''Spender'' is a British
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
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 ...
drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...
, created by
Ian La Frenais
Ian La Frenais (born 7 January 1937) is an English writer best known for his creative partnership with Dick Clement. They are most famous for television series including ''The Likely Lads'', ''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'', ''Porridg ...
and
Jimmy Nail
James Michael Aloysius Bradford (born 16 March 1954), known as Jimmy Nail, is an English singer-songwriter, actor, film producer, and television writer. He played the role of Leonard "Oz" Osborne in the television show ''Auf Wiedersehen, Pet'' a ...
, that first broadcast on 8 January 1991 on
BBC1
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...
. The series, which also starred Nail as the titular character, ran for three series between 1991 and 1993, finishing with a feature-length special, ''The French Collection'', broadcast on 29 December 1993. A total of twenty-one episodes were produced. The first and second series were produced by Martin McKeand, while the third and final series was produced by Paul Raphael and Peter McAleese.
The series, set in
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
, focuses on the life and exploits of
Detective Sergeant
Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...
Freddie Spender, who was often chosen to carry out more daring police cases. With his criminal sidekick Stick (
Sammy Johnson
Ronald Samuel Johnson (14 May 1949 – November 1998) was an English actor.
Biography
Johnson was born in Gateshead. the son of Samuel Johnson and Thomasina (Tina) Scott. He was brother to Kenneth (who died in September 1964), Raymond (Jimm ...
), Spender was regarded as one of the more remarkable TV detectives of the 1990s. The series featured an extensive back story for the main characters, with a number of episodes dealing with Spender's domestic life, his family and circumstances. Some of the storylines were however seen as somewhat dark; one episode featured the death of Spender's wife at the hands of a ruthless gangster, another on the kidnap of one of his daughters.
Guest stars in the series included
Amanda Redman
Amanda Jacqueline Redman, (born 12 August 1957) is an English actress, known for her roles as Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman in the BBC One series '' New Tricks'' (2003–2013) and as Dr. Lydia Fonseca in ''The Good Karma Hospital'' ...
,
Rodney Bewes
Rodney Bewes (27 November 1937 – 21 November 2017) was an English television actor and writer who portrayed Bob Ferris in the BBC television sitcom ''The Likely Lads'' (1964–66) and its colour sequel ''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'' ...
,
Frances Tomelty
Frances Tomelty (born 6 October 1948) is a Northern Irish actress whose numerous television credits include '' Strangers'' (1978–1979), ''Testament of Youth'' (1979), ''Inspector Morse'' (1988), '' Cracker'' (1993), ''The Amazing Mrs Pritchard ...
,
Julie Peasgood
Julie May Peasgood (born 28 May 1956 in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire) is an English actress, television presenter, author and voiceover artist known for her distinctive voice.
She is best known for her role as Fran Pearson in the television soap ' ...
,
Jan Graveson
Janice Margaret "Jan" Graveson (born 1965 in Easington, County Durham) is an English actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in Eastenders as Disa O'Brien and Benidorm as Susie .
Career
An actress who had dreams from an early ag ...
,
Geoffrey Hughes, Bobby Pattinson,
Tom Bell and
Ian McElhinney
Ian McElhinney (born 19 August 1948) is a Northern Irish actor and director. He has appeared in many television series in a career spanning more than forty years; notable appearances include ''Taggart'', '' Hornblower'', '' Cold Feet'', and '' ...
. The series was broadcast on Tuesday evenings in the peak time slot that followed the BBC's flagship
Nine O'Clock News. No further series were produced following the feature-length special, despite the popularity of the show, and it being a smash hit for the BBC in terms of ratings with the show regularly pulling in 14 million viewers, and each episode costing upwards of £350,000 to produce. In 1992, a novelisation of the series, written by Nail, was published. The series has never been released on DVD.
Development
Jimmy Nail
James Michael Aloysius Bradford (born 16 March 1954), known as Jimmy Nail, is an English singer-songwriter, actor, film producer, and television writer. He played the role of Leonard "Oz" Osborne in the television show ''Auf Wiedersehen, Pet'' a ...
initially mentioned the idea of a cop show to writer
Ian La Frenais
Ian La Frenais (born 7 January 1937) is an English writer best known for his creative partnership with Dick Clement. They are most famous for television series including ''The Likely Lads'', ''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'', ''Porridg ...
, with whom he'd worked on ''
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
''Auf Wiedersehen, Pet'' () is a British comedy-drama television programme about seven British construction workers who leave the United Kingdom to search for employment overseas. In the first series, the men live and work on a building site in ...
'', in 1987. The
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
subsequently commissioned a pilot script, written by the latter, which was enthusiastically received; however La Frenais was too busy to work on further episodes. A producer suggested that Nail should try writing a script, which was also positively received by the BBC. Subsequently, a series of eight episodes was commissioned by the network. Not confident he could repeat the formula for remaining episodes in the series on his own, Nail moved to
in 1989 to be closer to La Frenais as he worked on material for the series.
The second and third series were produced by Initial.
Sapphire RS Cosworth for each series, which served as Spender's car. Stick drove a
. A number of Ford,
cars were also featured in the series.
as Frances Spender
* Tony McAnaney as Keith Moreland
* Lynn Harrisson as Kate Spender
* Dawn Winlow as Laura Spender
*
as Supt. Yelland (Series 1)
*