Softly, Softly: Taskforce

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Softly, Softly: Taskforce
Genre	Police procedural
Creator(s)	Troy Kennedy Martin, Elwyn Jones
Starring	Stratford Johns Frank Windsor Terence Rigby Norman Bowler Walter Gotell David Lloyd Meredith
Country of origin	UK
Production
Running time	50 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC
Original run	November 20, 1969 – December 15, 1976

Softly, Softly (a spin off from Z Cars) the popular BBC television police drama series, was revamped in 1969, partly to co-incide with the coming of colour broadcasting to BBC 1. The main characters, Detective Chief Inspector Barlow (Stratford Johns) and Detective Inspector Watt (Frank Windsor) were promoted to control of 'taskforces', a new (at the time) development in regional police divisions wherein expertise and manpower could be drawn together when needed for special operations. Joining them from Softly, Softly would be DS Harry Hawkins (Norman Bowler), also on promotion. The stories were set in the fictional south-eastern English borough of Thamesford, where the team were under the baleful eye of Chief Constable Cullen (Walter Gotell).

The programme was due to be called Taskforce, but the BBC were reluctant to sacrifice a much-loved brand and so a compromise was reached; it became Softly, Softly: Taskforce.

The continuing storyline of the series saw Barlow widowed in 1972, after which he was head-hunted 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.

Many well-known British actors appeared in small roles in this series. Regulars included Terence Rigby as PC Snow (the dog handler, with his dogs Inky and Radar), David Lloyd Meredith (Sgt Evans) and Warren Clarke (DS Stirling). Among those appearing in individual episodes can be found Doctor Who actors Patrick Troughton ('Better than Doing Porridge', Dec 1971) and Tom Baker ('Like Any Other Friday', Feb 1970 - a 'blink & you'll miss it' line, but one of his earliest surviving TV appearances).

By the mid-70s the show was beginning to look rather dated and drab alongside the new dynamic series appearing on the rival commercial channel (notably The Sweeney). With its increasing reliance on police procedural issues and squeaky-clean officers (with the odd 'rotten apple' for them to condemn), it began to look as stiff as Dixon of Dock Green had when its fore-runner Z Cars had appeared to blow away the cobwebs. The final episode in 1976 ends with a singalong around a piano - a far cry from the dynamic and edgy team of professionals we met in the first Softly, Softly ten years' earlier.

Barlow & Watt would still have one more spin-off outing, in Second Verdict, where they re-investigated historic cases. This was itself a spin-off from a 6-part series in 1973 which saw Barlow & Watt re-appraising the Jack the Ripper murders. Watt's final solo appearance was in the last ever Z Cars in September 1978.