''Softly, Softly'' 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 ...

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 ...

and screened on

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

from January 1966. It was created as a spin-off from the series ''

Z-Cars ''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police and CID detectives in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by ...

'', which ended its fifth series run in December 1965. The series took its title from the

proverb A proverb (from ) or an adage is a simple, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and are an example of formulaic speech, formulaic language. A proverbial phrase ...

"Softly, softly, catchee monkey", the motto of

Lancashire Constabulary Lancashire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Lancashire in North West England. The force's headquarters are at Hutton, Lancashire, Hutton, near the cit ...

Training School.World Wide Words
Newsletter 853, Saturday 12 October 2013

Series outline

''Softly, Softly'' centred on the work of regional

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

crime squads, plainclothes CID officers based in the fictional region of Wyvern, supposedly in the

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

area of England. It was designed as a vehicle for Detective Chief Inspector Charles Barlow and Detective Inspector John Watt (played by

Stratford Johns Alan Edgar Stratford Johnson (22 September 1925 – 29 January 2002), known as Stratford Johns, was a British stage, film and television actor known for playing the role of senior CID officer Charlie Barlow, a character he originated in the lo ...

and

Frank Windsor Frank Windsor Higgins (12 July 1928 – 30 September 2020), known professionally as Frank Windsor, was an English actor, primarily known for his roles on television, especially policeman John Watt in ''Z-Cars'' and its spin-offs. Early life Wi ...

, respectively) from the police series ''

'', which had just finished its original run in December 1965 (no new episodes were produced in 1966 but it was revived in a different format the following year). Joining them in the early series was Robert Keegan as Blackitt, the police station sergeant from ''Z-Cars'', now retired and acting as a freelance helper. Another ''Z-Cars'' regular, James Ellis's Bert Lynch, appeared in the 1967 episode "Barlow Was There: Part 3: Mischief". The 1968 episode "Unfinished Business" saw Barlow reunited with his former boss from ''Z-Cars'' Detective Chief Super Intendentent Robins ( John Phillips). The first two series continued the trend set by producer David Rose with ''Z-Cars'' and transmitted the majority of episodes live. This was one of the last long-running British TV series to do this. From series three onwards all episodes were recorded.

Theme music

The original theme music was, like ''

'', a folk-song arrangement by

Fritz Spiegl Fritz Spiegl (27 January 1926 – 23 March 2003) was an Austrian-born English musician, journalist, broadcaster, humorist and collector who lived in Britain from 1939. His works include compiling the Radio 4 UK Theme in 1978. Early life Spiegl ...

. It was released as a single (credited to the London Waits) on

Andrew Loog Oldham Andrew Loog Oldham (born 29 January 1944) is an English record producer, talent manager, impresario and author. He was manager and producer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 to 1967, and was noted for his flamboyant style. Early life Oldham's f ...

's Immediate record label in 1966.

Series rundown

Cast

Main/regular

Others

Archive status

Many of the original ''Softly, Softly'' broadcasts are believed lost, especially from the first two series, the majority of which were transmitted live. As a result, 83 episodes are currently missing from the archives. (By comparison, all episodes of the follow-up ''Taskforce'' survive.)

Series and character development

In 1969, to coincide with the BBC's move to colour broadcasting on BBC1, ''Softly Softly'' ended. The characters of Barlow, Watt and Hawkins were promoted and moved to the Southeast of England in a new series set in the fictitious town of Thamesford. Here, as a result of changes in criminal activities, the police force needed to develop a new approach. Taskforces were set up: these were groupings of police expertise and manpower drawn together for special operations in the region. This was a new series in its own right and it was simply going to be called ''Taskforce''. However, as it starred three strong characters from a popular "brand" that the BBC was reluctant to drop, this new series was retitled '' Softly, Softly: Task Force''. Stratford Johns left the ''Taskforce'' series in 1972 (Barlow had his own spin-off series ''

Barlow at Large ''Barlow at Large'', later ''Barlow'', is a British police procedural television programme broadcast in the 1970s, starring Stratford Johns in the titular role. Johns had previously played Barlow in the ''Z-Cars'', '' Softly, Softly'' and '' ...

'') and it continued until 1976 with Watt in command. During the 70s Windsor also appeared as Watt in ''

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer who was active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer was also ...

'', in which he and Barlow reopened the

murder casebook, and a similar series ''

Second Verdict ''Second Verdict'' is a six-part BBC television series from 1976. It combines the genres of police procedural and docudrama, with dramatised documentaries in which classic criminal cases and unsolved crimes from history were re-appraised by fict ...

'', in which they looked into unsolved mysteries and miscarriages of justice.

References

External links

*
''Softly, Softly''
at Television Heaven {{Z-Cars 1966 British television series debuts 1969 British television series endings 1960s British police procedural television series 1960s British crime television series British crime drama television series Black-and-white British television shows British English-language television shows Lost BBC episodes British television spinoffs