC Birmingham
BBC Birmingham is one of the oldest regional arms of the BBC, located in Birmingham, West Midlands. It was the first region outside of London to start broadcasting both the corporation's radio and television transmissions, the latter from the Sutton Coldfield television transmitter...
and transmitted on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
between 1 September 1985 and 25 November 1990. The series deals with the personal and professional lives of the yachting and business communities in the fictional town of Tarrant on the South Coast of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and was filmed on the River Hamble
River Hamble
The River Hamble is a river in Hampshire, England. It rises near Bishop's Waltham and flows for some 7.5 miles through Botley, Bursledon and Swanwick before entering Southampton Water near Hamble-le-Rice and Warsash....
and the Solent
Solent
The Solent is a strait separating the Isle of Wight from the mainland of England.The Solent is a major shipping route for passengers, freight and military vessels. It is an important recreational area for water sports, particularly yachting, hosting the Cowes Week sailing event annually...
. Most of the location filming
Filming location
A filming location is a place where some or all of a film or television series is produced, in addition to or instead of using sets constructed on a movie studio backlot or soundstage...
for the series was carried out in Bursledon
Bursledon
Bursledon is a village on the River Hamble in Hampshire, England. It is located within the borough of Eastleigh. Close to the city of Southampton, Bursledon has a railway station, a marina, dockyards and the Bursledon Windmill. Nearby villages include Swanwick, Hamble-le-Rice, Netley and Sarisbury...
, Hamble
Hamble
Hamble may refer to:* The last frontier film location.* The River Hamble in Hampshire, England**Hamble-Warsash Ferry, a ferry service on the River Hamble* Hamble-le-Rice, a village on the river Hamble, close to the city of Southampton, England...
, Swanwick
Swanwick, Hampshire
Swanwick is a village in Hampshire, England, east of the River Hamble and north of the M27 motorway.The village is located within the borough of Fareham and is the site of the London Area Control Centre and the London Terminal Control Centre part of National Air Traffic Services Air Traffic...
, Warsash
Warsash
Warsash is a village in southern Hampshire, England, situated at the mouth of the River Hamble, west of the area known as Locks Heath. Boating plays an important part in the village's economy, and the village has a sailing club...
, Hill Head
Hill Head
Hill Head is a residential area on the coast of the Solent. It is located south of Stubbington, west of Lee-on-the-Solent and south east of Titchfield, in the borough of Fareham, Hampshire. Hill Head is in the Gosport parliamentary constituency. Hill Head has a shingle beach with fishing, sailing,...
, Lee-on-the-Solent
Lee-on-the-Solent
Lee-on-the-Solent, often referred to as Lee-on-Solent, is a small seaside town in Hampshire, England about five miles west of Portsmouth. The town is located on the coast of the Solent and forms part of the borough of Gosport...
, Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
and Fareham
Fareham
The market town of Fareham lies in the south east of Hampshire, England, between the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth, roughly in the centre of the South Hampshire conurbation.It gives its name to the borough comprising the town and the surrounding area...
- all in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
.
History
Howards' Way was created and produced by Gerard Glaister and Allan Prior with lead writer, Raymond Thompson as story and script consultant - at a point in the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's history, when the organisation was making a concerted populist strike against ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
in its approach to programming. Howards' Way debuted on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
in 1985, the same year that the BBC launched their first ongoing soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
as a challenge to the ratings supremacy of ITV's Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
. Although Howards' Way is commonly cited as an attempt to provide a British alternative to glossy American sagas such as Dallas
Dallas (TV series)
Dallas is an American serial drama/prime time soap opera that revolves around the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries. Throughout the series, Larry Hagman stars as greedy, scheming oil baron J. R. Ewing...
and Dynasty
Dynasty (TV series)
Dynasty is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 12, 1981 to May 11, 1989. It was created by Richard & Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, and revolved around the Carringtons, a wealthy oil family living in Denver, Colorado...
, it also acts as a continuation of plot themes explored in a previous Gerard Glaister series, The Brothers, which involved a family's personal and professional crises running a road haulage firm and embraced several soap opera touches in its characterisations and storylines.
