Tucker's Luck series summary
Peter "Tucker" Jenkins is a working-class youth living in a council estate in London in the mid-1980s. Tucker recently graduated from secondary school (see Grange Hill), which gave him a so-called comprehensive education but no real job skills. Furthermore, he lacks the academic qualifications to go further in his schooling or land a good job. So, like thousands of other young people at the time, he's unemployed and on the dole. The stories in Tucker's Luck revolve around Tucker Jenkins and two friends from school, Alan Humphries and Tommy Watson, and their attempts to get by, day by day, eager for work but always short of money and qualifications.
Production
Tucker's Luck was created by Phil Redmond, and ran on BBC 2 from 1983-1985. There were three series of nine half-hour episodes each, for a total of 27 episodes. Tucker's Luck starred Todd Carty as Tucker Jenkins, George Armstrong as Alan Humphries, and Paul McCarthy as Tommy Watson. The theme music was composed by Alan Hawkshaw.
news
28 July 2011 BBC Radio 4 is airing a programme in which financial guru Alvin Hall explores whether this generation will be "poorer than their parents."
18 May 2011 The latest U.S. employment figures show that only 1 in 4 teens will have a summer job this year. As dismal as that sounds, that's actually a rise from last year.
07 January 2011 Multiple minor edits and tweaks.
21 October 2010 Unemployment benefits pay better than real jobs, in another of today's direct reflections of the Tucker's Luck economy.
15 September 2010 Thanks to Kevin R. and Paul F., for additional information about filming locations! Have more info or photos? Send 'em in to !
ALSO, the books page has been expanded, with excerpts from the paperbacks. And, there are new bits of trivia scattered thoughout the site!
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