| Between the Lines | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | Crime drama |
| Created by | J. C. Wilsher |
| Starring | Neil Pearson Tom Georgeson Siobhan Redmond Tony Doyle Robin Lermitte Lesley Vickerage John Shrapnel Jerome Flynn David Lyon Hugh Ross |
| Theme music composer | Hal Lindes Colin Towns |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 35 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Tony Garnett |
| Producers | Peter Norris Joy Lale |
| Running time | 50 minutes |
| Production companies | Island World Proudctions World Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC1 |
| Release | 4 September 1992 – 21 December 1994 |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
Between the Lines is a television police drama series created by J. C. Wilsher and produced by World Productions for the BBC. It was first shown on BBC1 between 4 September 1992 and 21 December 1994, running for three series.
The show centred on the eventful life of Detective Superintendent Tony Clark, played by Neil Pearson. Clark was an ambitious member of the Complaints Investigation Bureau (CIB), an internal organisation of the Metropolitan Police that investigates complaints against officers as well as claims of corruption inside the police force. Along the way Clark had to overcome strong influence from his superiors and problems in his private life, most notably the break-up of his marriage following an affair with WPC Jenny Dean (Lesley Vickerage). Throughout the series Clark was assisted by colleagues Harry Naylor (Tom Georgeson) and Maureen 'Mo' Connell (Siobhan Redmond).
The show became a surprise hit for the BBC, winning a British Academy Television Award (BAFTA) for Best Drama Series in 1994. In 2000 it was voted into the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes by the British Film Institute. The series was reviewed in an episode of the BBC documentary series Call the Cops,[1] which stated the series had "found a way of getting to grips with the corruption scandals of the 1990s".[2]
Executive producer Tony Garnett had begun his career as an actor before becoming a producer in the late 1960s. His credits included The Wednesday Play and Play for Today. Following Between the Lines, he went on to produce several popular and notable series including This Life (1996–97), Ballykissangel and The Cops (1998–2001).[3]
- ^ Call the Cops at BBC Four
- ^ Call the Cops, episode 4: Between the Lines at BBC Four
- ^ Tony Garnett at IMDb