The Beiderbecke Trilogy The Beiderbecke Trilogy The Beiderbecke Trilogy refers to three television serials written by Alan Plater and made by Yorkshire Television for the ITV network in the United Kingdom between 1984 and 1988. Each serial centres on schoolteachers Trevor Chaplin (James Bolam) and Jill Swinburne (Barbara Flynn) who work at a rundown comprehensive school in Leeds. Woodwork teacher Trevor enjoys football and jazz music while English teacher Jill is a political activist concerned with saving the environment. "The Beiderbecke Trilogy" centres on two schoolteachers – Trevor Chaplin (James Bolam) and Jill Swinburne (Barbara Flynn) – who teach at a comprehensive school
The Beiderbecke Trilogy broadcast in six parts in January and February 1985 and averaged 12 million viewers over its run. Shortly after the completion of "The Beiderbecke Affair", David Cunliffe asked Plater to write a new serial with the same characters. At this point Plater decided to create a jazz-themed trilogy; "The Beiderbecke Affair" would be followed by "The Gillespie Tapes" and "The Yardbird Suite", referencing Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker respectively. However, YTV felt that they wanted to stick with the Beiderbecke "brand" and so the first sequel was renamed "The Beiderbecke Tapes". Plater intended "The Beiderbecke Tapes" to be another six-part