The original working title for the series was "The Boatbuilders", which was ultimately rejected when it was felt that it sounded like a documentary
Documentary
A documentary is a creative work of non-fiction, including:* Documentary film, including television* Radio documentary* Documentary photographyRelated terms include:...
series and wouldn't grab viewers’ attention.
The theme music was composed by Simon May
Simon May
Simon May is a British musician and composer, best known for composing some of British television's best known theme tunes, including EastEnders and Howards' Way, and for composing the music for the 1988 film The Dawning....
and performed by his orchestra. Marti Webb
Marti Webb
Marti Webb is a musical actress from England, who appeared on stage in Evita, before starring in Andrew Lloyd Webber's one woman show Tell Me on a Sunday in 1980...
reached number 13 with "Always There", the lyrical version of the theme tune, in 1986.
Inspired by a storyline in Howards' Way, producer Gerard Glaister
Gerard Glaister
John Leslie "Gerard" Glaister DFC, was a British television producer and director best known for his work with the BBC. Amongst his most notable successes as a TV producer were Colditz, The Brothers, Secret Army and Howards' Way.After studying at RADA, Glaister made his West End debut in 1939...
went on to create Trainer
Trainer (TV series)
Trainer is a British television series transmitted by the BBC between 1991 and 1992.Filmed in and around the village of Compton near Newbury, the series is set in the world of horse racing. It starred Mark Greenstreet as Mike Hardy, an aspiring horse trainer keen to set up his own stables...
(1991–1992) set in the world of horse-racing, and also featured several of the same cast members.
Plot
The main protagonists in the early episodes are the titular Howard family - Tom (Maurice ColbourneMaurice Colbourne
Maurice Colbourne was a British stage and television actor.He was born Roger Middleton in Sheffield at the outbreak of World War II, and studied acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama...
), wife Jan (Jan Harvey
Jan Harvey
Jan Harvey is an English actress.Harvey is possibly best known for her starring role as Jan Howard in the British TV drama Howards' Way, from 1985–90, in which she ran a fashion boutique named Periplus...
) and grown-up children Leo (Edward Highmore
Edward Highmore
-Life and career:Edward Highmore is known for playing Leo Howard in the 1980s BBC drama Howards' Way. He also appeared in Doctor Who, playing Malkon in the 1984 serial Planet of Fire. Highmore attended Guildford School of Acting....
) and Lynne (Tracey Childs
Tracey Childs
Tracey Childs is an English actress, best known for playing Lynne Howard in the 1980s drama series Howards' Way. More recently, she has appeared in Born and Bred as Linda Cosgrove and as Patty Cornwell in Hollyoaks....
). Tom is made redundant from his job as an aircraft designer after twenty years and is unwilling to re-enter the rat race again. A sailing enthusiast, Tom decides to pursue his dream of designing and building boats, putting his redundancy pay-out into the ailing Mermaid boatyard, run by Jack Rolfe (Glyn Owen
Glyn Owen
Glyn Griffith Owen was a British stage, television and film actor, probably best known to British TV viewers for two roles: that of Dr...
), a gruff traditionalist, and his daughter Avril (Susan Gilmore
Susan Gilmore
Susan Gilmore is an English actress with a number of prominent television credits to her name, including Elizabeth Fitt in the BBC hospital drama Angels and Avril Rolfe in Howards' Way. She was also a leading cast member in the cult thriller serial Maelstrom...
). Tom immediately finds himself in conflict with Jack, whose reliance on the bottle and resentment of Tom's new design ideas, threaten the business, but has an ally in Avril, who turns out to be the real driving force behind the yard with her cool, businesslike brain. Jan, who has spent the last twenty years raising the children and building the family home, is less than impressed with her husband's risky new venture and finds herself pursuing her own life outside the family through establishing a new marine boutique whilst working for flash "medallion man" Ken Masters (Stephen Yardley
Stephen Yardley
Stephen Yardley is an English actor, known for his work on British television between 1965 and 2004.Best known for his role as Ken Masters in the British TV drama Howards' Way , Yardley most recently appeared in the British TV comedy Hex .He made early appearances on TV in the 1960s, in series...
).
Other major characters introduced during the first series are Kate Harvey (Dulcie Gray
Dulcie Gray
Dulcie Gray, CBE was a British singer and actress of stage, screen and television, a mystery writer and lepidopterist.-Early life and career:...
