1 9 8 7 – 1 9 8 8 (UK)
12 x 30 minute episodes
Delbert Wilkins (Lenny Henry) was a well-meaning but trouble-prone pirate radio DJ at the (fictional) Brixton Broadcasting Corporation in South London, where he was assisted by his friend and dogsbody Winston (Vas Blackwood).
Local copper Sgt. Lillie (Malcolm Rennie) was obsessed with discovering the whereabouts of the pirate station (it operated from the back room of a grotty kebab house in Brixton) so he could shut it down.
The fast-talking, sharp-dressing, “totally crucial” DJ was a constant source of exasperation for kebab shop owner Alex (Michael Mears), although he was tolerated by vegetarian waitress Julie (Gina McKee). He was also a frequent disappointment to his mother, Rose (Ellen Thomas), and girlfriend, Claudette (Nimmy March).
In the second series, Delbert opened his own pirate radio station, Crucial FM, in competition with the Brixton Broadcasting Corporation, which had gone mainstream.
He also discovered he was about to become a father, and – worse still – when his mum remarried a man called Trevor (Trevor Laird), Delbert inherited a policeman as his new stepfather.
Delbert Wilkins
Lenny Henry
Winston
Vas Blackwood
Alex
Michael Mears
Julie
Gina McKee
Sgt. Lillie
Malcolm Rennie
Rose
Ellen Thomas
Claudette
Nimmy March
Wazim
Naim Khan
Jake
Louis Mahoney
Trevor
Trevor Laird
Episodes
Sonny Sidles Up | Leg of Darkness | Play Misty Blue for Me | Money’s Too Tight to Mention | Out on Bails | A Mega-Star Is Born || Back to My Roots | Enterprise Zones | The Single Life | In-Laws and Out-Laws | The Crucial Health | Public Enemy









