Taggart

by Pa Rock
TV Junkie

As noted previously in this space, I am a big fan of British television, an itch that I scratch by subscribing to the BBC's Britbox program streaming service.  Most of the television programs that I consume come through Britbox.
 
British television does three types of programs especially well:  period pieces and costume dramas like Downton Abbey and Upstairs Downstairs, comedies (often referred to as "Britcoms") such as Are You Being Served?, Absolutely Fabulous, and Keeping Up Appearances, and police dramas like Prime Suspect, Midsomer Murders, and Shetland to name but a few.
 
British police dramas can seem to be a bit formulaic with many (dozens upon dozens over the past few decades) being built around a DI (Detective Inspector) or DCI (Detective Chief Inspector) and his (or her) faithful - or sometimes obstinate - DS (Detective Sergeant).  As a rule, this duo generally work for the police CID (Criminal Investigative Department), the elite crimefighting squad that the regular grunts in the police force (people like traffic cops and desk jockeys) aspire to join.
 
Taggart, one the of longest-running police dramas in television history (1983-2010), was set in Glasgow, Scotland, and was built around a fictional unit called the Maryhill CID of the Strathclyde Police.  The head of that unit was DCI Jim Taggart, ably portrayed by Scottish actor Mark McManus and who, during the show's early years, was assisted by an assortment of detective sergeants.  The show encompassed 110 episodes of varying lengths throughout its 27-year run, with many of the earlier ones lasting anywhere from two to two-and-a-half hours and those of the final few seasons being less than an hour long.
 
The show was named for - and built around - the main character, DCI Jim Taggart.  He was a dour old Scotsman with a heavy accent whose tag line was "There's been a murder."  And with that he and his team would set off to solve the crime and make the world right.  Taggart's wife, Jean, was wheelchair-bound and had written a best-selling book about living successfully as a handicapped individual.  Jean was a forceful individual who served to constantly remind her husband that there was life beyond his duties with the police, whether he wanted to hear it or not.  As the show developed she became a balance to the sometimes exuberant nature of the police operations, often dragging her husband, and even his crew, back into the humanity of the real world.
 
Mark McManus, the actor who played DCI Taggart, died unexpectedly in 1994, and the British television company, ITV, which produced the show, made a decision to continue the program with the same name.  There was a succession of characters involved with Taggart after that point, but continuity was primarily achieved through DS Jackie Reid (Blythe Duff) who had been involved with the program from 1990.  Detective Sergeant Reid went on to be a major character throughout the remainder of the series.

With a few exceptions, most of the episodes of Taggart were filmed in Glasgow.  Years ago I had an opportunity to spend a weekend in Scotland, a brief time that would allow for a visit to only one of the two main cities - Glasgow or Edinburgh.  I chose Edinburgh based on it renown culture and history - and because Glasgow had a reputation for being a much harsher environment where drugs and crime were common.  It was a good decision - Edinburg was beautiful with much more to see and experience than could possibly be fit into the two days that I was there.  Much later, through Taggart, I had the opportunity to explore Glasgow, where crime and drugs indeed ran rampant and every building and public space was awash in trash and graffiti.  

Glasgow was a perfect setting for a gritty police drama - and Jim Taggart and his crew of flawed detectives formed the perfect crime-fighting unit to try to control its mean streets.

If you like your dramas rough and real, Taggart will scratch that itch.