), Jan's sensible and supportive mother, the suave, scheming millionaire businessman Charles Frere (Tony Anholt
Tony Anholt
Anthony "Tony" Anholt was a British actor best known for his roles as Security Chief Tony Verdeschi in the second season of Gerry Anderson's television series Space: 1999 , Paul Buchet in The Protectors and as Charles Frere in the highly-successful BBC drama series Howards' Way .Anholt was...
) and the wealthy but unhappy Urquhart family. Gerald (Ivor Danvers
Ivor Danvers
Ivor Danvers is an English actor, best known for his role as Gerald Urquhart in the 1980s BBC drama Howards' Way....
) is a financial wizard and the right-hand man of Charles Frere. Polly (Patricia Shakesby
Patricia Shakesby
Patricia Shakesby is an English actress, best known for her role as Polly Urquhart in Howards' Way....
), a friend of Jan's, is a bored corporate wife preoccupied with preserving her social status and their daughter Abby (Cindy Shelley
Cindy Shelley
Cindy Shelley is a British actress, best known for her roles in two high profile BBC television dramas of the 1980s - Alice Courtenay in Tenko and Abby Urquhart in Howards' Way.-Career:...
) is a socially awkward young woman who has returned to Tarrant after completing her education at a Swiss finishing school and who establishes a friendship with Leo Howard. Unlike the comparatively close and secure Howard family, the Urquharts have secrets to hide. Gerald and Polly's marriage is a sham - an arrangement to cover the fact that Gerald is bisexual to give him respectability in the business world and a name to Abby, Polly's illegitimate daughter after an affair at university. Abby herself is pregnant, after a brief relationship in Switzerland.
The first series establishes the narrative blueprint for the remainder of the programme's run: combining standard melodramatic storylines involving family drama, romance and extramarital affairs (Tom and Avril, Jan and Ken) with business-related plots of corporate intrigue and scheming for power, climaxing with an end-of-series cliffhanger. In the first series, Lynne Howard is seduced by the ruthless Charles Frere. She runs tearfully across the Tarrant harbour during a rainstorm after finding him in bed with another woman, trips and falls unconscious into the water... Later, cliffhangers would involve a fatal water-skiing accident, a plane crash and an accident during a powerboat race.
By virtue of being transmitted during the late 1980s, Howards' Way could be described as almost a textbook time capsule of Thatcherite values, in its portrayal of the years of boom and bust, of individual aspiration and enterprise, and the conspicuous consumption of wealth. The class clashes during the decade were reflected in the character of Ken Masters, a nouveau riche
Nouveau riche
The nouveau riche , or new money, comprise those who have acquired considerable wealth within their own generation...
chancer always involved in shady schemes to establish himself as a credible figure in the business world, but generally looked down upon by those with "old money" (for example Charles Frere and merchant banker Sir John Stevens (Willoughby Gray
Willoughby Gray
Willoughby Gray was an English actor of stage and screen born in London ....
)) and often used as an unwitting pawn in their wider power games. Whilst through the character of Jan Howard and her attempts to go it alone as a businesswoman through establishing her own fashion label, the series explored a standard 1980s melodramatic motif of female emancipation via capitalism cf. the characters of Alexis Colby in Dynasty
Dynasty (TV series)
Dynasty is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 12, 1981 to May 11, 1989. It was created by Richard & Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, and revolved around the Carringtons, a wealthy oil family living in Denver, Colorado...
and Abby Ewing in Knots Landing
Knots Landing
Knots Landing is an American primetime television soap opera that aired from December 27, 1979 to May 13, 1993 on CBS. Set in a fictitious coastal suburb of Los Angeles in California, the show centered on the lives of four married couples living in a cul-de-sac, Seaview Circle...
and the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
drama series Connie.
