WPC 56

The negative of the show is that much of it is predictable. The powerful men have to act macho and the woman is not respected as an equal. The woman has much better instincts as a copper than the men who've been on the police force for years. The worst of the coppers is, predictably, almost a 2-dimensional character, at least through the 2 seasons I've seen so far.

The positives include that there are some sensitive male characters who give Gina a chance. The supporting cast is excellent. The plots are interesting and appropriate to the times. And the attention to detail (sexism, racism, brutality, repressed sexuality, clothing, sets, hair styles, makeup, music, dialog) makes me almost believe it really is 1956 on the set.

Having lived through the 1950s (age 11 in 1956) I can attest that much of what we see on this show was very much like this. In many work places women were considered to be either eye-candy or efficient old maids who had no life outside of their employment, This continued well into the 60s until the women's movement had some clout. It would have been even more so for Gina who would have been about 10 years older than I was in 1956.

Gina's character has to be independent enough to take on a nontraditional job, tough enough to be a cop, yet still have a sensitive side. I think Jennie Jacques manages to pull it off well.

Jennie Jacques portrays all the ambitions, fears & acceptances of young women in 1956 England. I let myself go when watching the case solving, but I forget the plot when the camera is focused on her. I literally have to shake my head at times to follow the story.

I really like the scenes where she's not on camera. But from the first 5 minutes of episode one, she's the portrayed character I want to see next.

Not her fault, but Jennie Jacques' eyes are too magnetic. That said, the little known supporting cast are drawn from the deep well of British acting talent. This was Britain in 1956.

That I found Jennie Jacques' beauty distracting should not deter others from giving this a first viewing. She did what the writers & director dictated, & her performance is worthy of high praise.

I mark this down because of formulaic writing, but I mark it up because of the ensemble performances.

This is series worthy of watching.

There are some real Drama gems hidden away on daytime TV and WPC56 is certainly one of them. Why it's not on (or at least repeated) at a later time I'll never know.

Well written and performed it tracks the career of one of the first female police officers back in the 50's.

The show certainly looks the part in terms of set and costumes and the one a day style of episode screening only makes the cliffhangers that little bit more gripping.

Maybe in their wisdom the BBC will recommission the show for a third series or even better show it in an early evening slot. It would not look out of place against some of the other,bigger name Dramas.

The series is about Gina Dawson's, who is one of the first WPCs(Woman Police Constable), life as female police officer at precinct where dominated by male in West Midlands. Naturally She faces some difficulties as a woman because time is 1950s and it is the peak of the sexism and also awaking of the male protest. WPC 56's genre contains both drama and comedy and also beauty of the Jennie Jacques. There is an aspect, a thing thing that I can distinguish WPC 56 than other TV series. İt is not about the story telling or acting performance. Even I do like the both of them, there is an original shade in TV series. Both TV series focuses the female police officer's life and her life that is made difficult by her family, colleagues and dominant culture ideology of her community at that years, WPC 56 shows us and it take us an journey that how conditions of woman in business are in first. Also it offers us a compression about woman in the field that dominated by male between past and present. Consequently it is a great series to witness an era and discover how the woman rights and woman in business life comes far from past to present. I hope that there are more TV shows like WPC 56. I like that kind of series that there is real cause to makes it. So I rate it 8/10 because it deserves that. Acting, storytelling, scenario and reflection of an era when tells struggle of women are very fascinating.

The worst thing about this series is the highly irritating harmonica in the theme song and incidental music. It's at a high pitch and grates the nerves. Thank goodness for the "Skip Intro" button in BritBox. I had to skip past the incidental music within the show to avoid it as I couldn't bear it anymore. It's amazing how background music can ruin an entire series.