Taggart

When it was first broadcast all those years ago in 1983, as a mini-series named Killer, Glasgow was very much a city of ship building, heavy engineering and manufacturing - most of which for various reasons was in terminal decline.

Killer caught the character of that city that is now long gone - the cranes, dingy streets, sawdust pubs, old tenements and schemes - and that's been the one constant in Taggart. The evolving face of the city of Glasgow...and it's implicable, unchanging, nature.

The late Mark McManus - in a first rate performance - perfectly eptimisoed the lead character and his city - hard drinking, hard bitten, tough and laconic; yet possessing a dry humour, savviness and a very real decency. In his obituary McManus was described as a sensitive, intelligent man a world away from the character - and as fondly regarded as he was by many Glaswegians, fame did not come easily to McManus. Very sadly, his association with the role led to some verbal abuse and physical harassment. Towards the end of his life he went through a series of difficult breavements.

The other lead player was always Glasgow. It's fascinating watching the evolution of Glasgow over the course of each season. Perhaps my favourite episode was 'Root of Evil' set against the backdrop of debt collectors, Morningside (in Edinburgh) and the immensely popular but now almost forgotten 1988 Garden Festival. It was great stuff...as was 'Evil Eye', ' Flesh and Blood', 'Double Jeopardy' and 'Hostile Witness'.

Also noteworthy was the guest appearances and cameos. Alan Cumming, Robert Carlyle, Diane Keen, John Hannah, Jill Gascoigne and Celia Imrie - very striking as a gangster's moll - all made welcome appearances.

Taggart was more than just a hard copper. Inspired from Glasgow's literature, particularly William McIlvanney's subtle, underrated Laidlaw series - another detective with many of Taggart's characteristics. Any coincidence that the theme song was 'No Mean City'?

In short the McManus era is definitely a worthwhile watch. It's currently playing on UK Drama - I certainly catch it when I can.

It's several years now since Taggart ended, and it's still a great watch. It spanned many years, and had different phases, in my opinion the early years with Mark McManus were the best, the dark, gritty writing, coupled with the charisma of the original Detective are a winning combination. I enjoyed the later years also, but wish they'd stuck with the longer running times, the character development in the earlier years was tremendous.

Some wonderful episodes over the years, my personal favourite Death Call had all of the elements, drama, crazed killers and a complex story, but there were many classics, Nest of Vipers, A Death Foretold and Gingerbread, I could go on, there were many.

Many wonderful guest and regular performances over the years, Blythe Duff shone over the years, she was the glue that held it all together, when she was given great material she performed amazingly.

It did seem to end at the right time, the last series was poor, particularly when compared to episodes from the show's glory years. I think it's still the longest running Detective series, will Midsomer Murders overtake it?

I love the accents, landscapes and views of Scotland.

Excellent series 9/10

Taggart is definitely the best of these British murder mystery police shows. Inspector Morse is good, but Taggart takes the cake due to its huge body count and fantastic Scottish accents. The body count is the major thing lacking in series like Morse and the woeful Inspector Wexford. With Taggart, we are barely given a chance to come up with a suspect for one murder and suddenly someone else has copped it and throws a spanner in the works. Excellent show.

Taggart is total murder fantasy land.Lord knows what the body count is for all the series but it must be substantial.It is usually written to a formula of a whodunnit with one grisly murder following another before the killer is revealed(usually predictable). Mark McManus, who played the part of Jim Taggart up until his untimely death,was quite remarkable. He must have been one of the stiffest actors ever, more wooden than a Californian Redwood. Ironically though, he was perfect for the part of the gruff detective with no time for small talk. The show and its formula became such a brand that it kept the name even after McManus and the character of Taggart both passed away.Every possible angle in the twilight world of homicide seems to have been covered but still they manage to come up with different stories though these are appearing more laboured in recent years despite being superb entertainment. So Taggart continues. Who could imagine Kojak without Kojak or Columbo without Columbo ? As long as there are murders in Maryhill Taggart's old colleagues will have a place.

Over the years, I've grown weary for the depressing drudge that British television companies churn out and have turned to American imports for entertainment. However, never once have I tired of watching a 'Taggart' episode as it's a show that's never been less that great.

Set in Glasgow, the shows sees Maryhill CID investigating the various homicide cases that cross their desks. The team was initially headed by DCI Jim Taggart (played by Mark McManus) with Mike Jardine and Jackie Reid as his underlings but, after McManus' death in 1994, Jardine took command which, in turn, passed onto DCI Matt Burke whose character is much like an incarnate of Taggart.

'Taggart' excels because the story lines are intriguing, continually leaving viewers guessing over the murderer's identity right to the end of the episode, and the characters are solid and engaging without unnecessarily delving deep into their personal lives (many detective and medical shows have been ruined by focusing too much on the characters' love lives and their sad, pathetic childhoods). There is also the dry Glasgow wit that provides an injection of humour to the show as, after all, there can't be many programmes out there where people are referred to as 'tinkies', 'baldie' or 'deid'! It's no surprise this is Britain's longest-running detective show and it's the strength of 'Taggart' that saw it survive after Mark McManus' death and, subsequently, the death of the title character. Long may it continue!