Line #14 Series/Shoestring


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shoestring.jpg]]
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3	''Shoestring'' was a British DetectiveDrama that ran for 21 episodes in 1979 and 1980.
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5	Eddie Shoestring (Trevor Eve) is a former computer programmer who became a private detective after suffering a nervous breakdown. After investigating a potential scandal involving the then-fictional Radio West, Eddie is offered a job as the station's "private ear," presenting a weekly radio show and investigating cases for callers free of charge.
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8	!!''Shoestring'' contains examples of:
9	* AccidentalKidnapping: In "Stamp Duty," two henchmen kidnap Eddie, thinking he witnessed one of their crimes. When they realize they have the wrong man, they force him to drink whiskey, then dump him onto a motorway, where he staggers around drunkenly dodging cars.
10	* AccidentalMisnaming: Eddie's been called everything from "Bootlace" to "Tieclip."
11	* ActuallyThatsMyAssistant: In "The Farmer Had a Wife," Eddie is visiting a doctor's practice. When he asks a woman gardening out front where Dr. Wilson is, she introduces herself to him as Dr. Claire Wilson.
12	* AllThereInTheManual: According to the script for the unproduced movie, Sonia the receptionist's full name is Sonia Price.
13	* AmoralAfrikaner: Jan Poesma from "An Uncertain Circle" is the leader of an international heroin ring.
14	* AndStarring: "Starring Trevor Eve with Creator/MichaelMedwin, Doran Godwin, Liz Crowther."
15	* AscendedFanboy: Eddie read massive amounts of detective fiction during his stay in the mental hospital.
16	* BadassLongcoat: Eddie's boss, Don Satchley, tries to invoke this trope by having him pose in a trench coat and fedora for publicity photos.
17	--> '''Eddie''': No hat. It doesn't even fit!\
18	'''Don''': Yes, the hat. It's the Literature/SamSpade image!
19	* BreakUpBonfire: In "The Farmer Had a Wife," the titular watercress farmer burns his wife's clothes and belongings months after she leaves him. Eddie isn't pleased, since he's investigating her disappearance and wanted to look through her things.
20	* BritishBrevity: The show ran for two series and only 21 episodes.
21	* ButHeSoundsHandsome: Inverted in "The Partnership." A butcher asks Eddie if he's "that man on the radio." Eddie answers, "You mean that guy with the funny name? Can't stand him."
22	* BuzzingTheDeck: At the beginning of "Where Was I?" a helicopter chases a man across a moor, only leaving him alone after he flags down a pickup truck.
23	* CharacterTics: Eddie doodles when he's nervous or concentrating. He also rubs his fingers together, wrings his hands, and plays with anything he happens to be holding, including his tie.
24	* ChristmasEpisode: The very last episode, "The Dangerous Game," is set during the Christmas season and involves the search for a batch of miswired toys that explode when they're turned on.
25	* CityWithNoName: The show was filmed in Bristol, but the city is never mentioned by name.
26	* CopeByCreating: Eddie doodles caricatures of the people he's talking to to manage stress. When he's dragged onto an abandoned train car in the first episode, he draws in the dust on the window.
27	* CriminalMindGames: In "Mocking Bird," a mugger calls Radio West after each attack to leave taunting messages about Eddie's inability to catch him.
28	* CryingWolf: In "Stamp Duty," Eddie's acquaintance from the psychiatric ward calls the station, saying he witnessed a murder. Eddie doesn't believe him, since he's a pathological liar who makes up a different crime every week, even though he's telling the truth this time.
29	* CryIntoChest: A woman sobs into Eddie's chest after he tells her that her husband has been exonerated of murder.
30	* DatingServiceDisaster: Erica signs up for a video dating service to help Eddie find a man who went missing during a date. She doesn't find the man's video, although she does find a man who insists that anyone he dates be a Pisces with Libra rising ("My last was Scorpio with Virgo rising. Totally unsuitable. Totally.") and a germaphobe who wants his girlfriend to clean under the refrigerator every morning.
31	* DiegeticSoundtrackUsage: The first few seconds of the theme song are used as a Radio West jingle, played at the beginning of things like news reports.
32	* EasyAmnesia: Keith Amery from "Where Was I?" falls and hits his head on a rock. He isn't knocked out and starts running again almost immediately, but it's enough to give him total retrograde amnesia. He gets his memory back on time for the climax.
33	* EvilDebtCollector: Mrs Walsh and Mr Parker from "Utmost Good Faith" are willing to use intimidation, threats, lies, and even destruction of property.
34	* ExpectingSomeoneTaller: A receptionist who recognizes Eddie in "Utmost Good Faith" says, "Funny, you're not as tall as I expected."
35	* EyeScream: At the beginning of "The Dangerous Game," a boy receives an electric racing game as an early Christmas present. When he tries to play with it, it explodes, propelling a piece of plastic into his left eye and almost blinding it.
36	* FlashbackStares: When Eddie visits his old workplace in "Room With A View," he stares at one of the computers for a long moment, with close-ups of both his face and the machine, before one of his former coworkers startles him out of it.
37	* FlowerPotDrop: In "Nine Tenths of the Law," a girl Eddie is looking for climbs a tree and drops a flowerpot on his head, knocking him out long enough for her father to steal his car keys.
38	* FollowThatCar: Eddie does this in "The Partnership." The driver says, "Where do you think you are, Series/TheStreetsOfSanFrancisco?" He goes along with it, although he complains the whole time.