Reception
Although derided by critics as a cheesy melodrama, Howards' Way nevertheless proved to be a hugely popular programme for the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, both domestically and in overseas sales. Whilst the series was unable to compete with the likes of Dallas
Dallas (TV series)
Dallas is an American serial drama/prime time soap opera that revolves around the Ewings, a wealthy Texas family in the oil and cattle-ranching industries. Throughout the series, Larry Hagman stars as greedy, scheming oil baron J. R. Ewing...
and Dynasty
Dynasty (TV series)
Dynasty is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 12, 1981 to May 11, 1989. It was created by Richard & Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, and revolved around the Carringtons, a wealthy oil family living in Denver, Colorado...
in terms of opulence, its stylistic aspects did develop as it went on, with the staging of powerboat races and fashion shows and extensive location filming in Guernsey
Guernsey
Guernsey, officially the Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.The Bailiwick, as a governing entity, embraces not only all 10 parishes on the Island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Herm, Jethou, Burhou, and Lihou and their islet...
, Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
and Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
as the storylines dictated. A number of new characters were also introduced later in the series, such as Sarah Foster (Sarah-Jane Varley
Sarah-Jane Varley
Sarah-Jane Varley is a British actress, best known for playing Sarah Foster in the 1980s BBC drama Howards' Way. She also played Estella in the 1981 BBC adaptation of Great Expectations.-External links:...
), a glamorous business partner for Ken Masters, Sir Edward Frere (Nigel Davenport
Nigel Davenport
Nigel Davenport is an English stage, television and film actor.- Early life :Davenport was born Arthur Nigel Davenport, however he goes by the first name of Nigel. Davenport was born in Shelford, Cambridgeshire, the son of Katherine Lucy and Arthur Henry Davenport. Davenport's father was a bursar...
), the rich tycoon father of Charles Frere, Orrin Hudson (Jeff Harding
Jeff Harding
Jeff Harding is an American actor from New England most famed for his narration of popular books into audio format. Notably, he has read The Da Vinci Code, The Bourne Identity, Kane and Abel and Secrets Of The Code...
), the American father of Abby Urquhart's baby, Emma Neesome (Sian Webber
Sian Webber
Sian Webber is a British actress, best known for playing Emma Neesome in the 1980s BBC drama series Howards' Way.She has also appeared in Star Cops, Pie in the Sky, Dangerfield, Highlander: The Series, The Bill, Bad Girls, Peak Practice, Holby City, Waterloo Road and EastEnders, playing Ritchie...
), a beautiful engineer who came to work with Tom Howard and Jack Rolfe at the Mermaid yard and Vanessa Andenberg (Lana Morris
Lana Morris
Lana Morris, born Averil Maureen Anita Morris was a British film, stage and television actress during the 1950s and 1960s....
), an elegant widow and old flame of Jack Rolfe. Perhaps in a conscious move to make Howards' Way seem more and more like a British Dynasty
Dynasty (TV series)
Dynasty is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 12, 1981 to May 11, 1989. It was created by Richard & Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, and revolved around the Carringtons, a wealthy oil family living in Denver, Colorado...
, actress Kate O'Mara
Kate O'Mara
Kate O'Mara is an English film, stage and television actress. She is perhaps most widely known for her role as Caress Morell, the scheming sister of Alexis Colby in the 1980s American primetime soap opera Dynasty, though is also known for playing other villains such as The Rani in Doctor Who and...
, who had previously starred in The Brothers and had recently appeared in the American supersoap as Caress Morrell, was also brought in to play ruthless businesswoman Laura Wilde.
The roots for the demise of Howards' Way were sown in 1989 when, during the production of the fifth series, lead actor Maurice Colbourne
Maurice Colbourne
Maurice Colbourne was a British stage and television actor.He was born Roger Middleton in Sheffield at the outbreak of World War II, and studied acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama...
, who played central character Tom Howard, suddenly died from a heart attack during a break in filming. Episodes were hurriedly rewritten to explain the character's absence, before he was finally killed off at the beginning of the sixth and final series, commissioned to end the programme and to tie up all the storylines. Despite these tragic events, it could be legitimately argued that Howards' Way was such a quintessential part of the era in which it was produced that a continuation could not have been sustained. It is perhaps fitting then that the final episode of Howards' Way was transmitted on 25 November 1990, three days before the resignation of Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
as the British Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
.
Cast list
- Tom Howard - Maurice ColbourneMaurice ColbourneMaurice Colbourne was a British stage and television actor.He was born Roger Middleton in Sheffield at the outbreak of World War II, and studied acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama...
