Silver Spring, MD — From award-winning playwright and screenwriter Alan Plater, The Beiderbecke Tapes debuts on DVD from Acorn Media on September 15, 2009 (DVD 2-Vol., www.AcornOnline.com, $39.99). Plater (Oliver’s Travels, A Very British Coup) returns with a second Beiderbecke mystery as quirky and fun as the first. Akin to The Thin Man movies, with its quirky characters, witty banter, and twist-filled mystery, the series stars James Bolam (New Tricks, The End of the Affair) and Barbara Flynn (Cracker, Cranford). The Beiderbecke Tapes broadcast on public television in the 1990s along with The Beiderbecke Affair and The Beiderbecke Connection.

Can’t two Yorkshire schoolteachers stay out of trouble? Not when one is a jazz fan with a knack for sleuthing. Two years after the events of The Beiderbecke Affair, Trevor Chaplin (James Bolam) and Jill Swinburne (Barbara Flynn) are enjoying a calm, settled life. Then someone gives Trevor a Bix Beiderbecke tape that includes a top-secret conversation about nuclear waste. Suddenly life isn’t so quiet anymore: A man shows up at their flat and threatens to break their bones. Six armed suits start following them wherever they go.

Like The Beiderbecke Affair, Trevor and Jill’s second adventure is filled with tongue-in-cheek repartee and odd characters: a man without a name, octogenarian Americans on holiday, and the oldest suffragette in town (Beryl Reid, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy). It’s a merry chase from start to finish, set to a soundtrack in the style of 1920s jazz great Bix Beiderbecke composed by BAFTA-winning musician Frank Ricotti.

Award-winning writer Alan Plater credits include Oliver’s Travels, The Last of the Blonde Bombshells, A Very British Coup, and Dalziel and Pascoe. Acorn Media released The Beiderbecke Affair on DVD in January 2009.

Headquartered in suburban Washington, D.C., Acorn Media distributes distinctive home video releases to the North American market with a special focus on the best of British television. Acorn’s DVD sets are available from select retailers, catalog companies, and direct from Acorn Media at (888) 870-8047 or www.acornonline.com.