''Sam Saturday'' is a British television

police procedural The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the protagonist(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on eith ...

series, broadcast between 27 June and 8 August 1992. The six-part series produced by Cinema Verity in association with

LWT London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 un ...

, broadcast on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

, follows the work of DI Sam Sterne (

Ivan Kaye Ivan Blakeley Kaye (born 1 July 1961) is an English actor and producer. His international fame came with roles in historical drama shows like the Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan in all three seasons of ''The Borgias (2011 TV series), The Borgias' ...

), a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

police detective, as he struggles to balance the demands of the job with his private life. The series was created by writer and director Alvin Rakoff, and was produced by the production company of executive producer

Verity Lambert Verity Ann Lambert (27 November 1935 – 22 November 2007) was an English television and film producer. Lambert began working in television in the 1950s. She began her career as a producer at the BBC by becoming the founding producer of ...

. The series was just one of a number of commissions made by LWT controller of drama Nick Elliott in 1991, following the announcement that both ''

The Ruth Rendell Mysteries ''The Ruth Rendell Mysteries'' is a British television crime drama series, produced by TVS and later by its successor Meridian Broadcasting, in association with Blue Heaven Productions, for broadcast on the ITV network. Twelve series were broa ...

'' and ''

Inspector Morse Detective Chief Inspector Endeavour Morse, GM, is the eponymous fictional character in the series of detective novels by British author Colin Dexter. On television, he appears in the 33-episode drama series ''Inspector Morse'' (1987–2000), ...

'' were to cease production. The first episode of the series finds Sterne moving back in with his mother, Rita (

Doreen Mantle Doreen Mantle (born 22 June 1926)"Remarkable Highgate Women"
(P ...

), after a messy divorce. Three episodes of the series were written by acclaimed writer

Stanley Price Stanley Price (December 31, 1892July 13, 1955) was an American film supporting actor who appeared in over 200 films between 1922 and 1956. He was a charter member of the Screen Actors Guild. Career Price was an actor whose artistic career sp ...

. Despite good reception, in the light of both ''Inspector Morse'' and ''The Ruth Rendell Mysteries'' returning to the ITV schedules, a second series was never commissioned. In 2013, Kaye stated in an interview that he was grateful to have "his own series at 30", and explained how the series allowed him to break through into other television roles, as well as securing a leading West End role within six months of the programme's broadcast.

Cast

as DI Sam Sterne *

Peter Armitage Peter Armitage may refer to: * Peter Armitage (statistician) (born 1924), British statistician * Peter Armitage (actor) Peter James Armitage (23 October 1939 – 30 November 2018) was an English television and stage actor best known for his r ...

as Jim Butler *

Doreen Mantle Doreen Mantle (born 22 June 1926)"Remarkable Highgate Women"
(P ...

as Rita Sterne * Dennis Victory as Mike *

Michael Elwyn Michael Elwyn (born 23 August 1942) is a Welsh actor, notable for his work in film ('' Shadow Man''), stage ('' The Audience'', as Anthony Eden) and television ('' Stella''). Elwyn was born in Pontypridd. He is the partner of actress Alison Ste ...

as CDI Simpson *

David Fleeshman David Fleeshman (born 11 July 1952) is a British actor, broadcaster, drama lecturer and theatre director with a wealth of experience in film, radio, television, theatre and commercials. Biography Fleeshman was born on 11 July 1952 in Leeds, Wes ...

as Michael Sterne *

Simon Slater Simon Slater (born 1959) is a British music director, composer, narrator, and actor. He has composed more than 300 original music scores for film, theatre, TV and radio, and is a member of the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters. I ...

as DI Griffiths * Lauren Jacobs as Miriam Sterne *

Paul Opacic Paul Opacic (born 1966) is a British actor from Halifax, England. Best known for his roles as Carl Costello in ''Hollyoaks'', Steve Marchant in ''Emmerdale'' and Mark Waddle in '' Bad Girls''. In 2021, he joined the cast of the ITV soap ope ...

as DC Knights * Helen Levien as WPC Daniels

Episodes

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0121019, title=Sam Saturday 1992 British television series debuts 1992 British television series endings 1990s British police procedural television series 1990s British television miniseries Television series by ITV Studios London Weekend Television shows English-language television shows Television shows set in London Jews and Judaism in fiction