The Thin Blue Line (British TV series)
The Thin Blue Line is a British sitcom which aired on BBC1 from 1995 to 1996. It was created and written by Ben Elton, and starred Rowan Atkinson. It was ranked number 34 in a poll for Britain's Best Sitcom. In September 2021, the series became available on BBC iPlayer.
The series is set in a police station in the fictional English town of Gasforth. The show sees the uniformed squad, led by Inspector Raymond Fowler, and the CID, led by Detective Inspector Derek Grim, locking horns over similar, or even the same, issues while having conflicting views or methods of operations. Generally, the uniformed section triumphs over the detectives, although not without their own foibles. Other main characters are Sergeant Patricia Dawkins, Constable Kevin Goody, Constable Maggie Habib, Constable Frank Gladstone, Detective Constable Robert Kray, and Detective Constable Gary Boyle. In addition to the main characters, other PCs and staff are visible in the background, though they generally have no speaking parts.
Cast and characters
- Rowan Atkinson as Inspector Raymond Fowler, an old-fashioned, by-the-book policeman whose lack of interest in sex annoys his live-in girlfriend of ten years, Sergeant Dawkins. He has a son, Bill, from a previous marriage.
- Serena Evans as Sergeant Patricia Dawkins, a desk sergeant. She is Inspector Fowler's long-suffering partner and is forever on a quest for more sexual attention from him, who is usually reluctant to oblige. Despite her frustration and anger, she loves Fowler devotedly and dreams of marrying him and having a child.
- David Haig as Detective Inspector Derek Grim, the head of the CID unit at Gasforth Police Station. In reference to a common trope in police dramas and procedurals, his attitude is that CID are superior to the uniformed police. He has been married for twenty years to Tina, with whom he has an intense love-hate relationship. Their son, Darren, was arrested in one episode. In series one, Grim's relationship with Fowler is almost entirely antagonistic, but in series two, he does sometimes confide in Fowler about his frustrations with Tina.
- James Dreyfus as Constable Kevin Goody, who is perhaps the least complex of the officers. Profoundly unintelligent and oblivious to the obvious, he has very little idea of what being a police officer entails. Although his character is very camp, he is infatuated with Constable Habib.
- Mina Anwar as Constable Maggie Habib, a female officer of South Asian descent, who was raised in Accrington. Habib is generally the straight man in Fowler's uniformed branch, and usually the most effective officer in the team despite fighting off Kevin’s advances.
- Rudolph Walker as Constable Frank Gladstone, a Trinidad-origin constable near retirement. Gladstone has been a PC all his adult life, as was his father, and is enjoying his career winding down. He has something of an obsession with Gloria Hunniford.
- Kevin Allen as Detective Constable Robert Kray, an officer in Grim's CID unit. He is a very laddish cop, intelligent, cynical and pragmatic.
- Mark Addy as Detective Constable Gary Boyle, Kray's replacement in the second series. Like Kray, he is intelligent, cynical, pragmatic, very laddish and likes being a police officer for the associated perks.