(Series 1-5) - Jan Howard - Jan HarveyJan HarveyJan Harvey is an English actress.Harvey is possibly best known for her starring role as Jan Howard in the British TV drama Howards' Way, from 1985–90, in which she ran a fashion boutique named Periplus...
- Jack Rolfe - Glyn OwenGlyn OwenGlyn Griffith Owen was a British stage, television and film actor, probably best known to British TV viewers for two roles: that of Dr...
- Kate Harvey - Dulcie GrayDulcie GrayDulcie Gray, CBE was a British singer and actress of stage, screen and television, a mystery writer and lepidopterist.-Early life and career:...
- Ken Masters - Stephen YardleyStephen YardleyStephen Yardley is an English actor, known for his work on British television between 1965 and 2004.Best known for his role as Ken Masters in the British TV drama Howards' Way , Yardley most recently appeared in the British TV comedy Hex .He made early appearances on TV in the 1960s, in series...
- Charles Frere - Tony AnholtTony AnholtAnthony "Tony" Anholt was a British actor best known for his roles as Security Chief Tony Verdeschi in the second season of Gerry Anderson's television series Space: 1999 , Paul Buchet in The Protectors and as Charles Frere in the highly-successful BBC drama series Howards' Way .Anholt was...
- Avril Rolfe - Susan GilmoreSusan GilmoreSusan Gilmore is an English actress with a number of prominent television credits to her name, including Elizabeth Fitt in the BBC hospital drama Angels and Avril Rolfe in Howards' Way. She was also a leading cast member in the cult thriller serial Maelstrom...
- Leo Howard - Edward HighmoreEdward Highmore-Life and career:Edward Highmore is known for playing Leo Howard in the 1980s BBC drama Howards' Way. He also appeared in Doctor Who, playing Malkon in the 1984 serial Planet of Fire. Highmore attended Guildford School of Acting....
- Abby Urquhart - Cindy ShelleyCindy ShelleyCindy Shelley is a British actress, best known for her roles in two high profile BBC television dramas of the 1980s - Alice Courtenay in Tenko and Abby Urquhart in Howards' Way.-Career:...
- Lynne Howard - Tracey ChildsTracey ChildsTracey Childs is an English actress, best known for playing Lynne Howard in the 1980s drama series Howards' Way. More recently, she has appeared in Born and Bred as Linda Cosgrove and as Patty Cornwell in Hollyoaks....
(Series 1-2, 6) - Gerald Urquhart - Ivor DanversIvor DanversIvor Danvers is an English actor, best known for his role as Gerald Urquhart in the 1980s BBC drama Howards' Way....
- Polly Urquhart - Patricia ShakesbyPatricia ShakesbyPatricia Shakesby is an English actress, best known for her role as Polly Urquhart in Howards' Way....
(Series 1-5) - Sir John Stevens - Willoughby GrayWilloughby GrayWilloughby Gray was an English actor of stage and screen born in London ....
- Bill Sayers - Robert VaheyRobert VaheyRobert Vahey is a British actor, best known for his role as Bill Sayers in the 1980s television series Howards' Way.-External links:...
- Claude Dupont - Malcolm Jamieson (Series 1-2)
- Dawn Williams - Sally Farmiloe (Series 1-2)
- Davy Malik - Kulvinder GhirKulvinder GhirKulvinder Ghir, born in Nairobi, Kenya, is a British actor, comedian and writer of South Asian ancestry, best known for his roles in Rita, Sue & Bob Too, Blood & Peaches, Bend It Like Beckham and the sketch show Goodness Gracious Me...
(Series 1-2) - Richard Shellet - Oscar QuitakOscar QuitakOscar Quitak is a British film and television actor.His television credits include: Z-Cars, Man in a Suitcase, Doomwatch, Ace of Wands, Colditz, The Changes, The New Avengers, Open All Hours, Kessler as Josef Mengele, Chessgame, Howards' Way, A Very British Coup, Yes, Prime Minister and...
(Series 1-2) - David Lloyd - Bruce BouldBruce BouldBruce Bould is an English actor, best known for playing David Harris-Jones in the television sitcom The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin....