39	* FreakOut: Eddie "blew a fuse," smashed up a roomful of computers with a hammer, and spent some time in a mental institution before he took up detective work.
40	* FreezeFrameBonus: Over the course of the show, Eddie is harassed by three different Radio West lawyers: Alan Bridgeman, Alan Cording, and Maurice Gilray. In "The Mayfly Dance," a sign can be glimpsed outside Gilray's office that says "Cording Gilray and Bridgeman Solicitors."
41	* FriendsWithBenefits: Eddie and his landlady, Erica Bayliss.
42	* INeverSaidItWasPoison: In "The Teddy Bears' Nightmare," Eddie tries to return a stolen handbag to its rightful owner. She tells him it can't be hers because she gave the handbag she bought to her mother, who would have told her if it was stolen. Eddie replies, "I didn't say it was stolen."
43	* IWasQuiteALooker: Lettie Ross from "Room With A View" is a former music hall star who shows Eddie some pictures of herself in her prime.
44	* JanitorImpersonationInfiltration: In "Looking for Mr Wright," Eddie pretends to be a computer technician so he can access a dating agency's files.
45	* ManOnFire: In "An Uncertain Circle," Eddie is trapped in a burning beach house. With his clothes on fire, he escapes through a window, runs across the beach, and jumps into the ocean.
46	* MeaningfulName: Eddie Shoestring is usually broke.
47	* MustacheVandalism: In "Listen to Me," Eddie hears that a rapist and murderer had a mustache and glasses. He draws a mustache and glasses onto a police sketch in the newspaper.
48	* PerformanceAnxiety: Eddie has an attack of nerves on his first day. He stammers through much of his first broadcast, and even giggles at one point.
49	* PhotographicMemory: The reason Eddie doesn't need to take pictures.
50	* RecordedSplicedConversation:
51	** The villain of "Mocking Bird" splices together snippets from Eddie's show to leave a message asking Erica to meet him at Eddie's boat. Eddie hears the message and rushes to the scene; he arrives too late to stop her from being attacked, although she isn't seriously injured.
52	** In "The Mayfly Dance," a character splices together pieces of an old interview tape by a vanished pop star to make it seem like he talked to the pop star recently.
53	* RecurringRiff: Most of the background music is either variations on the theme tune or stock background music that can be heard in other programs.
54	* RomanAClef: In-universe example. Eddie changes everyone's names in his weekly broadcasts, although the details he provides are sometimes still enough to get him in trouble with lawyers.
55	* ScamReligion: The Starshiners from "I'm a Believer" buy run-down houses, renovate them for free, and sell them. Their founder tells them that the money will go towards spreading the religion, when it's actually being spent on his mansion.
56	* ShameIfSomethingHappened: In "Utmost Good Faith," two shady debt collectors are trying to get a woman to sign a voluntary requisition form.
57	-->'''Mr Parker''': People get a bit upset, having to hand their possessions over. They even smash them up sometimes.\
58	'''Mrs Walsh''': I ought to warn you, Mrs Reynolds, that malicious damaged to hard-purchased property is an offence.\
59	'''Mr Parker''': Yeah. You can end up doing time for that.\
60	'''Mary Reynolds''': I assure you, I have no intention of damaging my property.\
61	'''Mr Parker''': Oh, you may not, darling. [''smashes her TV set'']
62	* ShirtlessScene: Eddie gets one in "An Uncertain Circle" while he's being treated for burns.
63	* ShoutOut: [[Creator/ChrisBoucher Chris Boucher]] wrote "The Dangerous Game", which mentions ''Series/DoctorWho'' and ''Series/BlakesSeven'', episodes of which were also by him.
64	* SlowClap: Eddie tries one while attending a university lecture in "The Farmer Had a Wife." After the lecture ends, he claps four times, then stops when nobody else joins in.
65	* SpecialGuest: Toyah Willcox guest stars in "Find the Lady" as [[NewWaveMusic New Wave]] singer Toola.
66	* StabTheSalad: In "Room With A View," [[spoiler:an old woman [[RearWindowWitness thinks she sees one man stabbing another through the neighbor's window]]. It turns out the "victim" had hanged himself, and the other man was cutting him down.]]
67	* TalkingInYourSleep: In "Knock for Knock," a woman can't remember anything about the car accident that widowed her, until she's put under anesthesia at the dentist's office, when she starts muttering about what she saw during the accident.
68	* TheTapeKnewYouWouldSayThat: In "The Mayfly Dance," a DJ explains that this is standard practice for radio interviews: the interviewee records his answers ahead of time and sends the tape to the station. That way the interviewer can ask a question and then play the tape, giving the appearance of a live interview.
69	* TapOnTheHead: Happens to Eddie a lot.
70	* VictorySex: In "The Partnership," Eddie and Erica are camped out in a hotel room when Eddie receives a phone call letting him know that his plan to trick burglars into robbing their flat has worked, and the criminals have been arrested. Eddie rolls towards Erica and says, "I want to celebrate." FadeToBlack.
71	* TheXOfY: Eddie's show is called "The Private Ear of Eddie Shoestring."
72	* YourCostumeNeedsWork: In "The Teddy Bears' Nightmare," Eddie introduces himself to a sceptical shop assistant, who says, "You're wasting your time. You don't even sound like him." After Eddie proves his identity by playing a trailer for his show, he says, "It doesn't sound much like me, does it?"

Context Series / Shoestring