Lovejoy is a British TV comedy-crime-drama series based on the picaresque novels by  John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six series, was originally broadcast by the BBC between 10 January 1986 and 4 December 1994, although there was a five-year gap between the first and second series. It was adapted for television by Ian La Frenais.