Editing Howards' Way (section)

==History==
''Howards' Way'' was created and produced by [[Gerard Glaister]] and [[Allan Prior]], with lead writer Raymond Thompson as story and script consultant—at a point in the [[BBC]]'s history when the organisation was making a concerted populist strike against [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] in its approach to programming. The series debuted on [[BBC One|BBC1]] in 1985, the same year that the BBC launched its first ongoing [[soap opera]] ''[[EastEnders]]'' as a challenge to the ratings supremacy of ITV's ''[[Coronation Street]]''. Although ''Howards' Way'' is commonly cited as an attempt to provide a British alternative to glossy American sagas such as ''[[Dallas (TV series)|Dallas]]'' and ''[[Dynasty (1981 TV series)|Dynasty]]'', it also acts as a continuation of plot themes explored in a previous Glaister series, ''[[The Brothers (1972 TV series)|The Brothers]]'', which involved a family's personal and professional crises running a road haulage firm, and embraced several soap opera touches in its characterisations and storylines.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/hampshire/content/articles/2009/01/08/howards_way_feature.shtml |title=Hampshire - History - Howards' Way |publisher=BBC |date=23 June 2009 |access-date=29 July 2014}}</ref>

The original working title for the series was "The Boatbuilders", which was ultimately rejected when it was felt that it sounded like a [[documentary]] series and wouldn't grab viewers' attention.

The theme music was composed by [[Simon May]] and performed by his orchestra.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Theme From Howard's Way - Simon May Song - BBC Music |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/tracks/n22mqm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920153300/https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/tracks/n22mqm |archive-date=20 September 2018}}</ref> Executive [[Leslie Osborne (composer)|Leslie Osborne]] secured a co-writer credit, but in reality did not contribute to the composition.<ref>{{cite book |last=May |first=Simon |title=Doof Doof: My Life in Music |publisher=Austin Macauley Publishers |year=2015 |pages=54–55 |isbn=978-1785546372}}</ref> After series one, [[Don Black (lyricist)|Don Black]] was commissioned to write lyrics for the theme; May had suggested the title "Almost There", which Black changed to "Always There". The song was recorded by [[Marti Webb]], and reached number 13 in the [[UK singles chart]].<ref>{{cite book |last=May |first=Simon |title=Doof Doof: My Life in Music |publisher=Austin Macauley Publishers |year=2015 |page=61 |isbn=978-1785546372}}</ref> The upbeat variation of the theme, "Barracuda", was used over the show's end credits from series 3 until the show ended, and was a "re-visitation" of a section of May's song "Believe" for his musical ''[[Smike]]''.<ref>{{cite book |last=May |first=Simon |title=Doof Doof: My Life in Music |publisher=Austin Macauley Publishers |year=2015 |page=65 |isbn=978-1785546372}}</ref>

Inspired by a storyline in ''Howards' Way'', Gerard Glaister went on to create ''[[Trainer (TV series)|Trainer]]'' (1991–1992), set in the world of horse-racing, and also featuring several of the same cast members.