The Thin Blue Line, 1995
Running for two series of 7 episodes each between 1995 and 1996, The Thin Blue Line was a BBC sitcom written by Ben Elton, who of course had written for Rowan Atkinson on Blackadder.
The series was not popular with the critics who accused the show of “inconsistent character development” and an “overly broad plotline”. However it was popular with viewers.
During it’s run there were a number of well known guest appearances. These included: writer Ben Elton, Stephen Fry, Stephen Moore, Melvyn Hayes, Trevor Peacock, Colin McFarlane, Alan Cox, Alexander Armstrong, Nicola Stapleton, Perry Fenwick, and Rupert Vansittart.
Summary
Set in the police station of the fictional English town of Gasforth near London, The Thin Blue Line centred around the rivalry between the uniformed squad lead by Inspector Fowler (a sort of protagonist figure) and the CID lead by Detective Inspector Grim (often Fowler’s antagonist, though they were on the same side of the law).
Other plotlines revolved around the show’s characters and their individual peculiarities.
Clips
[AdSense-A]
[AdSense-A]
Cast
Rowan Atkinson – Inspector Raymond Fowler
Mina Anwar – W.P.C. Maggie Habib
James Dreyfus – P.C. Kevin Goody
Serena Evans – Sergeant Patricia Dawkins
David Haig – D.I. Derek Grim
Rudolph Walker – P.C. Frank Gladstone
Kevin Allen – D.C. Robert Kray
Mark Addy – D.C. Gary Boyle
Joy Brook – D.C. Crockett
Details
Channel: BBC1
Written and Created By: Ben Elton
Executive Producer: Peter Bennett-Jones
Producers: Ben Elton and Geoffrey Perkins
Production Company: Tiger Aspect Productions
Original Transmission Dates: 13th November, 1995 – 23rd December, 1996