Editing Howards' Way

{{Short description|British TV drama series (1985–1990)}}
{{redirect|Howard's Way|the sculpture in Portland, Oregon|Howard's Way (sculpture)}}
{{More citations needed|date=July 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}}
{{Infobox television
| image                = Howards Way.jpg
| caption              = Main title caption (From Series Two to Series Six)
| alt_name             =
| genre                = [[Drama]]
| creator              = [[Gerard Glaister]]<br/>[[Allan Prior]]
| developer            = 
| writer               = 
| director             = 
| creative_director    = 
| presenter            = 
| starring             = [[Maurice Colbourne]]<br/>[[Jan Harvey]]<br/>[[Glyn Owen]]<br/>[[Dulcie Gray]]<br/>[[Stephen Yardley]]<br/>[[Tony Anholt]]<br/>[[Susan Gilmore]]<br/> [[Tracey Childs]]<br/>[[Edward Highmore]]<br/>[[Cindy Shelley]]<br/>[[Ivor Danvers]]<br/>[[Patricia Shakesby]]<br/>Sarah-Jane Varley<br/>[[Nigel Davenport]]<br/>[[Lana Morris]]<br/>[[Sian Webber]]<br/>[[Kate O'Mara]]<br/>[[Jeff Harding (actor)|Jeff Harding]]
| judges               = 
| voices               = 
| narrated             = 
| theme_music_composer = [[Simon May]]
| opentheme            = 
| endtheme             = 
| composer             = 
| country              = United Kingdom
| language             = English
| num_series           = 6
| num_episodes         = 78
| list_episodes        = 
| executive_producer   = 
| producer             = Gerard Glaister
| editor               = 
| location             = 
| cinematography       = 
| camera               = 
| runtime              = 50 minutes
| company              = [[BBC Birmingham]] ([[Pebble Mill Studios]])
| channel              = [[BBC One|BBC1]]
| first_aired          = {{start date|1985|9|1|df=yes}}
| last_aired           = {{end date|1990|11|25|df=yes}}
| related              =  
}}

'''''Howards' Way''''' is a television drama series produced by [[BBC Birmingham]] and transmitted on [[BBC1]] between 1 September 1985 and 25 November 1990. The series deals with the personal and professional lives of the wealthy yachting and business communities in the fictional town of Tarrant on the south coast of England, and was filmed on the [[River Hamble]] and the [[Solent]].

The series was notable for its pioneering camerawork onboard yachts, often filming multiple yachts racing in choppy waters and high winds, and its extensive location shooting mainly on the south coast of Britain. Most of the [[location filming]] for the series was carried out in [[Bursledon]], [[Hamble-le-Rice|Hamble]], [[Swanwick, Hampshire|Swanwick]], [[Warsash]], [[Hill Head]], [[Lee-on-the-Solent]], [[Lymington]], [[Hythe, Hampshire|Hythe]], [[Southampton]] and [[Fareham]]—all in [[Hampshire]]. The [[The Jolly Sailor, Bursledon|Jolly Sailor pub]] in Bursledon featured in several episodes.<ref>{{cite news |title=BBC - Hampshire - When Howards' Way ruled the waves |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/hampshire/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8159000/8159018.stm |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=22 July 2009 |access-date=29 July 2014}}</ref>

All interiors were filmed in Studio A at the now-demolished [[BBC Pebble Mill]] studios in [[Edgbaston]], [[Birmingham]]. Extensive two-storey sets were constructed inside the studio (the Howards and the Urquhart homes were both functioning two-floor sets). The smaller Studio B (used for regional news) was also occasionally used as an on-screen fashion photography studio. Other areas of the large 1970s TV and radio complex (opened in 1971) were used for the many board room scenes in the series, with long corridors and lifts sometimes doubling as a busy hospital and meeting rooms became lavish corporate hospitality suites.

==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.

==Plot==
{{unreferenced section|date=January 2023}}
The protagonists in the early episodes are the titular Howard family—Tom ([[Maurice Colbourne]]), wife Jan ([[Jan Harvey]]) and grown-up children Leo ([[Edward Highmore]]) and Lynne ([[Tracey Childs]]). Tom is made redundant from his job as an aircraft designer after twenty years and is unwilling to re-enter the rat race. A sailing enthusiast, he decides to pursue his dream of designing and building boats, putting his redundancy pay-out into the ailing Mermaid boatyard, run by Jack Rolfe ([[Glyn Owen]]), a gruff traditionalist, and his daughter Avril ([[Susan Gilmore]]). Tom immediately finds himself in conflict with Jack, whose reliance on alcohol and whose resentment of Tom's new design ideas threaten the business, but has an ally in Avril, who turns out to be the real driving force behind the yard with her cool, businesslike brain. Jan, who has spent the last twenty years raising the children and building the family home, is less than impressed by her husband's risky new venture, and finds herself pursuing her own life outside the family through establishing a new marina boutique whilst working for Ken Masters ([[Stephen Yardley]]).

