The Thin Blue Line (1995–1996)

Various mishaps at a police station in an English town. The main character is the anachronistic, yet charming and funny Inspector Fowler. CID foil to Fowler, Inspector Grim is a bumbling, seething idiot.

Creator:

Ben Elton

Stars:

Rowan Atkinson, Mina Anwar, James Dreyfus

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Rowan Atkinson	...	Inspector Fowler (14 episodes, 1995-1996)
Mina Anwar	...	P.C. Habib / ... (14 episodes, 1995-1996)
James Dreyfus	...	P.C. Goody (14 episodes, 1995-1996)
Serena Evans	...	Sergeant Dawkins (14 episodes, 1995-1996)
David Haig	...	D.I. Grim (14 episodes, 1995-1996)
Rudolph Walker	...	P.C. Gladstone (14 episodes, 1995-1996)
Kevin Allen	...	D.C. Kray (7 episodes, 1995)
Mark Addy	...	D.C. Boyle (7 episodes, 1996)
Joy Brook	...	D.C. Crockett (7 episodes, 1995)

Storyline

Inspector Raymond C. Fowler is the officer in charge of Gasforth police station, a devoted and integer servant of the crown, and a terrible stickler for rules and all forms of correctness. His second in command, Sergeant Patricia Dawkins, is also his partner and very much in command in all non-police matters, with a nasty tendency to forget her professional place too. The uniform branch is further manned by three Constables: old Trinidadian-born Frank Gladstone, promising foxy Pakistani Maggie Habib and English simpleton Kevin Goody, good friends but constantly arguing and overeager, especially by Fowler's impossibly high standards. They share the station with loudly arrogant but rather stupid and shockingly in-courteous Detective Inspector Derek Grim's CID branch, which further includes Detectives Robert Kray and Gary Boyle. The female mayor is a further worry, the crooks usually cause much less trouble then the permanent cast.

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Plot Keywords:

police station | police | sergeant | british comedy | alternative comedy | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 November 1995 (UK)

Also Known As:

Au poste!

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Tiger Aspect Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min (1 episode) 32 min (3 episodes) 29 min (7 episodes) 41 min (1 episode) 34 min (1 episode) 36 min (1 episode)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Chris Barrie was considered for the role of Inspector Fowler.

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Quotes

Sergent Patricia Dawkins: We are not the first, and we won't be the last couple to have problems with our sex life.
Inspector Raymond C. Fowler: We do not have a problem.
Sergent Patricia Dawkins: We don't have a sex life!
Inspector Raymond C. Fowler: Exactly, so I can hardly see how there could be a problem with it!

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Connections

Featured in Comedy Connections: Geoffrey Perkins (2008)

User Reviews

HILIRIOUS COMEDY! THE CAST IS FANTASTIC!

I saw this on TV in 1995/96 and just loved it! The storylines and gags cackle with invention and are simply sheer genius. Ben Elton did a very good job here. The stars in this show are perfectly cast and hilirious to watch, particularly James Dreyfuss, Rowan Atkinson and also David Haig who plays D.I Grim is hilirious! There's a good range of personalities embedded into each character and it's great the way they interact so well. Some great double meanings and even some toilet humour gags will keep you more than satisfied while watching this. :-) 9/10