''Burnside'' is a British

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

police procedural The police procedural, police show, or police crime drama is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasises the investigative procedure of police officers, police detectives, or law enforcement agency, law enforcement agencies ...

drama, broadcast on ITV in 2000. The series, a spin-off from ITV's long-running police drama ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...

'', focused on DCI Frank Burnside, formerly a detective at Sun Hill and now working for the

National Crime Squad The National Crime Squad (NCS) was a British police organisation which dealt with national and transnational Organised crime, organised and major crimes. Formed in April 1998 after the amalgamation of six former Regional Crime Squads, it merge ...

. ''Burnside'' ran for one series of six episodes, structured as three two-part stories.

Background

The lead character of the series was Detective Chief Inspector Frank Burnside, who had appeared in ''

'' almost from its inception as a tough, no-nonsense antagonist to the station staff. Burnside disappeared in mysterious circumstances in 1993 and returned briefly five years later, when it was revealed that he had been working undercover.DCI Frank Burnside
''The Bill Biographies'' The main secondary characters were

Detective Sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage from the Brit ...

Dave Summers and

Detective Constable A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...

Sam Phillips. Burnside's NCS team also included the minor characters of DC Pete Moss, played by John White, and DC Chris Gibson, played by Paul Gilmore. In addition, several recurring characters appeared throughout the series: Paul Nicholas played Ronnie "The Razor" Buchan, a former London gangster and Burnside's nemesis.

Tony Selby Anthony Samuel Selby (26 February 1938 – 5 September 2021) was an English actor. With a career that spanned 71 years, he was known for his roles as Corporal Percy Marsh in the ITV (TV network), ITV British sitcom, sitcom ''Get Some In!'' (1975� ...

played Jim Summers, the father of Dave Summers and Burnside's former boss. Shane Richie played Burnside's regular informant, Tony Shotton.

Legacy

Reflecting on the series some years later, the actor who played Burnside, Christopher Ellison, was critical of the quality of its writing, suggesting it compared unfavourably with ''

''. In particular, he pointed to the absence of the character's trademark one-liner jokes, making the series "all so black and serious". Interviewed on The Bill Podcast in 2019, Ellison said: ''"I always thought a huge mistake they made when we did the spin-off series called Burnside was that they changed the format completely, and the one thing I always felt it lost was its humour. I know Burnside was a horrible character in a lot of ways but he was quite funny; he said funny things. And that was one of the most enjoyable things about it."''

Cast

* Christopher Ellison as DCI Frank Burnside * Zoë Eeles as DC Sam Phillips * Justin Pierre as DS Dave Summers * John White as DC Pete Moss * Paul Gilmore as DC Chris Gibson * Andrew Readman as Supt. Brian Lee * Paul Nicholas as Ronnie Buchan *

as Jim Summers * Shane Richie as Tony Shotton

Episodes

Merchandise

DVDs

Books

References

External links

''Burnside'' official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burnside (Tv Series) 2000s British crime drama television series 2000s British television miniseries 2000 British television series debuts 2000 British television series endings British television spinoffs British English-language television shows ITV television dramas Television shows set in London Television series by Fremantle (company) Television shows produced by Thames Television The Bill