Bergerac

This is probably the last comment I'll write from England, as I'm flying back home to America after a year here in a couple of days. Unfortunately, that also means I'll be flying away from Bergerac on the BBC. I discovered this marvelous old detective show a short time ago, and since then I've enjoyed every episode of the programme I've seen. John Nettles is so cool and calm in the title role, and the cast of regulars is fun to watch and full of life. The plots are interesting, though not overly contrived. As much as I enjoy reading Agatha Christie books (and watching BBC adaptations of them), I sometimes find her plots a little too twisty for their own good. Bergerac's plots don't suffer this [ever-so-slight] malady. The scenery on the island of Jersey is beautiful, though I don't know whether it was filmed there or not. One might suspect (and hope!) that the crime-rate is somewhat less than represented in the show, but since watching Bergerac, I seriously want to visit the island and find out for myself. Also, if I do manage to visit Jersey sometime down the road, I have reason to believe I'll be able to pick up the BBC signal and watch re-runs of Bergerac to my heart's content! I recommend this police detective show to anyone who enjoys British television drama or detective shows. One last thing: I really love the tune they play at the end of the show. Hope I can get a recording of that sometime!

Bergerac established John Nettles as one of the most famous television actors in the 1980s, something that he has continued to this day, although more recently in the considerably more pedestrian Midsomer Murders.

Bergarac certainly benefited from some excellent input from a remarkably broad range of quality TV figures like Robert Banks Stewart, Robert Holmes, Tristan DeVere Cole, Chris Boucher, Dennis Spooner, Tony Dow, Matthew Robinson, Bob Baker and Geoffrey Sax etc, and location filming on Jersey was regarded as rather exotic at the time.

I think I ought to correct Scooby-57's comment that this show made Louise Jameson famous. She was already very famous from her regular role in Doctor Who when the show regularly attracted about 13 million viewers and also her role in Tenko.

I have to agree with one of the reviewers here who said: "... the fact remains that John Nettles as Jim Bergerac was and is a surprising success story. I like it and so do millions of others but i feel that no one has really ever explained quite why."

I did like it - how could I not, it has John Nettles. What was interesting to me is that this series made him the European Telly Savalas, but while Bergerac is a good show with beautiful Jersery scenery and Nettles, there isn't anything about its stories or characters that screams "megahit." It's much more low-key than something like Kojack, and his character has no 'who loves ya baby' or lollipops in his mouth, he isn't hard up for cash like Rockford and living in a trailer and dealing with crazy Angel, he's not a brilliant slob like Columbo - If you're expecting some big, flamboyant show, this isn't it.

Throughout the years, the Bergerac character goes through quite a few girlfriends. In the early seasons, he never seemed to like or get along with his ex-father-in-law Charlie Hungerford, portrayed by Terence Alexander. He and his ex-wife Deborah (Deborah Grant) are civil to one another, but then in another season it looked like they might get back together. Later on she and the daughter are basically off the show and Bergerac and his father-in-law are good buddies. Characters come and go, with the regulars being Sean Arnold as Bergerac's boss, Bergerac himself, and Charlie. Later on, Louise Jameson enters as Bergerac's love interest, Susan Young.

I think the secret is Nettles - attractive, with a great voice and a wonderful presence, he was captivating as DCI Barnaby in Midsomer Murders and charming and no-nonsense as Bergerac. He radiates a sexy warmth. I don't know what I was expecting from Bergerac, but when I read it was a huge hit and starred Nettles, I had to see it. I thought to myself, why was this a huge hit? But I kept watching.

I really love watching old episodes of this and think it's a shame that UKTV are not showing every episode. I think the first series was great and although the show lost its way a bit for the next few series, it did pick up again in the late 1980s with a few standout shows. I agree with a previous reader that the episode with the mercenary is good, as is the flashback one to WW2, and the one where he goes to London and has a great scene in St paul's cathedral with that Scottish actor who used to be in everything. Also good are the later episodes in France. Strange to see Bergerac's girlfriend from series 1 turning up nearly 20 years later with Sean Bean in Sharpe! Also the production values in the later series were so much higher. All in all great nostalgia and interesting social history of the 1980s, Jim always wakes up with Terry Wogan's breakfast show for example, possibly the only detective to do this. But the fact remains that John Nettles as Jim Bergerac was and is a surprising success story. I like it and so do millions of others but i feel that no one has really ever explained quite why.

Before (and in some cases after) Bergerac BBC dramas were pathetically low budget and often set in over-lit and wobbly studio-sets that were a throwback to a theatre tradition that television needed to take a step, a cinematic step indeed, away from.

Bergerac was instrumental in changing that. What makes it take this leap is that every scene is outside broadcast. If the scene is in an office in a police station, then it is filmed in an office. It may seem a small thing, but compare it to other BBC dramas of the time, like Juliet Bravo, and you will see how Bergerac stands the test of time and they fail.

John Nettles is superb in the lead role, but as ever, for a series like this to work, it is the supporting actors that make the difference and these are in two categories. Firstly, the regulars who are good and fun, especially Charlie Hungerford, a more subtle and plausible Arthur Daley character, and Barney Crozier, one of the world's most grumpy men, but one who you still are able to have a little time for. Secondly, the guest actors, and these read like a checklist of British dramatic talent, either classic stars making guest appearances (Beryl Reid, Sir Norman Wisdom, Richard Griffiths) or a host of younger actors who were on the cusp of being household names (Ray Winston, Resse Dinsdale, Louise Jameson, Lisa Goddard).

A decade is a long time, but the quality of Bergerac never failed throughout its ten years (which almost mirrored Mrs Thatcher's term as PM; it makes the series interesting social history for that golden decade as well as drama). Outstanding.