Different police shows have reflected the era in which they were filmed.
Macho US cop drama, Starsky and Hutch, in the 1970s, was vastly different from the latest British crime series, Trigger Point, which started its second series this year.
In between, there has been a continuous stream of fictional police shows, with a wide variety of lead characters dealing with crime in their own way.
1. Starsky and Hutch (1975-1979)
Created by American screenwriter and producer William Blinn for the ABC Network, Starsky and Hutch was the top TV crime drama of the 1970s.
Set in California, it starred Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul as two detectives, David Starsky and Kenneth “Hutch” Hutchinson.
Brooklyn-born Starsky was an intense military veteran, while Hutch was calmer and more intellectual. The duo saw plenty of action and high-speed car chases, but they also had a “buddy” relationship that created a new genre, as viewers warmed to the more rounded characters.
When filming ended in 1979, the series was syndicated and broadcast on various TV networks for the next 40 years.
In 2015, media reports claimed Starsky and Hutch had been modelled on two real-life New York police officers, John Sepe and Lou Telano. Like their screen counterparts, they went undercover to catch criminals, while speeding around in a red sports car and cultivating informants like Huggy Bear on the TV show.
They were largely unmonitored by superior officers, unlike in modern police departments.
2. The Bill (1984-2010)
Long-running British police drama series The Bill rumbled on for 26 years on ITV, following detectives at London’s fictional Sun Hill police station.
Created by British screenwriter Geoff McQueen in 1984, the show won BAFTAS, Inside Soap Awards and the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Award.
The Bill was grittier than its predecessors, concentrating on police procedures to keep the fictional investigations as true to reality as possible.
With 2,425 episodes across 26 series, the show often courted controversy and tackled hard-hitting subjects such as sexism, racism, homophobia and all types of horrific and violent crimes.
It was also the first police drama to feature women in all ranks, including female senior officers in charge of male detectives. One of the central characters, Sergeant June Ackland, was played for 24 years by actress Trudie Goodwin.
The show finally ended in 2010 due to declining viewer figures. During its 26-year run, it was praised for having shown how policing methods and technology had advanced since the 1980s, especially with the onset of computers and the internet.
3. A Touch of Frost (1992-2010)
Produced by Yorkshire Television, A Touch of Frost starred David Jason as experienced detective inspector William “Jack” Frost in the fictional English town of Denton.
The definitive ‘90s cop show was based initially on the series of Frost novels by English author Rodney Wingfield, running for 42 episodes over 15 series.
The main character, DI Frost, is portrayed in the TV series as a cynical and scruffy officer, who leaves his office, car and home in disarray.
In the novels, he’s depicted as being stern and intimidating. He also avoids paperwork, delegating it to others when possible. He doesn’t use his notebook, preferring to scribble on loose pieces of paper stuffed in his coat pocket.
As in the novels, the TV character of Frost isn’t entirely honest and is seen breaking the law, including planting evidence and searching properties without permission to get an arrest.
Frost was likened to a British version of America’s fictional cop Lieutenant Columbo in that he seemed disorganised, but always caught the criminals.
As the series reached the end of its run, fans and critics had a more negative response and claimed the ingenuity of the earlier episodes had been lost along the way.
4. Happy Valley (2014-2023)
Set in Yorkshire’s Calder Valley, Happy Valley starred Sarah Lancashire as divorced police officer and mother-of-two Catherine Cawood, whose personal and professional lives became entwined.
Cawood discovers the man who drove her daughter to commit suicide has been released from prison. She becomes obsessed with confronting him, unaware he’s already involved in another serious crime.
The plots dealt with hard-hitting crimes such as kidnap, murder, blackmail, human trafficking, drug abuse and domestic violence.
Written and created by English writer, director and producer Sally Wainwright, the series wasn’t based on any true-life events. However, she spoke to female police constable Lisa Farrand, an old friend from primary school, to gain an insight into her life.
Wainwright said Farrand was an important part of the show, as she would discuss the plots in relation to the police procedures.
The writer also said she was influenced by the 1980s UK police drama, Juliet Bravo. Wainwright said she “invented” the plots, but Farrand’s input had given Happy Valley more realism.
5. Trigger Point (2022-present)
Trigger Point is the most up-to-date police show currently on TV in the UK. Launched in 2022, it’s more of an action crime thriller than a traditional police drama.
To date, there have been two series, comprising 12 episodes. Written and created by Daniel Brierley for ITV, it stars Vicky McClure as Lana Washington, a London police bomb disposal expert.
The series tackles terrorism, but real bomb disposal experts say although the terrorists’ methodology appears realistic, the police procedures and technology sometimes miss the mark.
Lucy Lewis, the UK’s first female bomb disposal officer, says the equipment and scenarios are generally good, but when Washington flicks on a light switch, potentially triggering a bomb, it’s a “rookie mistake” and a “spitting out tea moment”.
Police safety protocols
While writers of police drama series do their best to make the action as realistic as possible, they don’t always get it right.
In the real world, safety protocols have been introduced over the decades, such as disposable gloves, which have become standard in police work today.
Available from police supplies stores, nitrile gloves are commonly used to preserve evidence and protect police from harmful bacteria.
They first became standard in Britain a century ago, on 2nd May 1924, after murderer Patrick Mahon was arrested at London’s Waterloo railway station for murdering his mistress Emily Kaye and carving up her body.
During the investigation, police officers were handling her body parts with their bare hands, prompting suggestions gloves should be worn in future for hygiene reasons.
Mahon was found guilty and executed in September 1924 and future police investigations required officers to wear rubber gloves.
While it would be hard to imagine Starsky and Hutch popping on a pair of rubber gloves amid their car chases and shoot-outs, The Bill adhered to safety procedures more readily.
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