Eric Stanley Taylor (26 October 1924 – 17 March 2015), known professionally as Shaw Taylor, was a British actor and television presenter, best known for presenting the long-running five-minute crime programme ''

Police 5 ''Police 5'' is a British television programme that reconstructs major unsolved crimes in order to gain information from the public which may assist in solving the case. It originally aired on some ITV regions from 1962 to 1992, followed by a br ...

''.

Early life and career

Taylor served in the RAF and trained at

RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Senat ...

. He then acted on stage in the West End and on tour. He was an announcer for

Associated TeleVision Associated Television was the original name of the British broadcaster ATV, part of the Independent Television (ITV) network. It provided a service to London at weekends from 1955 to 1968, to the Midlands on weekdays from 1956 to 1968, and ...

(ATV) when the normal announcer was not available. He then had a variety of acting roles in film and television from the 1950s onwards, and presented various

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...

s including '' Password'', '' Tell the Truth'', ''

Dotto ''Dotto'' was a 1958 American television game show that was a combination of a general knowledge quiz and the children's game connect the dots. Jack Narz served as the program's host, with Colgate-Palmolive as its presenting sponsor. ''Dotto'' ...

'', ''This Is Your Chance'' and ''The Law Game'' (

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

). In the early 1960s, Taylor and

Muriel Young Muriel Young (19 June 1923 – 24 March 2001) was an English television continuity announcer, presenter and producer. Early life Young was born in 1923 in Bishop Middleham near Sedgefield, County Durham. As a child, she lived with her family i ...

co-hosted a music programme on Radio Luxembourg, ''The Friday Spectacular''. Between 1960 and 1962, Taylor presented the quiz show ''Pencil and Paper''. In 1970, Taylor was the original presenter of the ''Clunk Click'' public information films. In 1972, he presented a pilot episode of '' Whodunnit?'' on ITV, before the show was taken over by

Edward Woodward Edward Albert Arthur Woodward, OBE (1 June 1930 – 16 November 2009) was an English actor and singer. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he began his career on stage. Throughout his career, he appeared in productions ...

for the first series (1973). Taylor was also an occasional panellist on the popular talent show '' New Faces''. Taylor was best known for presenting ''

'', a long-running five-minute television programme first broadcast in the London area in 1962 that appealed to the public to help solve crimes. He later presented a spin-off show for younger viewers, ''Junior Police 5'', a.k.a. ''JP5''. His catchphrase was "keep 'em peeled!" – asking viewers to be vigilant. This was originally used at the end of every ''JP5'' programme but, according to Taylor himself, "...at the suggestion of a friend I tried it out on the adult Police 5. I thought it sounded a bit naff at first but then the studio crew seemed to get withdrawal symptoms if I didn't say it at the end of the programme and it became a catchphrase that complete strangers still shout at me in the street". Taylor presented and produced several regional versions of ''Police 5'', including editions for ATV and

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

in the Midlands,

LWT London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 unt ...

for the London area and TVS in the South and South East of England, where the series ended its thirty-year run in December 1992. He was also involved with televised appeals for Crimestoppers UK. In 2008, at the age of 83, Taylor featured as himself hosting ''Police 5'' in the seventh episode of the BBC TV drama '' Ashes to Ashes'', set in October 1981, in which he uses the aforedescribed "keep 'em peeled!" catchphrase. In 2014, at the age of 89, he returned to television with a weekly segment on the new Channel 5 version of ''Police 5'', and revived his "keep 'em peeled!" catchphrase. He also played

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

and presented a television series on the subject.

Later life

Taylor died at his home in Totland on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

on 17 March 2015, aged 90. He was survived by his partner Shirley and his son Richard.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Shaw 1924 births 2015 deaths Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art English television presenters English male stage actors English male film actors English male television actors Members of the Order of the British Empire People from Hackney Central 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel Male actors from London ITV people