Lovejoy poster
Seen it?

Lovejoy

TV·1986–1994·6 seasons, 73 episodes·BBC One·Comedy, Drama, Mystery·50m·7.4·Created by Ian La Frenais, Jonathan Gash

Streaming on (US) Britbox Apple TV Channel PBSPBS Masterpiece Amazon ChannelSpectrum On DemandThirteenWETA+See all

The adventures of the eponymous Lovejoy, a likeable but roguish antiques dealer based in East Anglia. Within the trade, he has a reputation as a “divvie”, a person with an almost supernatural powers for recognising exceptional items as well as distinguishing genuine antique from clever fakes or forgeries.

Highest-rated episodes all ranked

  1. 01Lovejoy S03E14The Prague SunS03E14 · 10.0Lovejoy is likely to be on his own for Christmas. However, a violent attack on an old Czech fighter pilot leads Lovejoy and Eric to Prague on a treasure hunt. Jane, who was on holiday with friends in Austria, joins Lovejoy in Prague to help solve a mystery of missing diamonds.Tinker is left to mind the shop and make preparations for Christmas.
  2. 02Lovejoy S01E01The Firefly CageS01E01 · 7.3Having hired Eric Catchpole as an apprentice, Lovejoy sets out to unravel the meaning of a Japanese firefly cage.As Lovejoy and Eric are in hot pursuit (on Eric's motorbike) of a lovely lady with something they want, they hit a pool of water in the road and give a drenching to Jane (Lady Felsham), who is busy unveiling a plaque. When, later, Lovejoy rings the doorbell at Felsham Hall, complex chemistry begins, and Jane is soon showing Lovejoy around her attic...
  3. 03Lovejoy S02E09Raise the HispanicS02E09 · 6.0Amanda Peagram, a local landowner's daughter, is engaged to Roger Hall, and Lovejoy (on the instructions of Amanda's father) is furnishing a house with antiques for the couple. Unhappily, Amanda is not impressed, while Roger continues to play the field. At the wedding, Lovejoy overhears a row between Roger and Amanda's father and later finds Roger's body hidden in a suit of armour... but the body vanishes and nobody believes him. After the wedding, Roger is treated as a missing person. Lovejoy insists Roger is dead, but he can't produce the body - so he decides to investigate the murder and solve the mystery.

Cast

Episodes by season

Season01Episode ratings across the season — the gold bar is its best episode10Episodes1986Aired 3.1Season avg
  1. S01E01Lovejoy S01E01Season's bestThe Firefly CageJanuary 10, 1986 7.3Having hired Eric Catchpole as an apprentice, Lovejoy sets out to unravel the meaning of a Japanese firefly cage.As Lovejoy and Eric are in
  2. S01E02Lovejoy S01E02The Axeman ComethJanuary 17, 1986Lovejoy buys a Welsh dresser at Charlie Gimbert's auction, and hidden inside it he finds a rich Arab head-dress, festooned with gold ducats.
  3. S01E03Lovejoy S01E03The StingJanuary 20, 1986Lovejoy sets out to help a young woman to trace a pair of Meissen figures which she sold to raise cash for a drug habit. When he comes acros
  4. S01E04Lovejoy S01E04Friends, Romans and EnemiesJanuary 31, 1986 1.0A robbery at the local museum seems to be connected with the death of a local forger, and Lovejoy goes on the trail of a hoard of Roman coin
  5. S01E05Lovejoy S01E05The Judas PairFebruary 7, 1986The wife and brother of a man killed with a fabulous pair of Regency duelling pistols engage Lovejoy to find them and thus bring about the d
  6. S01E06Lovejoy S01E06To Sleep No MoreFebruary 14, 1986Sam Wendell, an old forger, dies of a heart attack while being pursued by a mysterious priest, leaving behind one of his small forgeries. Sa
  7. S01E07Lovejoy S01E07The Real ThingFebruary 21, 1986Needing a break from Charlie, Lovejoy takes a job for a few days at a new antiques market in Norwich owned by a client of Jane's. He soon re
  8. S01E08Lovejoy S01E08The March of TimeFebruary 28, 1986Lovejoy finds a bundle of old love letters hidden in the back of an antique clock. He quickly falls for the owner, but are the letters genui
  9. S01E09Lovejoy S01E09Death and Venice (1)March 7, 1986Lovejoy travels to Venice to investigate the murder of a friend. The dead friend had bought a painting Lovejoy believed was a fake. In Venic
  10. S01E10Lovejoy S01E10Death and Venice (2)March 14, 1986 1.0In Venice, Lovejoy gets a job working for Caterina and Lavinia, with a view to busting their scam, and meets a Scottish forger called 'Lucky

