Wednesday, May 29, 2013

A Cop Programme in Search of a Hero

Taggart is the strangest cop show in the history of the genre. Set in Glasgow, and first broadcast in 1983 with Mark McManus as the dour detective, the last episode of Taggart was broadcast less than 3 years ago - even though McManus died in 1994!




I was a great fan throughout its lengthy run, with two other senior detectives taking over the team, but under their "own" names. Taggart himself was as dead as McManus.

From quite early on there was a regular female character, but despite the promotion of male cops around her, she never made it above Detective Sergeant. In 20 bloody years!

It's gone now. Why it was called Taggart probably puzzled younger viewers. TV producers, eh?
at

4 comments:

  1. JoJo12:15 am

    Maybe it was some contractual thing with the network?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Eliza8:44 am

    I think it just became a brand..you heard 'Taggart' and you knew it was that Scottish police show. I can't say I was a fan, but then I haven't seen many episodes, might be something to put on the 'look for' list

    ReplyDelete
  3. val9:14 am

    It always had pretty gruesome murders. And towards the end the networks fell out for some reason. But I don't think anyone has contracts that run for over 15 years after the death of the main protagonist, JoJo.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous5:32 pm

    I think Eliza's probably right. I watched from start to finish, and because it was always called 'Taggart' I knew what I was getting - a bit like the 'Law and Order' franchise I suppose

    ReplyDelete