Between The Lines And Beyond

British constabulary procedural TV series

Betwixt the Lines

Genre	Criminal offense drama
Created past	J. C. Wilsher
Starring	Neil Pearson Tom Georgeson Siobhan Redmond Tony Doyle Robin Lermitte Lesley Vickerage John Shrapnel Jerome Flynn David Lyon Hugh Ross
Theme music composer	Hal Lindes Colin Towns
Land of origin	Britain
Original language	English
No. of series	3
No. of episodes	35
Product
Executive producer	Tony Garnett
Producers	Peter Norris Joy Lale
Running time	50 minutes
Product companies	Island World Proudctions World Productions
Release
Original network	BBC1
Original release	4 September 1992 (1992-09-04) – 21 December 1994 (1994-12-21)

Between the Lines is a goggle box law drama series created past J. C. Wilsher and produced by World Productions for the BBC. Information technology was first shown on BBC1 between 1992 and 1994, running for iii series.

The show centred on the eventful life of Detective Superintendent Tony Clark, played by Neil Pearson. Clark was an ambitious member of the Complaints Investigation Agency (CIB), an internal organization of the Metropolitan Police that investigates complaints against officers as well as claims of corruption within the constabulary force. Along the way Clark had to overcome strong influence from his superiors and problems in his private life, most notably the break-up of his matrimony following an affair with WPC Jenny Dean (Lesley Vickerage). Throughout the series Clark was assisted by colleagues Harry Naylor (Tom Georgeson) and Maureen 'Mo' Connell (Siobhan Redmond).

The prove became a surprise hit for the BBC, winning a British Academy Television Award (BAFTA) for Best Drama Series in 1994. In 2000 it was voted into the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes by the British Film Institute. The series was reviewed in an episode of the BBC documentary series Telephone call the Cops,^[1] which stated the series had "institute a way of getting to grips with the corruption scandals of the 1990s".^[two]

Executive producer Tony Garnett had begun his career equally an actor before becoming a producer in the tardily 1960s. His credits included The Wednesday Play and Play for Today. Following Betwixt the Lines, he went on to produce several pop and notable series including This Life (1996–97), Ballykissangel and The Cops (1998–2000).^[3]

Plot [edit]

Clark's work as a lead officer in CIB was the focus of the start two serial. In the starting time serial his dominate was Deakin, a tough ex-RUC Northern Irish policeman. At the end of the starting time series, Deakin was revealed to be a corrupt officeholder himself. He left the force but remained a recurring character, working freelance for the security services and others, sometimes in conflict with Clark and sometimes assisting him. At the start of the third series (after a dramatic shoot-out at the end of the second) Clark, Naylor and Connell leave the police and work in the murky world of private security, far-right political groups and espionage.

The third series ends with the betrayal of Clark and Naylor who had been masquerading as mercenaries. The betrayal is made by Connell in league with Deakin, their former dominate and nemesis. It is unclear whether Clark and Naylor have died as the evidence ended on a cliffhanger. Rumours of a remake did circulate for some years, but Pearson confirmed in 'Watching the Detectives' that he had wanted a 'final' ending at the fourth dimension and would never return to the role.

Between The Lines was ane of the first British TV dramas to include a bisexual grapheme (whose sexual orientation is incidental rather than central to the plot). Maureen (Mo) Connell (Siobhan Redmond) has two pregnant romantic partners during the series, a serious fellow in season 2, and later on a long-term girlfriend. While some other police officers are briefly shown making disapproving comments (e.1000. when she brings her girlfriend every bit plus-one to a police social), her bisexuality is shown as completely accepted by close colleagues, if a subject field of occasional friendly barrack (due east.g. Mo mentions having a date that night, Tony asks "girl or boy?" and she replies sarcastically "one of each").

Groundwork [edit]

Until the 1970s, complaints confronting the police force in Great britain were dealt with internally, with no outside oversight, leading to public dissatisfaction amid allegations that misconduct and corruption were non being effectively dealt with. The 1976 Police force Human activity established the Police Complaints Board, an independent review trunk, but post-obit the Scarman Study in 1982 this was replaced by the more effective Police Complaints Authority, creating the groundwork of the serial.^[four] ^[five] However, even today, under the electric current Independent Police Complaints Committee (IPCC), the bulk of complaints against the police are dealt with internally. The IPCC investigates the most serious cases and deals with appeals.^[6] At the fourth dimension of the serial in the 1990s, the department of the Metropolitan Police responsible for internal investigations was the Complaints Investigation Bureau (CIB); it has afterward been replaced past the Directorate of Professional Standards (DPS).

The two showtime serial of Between the Lines is a dramatisation of the work of the CIB. In the tertiary series focus is shifted more towards the underground services and MI5 in particular. John Deakin, whose shadow is present throughout all iii series, has a past in the Ulster police. He is the "fireproof" high rank detective who decides which other high ranked detectives that may use which methods. Tony manages to find who he really is, but not expert enough. Deakin besides has contacts in the secret services. And the terminal two episodes ("The End User" 1 & ii) deals with a story of illegal weapon smuggling to Northern Ireland. Although set primarily in London, one episode was filmed partly in Bolton, with the Town Hall appearing in several scenes.^[7]

Guest stars in the series included many well-known British actors who take gone on to star in other major tv dramas and/or movies, including Daniel Craig, James Nesbitt, Jerome Flynn, Bernard Hill, David Morrissey, Jaye Griffiths, Paul Brooke, Francesca Annis, Sylvestra Le Touzel, John Hannah, Michael Kitchen, David Hayman, Hermione Norris, Edward Tudor-Pole, Ray Winstone, Larry Lamb, Hugh Bonneville, Marc Warren and Jonny Lee Miller. About of them were unknown or less known, prior to their appearances in this series.

Cast [edit]

Neil Pearson as Detective Superintendent Tony Clark^[8]
Tom Georgeson every bit Detective Inspector Harry Naylor^[9]
Siobhan Redmond as Detective Sergeant Maureen "Mo" Connell^[ten]
Tony Doyle as Chief Superintendent John Deakin^[11]
Robin Lermitte as Detective Superintendent David Graves
David Lyon every bit Commander Brian Huxtable
Lesley Vickerage every bit WPC Jenny Dean
Hugh Ross as Commander Graham Sullivan
John Shrapnel as Deputy Banana Commissioner Dunning
Jerome Flynn equally Detective Sergeant Eddie Hargreaves

Episodes [edit]

Series i (1992) [edit]

Series two (1993) [edit]

Series 3 (1994) [edit]

Broadcast [edit]

In Ontario, Canada, the programme was retitled Within the Line because the broadcaster TVOntario already had a current affairs program called Between the Lines and did not want them confused.

DVD release [edit]

The complete series of Between The Lines has been released on DVD (Region two) past 2 Entertain/Cinema Club with music edits.

References [edit]

^ Call the Cops at BBC Four
^ Telephone call the Cops, episode four: Between the Lines at BBC Four
^ Tony Garnett at IMDb
^ History and context, study past Freedom
^ History ipcc.gov.britain
^ Part of the IPCC ipcc.gov.united kingdom of great britain and northern ireland
^ "Betwixt the Lines". Westlake Films. Archived from the original on 20 August 2008. Retrieved 2009-03-22 .
^ Neil Pearson at IMDb
^ Tom Georgeson at IMDb
^ Siobhan Redmond at IMDb
^ Tony Doyle at IMDb