Season 1 ranked & reviewed

Season0212Episodes1991Aired 6.0Season avg
  1. S02E01Lovejoy S02E01Just DessertsJanuary 6, 1991At the beginning of series 2, Lovejoy has just come out of prison after serving a sentence for theft. He believes he was set up and returns
  2. S02E02Lovejoy S02E02The Italian VenusJanuary 13, 1991A mean landowner is reluctant to share an inheritance with his hard-up brother, who is a friend of Jane's. Then Lovejoy intervenes, as a fav
  3. S02E03Lovejoy S02E03Bin DivingJanuary 20, 1991Lovejoy values the house contents of an elderly widow, an old friend of Jane's, who is burgled soon afterwards. Finding he is the local poli
  4. S02E04Lovejoy S02E04Montezuma's RevengeJanuary 27, 1991The manager of a heavy rock band wants to sell an ancient pre-Columbian solid gold statue, and it brings Inca black magic into East Anglia -
  5. S02E05Lovejoy S02E05Who Dares, SingsFebruary 3, 1991Lovejoy and Jane have the job of fitting out a smart new restaurant being opened by Major Linden Walker, an old army friend of Tinker's. Wit
  6. S02E06Lovejoy S02E06One Born Every MinuteFebruary 10, 1991Ashley Wilkes travels around East Anglia painting charming pictures of country cottages and seducing their female inhabitants. An army offic
  7. S02E07Lovejoy S02E07National WealthFebruary 17, 1991Tinker is thrilled when Madeline Gilbert, a retired film star, sends for the Lovejoy team, as he has an old crush on her. Madeline wants to
  8. S02E08Lovejoy S02E08Sugar and SpiceFebruary 24, 1991Lovejoy is in hot water for not paying the school fees of his teenage daughter, Vicky. Meanwhile (and much to Eric's disgust) another school
  9. S02E09Lovejoy S02E09Raise the HispanicMarch 3, 1991 6.0Amanda Peagram, a local landowner's daughter, is engaged to Roger Hall, and Lovejoy (on the instructions of Amanda's father) is furnishing a
  10. S02E10Lovejoy S02E10Lily's PearlsMarch 10, 1991Jane's husband, Alexander, has a new business partner called Joe Gruder, but Lovejoy is suspicious of him. Jane gets a call from Lily Gruder
  11. S02E11Lovejoy S02E11Riding in RollersMarch 17, 1991Dealer Harry Catapodis has sold some fakes to Cassandra Lynch, a beautiful American widow Lovejoy knows. Caught out, Harry offers to buy the
  12. S02E12Lovejoy S02E12The Black Virgin of VladimirMarch 24, 1991Dealer Harry Catapodis has sold some fakes to Cassandra Lynch, a beautiful American widow Lovejoy knows. Caught out, Harry offers to buy the

