Detective Sergeant George Bulman was a fictional detective created by Kenneth Royce in his series of books about The XYY Man (semi-reformed cat burglar Spider Scott), where the character's name was initially Alf Bulman. Here Bulman is presented as a 'bent copper', though the only examples of his corruption given are that he gained promotion to sergeant by persuading down-and-outs to confess to unsolved robberies, in return for a prison sentence which would put them inside during the coldest months of winter.
These books were turned into a Granada TV series in the mid-1970s, with actor Don Henderson playing Bulman, Scott's nemesis. Bulman lives only for the day that he can put Scott (played on TV by Stephen Yardley) back behind bars, but he and his sidekick Detective Constable Derek Willis (Dennis Blanch) are thwarted every time, even gaining some slight sympathy and respect for Scott as they discover how he and they have been used by the secret service. Bulman was originally portrayed as mildly eccentric, wearing woollen gloves, using a nasal inhaler and trying to 'better' himself by engaging in further education (showing off his learning with a pretentious erudition which makes him look foolish).
The Bulman character proved popular with viewers, and, with Willis, was given a spin-off series Strangers, which saw the formerly London-based detectives transferred to the north-west of England. During the five-year run of Strangers, Bulman's eccentricities were increased, and included such traits as a propensity for keeping his belongings in plastic carrier bags and his keeping of a pet hamster named Flash Gordon. His middle name was revealed to be Kitchener. Increasingly his erudition was used less to make him look pretentious and a joke figure, but instead underlined a zen-like wisdom and otherworldliness. He also leapt in rank, gaining a double-promotion from Detective Sergeant to Detective Chief Inspector in one bound.
In the mid-80s the character returned in Bulman. Disillusioned, Bulman leaves the police to work as a private investigator while making a living repairing clocks. He kept a model railway layout in his office, and wore a 'Will Power' T-Shirt, bearing an illustration of William Shakespeare. Mirroring in some ways the post-prison career of Spider Scott, Bulman and his assistant Lucy McGinty (Siobhan Redmond) were often coerced or tricked into doing clandestine and dangerous work for the secret service.
Kenneth Royce returned to his Bulman character at the height of the show's success, writing two more XYY Man novels (The Crypto Man (1984) and The Mosley Receipt (1985)) and a Bulman novel, No Way Back (Hashimi's Revenge) in 1986. In the 90s he followed this with The Judas Trail (1996) and Shadows (1996). By this point, Royce's Bulman differs from the television version considerably - his is called Alfred George Bulman (the TV one is George Kitchener Bulman), and by The Crypto Man in 1985 has risen to be a Detective Superintendent in the Security Services section of the Metropolitan Police (his TV alternative never made it above Detective Chief Inspector before becoming a private investigator).
Granada ended the series in 1987. Henderson obtained the rights for TV use of the character, but became busy with other projects and died in 1997 before he was able to interest producers in any new series.
John Edward Thaw, was an English actor who appeared in a range of television, stage, and cinema roles. He starred in the television series Inspector Morse as title character Detective Chief Inspector Endeavour Morse, Redcap as Sergeant John Mann, The Sweeney as Detective Inspector Jack Regan, Home to Roost as Henry Willows, and Kavanagh QC as title character James Kavanagh.
The Sweeney is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London. It stars John Thaw as Detective Inspector Jack Regan and Dennis Waterman as his partner, Detective Sergeant George Carter. The programme's title derives from "Sweeney Todd", which is Cockney rhyming slang for "Flying Squad". Produced by Thames Television subsidiary Euston Films for broadcast on the ITV network, it began as a television film Regan written by Ian Kennedy Martin, brother of Troy Kennedy Martin, who wrote several episodes and also the second film. Such was its popularity in the UK that it spawned two feature film spin-offs, Sweeney! and Sweeney 2. In the early 1990s repeats aired on UK Gold, but repeats currently air on ITV4
Donald Francis Henderson was an English actor of stage, television and screen. Henderson was known for playing both "tough guy" roles and authority figures, and is remembered for his portrayal of detective George Bulman between 1976 and 1987 in the popular Granada Television police drama series The XYY Man, Strangers, and Bulman, as priest Frank Kane in BBC drama The Paradise Club (1989–90), and as General Tagge in the first Star Wars film (1977). This last role also brought him attention from science fiction fans, and he later appeared in cult science fiction television series Red Dwarf and Doctor Who.
Inspector William Henderson is a supporting character in Superman comics published by DC Comics.
Eamonn Roderique Walker is a British film, television and theatre actor. In the United States he is known for playing Kareem Saïd in the HBO television series Oz, for which he won a CableACE Award, and Battalion Chief Wallace Boden on Chicago Fire and other shows within the Chicago franchise. In the United Kingdom, his notable roles have included Winston in the 1980s BBC series In Sickness and in Health, PC Malcolm Haynes in The Bill and John Othello in the 2001 ITV1 production of Othello.
