Taggart (ITV 1983-2011, Mark McManus, Blythe Duff)

Crime drama series Taggart focused initially on the murder and serious crime cases of tough Glaswegian detective Jim Taggart.

After Mark McManus died in the mid 1990’s the show continued (still called Taggart) and focused on his workmates Mike Jardine and Jackie Reid. The only original cast member left by the end was pathologist Dr Andrew Stephens and in the later series Detective Chief Inspector Matt Burke ran the show (he took over in the episode “Death Trap” after former regular DCI Mike Jardine (James MacPherson) was killed off.)

Taggart ended up being one of the longest running cop shows on TV and apparently creator Chandler took the names of the characters in the first serial from from the graves in a Glasgow cemetery.

Initially the stories were made up of two or three episode running for 60 minutes each time. Towards the end of the show’s run they tended towards the one off two hour mark but with the season that began on 4 December 2002 the format changed to one-hour self-contained stories and from then the episodes were either in the one hour format or occasionally feature length.

production details
UK / ITV – Scottish TV /(109 editions many feature length) x60 minute episodes and 120 minute episodes / Broadcast from 6 September 1983 – 7 November 2010

Creator: Glenn Chandler / Theme Music: No Mean City by Maggie Bell

important cast members
MARK McMANUS as D.C.I. Jim Taggart
NEIL DUNCAN as Det Sgt Peter Livingstone
JAMES McPHERSON as Mike Jardine
BLYTHE DUFF as Jackie Reid
GERALDINE ALEXANDER as Alison Taggart
HARRIET BUCHAN as Jean Taggart
IAIN ANDERS as Supt McVitie
COLIN McCCoREDIE as DC Stuart Fraser (-2010)
ROBERT ROBERTSON as Dr Andrew Stephens
ALEX NORTON as DCI Matt Burke (2002)
JOHN MICHIE as D.I. Robbie Ross Blythe Duff, Alex Norton, John Michie and Colin McCredie

THE EPISODES
SEASON ONE 6 September 1983 – 23 July 1985
1. KILLER (6 Sep 1983)
2. DEAD RINGER (2 Jul 1985)
3. MURDER IN SEASON (23 Jul 1985)

SEASON TWO 24 February 1986 – 2 September 1986
1. KNIFE EDGE (24 Feb 1986)
2. DEATH CALL (2 Sep 1986

SEASON THREE 15 April – 31 December 1987
1. THE KILLING PHILOSOPHY (15 Apr 1987)
2. FUNERAL RITES (9 Sep 1987)
3. COLD BLOOD (31 Dec 1987)

SEASON FOUR 7 September – 30 December 1988
1. DEAD GIVEAWAY (7 Sep 1988)
2. ROOT OF EVIL (28 Sep 1988)
3. DOUBLE JEOPARDY (30 Dec 1988)

SEASON FIVE 5 September 1989 – 22 February 1990
1. FLESH AND BLOOD (5 Sep 1989)
2. LOVE KNOT (1 Jan 1990)
3. HOSTILE WITNESS (22 Feb 1990)

SEASON SIX 4 September – 31 December 1990
1. EVIL EYE (4 Sep 1990)
2. DEATH COMES SOFTLY (3 Dec 1990)
3. ROGUES GALLERY (31 Dec 1990)

SEASON SEVEN 1 January – 30 January 1992
1. VIOLENT DELIGHTS (1 Jan 1992)
2. NEST OF VIPERS (9 Jan 1992)
3. DOUBLE EXPOSURE (30 Jan 1992)

SEASON EIGHT 17 September 1992 – 1 January 1993
1. THE HITMAN (17 Sep 1992)
2. RING OF DECEIT (8 Oct 1992)
3. FATAL INHERITANCE (1 Jan 1993)

SEASON NINE 16 February – 11 May 1993
1. DEATH BENEFITS (16 Feb 1993)
2. GINGERBREAD (20 Apr 1993)
3. DEATH WITHOUT DISHONOUR (11 May 1993)

SEASON TEN 30 September 1993 – 6 October 1994
1. INSTRUMENT OF JUSTICE (30 Sep 1993)
2. FORBIDDEN FRUIT (1 Jan 1994)
3. SECRETS (6 Oct 1994)

SEASON ELEVEN 27 October 1994 – 25 February 1995
1. HELLFIRE (27 Oct 1994)
2. PRAYER FOR THE DEAD (11 Jan 1995)
3. BLACK ORCHID (25 Feb 1995)

SEASON TWELVE 2 November 1995 – 21 March 1996
1. LEGENDS (2 Nov 1995)
2. DEVIL’S ADVOCATE (4 Jan 1996)
3. ANGEL EYES (21 Mar 1996)

SEASON THIRTEEN 19 September 1996 – 4 September 1997
1. DEAD MAN’S CHEST (19 Sep 1996)
2. APOCALYPSE (9 Jan 1997)
3. BABUSHKA (4 Sep 1997)

