Favorite TV Shows In the U.K. & Elsewhere

[3/4s]

There's a thread going about favorite cop shows here in the U.S. but what about the U.K, Canada & Oz? I watch some of the cop shows on BBCAmerica but I have no idea how current they are or if they're popular locally. Very little on screen violence which is fine and some of the detective work is far fetched but if you watch our shows, you know ours can be pretty bad too. :)

Are there any local Canadian or Australian shows? I would imagine there must be but I've only seen English, Irish and Scottish on BBC.

Right now here they're showing Murphy's Law. The lead actor (forget his name) is a real wiseass which is a plus but the plots are pretty far out there.:eek:

[Cockney Corner]

The lead actor in "Murphy's Law" is Mr James Nesbitt. Like anywhere else (in the UK) we have our share of cop shows. The most popular I suppose is "The Bill" which is a sort of soap opera about the lives of police officers at a London Police station, which has been running since the mid 80's. It's crap. The only good series set in Britain that's been on for years is "Cracker", which is about a criminal psychologist, set in an unnamed Northern English city (Manchester actually, where I grew up). The show that cops actually like is "The Sweeney", which finished its run in about 1980. It's about a real life squad who deal with armed robberies (the Sweeney = Sweeney Todd = Cockney rhymming slang for "Flying Squad"). But it's still so popular that they had to ban detectives from using its theme tune as the ring tone on their cell phones as it was a bit of a giveaway.

We get most of the stuff from the US. Everyone I know who watches it, loves "The Shield". Somewhat alarmingly.

[Huey14]

I quite liked the first 5 or so years of The Bill...though then again I'm not a cop so I can't pick at it :D

[Marky Mark]

I've seen a few episodes of "MI-5", thought it was pretty good, although I'm sure that just like "24" they take some liberties with reality...

[NSWCop]

I enjoyed the first 5 or 6 years of "The Bill". I also enjoyed a British mini series called "The Knock". Based on the Customs and Excise in the UK.
In Oz the most popular home grown cop show (and the only one at the moment) is called Blue Heelers. (A blue heeler is a cattle dog). It is set in the most violent area in Australia.

Yep, Mt Thomas is a rural community with the world's highest murder rate. Some-one dies every week!! Not only that but rapes, drug manufacturing and abuse, child abuse and domestic violence are at a world high (and that's just amongst the local cops)!!

But we've figured out what the problem is..

All the cops only ever work dayshift and after every shift finish off down at the pub getting ****ed!!

In other words it is not a very accurate portrayal of life as a cop in a small rural community. I never liked it!! :D

[Cockney Corner]

Well, I used to enjoy "The Bill" (when it had supercop Inspector Burnside) but it has turned into a sort of daytime soap now. Plus I am really, really bored of people asking me whether I watch "The Bill" or saying "You're just like (insert name of character I don't recognise) from the Bill".

I think MI-5 is the series we called "Spooks" over here. I take it it got changed because it might cause offence ...

[Sleuth]

I enjoyed "Prime Suspect", and always wondered how accurate it was as to the "police lifestyle". Is it any closer to the truth than what Hollywierd puts out?

[3/4s]

I've seen MI5, pretty good. The Bill & some of the others I haven't seen.

Cracker with Robbie Coltrane was good. We had our own version with Robert Pastorella (Murphy Brown's handyman) but I think he OD'd.:eek:

Two I enjoyed were A Touch Of Frost and Inspector Morse. I think both of the lead actors are dead?

[Cockney Corner]

3/4's

Inspector Morse (John Thaw) is, sadly, dead. Inspector Frost (David Jason) is, in his mid 60's, still playing the part I believe.

As for Prime Suspect, at least they've grasped the idea that a major crime will be investigated by a team, rather than a lone wolf, maverick cop who doesn't play by the rules but gets the job done (in one hour, including ad breaks).

[Sleuth]

True.
I always wondered why in the US, cops on TV either live in a dump, a loft, or some fabulous home I could never afford.

[Ex-plod]

A couple of recent cop shows that I enjoyed over here were Peter Davidson in "The last detective". He is a very conscientious detective with a big heart who gets put upon by his colleagues but always gets the job down, its light hearted and easy to watch.
The other was called "Old tricks " about a group of ex detectives recuited to solve old crimes that come back to life as it were. Its got good story lines and great charachters and again light hearted and entertaining.Dennis Waterman is in it and he used to be in the Sweeney. He was also great in "Minder", its not a cop show but its very entertaining.