Season 2 ranked & reviewed

Season0314Episodes1992Aired 10.0Season avg
  1. S03E01Lovejoy S03E01Friends in High PlacesJanuary 12, 1992As the third series begins, Lovejoy returns to Felsham after a long break in Spain, where he was trying (without marked success) to learn to
  2. S03E02Lovejoy S03E02Out To LunchJanuary 19, 1992Lovejoy is spending more and more time with Victoria, not so much on his business. Together with Jane and Alexander, he and Victoria go away
  3. S03E03Lovejoy S03E03No StringsJanuary 26, 1992A band called The Hothouse Flowers is due to appear at a local charity gig, and their manager is an old friend of Tinker's. Before going awa
  4. S03E04Lovejoy S03E04Angel TrousersFebruary 2, 1992Lovejoy gets dragged into a sinister plot concerning Mussolini's nose and the burial at sea of Captain Bucknall (Jane's old house-keeper's b
  5. S03E05Lovejoy S03E05The Benin BronzeFebruary 9, 1992Greg Veitch is on a visit from Australia, looking for antiques, but especially what he calls 'my Eureka' - the thing he must have. At Sir Ma
  6. S03E06Lovejoy S03E06Eric of ArabiaFebruary 16, 1992Lovejoy is asked to value an ancient Chinese terra-cotta figure of a pig. Then he falls off a bicycle and breaks his leg, landing him in hos
  7. S03E07Lovejoy S03E07Scotch on the RocksFebruary 23, 1992Vicky finds an old claymore (a Scottish sword) in her attic. Lovejoy buys it at auction and is offered much more than it's worth for it. Puz
  8. S03E08Lovejoy S03E08LoveknotsMarch 1, 1992Jane decides to sell an Anatolian rug. When it comes up for auction, an old lady at the sale, Harriet Fisher, buys a Berber rug for her dog,
  9. S03E09Lovejoy S03E09Smoke Your NoseMarch 8, 1992The Reverend Harry Nettles claims there is a mosaic floor belonging to a Roman villa in the field next to his church, which is about to be b
  10. S03E10Lovejoy S03E10KidsMarch 15, 1992Lovejoy's daughter Vicky disappears, then announces she is living with an older man whose wife has died. Susan, Vicky's mother, does not app
  11. S03E11Lovejoy S03E11Members OnlyMarch 22, 1992Mr Kashimoto is trying without success to join an exclusive local golf club. The club asks Lovejoy to value its finest silver trophy, but he
  12. S03E12Lovejoy S03E12Highland Fling (1)March 29, 1992Some old sketches put Lovejoy and Jane on a trail which takes them up to Scotland, where they uncover a plot by another antiques dealer to c
  13. S03E13Lovejoy S03E13Highland Fling (2)April 5, 1992Some old sketches put Lovejoy and Jane on a trail which takes them up to Scotland, where they uncover a plot by another antiques dealer to c
  14. S03E14Lovejoy S03E14The Prague SunDecember 26, 1992 10.0Lovejoy is likely to be on his own for Christmas. However, a violent attack on an old Czech fighter pilot leads Lovejoy and Eric to Prague o

Season 3 ranked & reviewed

Season0413Episodes1993AiredSeason avg
  1. S04E01Lovejoy S04E01The Napoleonic CommodeJanuary 10, 1993Lovejoy is evicted from his rented cottage, as Freddy the Phone, his landlord (also known as Frederick Arthur Haig Montgomery Wavell Reeve)
  2. S04E02Lovejoy S04E02The RingJanuary 17, 1993With the naive help of Jane, Lovejoy sets up an unusual form of dealers' ring to bump up the price of a painting he has entered in an aucti
  3. S04E03Lovejoy S04E03Second FiddleJanuary 24, 1993Lindsey Parry-Davies, a leading violinist, wants Lovejoy to arrange for his Stradivarius to be touched up so that it will pass as a fake. Th
  4. S04E04Lovejoy S04E04The Colour of MaryJanuary 31, 1993Charlie Gimbert returns home from overseas, popping up again in a new and unlikely role as manager to Murray McNally, a famous but disgraced
  5. S04E05Lovejoy S04E05Fly the FlagFebruary 7, 1993A family struggling to pay death duties needs Lovejoy's help to raise the wind. Meanwhile, Beau Whittaker, working in a local parish church
  6. S04E06Lovejoy S04E06Judgment of SolomonFebruary 14, 1993A retired senior Air Force officer wants Lovejoy to sell his large and remarkable collection of Jewish antiques, but Lovejoy's contacts the
  7. S04E07Lovejoy S04E07The Galloping MajorFebruary 21, 1993On a visit to Frankie's scrap yard Lovejoy acquires an ancient cannon. He takes a trip to the Tower of London to see what he can find out ab
  8. S04E08Lovejoy S04E08God Helps ThoseFebruary 28, 1993In the latest of a series of antique shop 'ram-raids', a table Lovejoy has left with another dealer is smashed, and he uncovers a plan to st
  9. S04E09Lovejoy S04E09They Call Me MidasMarch 7, 1993Jim Leonard (Lovejoy's antiques mentor) resurfaces, wanting Lovejoy's help with a harmless little scam to catch out a famous dealer. The plo
  10. S04E10Lovejoy S04E10Irish StewMarch 14, 1993The Lovejoy Antiques team is in Ireland looking for new stock (and also hoping to find a painting by Jack Butler Yeats, for Jane to give her
  11. S04E11Lovejoy S04E11Dainty DishMarch 28, 1993The Lovejoy Antiques team is in Brighton, scouring the town for a really grand set of old china. Charlie Gimbert (as ever) causes some havoc
  12. S04E12Lovejoy S04E12Taking the PledgeApril 4, 1993Jamie, an old friend of Lovejoy's, turns up on his doorstep needing help with an urgent problem. He can't afford to retrieve a wonderful pai
  13. S04E13Lovejoy S04E13Lovejoy Loses ItApril 11, 1993Lovejoy makes an exhibition of his 'sixth sense' for antiques on a television programme. Later, working on a house clearance, he overlooks a

