Yellowthread Street

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Yellowthread Street
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Title card
GenreAction • Crime • Thriller
Developed byRanald Graham
Directed byRoger Cheveley
Syd Macartney
Gerry Mill
Ian Stuttard
Tim Dowd
StarringRay Lonnen
Doreen Chan
Bruce Payne
Robert Taylor
Tzi Ma
Mark McGann
Catherine Neilson
Theme music composerRoger Bellon
Opening theme"Yellowthread Street"
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes13
Production
Executive producerKeith Richardson
ProducerRanald Graham
Production locationHong Kong
EditorPaul Martin Smith
Running time50 minutes
Production companyYorkshire Television
Original release
NetworkITV
Release13 January (1990-01-13) –
7 April 1990 (1990-04-07)

Yellowthread Street is a British television police drama, first broadcast in 1990, that focuses on the work of a group of detectives in the Royal Hong Kong Police. Developed and produced by Ranald Graham, the series was loosely based on the novels by William Leonard Marshall. A single season of thirteen episodes was produced by Yorkshire Television and broadcast on ITV from January 13 to April 7, 1990.[1] The series starred Ray Lonnen as principal character Alex Vale, with Bruce Payne, Robert Taylor, Doreen Chan, Tzi Ma, Mark McGann and Catherine Neilson also appearing as detectives in the series.[2]

The series was well received by viewers and critics alike, despite only lasting one season. However, the series also received negative press, with Matters Criminous stating that "The series chiefest goal seemed to have been to explore just how very badly a dramatisation can corrupt and befoul the ideas and characters of a book."[3] The series was also celebrated for the use of state-of-the-art technology involved with the production, including becoming one of the first series on British television with stereo sound.[4] The series has never been released on DVD.[5]

Novels

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In the Yellowthread Street novels, the detectives of the Yellowthread Street police station are based in the fictitious Hong Bay, Hong Kong.[6] Four principal characters are featured in the novels; DCI Harry Feiffer, of European heritage but third generation born and brought up in the Colony, Senior Inspector Christopher O'Yee, a half-Chinese American and the ever-bickering team of Inspectors Auden and Spencer, who attempt to find the rational basis for inexplicable and seemingly bizarre crimes.

One of the most notable novels is 1988's Out of Nowhere, in which Feiffer must figure out why in the pre-dawn hours, four people in a plate-glass-filled van with Chinese opera blaring out of the tape deck were driving on the wrong side of a deserted motorway, miles from the nearest on-ramp, before dying in a violent collision with an oncoming lorry.[7] Sixteen novels were published between 1975 and 1998: Yellowthread Street (1975), The Hatchet Man (1976), Gelignite (1976), Thin Air (1977), Skulduggery (1979), Sci-Fi (1981), Perfect End (1981), War Machine (1982), The Far Away Man (1984), Roadshow (1985), Head First (1986), Frogmouth (1987), Out of Nowhere (1988), Inches (1994), Nightmare Syndrome (1997) and To The End (1998).

Cast

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Main

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Recurring

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  • Kenny Chan as Detective Chan
  • Diego Swing as Frankie Ku
  • Ming-Yang Li as Blind Beggar
  • Christopher Leung as Szi Tai
  • Winnie Tang as Jei
  • Nicholas Eadie as Finn

Production

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The series cost approximately £8 million.[8] This made it the most expensive series fully financed by an ITV company at the time of its broadcast.[9]

Episodes

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No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal release date
1"Power Play"Ian StuddardDavid Wilks13 January 1990 (1990-01-13)
2"The Lost Man"Roger CheveleyEric Wendell20 January 1990 (1990-01-20)
3"Key Witness"Syd McCartneyRobert Hammond27 January 1990 (1990-01-27)
4"Middleman"Roger CheveleyDavid Wilks3 February 1990 (1990-02-03)
5"Angel Eyes"Syd McCartneyLawrence Gray10 February 1990 (1990-02-10)
6"Fan Tan Man"Roger CheveleySteve Burns17 February 1990 (1990-02-17)
7"Rummy's Cut"Gerry MillClaude Harz24 February 1990 (1990-02-24)
8"Spirit Runner"Gerry MillWilliam Marshall3 March 1990 (1990-03-03)
9"The Red Pole"Ian StuddardSteve Burns10 March 1990 (1990-03-10)
10"Chinese Boxes"Ian StuddardPhil O'Shea17 March 1990 (1990-03-17)
11"Slicing the Dragon"Syd McCartneyRobert Hammond24 March 1990 (1990-03-24)
12"Big Circle"Gerry MillSteve Burns31 March 1990 (1990-03-31)
13"I Knew a Man"Tim DowdLawrence Gray7 April 1990 (1990-04-07)

References

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  • Yellowthread Street at IMDbLua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
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