WITH her chic hairstyles and designer clothes she captured the mood of the eighties.

Jan Howard, played by Jan Harvey, was one of the central characters in the BBC TV hit series Howards’ Way, filmed on the shores of the River Hamble.

Now the popular actress is set to float into another BBC soap as a special guest on EastEnders, alongside Letitia Dean who plays Sharon Mitchell.

It is 30 years ago that the “Dallas-by-Sea” blockbuster brought television stardom to the sleepy lanes of Old Bursledon.

Howards’ Way kept millions of TV viewers glued to their screens on Sunday night with its boardroom battles and bed hopping.

The main story line revolved around the Howard family.

When Tom Howard (the late Maurice Colbourne) was made redundant from his aircraft designer job he decided to follow his dream of designing and building boats.

He poured his redundancy money into the ailing Mermaid Boatyard which in real life was the Elephant boatyard.

But after spending 20 years raising the children and being a home maker Jan Howard wanted more from life.

She set up a new marine boutique while working for flash medallion man Ken Masters (Stephen Yardley) But their relationship turned into more than a business partnership.

Away from the Howards’ Way set actress Jan Harvey was in big demand for personal appearances in the Hampshire area.

Watched by her army of fans, she is seen here cutting the tape to open a new showroom at Rowles Garage in Chandler’s Ford.

Autograph hunters had another field day when she and fellow cast members took part in a Howards’ Way charity day for the National Heart Research at Netley’s Royal Victoria Country Park.

Produced by BBC Birmingham, Howards’ Way ran between September 1, 1985 and November 25, 1990.

Set in the River Hamble and Solent, most of the filming was carried out in Bursledon, Hamble, Swanwick, Warsash, Hill Head, Lee-on-the-Solent, Southampton and Fareham.

Howards’ Way mirrored the 1980s when yuppies and materialism were riding on the crest of the wave.

Luxury yachts and designer clothing were very much the order of the day and it became a sizzling soap with its bed-hopping story lines.

Bursledon was transformed into a star spotters’ paradise as big glamorous names, such as the late Kate O’Mara, who had appeared in block busting soaps on both sides of the Atlantic, joined the cast.

The final credits of the sailing soap rolled across the screen in 1990 and the village which had been known as Tarrant in its TV heyday was back to being Bursledon again.

The River Hamble community had never been completely comfortable with its celebrity status. It had to cope with the daily trauma of hordes of fans shattering the rural calm as they swarmed across the village in their search for Howards’ Way memorabilia.

But the fame had been good news for ferry operators who did a roaring trade in cruises for fans who sailed Southampton Water to the series’ catchy signature tune.

Diehard fans were always eager to pop in for a pint at the Jolly Sailor which played a major role in providing liquid refreshments between those nautical boardroom battles.

The final episode of Howards’ Way was transmitted on November 25, 1990 – three days before Margaret Thatcher resigned as Prime Minister.

A fitting finale for a series which had been so much about the Thatcher years.