(Series 1-3) - Phil Norton - Anthony HeadAnthony HeadAnthony Stewart Head , usually credited as Anthony Head, is an English actor and musician. He rose to fame in the UK following his role in television advertisements for Nescafé Gold Blend , and is known for his roles as Rupert Giles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and as Uther Pendragon in...
(Series 1) - Sarah Foster - Sarah-Jane VarleySarah-Jane VarleySarah-Jane Varley is a British actress, best known for playing Sarah Foster in the 1980s BBC drama Howards' Way. She also played Estella in the 1981 BBC adaptation of Great Expectations.-External links:...
(Series 2-4) - Mark Foster - Graham PountneyGraham PountneyGraham Michael Pountney is a British actor.His television credits include: Angels, Maybury, The Cleopatras, Howards' Way, Peak Practice, Doctors, Sea of Souls, Hustle and New Tricks.-External links:...
(Series 2-3) - Orin Hudson - Ryan Michael (Series 2), Jeff HardingJeff HardingJeff Harding is an American actor from New England most famed for his narration of popular books into audio format. Notably, he has read The Da Vinci Code, The Bourne Identity, Kane and Abel and Secrets Of The Code...
(Series 5-6) - Curtis Jaeger - Dean HarrisDean HarrisDean Harris is a British actor, noted for his roles on television.His credits include: Z-Cars, Dixon of Dock Green, Softly, Softly, The Sweeney, Shoestring, Blake's 7, The Fourth Arm, Howards' Way, Bergerac, EastEnders, Casualty, London's Burning, As Time Goes By, Drop the Dead Donkey, Love Hurts,...
(Series 2) - Sir Edward Frere - Nigel DavenportNigel DavenportNigel Davenport is an English stage, television and film actor.- Early life :Davenport was born Arthur Nigel Davenport, however he goes by the first name of Nigel. Davenport was born in Shelford, Cambridgeshire, the son of Katherine Lucy and Arthur Henry Davenport. Davenport's father was a bursar...
(Series 3-4, 6) - Vanessa Andenberg - Lana MorrisLana MorrisLana Morris, born Averil Maureen Anita Morris was a British film, stage and television actress during the 1950s and 1960s....
(Series 3, 5-6) - Emma Neesome - Sian WebberSian WebberSian Webber is a British actress, best known for playing Emma Neesome in the 1980s BBC drama series Howards' Way.She has also appeared in Star Cops, Pie in the Sky, Dangerfield, Highlander: The Series, The Bill, Bad Girls, Peak Practice, Holby City, Waterloo Road and EastEnders, playing Ritchie...
(Series 3-5) - Amanda Parker - Francesca GonshawFrancesca GonshawFrancesca R. Gonshaw is an artist, writer and actress currently living and working in London.- Acting :She studied dramatic art at A.L.R.A and achieved early recognition whilst working for the BBC...
(Series 3) - Mike Hanley - Michael LoneyMichael Loney-British Television:His work includes Tenko, Robin of Sherwood, Coronation Street and Howards' Way .-Australian Television:...
(Series 3-4) - Anna Lee - Sarah LamSarah LamSarah Lam is a British-Chinese actress, noted for her television roles.She played Susannah in the sitcom No Problem!, Linda Mo in Angels, Anna Lee in Howards' Way and Caroline Choi in Brookside....
(Series 3) - Admiral Francis Redfern - Michael DenisonMichael DenisonJohn Michael Terence Wellesley Denison CBE was an English actor.-Background:Denison was born in Doncaster, South Yorkshire in 1915. He was raised by his aunt and uncle from the age of three weeks, following the death of his mother and his estrangement from his father. He was educated at Harrow...
(Series 3, 5-6) - Richard Spencer - John Moulder-Brown (Series 3)
- Laura Wilde - Kate O'MaraKate O'MaraKate O'Mara is an English film, stage and television actress. She is perhaps most widely known for her role as Caress Morell, the scheming sister of Alexis Colby in the 1980s American primetime soap opera Dynasty, though is also known for playing other villains such as The Rani in Doctor Who and...
(Series 5-6) - James Brooke - Andrew Bicknell (Series 5)
- Vicki Rockwell - Victoria BurgoyneVictoria BurgoyneVictoria Burgoyne is an English actress.She is known for being a guest actress in the infamously uncompleted Doctor Who serial Shada, the making of which was abandoned as the result of a BBC strike...