Other major characters introduced during the first series are Kate Harvey ([[Dulcie Gray]]), Jan's sensible and supportive mother, the millionaire businessman Charles Frere ([[Tony Anholt]]) and the wealthy but unhappy Urquhart family. Gerald ([[Ivor Danvers]]) is the right-hand man of Charles Frere. Polly ([[Patricia Shakesby]]), a friend of Jan, is a bored corporate wife preoccupied with preserving her social status, and their daughter Abby ([[Cindy Shelley]]) is a socially awkward young woman who has returned to Tarrant after completing her education at a Swiss finishing school and who establishes a friendship with Leo Howard. Unlike the comparatively close and secure Howard family, the Urquharts have secrets to hide. Gerald and Polly's marriage is a sham—an arrangement to cover the fact that Gerald is bisexual, to give him respectability in the business world and give a name to Abby, Polly's illegitimate daughter after an affair at university. Abby herself is pregnant, after a brief relationship in Switzerland.

The series combined standard melodramatic storylines involving family drama, romance and extramarital affairs (Tom and Avril, Jan and Ken) with business-related plots of corporate intrigue and scheming for power, climaxing with an end-of-series cliffhanger.

==Reception==
''Howards' Way'' proved to be a hugely popular programme for the BBC, both domestically and in overseas sales. While the series was unable to compete with the likes of ''Dallas'' and ''Dynasty'' in terms of opulence, its stylistic aspects did develop as it went on, with the staging of powerboat races and fashion shows, and extensive location filming in [[Guernsey]], [[Malta]] and [[Gibraltar]] as the storylines dictated.

A number of new characters were also introduced later in the series, such as Sarah Foster (Sarah-Jane Varley), a glamorous business partner for Ken Masters, Sir Edward Frere ([[Nigel Davenport]]), the rich tycoon father of Charles Frere, Orrin Hudson ([[Jeff Harding (actor)|Jeff Harding]]), the American father of Abby Urquhart's baby, Emma Neesome ([[Sian Webber]]), a beautiful engineer who came to work with Tom Howard and Jack Rolfe at the Mermaid yard, and Vanessa Andenberg ([[Lana Morris]]), an elegant widow and old flame of Jack Rolfe. Midway through the show's run, Charles is revealed to be Abby's biological father. In a parallel with ''Dynasty'', actress [[Kate O'Mara]], who had previously starred in ''The Brothers'' and had also appeared in the American supersoap as Caress Morrell, was also brought in, to play ruthless businesswoman Laura Wilde.

During the production of the fifth series, lead actor Maurice Colbourne, who played central character Tom Howard, suddenly died from a heart attack during a break in filming. Episode nine featured his last appearance with the remaining episodes hurriedly rewritten to explain the character's absence. He was finally killed off at the beginning of the sixth and final series, commissioned to end the programme and to tie up all the storylines. The final episode of ''Howards' Way'' was transmitted on 25 November 1990.

==Boats==
Central to the plot were three yachts - ''The Flying Fish'', a Laser 28; ''Barracuda of Tarrant'', the prototype of the Sadler Barracuda 45, and ''Spring of Tarrant'', the prototype of the MG Spring 25. Both the Barracuda and Spring were designed by [[Tony Castro]].