The Last Detective is a British TV drama series, broadcast on ITV between 7 February 2003 and 31 May 2007, starring Peter Davison as the title character, Detective Constable "Dangerous Davies". The series is based on the "Dangerous Davies" series of novels written by Leslie Thomas, and was filmed in the north London suburbs of Willesden, Neasden and Harlesden. The gentle but engrossing nature of the series was in stark contrast to other hard-hitting police dramas of the time, but this appeared to be a winning formula, becoming a surprise rating success.
Water Rats is an Australian TV police procedural broadcast on the Nine Network from 1996 to 2001. The series was based on work of the men and women of the Sydney Water Police who fight crime around Sydney Harbour and surrounding locales. The show was set on and around Goat Island in Sydney Harbour.
Mark McManus was a Scottish actor. He was best known for playing the tough Glaswegian Detective Chief Inspector Jim Taggart in the long-running STV television series Taggart from 1983 until his death in 1994.
Sherlock Holmes is the overall title given to the series of Sherlock Holmes adaptations produced by the British television company Granada Television between 1984 and 1994. The first two series were shown under the title The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and were followed by subsequent series with the titles of other short story collections by Arthur Conan Doyle. The series was broadcast on the ITV network in the UK and starred Jeremy Brett as the famous detective. His portrayal remains very popular and is accepted by some as the definitive on-screen version of Sherlock Holmes.
Strangers is a British television crime drama series, principally written and created by Murray Smith, first broadcast on ITV on 5 June 1978. The series, featuring the characters of Detective Sergeant George Bulman and his assistant Detective Constable Derek Willis, was a spin-off from the 1976 TV series The XYY Man, adapted from the novels of Kenneth Royce. The series was first suggested by Granada Television executives, who in 1977, outlined their plan to devise a new series to feature the regular characters of Bulman and Willis.
"... I was sent here to be a stranger in town, a face they didn't recognise ..." - George Bulman
Bulman is a British television crime drama series, principally written and created by Murray Smith. It was first broadcast on ITV on 5 June 1985. The series, featuring retired ex-cop George Bulman and his assistant Lucy McGinty, was a spin-off from the 1978 TV series Strangers, itself a spin-off of the 1976 TV series The XYY Man, which was adapted from the novels of Kenneth Royce. Produced by Granada Television, Bulman ran for two series, with the final episode broadcast on 8 August 1987.
Kevin Stoney was an English actor. He was best known for his television roles, in which he became familiar for his "portrayal of establishment types".
The XYY Man began life as a series of novels by Kenneth Royce, featuring the character of William 'Spider' Scott, a one-time cat-burglar who leaves prison aiming to go straight but finds his talents still to be very much in demand by both the criminal underworld and the British secret service. Scott has an extra Y chromosome that supposedly gives him a criminal predisposition – although he tries to go straight, he is genetically incapable of doing so.
Detective Sergeant/Detective Inspector Robert "Robbie" Lewis is a fictional character in the Inspector Morse crime novels by Colin Dexter. The "sidekick" to Morse, Lewis is a detective sergeant in the Thames Valley Police, and appears in all 13 Morse novels. In the television adaptation, Inspector Morse, he is played by Kevin Whately. Following the conclusion of the series, Whately reprised the role as the lead character in Lewis, in which the character has been promoted to the rank of inspector.
Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Geoffrey "Tom" Barnaby is a fictional detective created by Caroline Graham and was one of the main characters in the ITV drama Midsomer Murders.
John Lovell Horsley was an English actor.
Kenneth Royce Gandley (1920–1997) was an English thriller writer who also wrote under name Ken Royce, and the pseudonym Oliver Jacks.
The Odd Man was a police series produced by Granada Television, running over four series between 1960 and 1963. The character of pompous police Chief Inspector Charles Rose at the start of series 3 cemented the show's popularity and The Odd Man turned out to be the first in a trilogy lasting most of the 1960s, during which Rose's character slowly developed and became increasingly genial as they progressed.
Murray Smith was a British television writer and producer. He was associated with many British films and TV shows, including the ITV series The XYY Man, Strangers and Bulman, all featuring actor Don Henderson in the role of George Bulman. Smith also wrote scripts for such series as The Sweeney, Minder, and Dempsey and Makepeace, and also wrote several novels.
Endeavour is a British television detective drama series. It is a prequel to the long-running Inspector Morse and, like that series, is set primarily in Oxford. Shaun Evans portrays the young Endeavour Morse beginning his career as a detective constable, and later as a detective sergeant, with the Oxford City Police CID.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
