Softly, Softly (TV series)
Softly, Softly | |
---|---|
Created by | Troy Kennedy Martin |
Directed by | Ridley Scott |
Starring |
Stratford Johns Frank Windsor |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
No. of series | 5 |
No. of episodes | 120 |
Production | |
Running time | 50 minutes |
Release | |
Original network | BBC1 |
Original release | 5 January 1966 – 13 November 1969 |
Softly, Softly is a British television drama series, produced by the BBC and screened on BBC 1 from January 1966. It was created as a spin-off from the hugely successful series Z-Cars which ended its fifth series run in December 1965. The series took its name from the proverb "Softly, softly, catchee monkey", the motto of Lancashire Constabulary Training School.[1] It was filmed in the Medway Towns in Kent, and the opening titles showed the bridge over the River Medway at Rochester.
Series Outline
Softly, Softly centred on the work of regional police crime squads, plain-clothes CID officers based in the fictional region of Wyvern, supposedly in the Bristol area of England. It was designed as a vehicle for Detective Chief Inspector Charles Barlow and Detective Inspector John Watt (played by Stratford Johns and Frank Windsor respectively) from the police series Z-Cars, which had just finished its original run in December 1965 (no new episodes were produced in 1966 but it was revived in a different format the following year). Joining them in the early series was Robert Keegan as Blackitt, the police station sergeant from Z-Cars, now retired and acting as a freelance helper. The series introduced characters like Sgt Harry Hawkins (Norman Bowler) who would become very popular and well known. Promoted to Detective Chief Inspector, Hawkins stayed with the show for its entire run.
Shorter-lived regular characters in the series early years included Alexis Kanner as DC Matt Stone. Although popular with audiences, Kanner appears to have alienated cast and crew with erratic behaviour during live recordings, and the character was dropped after only nine episodes. He later played the recalcitrant Number 48 in the final episode of The Prisoner.
The first two series continued the trend set by producer David Rose with Z-Cars, and transmitted the majority of episodes live. This was one of the last long-running British TV series to do this. From series three onwards all episodes were pre-recorded.
Theme Music
The original theme music was, like Z-Cars, a folk-song arrangement by Fritz Spiegl. It was released as a single (credited to the London Waits) on Andrew Loog Oldham's "Immediate" record label in 1966.
Archive status
Much of the original Softly, Softly is lost, especially from the first two seasons, many of which were transmitted live.
Series rundown
Series | Date From | Date To | Episode Count | Duration |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 5 January 1966 | 29 June 1966 | 26 | 50 minutes |
2 | 2 November 1966 | 31 May 1967 | 31 | 50 minutes |
3 | 4 October 1967 | 4 April 1968 | 26 | 50 minutes |
4 | 12 September 1968 | 13 March 1969 | 27 | 50 minutes |
5 | 11 September 1969 | 13 November 1969 | 10 | 50 minutes |
Cast
Actor | Character | Years Active | Series Active | Episode Count |
---|---|---|---|---|
Stratford Johns | DCS Charlie Barlow | 1966-1969 | 1-5 | 91 |
Frank Windsor | DI/DCI John Watt | 1966-1969 | 1-5 | 84 |
Robert Keegan | Mr Bob Blackitt | 1966-1967 | 1-2 | 42 |
John Welsh | ACC Bill Calderwood | 1966-1967 | 1-2 | 24 |
Garfield Morgan | DCI Gwyn Lewis | 1966 | 1 | 19 |
Norman Bowler | DS Harry Hawkins | 1966-1969 | 1-5 | 75 |
Gilbert Wynne | DC Reg Dwyer | 1966-1967 | 1-3 | 43 |
Cavan Kendall | PC Greenly | 1966 | 1 | 14 |
Dan Meaden | DC Ben Box | 1966-1968 | 1-4 | 49 |
Eric McCaine | Insp./CI Andy Laird | 1966-1969 | 1-4 | 18 |
John Barron | ACC Austin Gilbert | 1966-1969 | 2-5 | 52 |
David Quilter | PC Tanner | 1966-1967 | 2-3 | 29 |
Chrys Salt | Gwenda Lloyd | 1967-1968 | 3 | 15 |
Peggy Sinclair | P/W DS Barbara Allin | 1967-1969 | 3-5 | 38 |
Philip Brack | DI Jim Cook | 1968-1969 | 3-5 | 29 |
Gavin Campbell | PC/DC William Digby | 1968-1969 | 3-5 | 25 |
Howell Evans | DC Davie Morgan | 1968-1969 | 4-5 | 15 |
Others
Actor | Character | Years Active | Series Active | Episode Count |
---|---|---|---|---|
Alexis Kanner | DC Matt Stone | 1966 | 1 | 9 |
Colin Douglas | DCI Rawlings | 1966 | 1 | 3 |
Barry Letts | DS Reed | 1966 | 1 | 4 |
Glyn Houston | D Supt Arthur Jones | 1966-1969 | 2, 4 | 7 |
Gay Hamilton | Dr Jean Morrow | 1969 | 4-5 | 5 |
Walter Gotell | Chief Con. Arthur Cullen | 1969 | 5 | 1 |
Archive Status
The survival rate for episodes is variable, especially from the first and second series. Many were transmitted live and are believed lost. (In comparison, all episodes of the follow-up Taskforce survive.)
Series and character development
In 1969, to coincide with the BBC's move to colour broadcasting on BBC 1, Softly Softly series ended. The characters of Barlow, Watt and Hawkins were promoted and moved to the South East of England in a new series set in the fictitious Thamesford. Here, as a result in changes in criminal activities, the police force itself needed to develop a new approach to tackle it. Taskforces were set up: these were groupings of police expertise and manpower drawn together for special operations in the region. This was a new series in its own right and it was simply going to be called Taskforce. However, starring three strong characters from a popular brand the BBC were reluctant to drop, this new series was renamed to Softly, Softly: Taskforce.
Stratford Johns left the Taskforce series in 1972 (Barlow had his own spin-off series Barlow at Large) and it continued until 1976 with Watt in command.
During the 70s Windsor also appeared as Watt in Jack the Ripper, in which he and Barlow reopened the Jack the Ripper murder casebook, and a similar series Second Verdict, in which they looked into unsolved mysteries and miscarriages of justice.
External links
- Softly, Softly at the Internet Movie Database
- Softly, Softly at Television Heaven
References
- ↑ World Wide Words, Newsletter 853, Saturday 12 October 2013
|
|