El C.I.D. 

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Creators:

Chris Kelly, Iain Roy

Stars:

John Bird, Simón Andreu, Tony Haygarth

Cast

Series cast summary:
John Bird	...	Douglas Bromley 19 episodes, 1990-1992
Simón Andreu	...	Delgado 19 episodes, 1990-1992
Tony Haygarth	...	Frank 16 episodes, 1990-1992
Donald Churchill	...	Metcalf 15 episodes, 1990-1992
María Isbert	...	Senora Sanchez 15 episodes, 1990-1992
Alfred Molina	...	Bernard Blake 13 episodes, 1990-1991
Kenneth Cranham	...	Gus Mercer 8 episodes, 1990-1992
Niven Boyd	...	Graham 8 episodes, 1990-1992
Viviane Vives	...	Mercedes 8 episodes, 1990-1991

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

detective | police | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 February 1990 (UK)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Granada Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min (19 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

Costa Crime

ITV were always on the lookout for another 'Minder' type series which was a runaway success for them in the 1980s and EL C.I.D from Granada was a take on this.

Alfred Molina is Bernard Blake, a CID officer who takes early retirement and moves to Spain to run a bar with his older detective partner, John Bird.

They soon find that there bar is destroyed by a villain they once jailed and find themselves doing investigation work in Spain and keeping an eye on the ex-pat community of British gangsters.

Molina left after the second series and was replaced by Amanda Redman, who joined the series as Bird's daughter.

The combination of the younger Molina and older Bird worked well with a mixture of drama, action and comedy contained in a glamorous setting as the series was shot on location in Spain and even enticed a guest appearance from ex-footballer Kevin Keegan who was then residing there.

It was the chemistry of the two stars that made it work, the adventures they had was amiable enough but the series lost its was once Molina quit and the dynamics changed when Redman joined as Bird's daughter and the series was cancelled after its third outing.

The series never did reach the heights of Minder and is now little remembered.