6.9 /10 2 Votes
3/5 Discogs Genre Comedy/Drama Directed by Tony Smith Country of origin Scotland First episode date 3 March 1987 | 8.1/10 IMDb 6.4/10 Director Tony Smith Final episode date 7 April 1987 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Starring Robbie ColtraneEmma Thompson Cast Similar Howards End, The Tall Guy, Look Back in Anger, The Blue Boy, The Crystal Cube |
Tutti Frutti is a BBC Scotland six-part drama series, transmitted in 1987 and written by John Byrne. It starred Robbie Coltrane, Emma Thompson, Maurice Roëves, Richard Wilson and Katy Murphy. It won six BAFTAs and brought many of the cast to national prominence.
Contents
![The movie dvd cover of Tutti Frutti (1987 TV series) a drawn colored dvd cover has blue background has title “TUTTI FRUITI” at the top left and BBC DVD at the top right, in the middle Robbie Coltrane is serious, looking down facing right, holding a photo of Emma Thompson that has red hair and lipstick, he has a dark brown hair and red ears wearing a white shirt under a brown polo and brown coat. at the bottom is the cast name "ROBBIE COLTRAINE, EMMA THOMPSON, RICHARD WILSON"](https://alchetron.com/cdn/tutti-frutti-1987-tv-series-f3d3e7c6-c8e0-43ec-aed3-be4083b5271-resize-750.jpg)
Tutti frutti ep5 1 4
Plot
![in the movie scene of Tutti Frutti (1987 TV series)in a studio with a blue wall with a drums at the back, from left, Emma Thompson is sitting, with his hands on the arm of Robbie, has orange hair, wearing a blue coat, black bracelet, blue pants, pink socks with black shoes, at the right Robbie Coltrane is smiling, standing holding Emma Thompson with his right arm, has black hair wearing purple polo with blue necktie under a silver shiny coat and pants.](https://alchetron.com/cdn/tutti-frutti-1987-tv-series-5a6197c6-3907-428d-8529-bccf8f2aa36-resize-750.jpeg)
The Majestics, a legendary Scots rock 'n' roll band, are on the eve of their 1986 "Silver Jubilee" tour, and find themselves in trouble when their lead singer, Big Jazza McGlone (Coltrane), is killed in a car crash.
![In the movie scene of Tutti Frutti 1987-Tv series, in a stage from left, Jake D’Arcy is serious standing playing his guitar has brown hair wearing a brown cowboy jacket and pants, 2nd from left, on the stage with drums Stuart McGugan is sitting, playing drums, 3rd from left, Maurice Roëves is standing, right side view, looking down playing his guitar, has black hair wearing a black leather jacket and a black pants, at the right, Emma Thompson is serious, singing, standing while playing her guitar, has orange hair wearing a black top with pink necktie under a blue coat and blue pants](https://alchetron.com/cdn/tutti-frutti-1987-tv-series-0eca7732-fc2f-4f75-a4cd-84061ed0e96-resize-750.jpeg)
The group's devious and exploitative manager Eddie Clockerty (Wilson) talks Big Jazza's younger brother, Danny (also Coltrane), home from New York for the funeral, into joining the band as their new lead singer. Suzi Kettles (Thompson), a sharp cookie and old classmate of Danny, picks up the guitar and also joins the band. From that moment, the ill-fated tour and the band's fortunes appear to take a turn for the better.
![In the movie scene of Tutti Frutti 1987-Tv series, Emma Thompson is sitting on a couch in a room with a large glass window and gray curtain while holding a telephone with her left hand in her left ear, has orange hair and is wearing a purple-blue printed dress.](https://alchetron.com/cdn/tutti-frutti-1987-tv-series-f19cf978-e43c-4d07-aacd-e5e308d94af-resize-750.jpeg)
The Majestics' final dispiriting tour of Scotland's less salubrious clubs and pubs is punctuated by childish backstage squabbling and a series of personal disasters. Ageing heart-throb Vincent Diver (Roëves), 'the iron man of Scottish Rock', is cheating on his wife Noreen (a community nurse and sister of drummer Bomba) with girlfriend Glenna (played by Fiona Chalmers as simultaneously pathetic, manipulative and glutinously cloying), who has an apparent pregnancy and when the unborn child dies (or maybe never existed from the start), she commits suicide by jumping from a bridge into the Clyde.
Vincent is also knifed in Buckie by a girl who believes she is his illegitimate daughter from a one-night stand on a tour of long ago. Suzi Kettles proves to have an abusive estranged husband, a dentist, in whose teeth Danny drills holes with the dentist's drill for his battering of Suzi. The fractious on-off relationship between rotund Danny McGlone and Suzi adds a further comic dimension, along with the 'double-act' of the dour Mr Clockerty and his lippy secretary Janice Toner (Murphy). In the final sequence, during the Majestics' grand final concert at Glasgow Pavilion, Vincent douses himself in Polish vodka and sets himself alight.
Re-release
![The movie dvd cover of Tutti Frutti (1987 TV series) a drawn colored dvd cover has blue background has title “TUTTI FRUITI” at the top left and BBC DVD at the top right, in the middle Robbie Coltrane is serious, looking down facing right, holding a photo of Emma Thompson that has red hair and lipstick, he has a dark brown hair and red ears wearing a white shirt under a brown polo and brown coat. at the bottom is the cast name "ROBBIE COLTRAINE, EMMA THOMPSON, RICHARD WILSON" Directed by "JOHN BYRNE](https://alchetron.com/cdn/tutti-frutti-1987-tv-series-51d4a600-aad7-4b01-8ff9-5f5bc3479ff-resize-750.jpeg)
Although it attained 'cult' status, it was only repeated once on BBC Two, albeit only 10 months after its first transmission on BBC One, and was not available on video or DVD. Various rumours circulated for many years as to why, but the BBC never confirmed the reasons. However, in March 2007 John Byrne explained that the problem had been due to a performance of the song "Tutti Frutti" in one episode (not the title sequence) where Danny McGlone changes the lyrics to "here's the rub, she makes me sleep in a tub". This is a reference to an earlier scene where Kettles is coerced into letting McGlone stay at her flat, but insists he sleeps in the bathtub. As a result of this change the BBC's usual music licensing did not apply, and the copyright holder Little Richard requested a prohibitively high fee.
In 2006 a BBC spokesperson stated that these issues were 'resolvable', allowing for a DVD release or BBC Four transmission. John Byrne, however, said he thought the original film stock (including out-takes) may have been destroyed, and that only the broadcast masters may survive.
The BBC released a two-disc Region 2 DVD package of the series on 3 August 2009 in the UK.
Stage play
In 2006 Byrne reworked the series into a stage play, produced as a co-production between the National Theatre of Scotland and His Majesty's Theatre in Aberdeen, where it opened on 22 September 2006. In 2007 the show toured to the King's Theatre, Glasgow, the King's Theatre, Edinburgh and the Grand Theatre, Blackpool.
Cast
List of episodes
- "The Boy Can't Help It"
- "On The Road Again"
- "Gin A Body Dig A Body ..."
- "Don't You Rock Me Daddy-O"
- "Love Hurts"
- "A Wop-Boppa Loo-Bop A Wop-Bam Boom"
Awards
The series won six BAFTAs in 1988.