Produced at the BBC's Pebble Mill Studios in Birmingham by David Rose, Gangsters began its television life as an edition of Play for Today in 1975, followed by two series transmitted in 1976 and 1978. The series, set in the multi-cultural criminal community of Birmingham, has remained a cult favourite, memorable for its strong violence, multi-ethnic cast (and realistic – and now rather shocking – depiction of the racism of the time) and highly stylised, post-modern approach to storytelling.[citation needed]
The two series had quite different tones. The first was a gritty thriller whilst the second was more surreal, with more emphasis on the post-modern elements although it wasn't well received at the time.[citation needed]
The website notaslgiacentral.com said of the series that it ".. featured references to film noir, gangster films, westerns, Bollywood and kung fu movies, as well as increasingly surreal end-of-episode cliffhangers and a bizarre final scene where the characters not only "break the fourth wall" but walk off the set."[2]
Cast
John Kline (Maurice Colbourne) – a tough, shady former SAS soldier recently released from prison who becomes embroiled in the intrigues of the local underworld while attempting to go straight.
Khan (Ahmed Khalil) – police detective who uses Kline as a pawn in his bid to nail the organised crime syndicates of Birmingham.
Anne Darracott (Elizabeth Cassidy) – a young woman and former heroin addict who becomes Kline's live-in lover.
Aslam Rafiq (Saeed Jaffrey) – the charismatic boss of a racket trafficking illegal immigrants.
Dinah Carmichael (Tania Rogers) – an ex-prostitute turned stripper working at The Maverick. Is Kline's first love interest.
Sarah Gant (Alibe Parsons) – glamorous undercover CIA agent out to nail the drugs trade in the city, with a private mission to avenge the murder of her sister.
Malleson (Paul Barber) – a former thug who takes over his boss’s underworld empire after he is killed and proves to be a formidable adversary of Kline and Khan.
Dermot Mcavoy (Paul Antrim) – Kline's treacherous Irish business partner, who is connected with the IRA.
Lily Li Tang (Chai Lee) – the daughter of Shen Tang, who assists her father in the running of the triad.
Rolf Day (Rolf Day) – The racist night club comedian who performs in the Rum Runner night club.
The series's writer, Philip Martin, also appeared in multiple roles, playing the gangland boss Rawlinson in the original play, the hired assassin 'The White Devil' at the end of season two (though Martin was credited as Larson E Whipsnide, a reference to his W. C. Fields-inspired performance as the character), and as himself, dictating the script to a typist, in cutaways throughout season two.
Gangsters – broadcast on 9 January 1975, repeated on 2 September 1976
Series One (1976)
Incident One – broadcast on 9 September 1976
Incident Two – broadcast on 16 September 1976
Incident Three – broadcast on 23 September 1976
Incident Four – broadcast on 30 September 1976
Incident Five – broadcast on 14 October 1976
Incident Six – broadcast on 21 October 1976
Series Two (1978)
The Dictates of Shen Tang – broadcast on 6 January 1978
The Red Executioner – broadcast on 13 January 1978
While Beauty Sleeps – broadcast on 20 January 1978
Double Peril – broadcast on 27 January 1978
Enter the White Devil – broadcast on 3 February 1978
East of the Equator – broadcast on 10 February 1978
Music
The theme music was an instrumental composed and performed by Dave Greenslade. It was released as a single with a character theme from the series, "Rubber Face, Lonely Eyes", on the B-side; the single was credited to Dave Greenslade's band Greenslade, even though the only performers on both tracks are Dave Greenslade and a session drummer. Greenslade recorded their own version of the song for their album Time and Tide. At David Rose's request, for the last series Dave Greenslade adapted it into a version with lyrics sung by Chris Farlowe.[3]
DVD release
The complete series of Gangsters was released on DVD (Region 2, UK) through 2 Entertain/Cinema Club in April 2006. According to Philip Martin,[4] the box set became a collector's item after the company went bust. The series has to date not been re-issued and goes for high prices.
Novelisations
Philip Martin novelised the series several times:
Gangsters: No 1 (1977) - covers the original Play for Today.
Gangsters: No 2 (1978) - covers the first series
Philip Martin's Gangsters: A Lust for Life (2017) - covers the Play for Today and the first series
Philip Martin's Gangsters: Deathtouch (2021) - published posthumously, it covers the second series.
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