The Thin Blue Line
- TV sitcom
- BBC One
- 1995 - 1996
- 14 episodes (2 series)
Police sitcom about fastidious Inspector Raymond Fowler, his array of uniformed officers, and the oafish CID Inspector Grim. Stars Rowan Atkinson, David Haig, Serena Evans, James Dreyfus, Mina Anwar and more.
Episode menu
Series 2, Episode 1 - Court In The Act
Further details
Employing Goody's services as model, Fowler is briefing his constables on the latest proposed changes to uniform. Habib prefers a more brash, 'sexy' American style, but Goody himself is quite taken with the new design.
CID, meanwhile, are on the trail of drug dealer Harry the Spike. Frustrated on countless prior occasions and now desperate to get his man, Grim goes along with Boyle's plan to set Spike up. He enlists the help of Fowler and his officers to raid Harry the Spike's home. During the course of the search, Goody finds some drugs behind the cooker.
Back at the station, Raymond hears that Harry has enlisted the services of the most fearsome QC in the country, Algernon Sourgravy, and so begins rehearsing and preparing Goody for the grilling he can expect in court - unfortunately he keeps bursting into tears.
When Harry the Spike's barrister arrives, however, it transpires that Sourgravy has been taken ill and replaced by none other than local Mayoress Christabel Wickham, a commanding woman whom Fowler has fancied ever since his school days. Meanwhile, Grim is having a crisis of conscience about his part in the set-up raid and Goody tells Habib and Gladstone that he was sure the drugs hadn't been behind the cooker when he first looked.
Habib relays her concerns to Fowler, who is outraged at the apparent corruption. He is frustrated in obtaining a confession from a still shaken Grim, but when pressed by a Wickham, who believes she is to be squarely defeated, Raymond reveals the truth - that Goody was still wearing the as-yet unofficial new uniform during the raid, and thus his arrest was illegal.
Unfortunately for Fowler, his conversation with the Mayoress has a rather potent alternative connotation, taken out of context...
Broadcast details
- Date
- Thursday 14th November 1996
- Time
- 9:35pm
- Channel
- BBC One
- Length
- 32 minutes
Repeats
Show past repeats
Date | Time | Channel |
---|---|---|
Thursday 17th April 2014 | 3:00pm | Gold |
Saturday 5th July 2014 | 10:15am | Gold |
Wednesday 6th August 2014 | 12:20pm | Gold |
Tuesday 17th March 2015 | 5:40pm | Gold |
Wednesday 18th March 2015 | 1:20pm | Gold |
Friday 15th May 2015 | 6:20pm | Gold |
Tuesday 8th December 2015 | 10:55am | Gold |
Wednesday 9th December 2015 | 7:05am | Gold |
Thursday 30th June 2016 | 10:00pm | Yesterday |
Friday 1st July 2016 | 8:40pm | Yesterday |
Tuesday 10th January 2017 | 10:00am | Gold |
Monday 19th June 2017 | 8:00am | Gold |
Friday 8th September 2017 | 3:20am | Gold |
Monday 25th September 2017 | 3:10am | Gold |
Monday 19th June 2023 | 9:00am | Gold |
Monday 19th June 2023 | 1:00pm | Gold |
Tuesday 12th September 2023 | 7:00pm | Gold |
Wednesday 13th September 2023 | 1:35pm | Gold |
Wednesday 13th September 2023 | 6:15pm | Gold |
Wednesday 11th October 2023 | 1:00pm | Gold |
Wednesday 11th October 2023 | 4:20pm | Gold |
Thursday 18th January 2024 | 8:40pm | Gold |
Friday 19th January 2024 | 1:20am | Gold |
Monday 26th February 2024 | 2:40pm | Gold |
Saturday 2nd March 2024 | 8:50pm | Gold |
Saturday 2nd March 2024 | 11:25pm | Gold |
Cast & crew
Rowan Atkinson | Inspector Fowler |
David Haig | D.I. Grim |
Serena Evans | Sergeant Dawkins |
James Dreyfus | P.C. Goody |
Mina Anwar | P.C. Habib |
Rudolph Walker | P.C. Gladstone |
Mark Addy | D.C. Boyle |
Lucy Robinson | Mayoress Wickham |
Gabrielle Blunt | Spike's Neighbour |
Ben Elton | Writer |
John Birkin | Director |
Geoffrey Perkins | Producer |
Ben Elton | Producer |
Peter Bennett-Jones | Executive Producer |
Steve Tempia | Editor |
Charlie Fawcett | Editor |
James Dillon | Production Designer |
Howard Goodall | Composer |