==Main cast list==
{| class="wikitable" width="90%" style="background:#E5E4E2
! rowspan="2" style=”background:#C6DEFF”|Character
! rowspan="2" style=”background:#C6DEFF”|Actor
! colspan="7" style=”background:#C6DEFF”|Series
|-
! width="10%" scope="col" style="background:#A0CFEC"|Series 1
! width="10%" scope="col" style="background:#C6DEFF"|Series 2
! width="10%" scope="col" style="background:#7FFFD4"|Series 3
! width="10%" scope="col" style="background:#78C7C7"|Series 4
! width="10%" scope="col" style="background:#C8A2C8"|Series 5
! width="10%" scope="col" style="background:#7BCCB5"|Series 6
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"|Tom Howard
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Maurice Colbourne]]
| scope="col" colspan="5" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
| scope="col" colspan="1" |
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Jan Howard
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Jan Harvey]]
| scope="col" colspan="6" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Ken Masters
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Stephen Yardley]]
| scope="col" colspan="6" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Jack Rolfe
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Glyn Owen]]
| scope="col" colspan="6" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Charles Frere
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Tony Anholt]]
| scope="col" colspan="6" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Avril Rolfe
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Susan Gilmore]]
| scope="col" colspan="6" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Kate Harvey
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Dulcie Gray]]
| scope="col" colspan="6" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Leo Howard 
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Edward Highmore]]
| scope="col" colspan="6" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Lynne Howard
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Tracey Childs]]
| scope="col" colspan="2" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
| scope="col" colspan="3" |
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Abby Urquhart
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Cindy Shelley]]
| scope="col" colspan="2" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
| scope="col" colspan="1" |
| scope="col" colspan="3" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Gerald Urquhart
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Ivor Danvers]]
| scope="col" colspan="6" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Polly Urquhart
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Patricia Shakesby]]
| scope="col" colspan="5" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Bill Sayers
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Robert Vahey]]
| scope="col" colspan="6" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Sir John Stevens
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Willoughby Gray]]
| scope="col" colspan="6" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Claude Dupont
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Malcolm Jamieson
| scope="col" colspan="2" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
| scope="col" colspan="4" |
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Dawn Williams
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Sally Farmiloe]]
| scope="col" colspan="2" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
| scope="col" colspan="4" |
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Davy Malik
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Kulvinder Ghir]]
| scope="col" colspan="2" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
| scope="col" colspan="4" |
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Phil Norton
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Anthony Head]]
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
| scope="col" colspan="5" |
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Richard Shellet
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Oscar Quitak]]
| scope="col" colspan="2" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
| scope="col" colspan="4" |
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| David Lloyd
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Bruce Bould]]
| scope="col" colspan="3" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
| scope="col" colspan="3" |
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Sarah Foster
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Sarah-Jane Varley
| scope="col" colspan="1" |
| scope="col" colspan="3" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
| scope="col" colspan="2" |
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Mark Foster
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Graham Pountney]]
| scope="col" colspan="1" |
| scope="col" colspan="2" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
| scope="col" colspan="3" |
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Orrin Hudson
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Ryan Michael / [[Jeff Harding (actor)|Jeff Harding]]
| scope="col" colspan="1" |
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
| scope="col" colspan="2" |
| scope="col" colspan="2" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Curtis Jaeger
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Dean Harris]]
| scope="col" colspan="1" |
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
| scope="col" colspan="4" |
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Viscount Cunningham
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Richard Wilson (Scottish actor)|Richard Wilson]]
| scope="col" colspan="1" |
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
| scope="col" colspan="4" |
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Sir Edward Frere
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Nigel Davenport]]
| scope="col" colspan="2" |
| scope="col" colspan="2" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
| scope="col" colspan="1" |
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Emma Neesome
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Sian Webber]]
| scope="col" colspan="2" |
| scope="col" colspan="3" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
| scope="col" colspan="1" |
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Vanessa Andenberg
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Lana Morris]]
| scope="col" colspan="2" |
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
| scope="col" colspan="1" |
| scope="col" colspan="2" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Admiral Francis Redfern
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Michael Denison]]
| scope="col" colspan="2" |
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
| scope="col" colspan="1" |
| scope="col" colspan="2" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Amanda Parker
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Francesca Gonshaw]]
| scope="col" colspan="2" |
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
| scope="col" colspan="3" |
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Mr. Lee
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Burt Kwouk]]
| scope="col" colspan="2" |
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
| scope="col" colspan="3" |
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Anna Lee
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Sarah Lam]]
| scope="col" colspan="2" |
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
| scope="col" colspan="3" |
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Mike Hanley
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Michael Loney
| scope="col" colspan="2" |
| scope="col" colspan="2" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
| scope="col" colspan="2" |
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Richard Spencer
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[John Moulder-Brown]]
| scope="col" colspan="2" |
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
| scope="col" colspan="3" |
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Scott Benson
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Paul Maxwell]]
| scope="col" colspan="3" |
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
| scope="col" colspan="2" |
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Laura Wilde
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Kate O'Mara]]
| scope="col" colspan="4" |
| scope="col" colspan="2" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| James Brooke
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Andrew Bicknell]]
| scope="col" colspan="4" |
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
| scope="col" colspan="1" |
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Vicki Rockwell
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Victoria Burgoyne]]
| scope="col" colspan="4" |
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
| scope="col" colspan="1" |
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Yvette Studer
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Catherine Schell]]
| scope="col" colspan="4" |
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
| scope="col" colspan="1" |
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Robert Hastings
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Paul Jerricho]]
| scope="col" colspan="5" |
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Jenny Richards
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Charmian Gradwell]]
| scope="col" colspan="5" |
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| David Relton
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[Richard Heffer]]
| scope="col" colspan="5" |
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Tony Munroe
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| John Rhean
| scope="col" colspan="5" |
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
|-
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| Pierre Challon
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#F0F8FF"| [[James Coombes (actor)|James Coombes]]
| scope="col" colspan="5" |
| scope="col" colspan="1" style="background:#5CB3FF"|
|-
|}

