Pilot / prequel •
The Shillingbury Blowers (6 January 1980) is a feature-length film (79 minutes – 90 mins with adverts) starring
Robin Nedwell as writer and musician Peter Higgins and
Diane Keen as his wife. Newly-weds Peter, (Nedwell), and his wife Sally, (Keen), have moved into Rose Cottage, an idyllic half-timbered cottage in the small English village of Shillingbury, close to the village church and the pub, the Oddfellows' Arms. The local
brass band, the Shillingbury Blowers, is struggling to survive. A meeting of the village council, headed by
John Le Mesurier, looks at the financial position of the band and debates the poor quality of the playing. Peter is brought in to replace the ageing conductor. Peter tells the band they are awful and they walk out. A second meeting of the village council with two band members results in a
work-to-rule, where the band decide to remove all individuality. Ironically this solves the problem and the band get their first clap. When they reconvene in the pub, they resolve to play with further restrictions. When they then decide to play
staccato it unintentionally works very well. When the now very unconfident old bandleader, Saltie (
Trevor Howard), is persuaded to return, he plays lead
trumpet very melodically, which works in counterpoint works very well. Peter helps Jake (
Jack Douglas), the lead
cornet, deliver a calf on his farm and a new bond of trust is formed. This night-time ordeal causes Jake to oversleep and he misses the bus taking the band to a competition. He catches up in time and convinces the band to cease their work to rule and return to their original style of playing, which whilst disastrous musically, results in a very much happier band of men.
Series 1 • "The Shillingbury Tinker" (17 May 1981) • "The Shillingbury Melon" (24 May 1981) • "The Shillingbury Cloudburst" (31 May 1981) • "The Shillingbury Legend" (7 June 1981) • "The Shillingbury Miracle" (14 June 1981) • "The Shillingbury Daydream" (21 June 1981) ==
Cuffy==