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Recently Trevor Eve very kindly answered a number of questions we put to him about the Shoestring series, and of course about his memorable portrayal of Eddie himself.

Dene & Nick: How did you come to be cast in the series? Trevor Eve: I was cast in the series by creator Robert Banks Stewart. I was doing a movie of Dracula at the time so there was some interest in me. DK/NS: How much of the character of Eddie was fleshed out beforehand, or was his persona shaped by you (i.e. was he anything like yourself, or very different)? TE: The Robert Banks Stewart script was extremely well- fleshed out but obviously the actor brings his personality and idiosyncrasies to the role. DK/NS: Do you feel Eddie changed over the course of the series (and was he a particularly enjoyable role to play)? TE: [He] was a very enjoyable part to play. The character did develop and it's very difficult to keep the initial agonies he had over being a computer programmer through two series but maybe I would have like more of his eccentricities to develop. DK/NS: Are there any episodes that you recall specifically, either for the way they turned out, or because of certain guest artistes/writers/directors who you were working with? TE: One of the episodes, about the stalker in 'Radio West', was [in fact] changed by the director Ben Bolt and we created a Hitchcockian ending which people weren't that keen on at the time but turned out to be the most successful episode. ["MOCKING BIRD" from Series 2] DK/NS: As someone who has enjoyed great success in many different fields, what was the 'creative process' like on such a genre series, was the end result satisfying for an actor? TE: The creative process on a series like Shoestring is very difficult to monitor in terms of keeping up standards as we were shooting 10/11 storylines in a matter of months, therefore the demands on the scriptwriter were enormous. But when they were successful, it was very satisfying. DK/NS: How do you feel the show stands up? TE: I haven't seen any episodes recently but the quality of directors such as Ben Bolt, Marek Kanievska and Martin Campbell, all of whom went on to make feature films, certainly gave it a look that I'm sure is still appealing. DK/NS: Do you think that a revival of the series is feasible today, and would you welcome playing Eddie Shoestring again if an offer arose? TE: I think it would be fascinating to revive Eddie Shoestring, especially with the boom of the internet, which I'm sure he would have got deeply involved in.

TREVOR EVE with regulars MICHAEL MEDWIN, DORAN GODWIN & LIZ CROWTHER

Scenes from the classic Shoestring episode "MOCKING BIRD"

Our thanks to Mr Eve taking time out of his schedule to answer our questions, and also for his good wishes towards the site. Dene Kernohan & Nick Stewart (29 November 2001)

1980 SHOESTRING RADIO TIMES cover

1998 TREVOR EVE RADIO TIMES Interview

1979 TREVOR EVE RADIO TIMES Interview

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In the Radio Times dated 31 August to 6 September 2002, to publicise the beginning of Series 2 of Waking the Dead, Trevor Eve was featured in the then- regular TV C.V. page. Amongst his various television roles discussed was of course Shoestring, of which Mr Eve had this to say: "I'd just done a film with Olivier and I was hugely reluctant to do Shoestring -- the climate was different then, and for an actor to be in a TV series was taboo. But creator Robert Banks Stewart was an original and had very quirky ideas for that time. In the seventies, cop dramas were right on the nose: you dressed well and had a great car, whereas Shoestring had a crap car and wasn't very well mentally. I'm a huge fan of the programme and I bought the rights. I saw the repeats in January [on BBC1] and I could remember filming every episode. Every now and then I think, as does the BBC, of bringing it back in a two-hour film format, doing a "20 years on" thing. But it's not something I'm working night and day to do". Added 10th December 2004. With thanks to article author William Gallagher