==Series overview==
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center; background:#EBF4FA;" 
|-
! colspan="2" rowspan="2" style="background:#E5E4E2|Series
! rowspan="2" style="background:#E5E4E2|Episodes
! colspan="2" style="background:#E5E4E2|Originally aired
|-
! style="background:#E5E4E2| First aired
! style="background:#E5E4E2| Last aired
|-
! style="background:#A0CFEC"|
 |Series 1
 | 13
 | {{Start date|1985|09|01|df=y}}
 | {{End date|1985|11|24|df=y}}
 |-
! style="background:#C6DEFF"|
 |Series 2
 |13
 | {{Start date|1986|08|31|df=y}}
 | {{End date|1986|11|23|df=y}}
 |-
! style="background:#7FFFD4"|
 |Series 3
 |13
 | {{Start date|1987|09|06|df=y}}
 | {{End date|1987|11|29|df=y}}
 |-
! style="background:#78C7C7"|
 |Series 4
 |13
 | {{Start date|1988|09|04|df=y}}
 | {{End date|1988|11|27|df=y}}
 |-
! style="background:#C8A2C8"|
 |Series 5
 |13
 | {{Start date|1989|09|03|df=y}}
 | {{End date|1989|11|26|df=y}}
 |-
! style="background:#7BCCB5"|
 |Series 6
 |13
 | {{Start date|1990|09|02|df=y}}
 | {{End date|1990|11|25|df=y}}
|-
|}

==DVD releases==
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; background:#EBF4FA;" 
!
!style="background:#E5E4E2| DVD Series
!style="background:#E5E4E2| Episodes
!style="background:#E5E4E2| Region 2 Release Date
!style="background:#E5E4E2| Region 4 Release Date
!style="background:#E5E4E2| Comments
|-
! style="background:#A0CFEC" "height:20px;"|
| Complete Series 1
| 13
| 20 March 2006
| 6 October 2008
| 4 disc set included three commentaries on Episodes 1, 12 and 13 with Jan Harvey (Jan Howard),<br>Stephen Yardley (Ken Masters) and Howards' Way fan Tim Teeman.
|-
! style="background:#C6DEFF" "height:10px;"|
| Complete Series 2
| 13
| 19 June 2006
| 16 February 2009
| 4 disc set included three commentaries on Episodes 1, 12 and 13 again with Jan Harvey (Jan Howard),<br>Stephen Yardley (Ken Masters) and Howards' Way fan Tim Teeman.
|-
| style="background:#7FFFD4" "height:10px;"|
| Complete Series 3
| 13
| 11 September 2006
| 18 May 2009
| 4 disc set with no special features.
|-
| style="background:#78C7C7" "height:10px;"|
| Complete Series 4
| 13
| 11 February 2008
| 13 July 2009
| 4 disc set with no special features.
|-
| style="background:#C8A2C8" height:10px;"|
| Complete Series 5
| 13
| 19 May 2008
| 16 November 2009
| 4 disc set with no special features.
|-
| style="background:#7BCCB5" "height:10px;"|
| Complete Series 6
| 13
| 18 August 2008
| 8 February 2010
| 4 disc set with no special features.
|-
| style="background:#4EE2EC" "height:10px;"|
| The Complete Series Boxset
| 78
| 2 November 2009
| 
| 24 disc boxset including all 6 series and all 78 episodes.
|}

The show is rated <span style="background:#ffed00; color:black;">&nbsp;'''PG'''&nbsp;</span> for Parental Guidance in Australia and <span style="background:#ffed00; color:black;">&nbsp;'''PG'''&nbsp;</span> in New Zealand for violence and coarse language.

== In other media ==
A medley of the theme songs from ''Howards' Way'' and ''[[EastEnders theme tune|EastEnders]]'' was recorded by [[the Shadows]] and reached No. 86 on the UK singles chart in December 1986.<ref name="UKchart">{{cite web |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/8804/shadows/ |title=UK Official Chart: Shadows |date=2019 |publisher=Official Charts Company |access-date=27 January 2019}}</ref>

== References ==
<references />

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|id=0134250|title=Howards' Way}}
*[http://www.tv.com/howards-way/show/4060/summary.html Howards' Way @ TV.com]
*[http://www.televisiontunes.com/Howards_Way.html A recording of the theme tune]

[[Category:1985 British television series debuts]]
[[Category:1990 British television series endings]]
[[Category:1980s British drama television series]]
[[Category:1990s British drama television series]]
[[Category:BBC television dramas]]
[[Category:BBC Birmingham productions]]
[[Category:British television soap operas]]
[[Category:British English-language television shows]]
[[Category:Nautical television series]]
[[Category:Television shows set in Hampshire]]
[[Category:Television series by BBC Studios]]