Lovejoy is a British television comedy-drama mystery series, based on the picaresque novels by John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The series, which ran to 71 episodes over six seasons, was originally broadcast on BBC1 between 10 January 1986 and 4 December 1994, though there was a 5-year gap between the first and second series. It was adapted for television by Ian La Frenais.