Taggart

Taggart is now officially the longest running cop show on British T.V. and indeed has been on for 3/4 of my lifetime. There are several reasons for its longevity but surely the main one is the underlying grim humour that enhances every episode. While it was undoubtedly at it's peak in the Mark "there's been a muurder" McManus years, it has recently returned to peak form with the introduction Alec Norton as the "heid man." Norton combines McManus's tough demeanor with an acting ability that outweighs his predecessor. But then McManus didn't need to be an Al Pacino, he WAS the character, dour and caustic. The other characters always provided a little colour along with occasionally convoluted personal lives. However the real star in Taggart was always Glasgow. while Glasgow has changed greatly since the '80's the city's character and natural humour always shines through. The title song puts it that "this is no mean town, this is no mean city", well it's obviously a mean enough city to sustain a 22 year murder series without ever really seeming unbelievable like the village of "Midsomer Murder" which has a body count higher than New York's! All in all a good cop show and one that as long as it can keep Alec Norton, should continue for a few more years yet.

Yes, it's still called Taggart even though the man has been dead for more than 11 years. Jim Taggart was a grumpy old fashioned detective who got the job done but not until the mortuary was full !. His successors have fared no better. I loved the fact that his boss Detective Chief Superintendent McVitie was know as ' The Biscuit' Taggart was replaced by his protégé Michael Jardine who was nothing like a Detective I have ever seen. The present incumbent, Matt Burke is more in the Jim Taggart mode. For the past 15 years the female lead has been Blythe Duff. More recent additions have been DI Robbie Ross and DC Stuart Fraser. This makes one officer for each rank, more sheriffs than cowboys really. None the less, a great Police drama.

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.

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.