Softly, Softly: Taskforce
| Softly, Softly: Task Force | |
|---|---|
| Created by |
Troy Kennedy Martin Elwyn Jones |
| Starring |
Stratford Johns Frank Windsor Terence Rigby Norman Bowler Walter Gotell David Lloyd Meredith |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of series | 8 |
| No. of episodes | 149 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 50 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC1 |
| Original release | 20 November 1969 – 15 December 1976 |
Softly, Softly: Task Force is a police based drama series which ran on BBC 1 from 1969 to 1976. It was a revamp of Softly, Softly, itself a spin-off from Z-Cars. The change was made partly to coincide with the coming of colour broadcasting to the BBC's main channel BBC1. The programme was due to be called simply Task Force, but reluctant to sacrifice a much-loved brand the BBC compromised this so it became Softly, Softly: Task Force.
Outline
At the end of Softly Softly, the main characters – Detective Chief Superintendent Barlow (Stratford Johns) and Detective Inspector Watt (Frank Windsor) – were promoted to control 'task forces', 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 (played by the City of Rochester and the Medway area), where the team were under the baleful eye of Chief Constable Cullen (Walter Gotell).
The continuing storyline of the series 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 PC Snow (the dog handler, with his dogs Inky and Radar), David Lloyd Meredith (Sgt Evans) and Walter Gotell (Chief Con. Cullen).
By the mid 1970s, the show was beginning to look rather dated and drab alongside the new dynamic series appearing on ITV (such as 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 forerunner Z-Cars had appeared to blow away the cobwebs. The final series introduced a new theme tune and some new characters, but the series had had its day and was a far cry from the dynamic and edgy team of professionals introduced in the first Softly, Softly ten years earlier.
Series run down
| Series | From | To | Episodes | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 Nov 1969 | 12 Mar 1970 | 16 | 50 minutes |
| 2 | 16 Sept 1970 | 10 Mar 1971 | 26 | 50 minutes |
| 3 | 6 Oct 1971 | 29 Mar 1972 | 26 | 50 minutes |
| 4 | 13 Sept 1972 | 31 Jan 1973 | 20 | 50 minutes |
| 5 | 12 Sept 1973 | 16 Jan 1974 | 18 | 50 minutes |
| 6 | 4 Sept 1974 | 27 Nov 1974 | 13 | 50 minutes |
| 7 | 27 Aug 1975 | 3 Dec 1975 | 15 | 50 minutes |
| 8 | 8 Sept 1976 | 15 Dec 1976 | 15 | 50 minutes |
Cast
| Actor | Character | Years Active | Series Active | Episode Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stratford Johns | DCS Charlie Barlow | 1969–1972 | 1–4 | 56 |
| Frank Windsor | D Sup./DCS John Watt | 1969–1976 | 1–8 | 123 |
| Norman Bowler | Insp./DI/CI/DCI Harry Hawkins | 1969–1976 | 1–8 | 113 |
| Walter Gotell | Chief Con. Arthur Cullen | 1969–1975 | 1–7 | 55 |
| David Lloyd Meredith | Sgt./DS/DI Bob Evans | 1969–1976 | 1–8 | 106 |
| David Allister | Sgt./Insp Richard Jackson | 1969–1971 | 1–2 | 22 |
| Susan Tebbs | P/W DC Betty Donald | 1969–1971 | 1–2 | 26 |
| Terence Rigby | PC Henry Snow | 1969–1976 | 1–8 | 83 |
| Inky (police dog) | Inky | 1969–70 | 1 | N/A |
| Gay Hamilton | Dr. Jean Morrow/Watt | 1970–1974 | 1–4, 6 | 12 |
| Radar (police dog) | Radar | 1970–72 | 2–3 | N/A |
| Brian Hall | PC Ted Drake | 1971–1972 | 3 | 16 |
| Martin C. Thurley | PC Knowles * | 1972–1974 | 4–5 | 23 |
| Grahame Mallard | PC Terry Nesbitt | 1972–1974 | 4–6 | 29 |
| Nigel Humphreys | PC Pete Dodds | 1974–1975 | 6–7 | 20 |
| Malcolm Rennie | PC Ted Perry | 1975 | 7 | 12 |
| Philippa Howell | WPC Betty Arthur | 1975–1976 | 7–8 | 12 |
| Peter Clough | PC Joe Lincoln | 1975–1976 | 7–8 | 17 |
| Peter Childs | DS Don Grant | 1976 | 8 | 15 |
| John Flanagan | PC Will Pearson | 1976 | 8 | 15 |
Others
| Actor | Character | Years Active | Series Active | Episode Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terrence Hardiman | Insp. Thomas Armstrong | 1971 | 2 | 7 |
| Julie Hallam | P/W DC Maggie Forest | 1971–1972 | 2 | 7 |
| Heather Stoney | P/W DS Mary Green | 1971–1973 | 2 | 7 |
| Jenny Hanley | Sara Jameson/Hawkins | 1972–1975 | 4–7 | 8 |
| John Franklyn-Robbins | CI/D Sup. Bill Adler | 1972–1973 | 4 | 9 |
| Warren Clarke | DS Jack Stirling | 1973 | 5 | 4 |
* PC Knowles is never given a first name on-screen.
Archive status
All episodes of Task Force survive on their original 2" Quad VT except for the episode "Welcome to the Club" which is a b/w 16mm telerecording.
DVD release
Series 1 received a Region 2 DVD release from Simply Media. This was released on 18 November 2013.
Simply Media will be releasing Series 2 on Region 2 DVD in September 2016.
Series development
Barlow & Watt appeared again in a 6-part series in 1973, which saw Barlow & Watt re-appraising the Jack the Ripper murders. The pair would state all the known facts and with the aid of specially staged reconstructions, attempt to work out how the crimes were committed, though usually, nothing new was conclusively proven.
They were spun off into one further outing, Second Verdict. Over six weeks, they re-investigated some of the most baffling historic criminal cases, including the Lindbergh kidnappings and the murders of the Princes in the Tower by King Richard III. The characters sparring off each other to get to the truth made for entertaining television, but with the exception of the final episode, it was hampered by a lack of actual evidence to offer real 'second verdicts'. A comparable ITV series Killers featuring detailed reconstructions of notorious crime trials used much dialogue based on actual transcripts, which at the time didn't help Second Verdict. In a contemporary interview, Stratford Johns remarked that: "I did not like the title. It was too limiting. I would have preferred 'Second Opinion'".
The character of John Watt would see one final solo appearance in the last ever Z-Cars, in September 1978.