''Bulman'' is a British television

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combin ...

series, principally written and created by Murray Smith. It was first broadcast on ITV on 5 June 1985. The series, featuring retired ex-cop George Bulman (

Don Henderson Donald Francis Henderson (10 November 1931 – 22 June 1997)Ancestry/Find My Past (his birth was registered in the December 1931 quarter) was an English actor. He was known for playing both "tough guy" roles and authority figures, and is remem ...

) and his assistant Lucy McGinty (

Siobhan Redmond Siobhan Redmond, ( ; born 27 July 1959) is a Scottish actress, a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and known for various stage, audio and television roles. Early life Siobhan Redmond was born on 27 July 1959 in the Tollcross area of ...

), was a spin-off from the 1978 TV series '' Strangers'', itself a spin-off of the 1976 TV series ''

The XYY Man ''The XYY Man'' began as a series of novels by Kenneth Royce, featuring the character of William (or Willie) 'Spider' Scott, a one-time cat-burglar who leaves prison aiming to go straight but finds his talents still to be very much in demand ...

'', which was adapted from the novels of Kenneth Royce. Produced by Granada Television, ''Bulman'' ran for two series, with the final episode broadcast on 8 August 1987. In this incarnation, Don Henderson once again stars as former Detective Chief Inspector George Bulman, who is ostensibly retired from police work and now spends his spare time repairing old clocks. However, aside from fixing clocks, Bulman is also working as a private investigator, and even has an assistant, Lucy McGinty. Aside from a number of private clients, Bulman and Lucy are frequently drawn into the clandestine world of the secret service through the machinations of security chief Bill Dugdale (

Thorley Walters Thorley Swinstead Walters (12 May 1913 – 6 July 1991) was an English character actor. He is probably best remembered for his comedy film roles such as in '' Two-Way Stretch'' and '' Carlton-Browne of the FO''. Early life Walters was born in T ...

), and also find themselves helping the police with cases under the instruction of Bulman's former boss Jack Lambie (

Mark McManus Mark McManus (21 February 1935 – 6 June 1994) was a Scottish actor. He has played roles in British television series '' Sam,'' '' Bulman, The Brothers, Strangers,'' and ''Dramarama'' and starred in the feature film '' 2000 Weeks''. He was ...

). Bulman's former assistant, Derek Willis (Dennis Blanch), also appears in two episodes. Both series were released on DVD via the Network imprint on 1 July 2013; however, these have since gone out of production. A complete box set was released on 20 August 2018, again via Network Distributing.

Cast

as George Bulman *

as Lucy McGinty *

as William 'Bill' Dugdale (Series 1 — Episodes 4, 6, 7 & 13; Series 2 — Episodes 5 & 7) *

John Benfield Jonathan Edmund Fulford "John" Turner (9 November 1951 – 16 June 2020), better known by his stage name John Benfield, was a British character actor. Biography Benfield appeared in 75 television episodes or films starting in 1981 with small p ...

as DI Holmes (Series 1 — Episodes 1, 5 & 11) *

as DCS Jack Lambie (Series 1 — Episodes 1, 2 & 13) * Simon Molloy as DS Mackay (Series 1 — Episodes 1, 5 & 7) * Dennis Blanch as DS Derek Willis (Series 1 — Episodes 1 & 3) * Jeremy Gagan as DCI Faulkner (Series 1 — Episodes 1 & 3)

Episodes

Series overview

Series 1 (1985)

Series 2 (1987)

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0083393, title=Bulman British crime television series ITV television dramas 1985 British television series debuts 1987 British television series endings English-language television shows 1980s British drama television series British television spin-offs Television series by ITV Studios Television shows set in Manchester Television shows produced by Granada Television