Juliet Bravo

Juliet Bravo reminds me so much of my youth in the early 80's. I watched the series without fail every Saturday night. I did enjoy it more when Stephanie Turner was starring in it, somehow when she left at the end of the third series, the show never seemed the same again. I've recently purchased the Dvds of the show, and it has been a joy to watch all over again. although a couple of the episodes show how dated it is, i find its just enjoyable now as it was then. David Ellison was also good as Sgt Beck, he was very aloof and i don't think he ever got used to a woman in a higher position than him. If people get the chance they should check out the series and they may too find it enjoyable.

This series was THE Police drama of the early eighties and in many ways managed to be groundbreaking and traditional. It relied on the tried and tested format of studio interiors and location film but also addressed in its time a number of emerging crime issues. The big issue initially was the fact that the Insp was female and yet due to excellent performances from both leading women it was their professional ability that shone through. It did pull some punches and was the first primetime Saturday night series that I recall that dealt with the effects of heroin that was rampant in Britain at the time. Dodgy as it seems my fondest memory is of Anne Cateret stood in her tights ironing her Police skirt. Many a male fan would agree!

I have just been revisiting this series on the Drama channel, I haven't seen it since the original broadcast. Sure it is dated in production values but the stories were well written and the acting was in most cases top hole. In those days the idea of a female in charge was a new idea. Now days it is the norm where every cop show now has the female as the boss (Midsomer Murders excepted and if that ever changes I will turn off) Not that I am against strong women in charge (I love Vera) just that it is over done now. The worst case being Scott and Bailey where if the women in the series were treated like the men are there would be an uproar!.

I will step off my soapbox now as I digress. JB is a product of the time, I'm still on series one as it is being re-shown. Most of them have been excellent, fab to see some well known faces in early roles. Of course if you compare it to today's productions it looks very amateur in production values but the stories still hold your interest.

This TV series was churned out by the BBC in the early eighties. It centered around a female inspector, two sergeants and various constables set in the fictitious northern town of Hartley. Everything about this series was depressing, the story lines, the characters and the general drearyness of the landscape. I had to watch this as a child because my mother was addicted to it but why it went on so long nobody really knows. You only find it now on some of the more obscure satellite stations. For old times sake I did actually view one the other day and yes it was just as grim as it had always been. This series took over from Z Cars as the BBC police series. That wasn't very good either ......

I think welshNick is rather hard on Juliet Bravo. In my view, some excellent characters were created: Inspectors Jean Darblay and Kate Longton, both striving to be so much better than the male officers around them, just so they would be perceived as being as good as their colleagues; Joe Beck, gruff, stolid but with a heart of gold – especially in episode 2.13 "Catching Up" when he has to choose between doing his duty as a policeman and turning in an old mate for dangerous driving, and in episodes 5.12 "Ducks In A Row" and 5.13 "Resolution" when he is accused of involvement in a death in custody.

The very last episode 6.16 "Reason for Leaving" was intensely poignant, with its atmosphere of "it's Christmas and all's right with the world", following by its shock ending: one of the few times where Kate Longton broke down in tears and oh-so-formal Mark Perrin unbent a little and comforted her.

Yes the production values were a bit naff in places: it suffered from the standard technique, common to many late 1970s / early 1980s programmes, of combining gaudy studio interiors on video with blurred, grainy, flickery, drab film – sometimes with hilarious continuity errors between the two! But I thought it was great.

I wish they'd bring it out on VHS or DVD.