Softly Softly Task Force: Series 1 [DVD]

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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. 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

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.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. 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.

Other regulars included Terence Rigby as dog handler PC Snow with his dogs Inky and Radar, David Lloyd Meredith (Sgt Evans) and Walter Gotell (Chief Constable Cullen). The character of John Watt would see one final solo appearance in the last ever Z-Cars, in September 1978. 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". He was assisted by Inspector Watt (Frank Windsor) and Detective Sergeant Hawkins (Norman Bowler) under the guidance of Chief Constable Cullen (Walter Gotell).The original theme music was, like Z-Cars, a folk-song arrangement by Fritz Spiegl. It was released as a single (credited to the London Waits) on Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate record label in 1966. They were joined in time by Norman Bowler as West Country pin-up Inspector Harry Hawkins, and by Terence Rigby as dour dog-handler PC Snow – a man who seemed to think that smiling was liable to get him drummed out of the force. 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. 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 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).

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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.

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. 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. 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). 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). 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.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 ] This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. 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.