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The Thin Blue Line | |
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Genre |
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Created by | Ben Elton |
Written by | Ben Elton |
Directed by | John Birkin |
Starring | |
Composer | Howard Goodall |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 2 |
No. of episodes | 14 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer | Peter Bennett-Jones |
Producers |
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Editors |
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Running time | 30 minutes |
Production company | Tiger Aspect Productions |
Original release | |
Network | BBC1 |
Release | 13 November 1995 – 23 December 1996 |
The Thin Blue Line is a British sitcom which aired on BBC1 from 1995 to 1996. It was created and written by Ben Elton, and starred Rowan Atkinson. It was ranked number 34 in a poll for Britain's Best Sitcom. In September 2021, the series became available on BBC iPlayer. [1]
The series is set in a police station in the fictional English town of Gasforth. The show sees the uniformed squad, led by Inspector Raymond Fowler (Atkinson), and the CID, led by Detective Inspector Derek Grim (David Haig), locking horns over similar, or even the same, issues while having conflicting views or methods of operations. Generally, the uniformed section triumphs over the detectives, although not without their own foibles. Although other PCs and staff other than the main characters are visible in the background, they generally have no speaking parts.
This section possibly contains original research .(August 2019) |
Many notable actors made guest appearances, and these include the writer Ben Elton, Stephen Fry, Stephen Moore, Melvyn Hayes, Trevor Peacock, Owen Teale, Colin McFarlane, Alan Cox, Alexander Armstrong, Nicola Stapleton, Perry Fenwick, Walter Sparrow, Geoffrey Chater, Gabrielle Blunt and Rupert Vansittart.
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
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1 | "The Queen's Birthday Present" | John Birkin | Ben Elton | 13 November 1995 | |
Inspector Fowler and Sergeant Dawkins should be celebrating their tenth anniversary together, but the Queen's official birthday and Fowler's complete remissness puts a spanner in the works. | |||||
2 | "Fire and Terror" | John Birkin | Ben Elton | 20 November 1995 | |
Constable Habib falls in love with a fireman and PC Goody is jealous. DI Grim is onto "a big case" while Inspector Fowler is constantly plagued by a hoaxer. | |||||
3 | "Honey Trap" | John Birkin | Ben Elton | 27 November 1995 | |
Dawkins is furiously jealous of Fowler's admiration for Habib, though mistakenly. While Fowler is preparing his team for the pub quiz, Grim has borrowed his star player, PC Habib. Can PC Goody take her place? And what will she look like in a miniskirt and will she succeed in nabbing the man Grim wants? | |||||
4 | "Rag Week" | John Birkin | Ben Elton | 4 December 1995 | |
The local college students get completely out of hand during their rag week. Meanwhile, Detective Inspector Grim is in a good mood when he has got a real life bank raid to deal with. | |||||
5 | "Night Shift" | John Birkin | Ben Elton | 11 December 1995 | |
Fowler reluctantly agrees to let his son Bill stay with him and Patricia for a few days. Patricia, unsatisfied and frustrated with Raymond, takes their matter to a sex therapist. Meanwhile, Grim is working with Scotland Yard against organised crime — and Fowler is most definitely NOT jealous. | |||||
6 | "Kids Today" | John Birkin | Ben Elton | 18 December 1995 | |
Fowler leads a camping trip for young offenders, but Grim plans a "short sharp shock". | |||||
7 | "Yuletide Spirit" | John Birkin | Ben Elton | 26 December 1995 | |
Grim is on the trail of some dangerous carol singers, and Goody proves that giving Christmas presents at work can be a bad idea. |
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
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8 | "Court in the Act" | John Birkin | Ben Elton | 14 November 1996 | |
Inspector Fowler prepares his force for the rigours of cross-examination in court, and Constable Goody tries out a fetching new uniform. | |||||
9 | "Ism Ism Ism" | John Birkin | Ben Elton | 21 November 1996 | |
The Mayoress informs Fowler that an illegal asylum seeker has taken refuge in the town. Grim meanwhile attempts to join a secret lodge. | |||||
10 | "Fly on the Wall" | John Birkin | Ben Elton | 28 November 1996 | |
A television crew come to Gasforth to make a documentary about policing "in the raw". | |||||
11 | "Alternative Culture" | John Birkin | Ben Elton | 5 December 1996 | |
Grim declares war on drugs. Meanwhile, a plumbing crisis at the station means the women have to share the men's locker room. | |||||
12 | "Come on You Blues" | John Birkin | Ben Elton | 12 December 1996 | |
13 | "Road Rage" | John Birkin | Ben Elton | 19 December 1996 | |
Gasforth's new bypass causes headaches for Inspector Fowler when his partner Patricia joins the road protestors. | |||||
14 | "The Green Eyed Monster" | John Birkin | Ben Elton | 23 December 1996 | |
Fowler thinks it is his turn for promotion. When Grim says the committee focus on married officers, Fowler decides to propose to Patricia. |
Creator and writer Ben Elton is a fan of Dad's Army , [2] and many of the characters were influenced by the show. Fowler's relationship with Grim is very similar to that of Captain Mainwaring to Warden Hodges, in that they are both on the same side yet enemies. Also, Constable Goody is rather like Private Pike in being a "stupid boy" who often irritates Fowler. Constable Gladstone's habit of interrupting a briefing with a story about life in Trinidad is similar to Lance Corporal Jones's penchant for reminiscing about Sudan during Captain Mainwaring's speeches. Other references include in the episode "Rag Week", when Fowler is briefly seen walking out of a shop called "Mainwaring's". [3] Elton has appeared in the programme himself, in the Christmas special episode "Yuletide Spirit". In the first series, the wanted poster behind Fowler's desk in the briefing room is an E-FIT of Elton.
Both series have been released on DVD in the United Kingdom (Region 2) by Vision Video Ltd. The Thin Blue Line is available in Region 1 (North America), having been released by BBC Warner. Episodes in the first series were not in broadcast order on both Region 1 and 2 DVDs. The Series 2 episodes in the Region 1 DVD are cut to fit about 30-minute runtime. The Region 1 release has English closed captions. The UK Region 2 does not have any subtitles. It was also released on DVD in Region 4 by Umbrella Entertainment.
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