Ain’t Misbehavin’ charts the adventures and misadventures of an unlikely duo, Eric Trapp and Eddie Wallis, at the heart of the 1940 Blitz in London.
Eric Trapp (Robson Green) runs a private detective agency and hangs out in murky circles. A selfish seducer, he leads a dissolute life as a womaniser whose main interest is to take care of himself.
Eddie Wallis (Jerome Flynn) is an ex-RAF pilot discharged for medical reasons. A man of honour and principle who dreams of glory, he also dreams of the beautiful and rich Dolly Nightingale with whom he has fallen desperately in love.
The two men, so different and with very little in common, nevertheless have a common talent: music.
Eric a double bass player, and Eddie a saxophonist, find themselves on the London jazz scene as part of the Ray Smiles Big Band.
The plot becomes complicated when they are dragged into a life-and-death conflict between two rival London gang leaders as they try to save their skins together.
Against a backdrop of war, black market and jazz, adventures and twists ensue as the two companions struggle with dangerous gangsters, spies and bombs…
Eric Trapp
Eric Trapp is frivolous and impertinent. He is also an inveterate womaniser always looking out for himself. He’s a private investigator and runs a seedy agency. In his spare time, Eric sings and plays double bass in the Ray Smiles Big Band.
Eddie Wallis
Eddie is a man of honour and principle. He’s an ex-RAF pilot who was discharged for medical reasons, but always dreamed of honour and glory. He joined the Ray Smiles Big Band as a saxophonist where he met Eric.
Programme Information
Cast
- Robson Green – Eric Trapp
- Jerome Flynn – Eddie Wallis
- Julia Sawalha – Dolly Nightingale
- Jane Lapotaire – Clara Von Trapp
- George Melly – Bing Williams
- Heidi Monsen – Dolores Deville
- Tom Beard – Roger Horace-Brown
- June Brown – Mrs Jilkes
- Jim Carter – Maxie Morrell
- Warren Mitchell – Bandleader Ray Smiles
- James Cosmo – Big Malky Fraser
- Ron Donachie – Billy the Book
- Tom Beard – Roger Horace-Brown
- Joe Caffrey – Corporal Jennings
- Peter Cellier – George Nightingale
- Libby Davison – Maisie
- Trevor Fox – Albert
- Graham Stark – Spadger
- Terry Mortimer – Eye
Production
- Writers – Norman Stone and Bob Larbey
- Director & Executive Producer – Norman Stone
- Producer – George Gallaccio
An Anglia TV and Clapp Trapp production for ITV.
Filming for this three-part series began in April 1996, primarily in London and Wiltshire.
Scenes for the interior of the RAF deep earth dump were shot in tunnels used for storage by a wine company. Other locations include:
- A fully restored former heritage railway line, the Blue Bell Railway, West Sussex
- A former music hall, the Rivoli Ballroom
- A disused candle factory along the River Thames
Did you know?
Robson can play the bass as well as his character in this show.
There were two used in the production and Robson now owns one of them, the other now belongs to Ken Jobling (Coastal Productions).
Robson can also play the guitar.
The idea for Ain’t Misbehavin’ grew from seeds sown by Robson and Jerome’s No.1 smash hit Unchained Melody. Norman Stone was gripped by the style and atmosphere of the period and thought it would make an ideal setting for a TV show featuring the boys.
The result was the creation of Clapp Trapp Productions Ltd formed by Robson and Jerome with film director Norman Stone and his business partner and producer Peter Bigg.
The most dramatic moment in the film comes as Eddie and Eric are pursued by armed RAF guardsmen. It became a real-life escape for Robson and Jerome.
With bullets rattling around them and the light fading fast, Eric and Eddie scramble down a hillside to their motorbike and side-car to realise their only means of getaway is across a river and over a hedge.
Robson made it clear from the start this was the stuntmen’s job but Jerome, fired up by the action, said they could take over for the actual river leap.
The bike screamed across the sodden grass and as Jerome came to apply the brakes the wheels locked and it skidded towards the six foot bank and the river below with Robson frantically trying to get out of his moving coffin. It could have been a terrible tragedy but the bike came to a halt with the front wheel teetering over the bank!
Jerome says: “In this sequence, neither of us were acting and everyone who watches will realise that.”
Merchandise
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DVD
Wartime comedy about two very different bandsmen (Eddie and Eric) and their misadventures with gangsters, romance, and black-marketing in Blitz-time London.
Ain’t Misbehavin’ DVD on Amazon.co.uk
DVD
Robson Green – A Trilogy. Three separate dramas staring Robson: Ain’t Misbehavin’, The Last Musketeer and Take Me.
Robson Green – A Trilogy DVD on Amazon.co.uk
CD
The second hit album from Robson & Jerome, featuring some of the songs from Ain’t Misbehavin’.
Take Two CD on Amazon.co.uk
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