Waterfront Beat
Waterfront Beat is a BBC television police procedural drama series, broadcast between 6 January 1990 and 20 February 1991.
Background
The series follows the work of a group of police detectives stationed in a new Waterfront division, based in the Liverpool docks, "taking a closer look at the way one non-metropolitan, urban police force comes to terms with economic regeneration by reorganising it's City Division, in turn creating a separate Inner City Waterfront Division". As well as the usual police procedural elements, the series also explores "aspects of police work not normally featured", including policy group meetings, budget and planning summits, with a number of long-running story arcs, all in an attempt to "disabuse us of the notion that TV crime is always cracked in 50 minutes."The series was created by writer Phil Redmond, famed for his work on Channel 4 soap Brookside. Redmond was brought on board to pen the series as an attempt to rival ITV's The Bill, the first of many attempts between 1990 and 2008.
A total of sixteen episodes were broadcast over the course of two series. The programme featured a large ensemble cast, with John Ashton, Rupert Frazer, Geoffrey Leesley, Denis Lill and Brian McCardie leading the cast throughout both series. Since broadcast, the series has been rarely repeated, and has never been released on any form of home media.
Cast
Main
- John Ashton as Detective Chief Supt. Don Henderson
- Rupert Frazer as Supt. Peter Fallows
- Geoffrey Leesley as Det. Supt. Frank Mathews
- Denis Lill as Assistant Chief Constable
- Owen Teale as DS Mike McCarthy
- Mark Moraghan as DS Don 'Macker' McVay
- Helena Little as WDC Jane Long
- Eve Bland as WDS Jackie Byrnes
- Roger Walker as DI Cyril Jacobs
- Brian McCardie as PC Ronnie Barker
- Philip Middlemiss as PC Barry Smith
- Richard Good as PC Bob 'Snake' Nelson
- Jane Hazlegrove as WPC Madeline Forrest
- Ray Polhill as PC 'Jacko' Jackbridge
- Gordon Cameron as PC Jeff Morgan
- Stuart Golland as Sgt. Trevor Simon
- Bruce Alexander as Chief Supt. Alan Briscoe
Recurring
- Tommy Boyle as Denny Hagland; an organised car thief.
- Dean Williamson as Gerry Darcey; freelance journalist.
- James McKenna as Gerry Cookson; media liaison.
- Martin Matthews as Brian Dawes; building services.
- Denise Stephenson as June Henderson; Don's wife.
- Damien Walker as Tony Henderson; Don's step-son.
- Catriona McColl as Margaret Fallows; Peter's wife.
- Lesley Nicol as Barbara Matthews; Frank's wife.
- Gillian Kearney as Helen Collins; Ronnie's love interest.
- Kulvinder Ghir as PC Ashir Malek; a new ethnic recruit.
- Leila Betrand as WPC Beverley Williams; a new ethnic recruit.
Episodes