Detective television programmes are appreciated a lot by the viewers and Taggart is one show that has been running for several years and has marked an impression on its viewer’s heart. Taggart was a television series created by Glen Chandler and the entire series was shot in Glasgow, Scotland.
The story features a group of detectives in Maryhill that solve different mysteries relating cases so as to find the actual culprit. The increasing popularity of the show was the main reason that compelled the series to be translated into three different languages Japanese, German and French. The show featured five actors named Blythe Duff, John Michie, Alex Norton, Colin McCredie and Katrina Bryan.
Introduction
Jim Taggart was a Detective Chief Inspector that was first introduced in the year 1983 through first episode ‘Killer’ directed by Laurence Moody. The character of Jim Taggart was played by Mark McManus till 1994, as Mark died in the same year. Jim Taggart has been portrayed as a well experienced but hard-hitting detective that uses his own techniques to trap the criminals.
Detective Sergeant Peter Livingstone brings up new and young men to the law enforcement department and he is the one who introduces Jim Taggart. However, the series has depicted an inconsiderate relationship between the two.
Taggart works under Robert Murray starring Tom Watson and the character was popularly known as ‘The Mint’. Robert Murray remains the boss for a few episodes and then he is replaced by Superintendent Jack McVitie starring Lain Anders. Jack was famous with the name ‘The Biscuit’ as he shared his name with a biscuit brand.
Taggart has a wife Jean, starring Harriet Buchan, who was physically bounded with a wheel chair, but this, did not stop her from fulfilling all her interests, which had fascinated the viewers. When Mark McManus died in the year 1994, the presence of Taggart was concealed by making him busy in the regular conferences with Chief Constable.
Broadcast Information
The format of the series was changed many times, as initially it was broadcasted as three one hour episodes. Later the three one hour episodes were cut short to two hour and the finally the series became a ‘one-hour show’ in the year 2002 and continued till 2003. Viewers were quite frustrated with the regular rescheduling and this also started affecting the ratings of the show. However, now people can avail the DVD’s of Taggart and can enjoy watching an uninterrupted series.
Apart from exasperating regular scheduling, some of the episodes were greatly cherished by the viewers which helped it to enhance its ratings.
Some of these episodes included ‘Dead Ringer’, ‘Knife Edge’, ‘The Killing Philosophy’, ‘Funeral Rites’, ‘Cold Blood’, ‘Root of Evil’, ‘Hostile Witness’, ‘Death Comes Softly’, ‘Ring of Deceit’, ‘Rouges gallery’, ‘Nest of Vipers’, ‘Blood Money’, ‘Penthouse and Pavement’, ‘Running Out of Time’, ‘Cause to Kill’, ‘The Caring Game’, ‘Judgment Day’ and ‘Fact and Fiction’ to name a few. The theme music ‘No Mean City’ was also appreciated a lot by people that was originally composed by Mike Moran.
