Taggart

Taggart
Current Cast
Genre	Drama
Created by	Glenn Chandler
Starring	Blythe Duff, Colin McCredie, John Michie, Alex Norton
Country of origin	Scotland
No. of series	23
No. of episodes	87
Production
Producer(s)	SMG Productions
Running time	60 - 120 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	ITV
Original run	6 September, 1983 – present

Taggart is a long-running Scottish detective television programme, created by Glenn Chandler (who has written many of the episodes), and made by SMG Productions (STV) for the ITV network. Taggart is a Glaswegian detective television programme, originally set and filmed in the area of Maryhill police station in Glasgow, Scotland, but is internationally famous and is now translated into many languages including Dutch, French and Japanese. The series revolves around a group of detectives in the Maryhill CID. It is the Britain's longest continually running Police drama [1], though the pilot of another ITV police drama, The Bill, aired one month before the first episode of Taggart.

The Scottish English used by the characters in the show have been the subject of a number of skits, including a long running Tennents lager advert where CG-animated pints of Tennents played Taggart characters. A common one-line parody of the entire show is "There's been a murder!" pronounced with an extremely thick Glasgow accent rolling the 'r' in murder.

The programme is considered in France as part of the 'film noir' genre due to its dark and grim storylines.

History

A promotional picture of Mark McManus as "TAGGART"

The pilot episode, "Killer", broadcast in 1983, introduced the character of Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Jim Taggart (played by Mark McManus until his death in 1994), a tough and experienced detective who had worked his way up through the ranks. His original sidekick was Detective Sergeant (DS) Peter Livingstone (Neil Duncan), who represented the new breed of young graduates entering the police force. Taggart's boss was Superintendent Jack McVitie (Iain Anderson), nicknamed The Biscuit as a play on his surname and a popular brand of biscuits. Another important character was Taggart's long-suffering, crippled, wheelchair-bound wife Jean (Harriet Buchan) whose disability did not prevent her from pursuing a number of interests in life, while her cynical husband stuck mainly to his job.

In 1987 the character of Mike Jardine (James MacPherson) was introduced, and when Neil Duncan left the series in 1989, a new female sidekick, Jackie Reid (Blythe Duff) was introduced.

McManus died in 1994 in the middle of filming an episode. His absence was explained by the claim that Taggart was in constant meetings with the Chief Constable. Jardine had meanwhile been promoted to Detective Inspector and DC Stuart Fraser (Colin McCredie) was introduced, becoming the long-suffering sidekick to Jardine, former long-suffering sidekick to Taggart. DI Robbie Ross (John Michie) joined the team in 1998. Fraser was later revealed to be gay.

When MacPherson left the series in 2002, his character was killed off, and replaced with DCI Matt Burke, formerly of Special Branch (played by Alex Norton who had previously appeared in the series playing a murder suspect in the 1986 episode, "Knife Edge"). Alex Norton's Matt Burke character has gained widespread critical acclaim, many believing him to be the first credible successor to McManus's original Taggart character.

Much was made of the platonic relationship between Jardine and Reid, with the two being shown to share a brother/sister-like bond. Both pursued a number of relationships with other characters over the years. Reid even got married, but later separated from her husband. The personal relationships of the police officers in this series are shown as nothing to be envious of. Reid once described herself, Burke, Ross and Fraser as three divorcees and a celibate homosexual.

Guest appearances

Actors appearing on Taggart episodes over the years include Isla Blair, Billy Boyd, Robert Carlyle, Linda (Muchan) Carmichael Annette Crosbie, Alan Cumming, Henry Ian Cusick, Barbara Dickson, Jill Gascoine, Hannah Gordon, Clare Grogan, John Hannah, Jason Isaacs, Diane Keen, Ann Mitchell, Peter Mullan, Ashley Jensen, Amanda Redman, Dougray Scott, Fish, Morag Hepburn, Ewen Bremner, Celia Imrie, and Ken Stott.

Quotes

• From the episode "Cold Blood" (1987):

Taggart: "Yer brains'll be oan the pavement unless ye help us!!!" (Taggart dealing with jovial remarks made by a hot dog seller who is reluctant to co-operate)

• From the episode "Violent Delights" (1990):

Taggart: "Oh my goad (God)........wimmen polis!!!" (shortly after DC Reid has mistakenly boarded a London-bound train and ended up in the middle of nowhere [it turned out to be Carstairs Junction])

• From the episode "Funeral Rites" (1987)

Taggart: "You trying to make his day?" (looks down into the quarry) "Well, that's the easy part of it."

Jardine: "Easy?"

Taggart: (smiles) Now I have to go home and tell Jean she needs a new hairdresser."

• From the episode "Babushka" (1998)

Reid: "These were bought recently." (after finding women's clothes while looking for evidence.)

Jardine: "How do you know?"

Reid: "It's called fashion, Michael."

Theme music

The programme's theme music is "No Mean City" composed by Mike Morran and performed by Maggie Bell, formerly a member of Stone the Crows.

External links

• Taggart at itv.com
• Taggart at smgproductions.tv
• Taggart Fan Club
• Taggart at the Internet Movie Database

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