Dempsey and Makepeace

Dempsey & Makepeace.

This series can be considered to be the original Remington Steele. Dempsey & Makepeace had great chemistry, Makepeace with the brains and Dempsey with the mouth. If you are not too much into serious police procedures and details, you will enjoy this show. Most of the shooting (both with camera and guns) takes place on location in London city.

Glynis Barber, as Sgt. Harry Makepeace, was extremely beautiful, always smartly dressed and from an aristocratic background while Michael Brandon, as Lt. James Dempsey, was handsome and witty with his accent and the love for his weapon, sent over from NYPD on an exchange.

Watching the ridiculous, but funny "Keen Eddie: (on Fox) last night made me think about D&M and how wonderful it was. We got to see 20 of the 29 episodes produced and they ran as a syndicated show during the fall of 1985. Unfortunately the remaining shows didn't make it over here. Michael Brandon and Glynis Barber had tremendous on-screen chemistry (which eventually carried off-screen as they got married), and the writing, location shooting, directing, and acting were top notch. Dempsey's character was an no-nonsence action guy, who often had a hard time with the stiff rigid ways of Scotland Yard. Makepeace, on the other hand, though by the book on the job, was a wild society dame after hours, which took Dempsey a while to adjust too. I would like to see the final 9 episodes to see if D&M's sexual tension finally resulted in them "closing the deal"!!! I wonder if this marvelous show will ever show up in re-runs?

I watched Dempsey & Makepeace when I was small (10-12 years, I don't remember) and I loved this series. Few days ago, I've noticed they are repeating it on our TV station and I was very happy to see it again. I like it even more than before. I love this series. It is gorgeous.

The plot of every episode is quite exciting and interesting. It is always something new and original. I have never be bored during watching this series. I think it's quite realistic. They don't shoot so much and if so, watching them is so exciting. I love Dempsey and Makepeace's sense of humor. It should be serious but when they say something funny, it is great and I am laughing like I would watch a comedy :) The actors are marvelous. They are playing in such a beautiful style. I love their cars! 1980's Fords are so cool! Especially Makepeace' Escort 1.6i cabriolet. Really nice cars. In Slovakia (my country), our actors have done one of the best Slovak dubbing for Dempsey & Makepeace, ever! I would love to hear the original D&M voices, too.

This little 80's-era cop series was elevated by the performance and (obvious) skillful additional writing done by the cast. It was one of the earlier U.K. imports to be played on commercial TV for U.S. audiences (as opposed to public TV like PBS). Those that saw it loved the over-the-top action and smooth, seductive style of Michael Brandon's no-nonsense Brooklyn cop, Dempsey. His counterpart, Makepeace, is the Sloaney skirt who is annoyed by the brash New Yorker's style, but can't quite seem to hate him because he's not only witty, but has good police skills. The chemistry between the Bensonhurst Badboy and the Upper Crusty Lady Makepeace heats up as the seasons progress. The other critical ingredient to the success of this project was (Ray Smith) Gordon Spikings character who is consistently yelling and dropping the hammer on one person or another, as the commander of the unit. Lots of gunplay, explosions, and stunts. Character-wise, it has a flavor not wholly unlike Scarecrow and Mrs. King, which is of a similar vintage. Ironically, the Brits espouse an anti-gun sensibility and create a cop character that fires his .357 revolver at absolutely EVERYTHING - even if he doesn't have a clean shot. As of 2010, there is no region 1 (USA) DVD commercially available from the series. An unfortunate oversight on the part of the owners, since even a small fan base here in the U.S. is as big as a large fan base in another country. They are overlooking the opportunity to re-purpose this content.

...This series wasn't so bad. I used to hate it, when shown during the mid '80s. But seeing it again on one of the UK satellite channels at the moment, I realise how good they were. Almost comparable to The Professionals, in style and content, as that show also had two leads ((both male) who antagonised one another. I especially like Dempsey's sexist bit of banter towards Makepeace. Spikings makes for a good Cowley too.

I remember one episode title (Makepeace, Not War) very clearly.