Softly Softly Task Force: Series 1 [DVD]

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Find sources: "Softly, Softly: Task Force"– news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR ( February 2007) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Barlow was widowed in 1972 and left Thamesford when he was headhunted by the Home Office – which became another spin-off series, Barlow at Large. At the end of Softly Softly, the main characters – Detective Chief Superintendent Barlow ( Stratford Johns) and Detective Inspector Watt ( Frank Windsor) – both applied for the role of head of CID at the newly formed police force, the fictional Thamesford Constabulary, which was said to be a product of amalgamations carried out during a recent reorganisation of the British police and is referred to as the third largest force in Britain. Softly, Softly is a British television police procedural series produced by the BBC and screened on BBC 1 from January 1966. It was created as a spin-off from the series Z-Cars, which ended its fifth series run in December 1965. The series took its title from the proverb "Softly, softly, catchee monkey", the motto of Lancashire Constabulary Training School. [1] Series outline [ edit ]

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, 84 episodes are currently missing from the archives. (By comparison, all episodes of the follow-up Taskforce survive.)

Understandably, he had a particular affection for Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood, claiming to have played more of its roles than any other actor. In addition to stage revivals, he took part in an all-star recording produced by George Martin in 1988. This left the way clear for Watt to come out of Barlow’s shadow and take command in his own right, with the reliable assistance of Hawkins. Bearded in later years, he was a loyal and enthusiastic regular at the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford-upon-Avon and the Barbican, particularly for Trevor Nunn. For Nunn and John Caird, he was Sir Hugh Evans in The Merry Wives of Windsor at Stratford in 1979, which transferred to the Aldwych the following year, with Ben Kingsley and Timothy Spall.

He was assisted by Inspector Watt (Frank Windsor) and Detective Sergeant Hawkins (Norman Bowler) under the guidance of Chief Constable Cullen (Walter Gotell). In 1976 he had appeared in the inaugural season of Theatr Clwyd, in Mold, north Wales, one of his favourite venues. For the last 20 years of his life, he lived in Chester. So successful was the partnership that in 1966 they were seconded to the Regional Crime Squad by the BBC for Softly, Softly a series that ran for ten years and became one of the best-realised spin-off series the BBC has ever had. After leaving Newtown, Barlow and Watt headed south to the fictional region of Wyvern (supposedly near Bristol) where they took up their new posts of Detective Chief Superintendent and Detective Chief Inspector respectively. Promotion did little to temper Barlow and he remained the tough, relentless and sharp-tongued copper that had such an impact on Z Cars that he became the national idea of a police chief. Softly, Softly-Task Force The story saw Barlow widowed in 1972, after which he was headhunted by the Home Office to work on special cases (this became the series Barlow at Large). This left the way clear for Watt to come out of Barlow's shadow and take command in his own right, with the reliable assistance of Hawkins. Regulars included Terence Rigby as dog handler PC Snow with his dogs Inky and Radar, David Lloyd Meredith (Sgt Evans) and Walter Gotell (Chief Con. Cullen). For Kenneth Branagh's Renaissance Theatre Company, formed in 1987, he undertook a European tour that included performing Hamlet in Elsinore, plus As You Like It and Much Ado About Nothing. He also played the Governor of Harfleur in Branagh's 1989 film of Henry V.Also featured were Garfield Morgan as Detective Chief Inspector Lewis, Norman Bowler as Detective Sergeant Hawkins and Alexis Kanner as Detective Constable Stone. They were later joined by Frank Windsor as John Watt. Although generally assumed to be Welsh, he was born in London and educated at Ealing County grammar school. However, both his parents were Welsh. Drawn to the theatre from an early age, he nevertheless took the precaution of training as an osteopath, a profession he also practised in recent years. The work of the Regional Crime Squad was the subject of this spin-off from Z Cars featuring Stratford Johns as Charlie Barlow. Following on from the 1966 show Softly Softly (which itself was a spin-off from the classic Z Cars), Softly Softly : Task Force starred Stratford Johns as Barlow – the head of Thamesford Constabulary CID and the supervising officer of their Task Force group.

Barlow had moved from Liverpool (the location of Z Cars) to the South-West Midlands and earned a promotion to Detective Chief Superintendent, while Watt had become a Detective Chief Inspector. In 1970 the series title was changed to Softly, Softly: Task Force and Barlow was promoted once again, this time to Head of Thamesford Constabulary's CID Task Force. Watt accompanied him. But the following year Barlow went it alone when he was headhunted by the Home Office to take up a post in Whitehall with the Police Research Services Branch in the series Barlow at Large. Softly, Softly: Task Force plodded on without Barlow for another six years and although the scripts were of a superior quality there was always the feeling that 'that little extra something' was missing. The revamped series began in November 1969, the week BBC1 went into colour. One 1970 episode showed Evans being carpeted by the chief constable (Walter Gotell, usually cast as a villain), and the following year, he and Watt (Windsor) clashed when both had "projects" on a "heavy night". In 1969, to coincide with the BBC's move to colour broadcasting on BBC 1, 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.Segments from Rigby's abbreviated autobiography, begun shortly before his death, are included in the book by his long-time friend, the television and radio dramatist Juliet Ace, Rigby Shlept Here: A Memoir of Terence Rigby 1937–2008. Along with correspondence and interviews with his friends and theatrical colleagues, Ace's memoir draws on her own diaries and shows much of the working actor and private man who remained a mystery to those close to him. It was published in November, 2014. Terence Rigby was born in Erdington, Birmingham, and was educated at St Philip's School. He was trained at RADA and had his national service in the Royal Air Force. [1] Career [ edit ] The character of John Watt would see one final solo appearance in the last ever Z-Cars, in September 1978. The stories were set in the fictional south-eastern English borough of Kingley (played by Rochester and the Medway area of Kent), where the team were under the baleful eye of Chief Constable Cullen ( Walter Gotell). In 1970, Softly, Softly: Task Force followed with Barlow made head of Thamesford Constabulary CID and supervising officer of the Constabulary’s Task Force. He was assisted by Watt and Hawkins again, under Chief Constable Cullen (William Gotell).