Bergerac

I felt, after reading the ONE other review that I had to stick up for this show.

I remember reading that this show was coming to our screens and really wanting to watch it and absolutely adored it from the first moment, the beautiful locations, the gorgeous car (Triumph Roadster) and totally fell in love with John Nettles! (I was only 13) I even begged my folks to take me to Jersey - and we found a good deal and went! I read about other reviewers commenting on the ridiculously high body count but please remember that Jim worked for the Bureau Of Strangers, and most of the fatalities were visitors, course, he also appeared to investigate a lot of local crime...

Anyway, I loved this show and happily watch it during UKTV Gold re-runs and yes, its dated, but for me it brings back the old magic. Wonderful stuff.

Nowadays most younger television viewers would think of DCI Barnaby solving murders in the fictional yet dangerous Midsommer whenever the name John Nettles is mentioned. However his rise to fame came in the 1980's series Bergerac. Nettles played Detective Seargeant Jim Bergerac, a detective with Jersey's Bureau Des Etrangers. The background to this character was that he was a recovering alcoholic who had returned to his native Jersey following a serious accident whilst on duty and the breakdown of his marriage.

The background to Jim Bergerac was complex but was skillfully played by Nettles. His appearance was as a charismatic generally amiable character. His hardness usually came out when dealing with criminals or attempting to get information. His approach to solving crime is often unorthodox and usually against the wishes and orders of his superiors.

The most notable supporting character of the series is the cigar toting Charlie Hungerford played by Terence Alexander. The initial sniping between the two characters and the later friendship that develops between them is a nice diversion. Alexander also provided a slight comedic element to the show due to his money making schemes and other slightly shady dealings.

Bergerac was a good series for the 1980's and is still of a high quality today. It portrayed a seedy world under the glamour of tax exiles living in Jersey. It was filmed in a 50 minute format popular until 2000 which allowed it to be easily sold to commercial channels and as such it lacks a bit of substance compared to modern dramas. This does make it easy to watch as the crimes are easy to solve for the armchair detective. One thing that is grating though is the lack of conclusion to each episode or recrimination afterwards.

In general the series is still well worth watching even after nearly 30 years of debuting on television.

I agree with other readers who felt that Bergerac outlived his shelf life, but isn't this typical of the BBC when they realise they've got a hit on their hands? instead of letting a good idea run its natural course they flog it to death, detracting from the originality, which the earlier series certainly had. for all that, Bergerac is a well-crafted piece of TV. there was only one episode which I found truly awful, centring on a faded singer with a drink problem who meets up with his old duet-partner. cue jealous husband, dreadful singing, tragic demise and weak twist to the plot.the rest were either good or outstanding. I have no problem in recommending bergerac. watch, regardlessof the weather. bergerac is available on DVD from may 06 from the bbc shop.

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.

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!