The Thin Blue Line - The Complete Thin Blue Line

Most helpful review The Thin Blue Line - The Complete Thin Blue Line

• superb....................

   

  By williamsgwynfa (627 reviews) from gwaenysgor , 13 Apr 2008

  [Highly rated reviewer]

  this dvd is superb. The Thin Blue Line is set in the police station of the fictional town of Gasforth.
  
  One of the main themes is the rivalry between the uniformed squad led by Inspector Fowler (played by Rowan Atkinson), and the CID led by Detective Inspector Grim (played by David Haig).
  
  DI Grim provides much of the humour through his mis-use of the English language.
  
  Generally, the uniformed section triumph over the Detectives, although not without their own foibles.
  
  The show centres around the characters:
  
  Police Inspector Raymond C. Fowler.
  
  Police Sergeant Patricia Dawkins - the girlfriend of Raymond (played by Serena Evans), Detective Inspector Derek Grim.
  
  Police Constable Kevin Goody is, without doubt, one of the stupidest Police Officers in existence (played by James Dreyfus),
  
  Police Constable Maggie Habib is a female Officer of Indian (Muslim) descent and is generally the 'straight man' in Fowler's uniformed branch. She is amazingly intelligent and often approaches issues with a wise and methodical train of thought - (played by Mina Anwar),
  
  Police Constable Frank Gladstone is an older PC presumably near retirement who was born in Trinidad - (played by Rudolph Walker),
  
  Detective Constable Robert Kray is an Officer in Grim's CID unit for the entire of Series 1. Presumably having been promoted beyond the regular uniformed service, he is a very 'laddish' Cop: intelligent, but rather cynical and pragmatic, whose motivation for joining the Force was the 'perks of the job' such as pushing to the front of queues, and (sometimes) twisting being a Police Officer to his own ends - (played by Kevin Allen).
  
  Detective Constable Gary Boyle is Kray's replacement in Series 2. He too is very 'laddish' and likes being a Police Officer for the associated perks. Like Kray, he is intelligent, hypocritical, cynical, and pragmatic; he sees no reason why Police Officers should not take liberties with minor laws such as staging pub lock-ins, using the car siren when late for lunch, or even planting evidence on clever criminals if thats what it takes to get a conviction - (played by Mark Addy).
  
  The writer Ben Elton is a self-confessed fan of Dad's Army, and as such many of the characters can be compared with those of Dad's Army.
  
  Inspector Fowler's relationship with Grim is very similar to that of Captain Mainwaring to Warden Hodges, in that they are both on the same side yet enemies.
  
  Constable Goody is rather like Private Pike in being a 'stupid boy' that irritates Fowler.
  
  Constable Gladstone's habit of interrupting a briefing with a story about life in Trinidad is similar to Lance Corporal Jones' penchant for reminiscing about when he was in the Sudan during one of Captain Mainwaring's speeches.
  
  This series is well worth watching.

  • Was this review helpful to you?
  • (17) Yes |
  •  No (0)

  Report this review

All reviews