Bugs (TV Series)

''Bugs'' is a British television drama that ran for four series from 1 April 1995 to 28 August 1999. The programme, a mixture of action/adventure and science fiction, involved a team of independent crime-fighting technology experts, who faced a variety of threats involving computers and other modern technology. It was originally broadcast on Saturday evenings on BBC One, and was produced for the BBC by the independent production company Carnival Films. In July 2014, London Live, a local digital terrestrial station in London, began airing a complete rerun from Series 1.
All four series (40 episodes) were available to stream in the UK on Britbox until Britbox UK ceased operations in April 2024 with its content migrating to ITVX; however, Bugs was not a part of that migration.

Origins

The series was devised by Carnival boss Brian Eastman and producer Stuart Doughty with input from veteran writer-producer Brian Clemens, who had previously worked on ITV's '' The Avengers'' and '' The Professionals''. Clemens, in an article published in Radio Times, described ''Bugs'' as a mix of the two: "''Bugs'' is the driving technology, that hard realistic edge of ''The Professionals'', allied to ''Avenger''-ish dramatic premises. Maybe it’s where ''The Avengers'' would have ended up". Unlike ''The Avengers'', which had sold itself on its Britishness, Clemens accepted that the ''Bugs'' backdrop was deliberately international. “We’ve avoided references to actual cities. If it’s dubbed into Italian, I hope they will think it’s Milan. ��Londoners will recognise it, but there’s no Big Ben and no Tower of London. Just super modern builds wherever possible.”

Other notable series writers included Colin Brake and Stephen Gallagher, who also served as a consultant on seasons two and three. Two episodes ("Bugged Wheat" and "Hollow Man"), were written by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, who went on to create the series ''Smallville'' and ''Wednesday''. The theme tune was written by Gavin Greenaway.

''Bugs'' was initially broadcast at 8.05pm and promoted by the BBC as part of its new Saturday night line-up, followed by a news bulletin, US medical drama Chicago Hope and a new comedy sketch and stand-up show starring Lenny Henry.

Overview

The programme was a mixture of action/adventure and science fiction, with a reliance on fast-paced plots, technical gadgetry, stunts and explosions. Much of the programme's filming took place around the London Docklands area, which had recently been redeveloped with projects such as Canary Wharf. This was intended to give a modern, and perhaps even slightly futuristic, feel to locations of the episodes. The production was originally based at two warehouses of Blackwall Basin, on the Isle of Dogs in London. After the IRA bombing of the South Quay Plaza, the crew had to travel further to find intact buildings for exterior locations.

The plot of the programme involved a team of specialist independent crime-fighting technology experts, who faced a variety of threats involving computers and other modern technology. The main trio of regulars were Nick Beckett ( Jesse Birdsall, fresh from the BBC’s failed soap opera Eldorado), Ros Henderson (Jaye Griffiths) and Ed ( Craig McLachlan, previously best known for his role in Neighbours, in series one to three; Steven Houghton in series four). There has been some controversy over Ed's surname: because he was never called anything other than "Ed", some people have taken his surname to be Russell, simply because he was addressed as "Dr Russell" in one episode. However, that was more likely a pseudonym, as both Ros and Beckett used plenty of false names throughout the series.

Initially an independent team, they began working alongside the government agency 'Bureau of Weapons Technology' in series two. From series three, with the original Bureau decimated, they came under the authority of the newly created 'Bureau 2' and its head, codenamed Jan (played by Jan Harvey), and her secretary, Alex Jordan (Paula Hunt).

Across its four seasons, ''Bugs'' evolved from a series of relatively unconnected one-off episodes to an overarching 'soap opera', complete with office romances.

Threat of cancellation

The programme came close to cancellation at the conclusion of its third series but, due to an exciting cliffhanger ending deliberately included by the production team, along with strong foreign sales, a fourth was commissioned. However, this final series suffered from being moved to an earlier timeslot on Saturday evenings, and for only having the first eight of its produced ten episodes scheduled for broadcast.

Coupled with the Omagh Bombing forcing the BBC to postpone the series for a week, this meant that the concluding three episodes would not be broadcast until a year later. Another attempt to save the show by giving the series a cliffhanger ending was not successful. The conclusion of the final episode – Alex has just married boyfriend Adam, who is killed at the wedding, while Ros and Beckett are abducted by an attacker (unseen by the audience but recognised by Beckett) – was never resolved.

Legacy

The series has something of a minor cult following in the UK. Overall 40 episodes were produced, ten in each of the four series. Virgin Publishing produced novelizations of the episodes of the first series, but these were not successful and subsequent episodes were not novelised. As of 2005, the series is available on DVD in series-by-series box set form, released by Revelation Films. A complete box set collection of all four series is also available.
In 2022, the series became available on the BritBox streaming platform.

Cast

* Jaye Griffiths as Rosalyn "Ros" Henderson
* Jesse Birdsall as Nicholas Beckett
* Craig McLachlan as Ed (Series 1–3)
* Jan Harvey as Jan (Series 3–4)
* Paula Hunt as Alex Jordan (Series 3–4)
* Martin McDougall as Lacombe (Series 1–2)
* Steven Houghton as Ed (Series 4)
* Gareth Marks as Jean-Daniel Marcel (Series 1–2)
* Michael Grandage as Channing Hardy (Series 3–4)
* Joseph May as Adam Mosby (Series 4)

Episodes

Series overview

Series 1 (1995)

Series 2 (1996)

Series 3 (1997)

Series 4 (1998–1999)

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bugs (Tv Series)
1990s British drama television series
1995 British television series debuts
1999 British television series endings
BBC television dramas
1990s British science fiction television series
Television shows set in London
Television series about computing
British English-language television shows