Mackenzie

1 9 8 0 (UK)
12 x 50 minute episodes

This BBC shag-fest spanned nineteen years (1955 to 1974) of the life of ruthless and ambitious Glaswegian builder Robert MacKenzie (Jack Galloway), and the fate of the three families (the MacKenzies, the Isaacs and the Kovacs) that he draws into a destructive web of love and hatred through the reckless pursuit of his desires.

Mackenzie had settled in London where he was attempting to make it big as a builder. His wife Jean (Kara Wilson), a wan nurse, had no chance competing against his classy mistress, model Diana Crawley (Sheila Ruskin).

Meanwhile, Jean’s friend, Ruth Isaacs (Lynda Bellingham) – who was married to weedy David (Toby Salaman) – found solace in the arms of Diana’s father, George Kovacs (Richard Marner) a wise old Hungarian. She also had a piece of Robert Mackenzie as well.

By 1960, Mackenzie had discarded Jean and Ruth and was planning to marry Ruth’s pregnant daughter, Lisa (Tracey Ullman), who had been shagging his son, Jamie (Ewan Stewart) before switching her affections from the son to the father.

It will come as no surprise that this tangled melodrama came from Andrea Newman who had previously written Bouquet of Barbed Wire.

Robert Mackenzie
Jack Galloway
Jean Mackenzie
Kara Wilson
Jamie Mackenzie
Ewan Stewart
Lisa Mackenzie
Tracey Ullman
Ruth Isaacs
Lynda Bellingham
David Isaacs
Toby Salaman
George Kovacs
Richard Marner
Diana Crawley
Sheila Ruskin
Tim Crawley
Clifford Parrish
Tony Duggan
Bernard Holley
Duncan Mackenzie
David Donaldson

Episodes

Preliminary Enquiries | Outline Consent | Full Commission | Marriage Value | Back to Back | Vacant Possession | Sole Agent | Without Prejudice | Subject to Contract | The Appointed Day | Structural Fault | Upon Completion