Inspector George Gently

Inspector George Gently
One example of a title card
GenreCrime drama
Created byPeter Flannery
Based onGeorge Gently
by Alan Hunter
Written byPeter Flannery
Starring
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series8
No. of episodes25 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersPeter Flannery
Polly Hill
George Faber
Charles Pattinson
ProducersMatthew Bird
Peter Norris
Jake Lushington
Production locationEngland/Republic of Ireland
CinematographyPeter Robertson
Running time90 minutes
Production companyCompany Pictures
Original release
NetworkBBC One
Release8 April 2007 (2007-04-08) –
30 October 2017 (2017-10-30)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Inspector George Gently (also known as George Gently for the pilot and first series) is a British crime drama television series produced by Company Pictures for BBC One, set in the 1960s and loosely based on some of the Inspector Gently novels written by Alan Hunter. The series stars Martin Shaw as the eponymous inspector and Lee Ingleby as Detective Sergeant John Bacchus, with Simon Hubbard and Lisa McGrillis in supporting roles as police constables in the fictitious North East Constabulary.

The series moved the setting of the stories to North East England, centring on Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, and County Durham, as opposed to the Norfolk setting in the books. The death penalty is still in effect in Britain as the series begins, and it is used as a plot feature in some early episodes. The abolition of the death penalty in 1965 is noted in the series. The earliest episodes are set in 1964 with the eighth series taking place in 1970.

After fair ratings for the first three series, the BBC secured funding from the North East Content Fund to produce further episodes. The fourth series was filmed between January and June 2011, and was broadcast that autumn. On 26 March 2012, the BBC announced that four new feature-length episodes were being produced to be shown later the same year.[1] The fifth series ended on a dramatic cliffhanger, with the fate of both leading characters uncertain. However, in September 2012, the lead writer, Peter Flannery, confirmed that a sixth series, consisting of four episodes, had been commissioned.[2] The sixth series was shown in February 2014. A seventh series of four episodes was subsequently commissioned, and began being broadcast in April 2015.[3] The eighth and final series was broadcast in 2017.[4]

  1. ^ "Inspector George Gently Returns in Four New Feature-Length Episodes". BBC. 26 March 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  2. ^ "Writersroom interviews...Peter Flannery". BBC News. 17 September 2012. Retrieved 30 November 2017. It's just been commissioned for a 6th series, in fact, which will take us up to 19 films
  3. ^ Susanna Lazarus (30 October 2014). "Louise Brealey to Star with Vic Reeves in Inspector George Gently". Radio Times.
  4. ^ Harp, Justin (19 January 2017). "Inspector George Gently Will End After 10 Years". Digital Spy. Retrieved 30 November 2017.