Season 4 ranked & reviewed

Season0514Episodes1993Aired 2.0Season avg
  1. S05E01Lovejoy S05E01Pig in a PokeSeptember 5, 1993Lovejoy buys a set of James Gillray drawings, which turn out to be copies. While trying to sell them, Eric finds a stolen statue with an ari
  2. S05E02Lovejoy S05E02Who is the Fairest of Them All?September 12, 1993Jane's old dance teacher wants Lovejoy to sell a mirror. This then leads to a deal which involves the apparently one-eyed Roderick Frew. Jan
  3. S05E03Lovejoy S05E03A Going ConcernSeptember 19, 1993Lovejoy has been left to look after Felsham Hall until it has been sold, and he uses the house as a furniture showroom. He thus crosses swor
  4. S05E04Lovejoy S05E04The Kakiemon TigerSeptember 26, 1993Lovejoy is threatened by a debt collector and hijacks a country house auction to pay his debts. In the process, he finds the lost 'Kakiemon
  5. S05E05Lovejoy S05E05Three Men and a Brittle LadyOctober 3, 1993Charlotte's former lover arrives from New York and invites her to live with him in Paris, but she turns him down.A forger cons Charlie Gimbe
  6. S05E06Lovejoy S05E06Ducking and DivingOctober 10, 1993Tinker and Eric take a break at Eric's Uncle Jack's pub. Meanwhile, Lovejoy is asked to show a visiting couple around the antiques shops. Tr
  7. S05E07Lovejoy S05E07Stones of DestinyOctober 17, 1993A rare Celtic cross is stolen from Charlotte's aution house, after Lovejoy asked the porter to let a friend look at it. Charlotte and Lovejo
  8. S05E08Lovejoy S05E08Poetic LicenceOctober 24, 1993A friend of Charlotte's who runs a nursing home has asked her to sell some things, and Charlotte wants Lovejoy's help with valuations. One p
  9. S05E09Lovejoy S05E09The Peking GunOctober 31, 1993Charlie Gimbert asks Lovejoy to value a colonial widow's Chinese treasures. Lovejoy is interested in an unusual Peking cannon and gets Charl
  10. S05E10Lovejoy S05E10Goose BumpsNovember 7, 1993After a dealer apparently disappears over the side of a cross-channel ferry, Lovejoy acquires two china geese. Charlie Gimbert, in pursuit o
  11. S05E11Lovejoy S05E11Swings and RoundaboutsNovember 14, 1993Boswell, a friend of Lovejoy's who runs a travelling fair, asks Lovejoy to sell some silver candlesticks for him. However, the police arrive
  12. S05E12Lovejoy S05E12Never Judge a Book By Its CoverNovember 21, 1993Lovejoy takes Charlotte to an Antiques Fair at Cambridge, where the elderly Doncaster sisters, who have financial problems, invite him to va
  13. S05E13Lovejoy S05E13The Price of FishNovember 28, 1993Lovejoy is invited to spend the weekend with Charlotte at her best friend's house. The friend is short of money and has a clock she wants va
  14. S05E14Lovejoy S05E14The Lost ColonyDecember 27, 1993 2.0Lovejoy meets distant cousins from America, who are visiting England. As well as a female ghost, old Lord Wakering has treasures which once

