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''Backup'' 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 ...
crime drama Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...
series, devised by Nigel McCrery and Roy Mitchell, that ran for a total of fourteen episodes across two series on
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
between 7 September 1995, and 2 July 1997. Focusing on the work of a
police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
Operational Support Unit, similar to the Territorial Support Group, the series follows the operations of the nine officers of Charlie Van, an OSU of the
West Midlands Police West Midlands Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. The force covers an area of with 2.93million inhabitants, which includes the cities of ...
. Both series were filmed at
Pebble Mill Studios Pebble Mill Studios was the BBC's television studio complex located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, United Kingdom, which served as the headquarters for BBC Birmingham from 1971 until 2004. The nine-acre site was opened by Princess Anne ...
, and saw the likes of Martin Troakes, Christopher John Hall and Nick Miles among the main cast. A then-unknown
Matthew Rhys Matthew Rhys Evans ( ; born 8 November 1974) is a Welsh actor. He gained recognition for playing Kevin Walker in the family drama series '' Brothers & Sisters'' (2006–2011) and Philip Jennings in the spy drama series ''The Americans'' (2013 ...
starred in the second series as PC Steve 'Hiccup' Higson, his first televisual role. Initial press releases for the series stated, "When things get too much for the officers on the front line, they call for Backup, the Operational Support Unit (OSU)." Notably, the series has never been released on DVD, and aside from a single repeat run on UK Gold in the late 1990s, has yet to be further repeated on British television.


Cast

* Martin Troakes as Sgt. Bill 'Sarge' Parkin * Christopher John Hall as PC Eric 'Token' Warren * Nick Miles as PC John 'Thug' Barrett * Katrina Levon as PC Gill 'Dippy' Copson * Calum MacPherson as PC Roger 'Flub' Tennant * William Tapley as PC Lionel 'Oz' Adams * Christopher Quinn as PC Richard Goole * Adam Morris as Inspector 'Jean' Harlow * Peter Sullivan as DI Ken Overton


Series 1 (1995)

* Alex Norton as PC Iain 'Jock' MacRae * Colette Koo as PC Susan 'Bruce' Li * Oliver Milburn as PC Wayne 'Bog' Cheetham * Suzan Crowley as DCI Helen Chivers * Sam Cox as Superintendent Alec Hallsworth


Series 2 (1997)

* James Gaddas as PC Jim 'Grim' Reaper *
Matthew Rhys Matthew Rhys Evans ( ; born 8 November 1974) is a Welsh actor. He gained recognition for playing Kevin Walker in the family drama series '' Brothers & Sisters'' (2006–2011) and Philip Jennings in the spy drama series ''The Americans'' (2013 ...
as PC Steve 'Hiccup' Higson * Kate Gartside as DS Kath Reaper


Episodes


Series 1 (1995)


Series 2 (1997)


References


External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0115102, title=Backup 1990s British drama television series 1995 British television series debuts 1997 British television series endings 1990s British crime television series BBC crime drama television shows British English-language television shows