Softly, Softly (television Series)

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''Softly, Softly'' is a British television police procedural series produced by the

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and screened on

BBC 1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

from January 1966. It was created as a spin-off from the series ''

Z-Cars ''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by the BBC, it debut ...

'', which ended its fifth series run in December 1965. The series took its title from the

proverb A proverb (from la, proverbium) is a simple and insightful, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and use formulaic language. A proverbial phrase or a proverbia ...

"Softly, softly, catchee monkey", the motto of

Lancashire Constabulary Lancashire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing the ceremonial county of Lancashire in North West England. The force's headquarters are at Hutton, near the city of Preston. , the force has 3,088 police officers ...

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Newsletter 853, Saturday 12 October 2013

Series outline

''Softly, Softly'' centred on the work of regional

police The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

crime squads, plain-clothes

CID CID may refer to: Film * ''C.I.D.'' (1955 film), an Indian Malayalam film * ''C.I.D.'' (1956 film), an Indian Hindi film * ''C. I. D.'' (1965 film), an Indian Telugu film * ''C.I.D.'' (1990 film), an Indian Hindi film Television * ''CID'' ( ...

officers based in the fictional region of Wyvern, supposedly in the

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

area of England. It was designed as a vehicle for Detective Chief Inspector Charles Barlow and Detective Inspector John Watt (played by

Stratford Johns Alan Edgar Stratford Johns (22 September 1925 – 29 January 2002), known as Stratford Johns, was a British stage, film and television actor who is best remembered for his starring role as Detective Inspector Charlie Barlow in the long-running ...

and

Frank Windsor Frank Windsor Higgins (12 July 1928 – 30 September 2020), known professionally as Frank Windsor, was an English actor, primarily known for his roles on television, especially policeman John Watt in ''Z-Cars'' and its spin-offs. Biography Win ...

, respectively) from the police series ''

'', which had just finished its original run in December 1965 (no new episodes were produced in 1966 but it was revived in a different format the following year). Joining them in the early series was Robert Keegan as Blackitt, the police station sergeant from ''Z-Cars'', now retired and acting as a freelance helper. The first two series continued the trend set by producer David Rose with ''Z-Cars'' and transmitted the majority of episodes live. This was one of the last long-running British TV series to do this. From series three onwards all episodes were pre-recorded.

Theme music

The original theme music was, like ''

'', a folk-song arrangement by

Fritz Spiegl Fritz Spiegl (27 January 1926 – 23 March 2003) was an Austrian-born English musician, journalist, broadcaster, humorist and collector who lived and worked in Britain from 1939. His works include compiling the Radio 4 UK Theme in 1978. Early lif ...

. It was released as a single (credited to the London Waits) on

Andrew Loog Oldham Andrew Loog Oldham (born 29 January 1944) is an English record producer, talent manager, impresario and author. He was manager and producer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 to 1967, and was noted for his flamboyant style. Early life Loog Oldha ...

's Immediate record label in 1966.

Series rundown

Cast

Others

Archive status

Many of the original ''Softly, Softly'' broadcasts are believed lost, especially from the first two series, the majority of which were transmitted live. As a result, 84 episodes are currently missing from the archives. (By comparison, all episodes of the follow-up ''Taskforce'' survive.)

Series and character development

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''. Stratford Johns left the ''Taskforce'' series in 1972 (Barlow had his own spin-off series ''

Barlow at Large ''Barlow at Large'', later ''Barlow'', is a British police procedural television programme broadcast in the 1970s, starring Stratford Johns in the title role. Johns had previously played Barlow in the ''Z-Cars'', '' Softly, Softly'' and '' So ...

'') and it continued until 1976 with Watt in command. During the 70s Windsor also appeared as Watt in ''

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer w ...

'', in which he and Barlow reopened the

murder casebook, and a similar series ''

Second Verdict ''Second Verdict'' is a six-part BBC television series from 1976. It combines the genres of police procedural and docudrama, with dramatised documentaries in which classic criminal cases and unsolved crimes from history were re-appraised by fict ...

'', in which they looked into unsolved mysteries and miscarriages of justice.

References

External links

*
''Softly, Softly''
at Television Heaven {{Z-Cars 1966 British television series debuts 1969 British television series endings 1960s British police procedural television series Black-and-white British television shows English-language television shows Lost BBC episodes British television spin-offs