BERGERAC: ALL FOR LOVE (UK, 1991) ***½
Distributor: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC); Production Company: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) / Seven Network; Release Date: 26 December 1991; Running Time: 106m; Colour: Colour; Sound Mix: Dolby; Film Format: 16mm; Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1; BBFC Cert: 12.
Director: Terry Marcel; Writer: John Milne; Producer: George Gallaccio; Director of Photography: John Walker; Music Composer: Ray Russell, Kevin Townend; Theme Music: George Fenton; Film Editor: Bernard Ashby; Production Designer: Merle Downie, Stephen Sharratt; Costumes: Jacky Levy; Make-up: Pauline Cox; Sound: Simon Wilson; Stunt Arranger: Rocky Taylor.
Cast:John Nettles (Jim Bergerac), Terence Alexander (Hungerford), Deborah Grant (Deborah Bergerac), Simon Williams (Rupert Draper), Suzan Crowley (Cressida Draper), Bill Nighy (Barry), Roger Sloman (Inspector Deffand), John Telfer (Willy Pettit), Al Ashton (DC Ramsden), David Kershaw (Ben Lomas), Jane Downs (Petra Crowe-Smith), Peter Watts (Ronnie), Philip Glenister (Philip), Bruno Madinier (Pascal), Charmaine Parsons (Ellie), Catherine Rabett (Jane), Iain Rattray (Club Waiter), Malcolm Gerard (Dentist), Gordon Salkilld (Barman).
Synopsis: After receiving a letter from Danielle ending their relationship, Jim Bergerac starts drinking again. To keep him out of trouble, Charlie takes him to Bath, where art dealer Rupert Draper will be buying a painting that Charlie was given as payment for a debt. Once in Bath, Jim falls for the charms of Rupert’s faithless wife, unaware that she is using him to take the rap for a murder, back in Jersey, where a body is found in the burnt-out remains of Rupert’s shop.
Comment: The last of six feature-length Bergerac specials and the last ever episode of the series was broadcast at Christmas 1991. Series 9 had seen a major shift in the series with Bergerac operating as a private investigator. As a result the series lost much of its charm and the constant switches of locale between Jersey and France did not help. However, for this final feature-length special the noir-ish elements hinted at through the preceding season finally gelled into one of the series’s strongest episoides. Nettles gives his best performance in the title role, with Bergerac having drifted back in to alcoholism and being made the patsy for an insurance con. Crowley makes a strong impression as the scheming femme fatale. Nighy is also on hand as a hired assassin who also falls under Crowley’s spell. The climax may feel a little contrived, but the episode delivers a compelling story and points to where the show could have gone had it not been cancelled.