(Series 5) - Robert Hastings - Paul JerrichoPaul JerrichoPaul Jerricho is a British actor.He has been mostly active in television. His best known roles include Robert Hastings during the final series of Howards' Way, violent P.E. teacher Mr. Hicks in Grange Hill and the Castellan in two Doctor Who stories, Arc of Infinity and The Five Doctors...
(Series 6) - Jenny Richards - Charmian GradwellCharmian GradwellCharmian Gradwell is a British actress, best known for her role in the television game show The Adventure Game. She also played Jenny Richards in Howards' Way....
(Series 6) - Tony Munroe - John Rhean (Series 6)
- David Relton - Richard HefferRichard HefferRichard Heffer is a British actor, best known for his roles on television in the 1970s and 1980s, when he became a very familiar face....
(Series 6) - Pierre Challon - James CoombesJames CoombesJames Coombes is a British actor with a number of television and theatre credits to his name.He was educated at Glasllwch primary school and then Duffryn High School in Newport, S Wales....
(Series 6) - Charles Frere Jr. - Simon Dixon (Series 6)
The following actors also made guest appearances in the series: Kathleen Byron
Kathleen Byron
Kathleen Byron was a British actress of stage, screen and television.-Early life:Byron was born Kathleen Elizabeth Fell in West Ham – now in the London Borough of Newham...
, Tony Caunter
Tony Caunter
Anthony Peter "Tony" Caunter is a British actor best known for his role as Jack Shepherd in the Yorkshire TV sitcom Queenie's Castle and also his portrayal of Roy Evans in EastEnders from 1994-2003....
, Richard Wilson, Bruce Boa
Bruce Boa
Bruce Boa was a Canadian actor, who found success playing the token North American in British films and television....
, Pamela Salem
Pamela Salem
Pamela Salem is a British film and television actress.She was born in Bombay, India, and educated at Heidelberg University in Germany and later at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, England...
, Burt Kwouk
Burt Kwouk
Burt Kwouk OBE , born Herbert Kwouk, is an English actor of Chinese descent, known for many television appearances and for his role as Cato in the Pink Panther films.-Career:...
, James Warwick, Annie Lambert
Annie Lambert
Annie Lambert is a British actress, best known to fans of the science fiction television series Doctor Who for her role as Enlightenment in the 1982 serial Four to Doomsday....
, Stephen Greif
Stephen Greif
Stephen Greif is an award-winning English actor.His television appearances include Waking the Dead , Spooks , Mistresses 2 , He Kills Coppers , Holby City , The Last Days of Pompeii as Sporus, Judge John Deed , Space Race , EastEnders , The Bill and...
, Andrew Burt
Andrew Burt
Andrew Burt is an English actor, who has appeared in many British TV drama series from the 1970s to the present day...
and Catherine Schell
Catherine Schell
Katherina Freiin Schell von Bauschlott is an Hungarian-born actress best known for her work on British televison.Schell rose to fame in various British film and television productions in the 1960s and 1970s...
.
DVD Releases
| DVD Series | Episodes | Region 2 Release Date | Region 4 Release Date | Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |
|
|
|
Stephen Yardley (Ken Masters) and Howards' Way fan Tim Teeman. |
|
| |
|
|
|
Stephen Yardley (Ken Masters) and Howards' Way fan Tim Teeman. |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
||
Periplus
At the end of season 1, using the proceeds of her divorce settlement with Tom, Jan opens a high-end fashion boutique named Periplus. Quickly hiring the fresh new talent of Anna Chang, the boutique flourishes with the offer of original sailing attire. With its colourful awnings and bizarre video monitor/juke box, Periplus becomes a central set in Howards' Way. After the theft of Changs fashion designs in season 4, Jan poaches new talent from a fashion house in Cowes, and the House of Howard goes from strength to strength with the launch of an aprés sail range that sends Periplus international. However, contorversy ensues when Polly uses the Periplus trademark to launch the UK arm of a German franchise of mail order ski wear, Die Spitze, without Jan's permission.External links
- The Tarrant Set - Howards Way Fan Site with photos, character studies & forum!
- Howards' Way @ TV.com
- Howards' Way Appreciation Site
- Listen to the theme tune