Season 5 ranked & reviewed

Season0610Episodes1994AiredSeason avg
  1. S06E01Lovejoy S06E01Fair ExchangeOctober 2, 1994Charlotte buys a painting from a hard-up couple, the Tabors, but finds she has been conned. Lovejoy decides to set matters straight.
  2. S06E02Lovejoy S06E02Day of ReckoningOctober 9, 1994A former friend, Max Hunter, who believes Lovejoy had an affair with his wife, kidnaps Charlotte and plans to kill her. But he gives Lovejoy
  3. S06E03Lovejoy S06E03Somewhere Over the RainbowOctober 16, 1994Tinker disappears, and Lovejoy sets off to find him. He arrives in Devon, where he discovers that Tinker's real name is Archie and that he h
  4. S06E04Lovejoy S06E04Double Edged SwordOctober 23, 1994A tough-talking business man hires Lovejoy to recover a sixteenth-century samurai sword which has been stolen from him. Another dealer, Love
  5. S06E05Lovejoy S06E05Guns and RosesOctober 30, 1994Lovejoy takes an antique gun to a London gunsmith to be repaired, but the armorer is having landlord problems. Meanwhile, an acquaintance of
  6. S06E06Lovejoy S06E06The Last of the UzkoksNovember 6, 1994Lovejoy is called in by Lord Dunwich to value a silver communion set, and Lady Dunwich wants him to find her some antique prints of the lost
  7. S06E07Lovejoy S06E07Breaking the BrokerNovember 13, 1994The police set up Tinker, so that they can get a favour from Lovejoy. They want him to check out an up-market pawnbroker who is suspected of
  8. S06E08Lovejoy S06E08Fruit of the DessertNovember 20, 1994Lovejoy has a dangerous plan, which includes putting himself in the hands of a notorious moneylender and risking the future of his daughter,
  9. S06E09Lovejoy S06E09Holding the BabyNovember 27, 1994Lovejoy buys a nineteenth-century dresser for a song, after getting advice from a Caribbean specialist. Meanwhile, Charlotte has mixed feeli
  10. S06E10Lovejoy S06E10Last Tango in LavenhamDecember 4, 1994In the last episode of Lovejoy, our hero gears himself up to marry Charlotte, and his old life begins to splinter. Jane Felsham returns with

Season 6 ranked & reviewed

Shows like Lovejoy all similar shows

The closest matches on shared genres, ranked by match strength and popularity.

  1. 01Drama·Comedy·MysteryBig Little Lies2017–presentStreaming on HBO MaxIn the tranquil seaside town of Monterey, California, nothing is quite as it seems.7.8Compare
  2. 02Drama·Comedy·MysteryMoonlighting1985–1989·ABCStreaming on Amazon Prime VideoMaddie Hayes, a wealthy former model, discovers one morning that her business manager has stolen all the money she has in the bank.8.0Compare
  3. 03Drama·Comedy·MysterySearch Party2016–2022·HBO MaxStreaming on NetflixSearch Party is a dark comedy about five self-absorbed 20-somethings who become entangled in an ominous mystery when a former college acquaintance suddenly disappears.5.7Compare
  4. 04Drama·Comedy·MysteryDiarra from Detroit2024–presentStreaming on Paramount+ Amazon ChannelDiarra from Detroit follows a divorcing schoolteacher who refuses to believe she's been ghosted by her rebound Tinder date.6.2Compare
  5. 05Drama·Comedy·MysteryWilfred2011–2014·FXXEveryone else sees Wilfred as a dog, but Ryan sees a crude, surly, irrepressibly brave and honest man in a dog suit.7.6Compare
  6. 06Drama·Comedy·MysteryThe Last Anniversary2025·BingeStreaming on AMC+The Last Anniversary is set on Scribbly Gum Island, a place of many secrets.6.5Compare

Head-to-head pick any opponent

Stack Lovejoy's full episode-rating history against a rival, on one chart.

Keep exploring top shows