SEASON FOURTEEN 1 January – 15 July 1998
1. BESERKER (1 Jan 1998)
2. OUT OF BOUNDS (1 Mar 1998)
3. DEAD RECKONING (15 July 1998)

SEASON FIFTEEN 8 October 1998 – 16 January 1999
1. A FEW BAD MEN (8 Oct 1998)
2. LONG TIME DEAD (11 Jan 1999)
3. BLOODLINES (16 Jan 1999)

SEASON SIXTEEN 7 October – 21 November 1999
1. A FISTFUL OF CHIPS (7 Oct 1999)
2. FEARFUL LIGHTNING (21 Oct 1999)
3. FOR THEIR SINS (21 Nov 1999)

SEASON SEVENTEEN 15 February 2000 – 1 January 2001
1. GHOST RIDER (15 Feb 2000)
2. SKIN DEEP (14 Sep 2000)
3. WAVELENGTH (21 Sep 2000)
4. FOOTBALL CRAZY (1 Dec 2000)
5. FALLING IN LOVE (1 Jan 2001)

SEASON EIGHTEEN 4 January – 15 July 2002
1. DEATH TRAP (4 Jan 2002)
2. FIRE, BURN (11 Jan 2002)
3. WATERTIGHT (8 Jul 2002)
4. THE FRIDAY EVENT (15 Jul 2002)

SEASON NINETEEN 2 December 2002 – 25 January 2003
1. HARD MAN (2 Dec 2002)
2. FADE TO BLACK (21 Dec 2002)
3. BLOOD MONEY (28 Dec 2002)
4. NEW LIFE (4 Jan 2003)
5. BAD BLOOD (11 Jan 2003)
6. HALFWAY HOUSE (18 Jan 2003)
7. AN EYE FOR AN EYE (25 Jan 2003)

SEASON TWENTY 7 October 2003 – 30 December 2004
1. PENTHOUSE AND PAVEMENT (7 Oct 2003)
2. ATONEMENT (3 Dec 2003)
3. COMPENSATION (30 Apr 2004)
4. SAINTS AND SINNERS (30 Dec 2004)

SEASON TWENTY ONE 6 January – 3 February 2005
1. PUPPET ON A STRING (6 Jan 2005)
2. THE WAGES OF SIN (13 Jan 2005)
3. THE TIES THAT BIND (20 Jan 2005)
4. IN CAMERA (27 Jan 2005)
5. MIND OVER MATTER (3 feb 2005)

SEASON TWENTY TWO 16 September – 29 March 2006
1. CAUSE AND EFFECT (16 Sep 2005)
2. A TASTE OF MONEY (23 Sep 2005)
3. A DEATH FORETOLD (30 Sep 2005)
4. RUNNING OUT OF TIME (4 Nov 2005)
5. CAUSE TO KILL (11 Nov 2005)
6. DO OR DIE (9 Dec 2005)
7. DEAD MAN WALKING (16 Dec 2005)
8. LAW (22 Mar 2006)
9. THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST (29 Mar 2006)

SEASON TWENTY THREE 3 January – 4 July 2007
1. USERS AND LOSERS (3 Jan 2007)
2. THE THIRTEENTH STEP (17 Jan 2007)
3. TENEMENT (30 Apr 2007)
4. PINNACLE (4 Jul 2007)

SEASON TWENTY FOUR 8 January – 30  December 2008
1. GENESIS (8 Jan 2008)
2. JUDGEMENT DAY (15 Jan 2008)
3. ISLAND (27 feb 2008)
4. TRUST (21 Apr 2008)
5. A STUDY IN MURDER (1 May 2008)
6. POINT OF LIGHT (5 June 2008)
7. SAFER (3 Nov 2008)
8. THE CARING GAME (14 Nov 2008)
9. HOMESICK (8 Dec 2008)
10. CROSSING THE LINE (15 Dec 2008)
11. LIFELINE (30 Dec 2008)

SEASON TWENTY FIVE 20 Feb – 24 December 2009
1. COLD READER (20 Feb 2009)
2. GRASS (30 Apr 2009)
3. THE KNIFE TRICK (7 May 2009)
4. SO LONG BABY (19 July 2009)
5. FACT AND FICTION (24 Dec 2009)

SEASON TWENTY SIX 23 January – 6 February 2010
1. I.O.U. (23 Jan 2010)
2. LOCAL HERO (30 Jan 2010)
3. THE RAPTURE (6 Feb 2010)

SEASON TWENTY SEVEN 3 October – 7 November 2010
This season was screened first only in Scotland on the dates above but was screened across the whole of the ITV network from 11 January – 22 February 2011.
1. BAD MEDICINE (3 Oct 2010)
2. ABUSE OF TRUST (10 Oct 2010)
3. SILENT TRUTH (17 Oct 2010)
4. FALLEN ANGELS (24 Oct 2010)
5. BLOODSPORT (30 Oct 2010)
6. THE ENDS OF JUSTICE (7 Nov 2010)