''Rockliffe'' is a

British television Television broadcasts in the United Kingdom began in 1932, however, regular broadcasts would only begin four years later. Television began as a public service which was free of advertising, which followed the first demonstration of a transm ...

police procedural The police procedural, police show, or police crime drama is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasises the investigative procedure of police officers, police detectives, or law enforcement agency, law enforcement agencies ...

drama series, produced by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, which ran for three series between 9 January 1987 and 14 December 1988. ''Rockliffe'' was devised by Richard O'Keeffe, and produced by Leonard Lewis. The first two series, entitled ''Rockliffe's Babies'', starred Ian Hogg as Alan Rockliffe, a detective sergeant assigned to train a team of inexperienced plain-clothed Crime Squad PCs in inner-city

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, which include Steve Hood ( Brett Fancy), Gerry O'Dowd (

Joe McGann Joseph McGann (born 24 July 1958) is an English actor. His roles include the lead role of Charlie Burrows, the housekeeper in the TV comedy series '' The Upper Hand'' (1990–1996), '' Night and Day'' and his voice role as Sir Gideon Ofnir in ...

), David Adams (Bill Champion), Janice Hargreaves ( Alphonsia Emmanuel), Paul Georgiou (Martyn Ellis), Keith Chitty (John Blakely) and Karen Walsh (Susanna Shelling). The series featured writing contributions from Richard O`Keeffe, Don Webb, Charlie Humphreys and Nick Perry, and was directed by Derek Lister, Keith Washington, Clive Fleury and David Attwood. The third series, entitled ''Rockliffe's Folly'', followed Rockliffe through his relocation to Wessex Police, dealing with rural crimes as part of a new team of investigators. The seven episode third series proved to be the last, with many citing a change in the programme's formula for the heavy decline in viewing figures. Many viewers stated that the success of the two ''Babies'' series came not from Rockliffe himself, but from the popular ensemble cast. Most of the location filming featured in the first two series took place around the

Kensal Rise Kensal Green, also known as Kensal Rise, is an area in north-west London, and along with Kensal Town, it forms part of the northern section of North Kensington. It lies north of the canal in the London Borough of Brent, and also to the south, ...

area of West London. Notably, the police station interiors were at Canalot Studios, Kensal Road. A paperback novel was released as a tie-in to the first series on 11 December 1986, four weeks before the broadcast of the first episode. After many years of remaining unreleased, the complete series was released on DVD by Network distributing on 8 May 2017.

Cast

* Ian Hogg as DS Alan Rockliffe

Rockliffe's Babies

* Bill Champion as PC David Adams * John Blakey as PC Keith Chitty * Brett Fancy as PC Steve Hood *

as PC Gerry O'Dowd * Martyn Ellis as PC Paul Georgiou * Susanna Shelling as WPC Karen Walsh * Alphonsia Emmanuel as WPC Janice Hargreaves *

Brian Croucher Brian Croucher is an English actor and director best known for his role as Ted Hills, which he played from 1995 to 1997, in the soap opera ''EastEnders''. Croucher also had a regular role in the science fiction series ''Blake's 7''. Career Cr ...

as Chief Superintendent Barry Wyatt * Bill McCabe as Sergeant Benyon * Edward Wilson as DI Charlie Flight *

Malcolm Terris Malcolm Hope Terris (11 January 1941 – 6 June 2020) was an English actor. He acted in many television programmes, including possibly his best-known role as Matt Headley in ''When the Boat Comes In'', a popular 1970s series. His film career ...

as Detective Superintendent Munro

Rockliffe's Folly

James Aubrey James Aubrey may refer to: * James Aubrey (actor) (1947–2010), English actor * James T. Aubrey (1918–1994), American television and film executive * Jimmy Aubrey Jimmy Aubrey (23 October 1887 – 2 September 1983) was an English actor wh ...

as DI Derek Hoskins * Ian Brimble as Inspector Leslie Yaxley * Aaron Harris DC Paul Whitmore * Carole Nimmons as Sergeant Rachel Osborne * Craig Nightingale as PC Guy Overton * Elizabeth Henry as WPC Hester Goswell * John Hartley as PC Alfred Duggan

Episodes

Series 1: Rockliffe's Babies (1987)

Series 2: Rockliffe's Babies 2 (1988)

Series 3: Rockliffe's Folly (1988)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rockliffe (Tv Series) 1987 British television series debuts 1988 British television series endings BBC television dramas 1980s British crime television series 1980s British drama television series British English-language television shows