The Chief (UK TV series)

The Chief
Genre	Crime drama
Created by	Jeffrey Caine
Starring	Karen Archer Michael Cochrane Tim Pigott-Smith Martin Shaw
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	5
No. of episodes	35
Production
Running time	60 minutes (including adverts)
Production company(s)	Anglia Television
Distributor	ITV Studios
Release
Original network	ITV
Picture format	4:3
Original release	20 April 1990 (1990-04-20) – 16 June 1995 (1995-06-16)

The Chief is a British television crime drama series that aired on ITV from 20 April 1990 to 16 June 1995, starring Michael Cochrane, Tim Pigott-Smith and Martin Shaw. It was made by Anglia Television.

Summary

The series was set in East Anglia, with "the Chief" in command of the fictitious Eastland Constabulary, a large police force covering all of it. The first Chief was John Stafford (Tim Pigott-Smith), who was replaced in episode 3 of series 3 by Alan Cade (Martin Shaw). Both were dynamic men who talked frankly. There is a lot of political content, in particular battles with the Home Office and local politicians.^[1]^[2]

The show ran for five years, five series and a total of 35 episodes. Former Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police James Anderton was an adviser on the show.

Cast

Lead cast:

Tim Pigott-Smith – Chief Constable John Stafford (1990–1993)
Martin Shaw – Chief Constable Alan Cade (1993–1995)
Karen Archer – Assistant Chief Constable Anne Stewart (1990–1994)

Recurring cast:

Gillian Bevan - Detective Superintendent Rose Penfold (1995)
Eamon Boland – Detective Chief Superintendent Jim Gray (1990–1993)
Tony Caunter – Deputy Chief Constable Arthur Quine (1990–1994)
Michael Cochrane – Nigel Crimmond (1990–1995)
Julian Glover - Andrew Blake (1995)
Bosco Hogan - Deputy Chief Constable Wes Morton (1995)
Ingrid Lacey - Alison Dell (1993-1994)
Gillian Martell – Diane Lewis (1991–1995)
Judy Loe – Dr Elizabeth Stafford (1990–1993)
Stuart McGugan – Detective Chief Superintendent Sean McCloud (1993–1994)
T. P. McKenna - Colin Fowler (1991–1994)
Juliette Mole - Marie-Pierre Arnoux (1993–1994)

DVD releases

In 2010, Network released the first two seasons of The Chief on DVD in the UK with a "12" certificate. The content has not been modified from the original broadcasts and every episode contains the title cards for the commercial breaks. There are no special features. Season 3 (with Martin Shaw) was released by Network on 18 April 2011 and season 4 that was due to be released on 18 July 2011 was finally released in September 2011, the delay being due to Network DVD losing their stock when the Sony Distribution Centre was burned to the ground by rioters in London.

References

↑ Mike Ashley, The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Modern Crime Fiction (2002), p. 541.
↑ David Leafe, BFI Film and Television handbook 1993 (British Film Institute, 1992).

External links

The Chief at the Internet Movie Database.

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