Juliet Bravo

Juliet Bravo
Juliet Bravo Titles
Format	Police procedural
Created by	Ian Kennedy Martin
Starring	Stephanie Turner Anna Carteret
Country of origin	UK
No. of episodes	88
Production
Running time	50 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC
Original run	30 August 1980 – 31 December 1985

Juliet Bravo is a British television series, which ran on BBC1 between 1980 and 1985. The theme of the series concerned a female police inspector who took over control of a police station in the fictional town of Hartley in Lancashire.

Programme Name

Despite popular misunderstanding, there never was any character named "Juliet Bravo" in the show. The name of the show is the inspector's radio call sign, "J-B", or "Juliet Bravo" in the phonetic alphabet as practised in European NATO states. In fact this call sign was only used once during Stephanie Turner's tenure, which incidentally was the last episode of Series Three. However from Series Four to Six the call sign was frequently used. The working title of the programme employed by series creator Ian Kennedy Martin was "Inspector, Ma'am", a reference to the lead character's rank and title—a title whose use she was forced to insist upon from one of her Sergeants in the first episode of series 1, due to his preference for the informal, and possibly derogatory, "Boss". However, "Inspector, Ma'am" was dropped during filming of the first series.

Concept

The series was devised by Ian Kennedy Martin, who had already enjoyed success with another police drama series, The Sweeney. The genre of police/crime dramas was well established on British television by 1980; however the BBC's Juliet Bravo, along with London Weekend Television's The Gentle Touch which started a few months earlier, dealt with female officers as lead characters having to fight both crime and the prejudice of male colleagues.

Production

Seasons 1 and 2 were produced by Terence Williams. From season 3, the producer changed to Jonathan Alwyn, and was script edited by Chris Boucher. Series Four, Five and Six were produced by Geraint Morris.

The fast-moving theme tune for the programme was arranged by Derek Goom, taking motifs and key changes from an original piece by Johann Sebastian Bach, The Well-Tempered Clavier, Prelude No. 2 in C Minor, BWV 847.^{[citation needed]} Bob Cosford was the initial graphic designer who matched the theme tune to opening and closing graphics centred around a revolving police "star and crown" cap badge which bore the familiar "E II R" device of English police forces, but in place of the force name around the blue circle had instead the generic words "County Constabulary".

Exterior scenes were filmed in the Lancashire towns of Colne, Bacup, Accrington, Nelson, Burnley, and in Todmorden, West Yorkshire. Other locations around east Lancashire and West Yorkshire & the Black Country (Tipton & Dudley) were also used. The series was seen by many as a replacement for the BBC's Classic Police series "Dixon of Dock Green" and "Z-Cars".

Regular cast

The lead role of Inspector Jean Darblay was played by Stephanie Turner between 1980 and 1982, and her replacement Inspector Kate Longton was played by Anna Carteret between 1983 and 1985.

• Stephanie Turner (Insp. Jean Darblay) (1980-82 / Series 1–3 / 44 episodes)
• David Hargreaves (Tom Darblay) (1980-82 / Series 1–3 / 24 episodes)
• David Ellison (Sgt. Joseph Beck) (1980-85 / Series 1-6 / 88 episodes)
• Noel Collins (Sgt. George Parrish) (1980-85 / Series 1-6 / 87 episodes)
• Mark Drewry (PC Roland Bentley) (1980 / Series 1 / 15 episodes)
• Tony Caunter (DCI Jim Logan) (1980-82 / Series 1–3 / 14 episodes)
• Gerard Kelly (PC David Gallagher) (1981 / Series 2 / 13 episodes)
• David Straun (PC Martin Helmshore) (1982 / Series 3 / 10 episodes)
• Anna Carteret (Insp. Kate Longton) (1983-85 / Series 4–6 / 44 episodes)
• C.J. Allen (PC Brian Kelleher) (1983-85 / Series 4-6 / 41 episodes)
• Mark Botham (PC Danny Sparks) (1983-85 / Series 4-6 / 44 episodes)
• Tom Georgeson (John Holden) (1983 / Series 4 / 10 episodes)
• Edward Peel (DCI Mark Perrin) (1983-85 / Series 4-6 / 21 episodes)

others

• John Ringham (Divisional Supt. Lake) (1980 / Series 1 / 3 episodes)
• Geoffrey Larder (DS Dave Melchett) (1980 / Series 1 / 5 episodes)
• Wendy Allnutt (Jennie Randall) (1980 / Series 1 / 3 episodes)
• Martyn Hesford (PC Ian Skelton) (1980-81 / Series 1-2 / 3 episodes)
• James Grout (Divisional Supt. Albert Hallam) (1981 / Series 2 / 3 episodes)
• Lloyd McGuire (DS Bernie Duckworth) (1981, 83 / Series 2&4 / 7 episodes)
• David Gillies (PC Peter Sims) (1982 / Series 3 / 7 episodes)
• Sebastian Abineri (DS Dick Maltby) (1983-85 / Series 4-6 / 6 episodes)
• Julie Foulds (WPC Sheila Saunders) (1985 / Series 6 / 4 episodes)

Episode list

DVD release

All six series of Juliet Bravo have now been released on DVD (region 2/4) by 2|Entertain/Cinema Club.

References

• Down, Richard, and Christopher Perry (eds.). 1997. The British Television Drama Research Guide 1950–1997, second, revised edition. Ashton, Bristol: Kaleidoscope Publishing.
• Tibballs, Geoff. 1992. The Boxtree Encyclopedia of TV Detectives. London: Boxtree Limited.

External links

• Juliet Bravo at the Internet Movie Database
• British Film Institute Screen Online