''Yellowthread Street'' 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 drama 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 agencies as the protagonists, as ...

, first broadcast in 1990, that focuses on the work of a group of

detectives 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 ...

in the Royal

Hong Kong Police The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) is the primary law enforcement, investigative agency, and largest Hong Kong Disciplined Services, disciplined service under the Security Bureau (Hong Kong), Security Bureau of Hong Kong. Pursuant to the one c ...

. Developed and produced by

Ranald Graham Ranald Ian Mackenzie Graham (3 January 1941 – 29 August 2010) was a Scottish writer, director and producer, best known for his writing work on the British television series ''The Sweeney'', '' The Professionals'' and ''Dempsey and Makepeace''. ...

, the series was loosely based on the novels by

William Leonard Marshall William Marshall (or William Leonard Marshall) (1944–2003) was an Australian author, best known for his Hong Kong–based "Yellowthread Street" mystery novels, some of which were used as the basis for a British TV series. Career William Mars ...

. A single season of thirteen episodes was produced by

Yorkshire Television ITV Yorkshire, previously known as Yorkshire Television and commonly referred to as just YTV, is the British television service provided by ITV Broadcasting Limited for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV (TV network), ITV network. Until 19 ...

and broadcast on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...

from January 13 to April 7, 1990. The series starred Ray Lonnen as principal character Alex Vale, with

Bruce Payne Bruce Martyn Payne (born 22 November 1958) is an English actor, producer, screenwriter, film director and theatre director. Payne is best known for portraying villains, such as Charles Rane in ''Passenger 57'', Jacob Kell in '' Highlander: End ...

, Robert Taylor, Doreen Chan,

Tzi Ma Tzi Ma (;) is a Hong Kong-American actor. He has appeared in television shows including '' The Man in the High Castle'' and '' 24'', and films including ''Dante's Peak'', ''Rush Hour'', ''Rush Hour 3'', '' Arrival'', '' The Farewell'', ''Tiger ...

Mark McGann Mark Anthony McGann (born 12 July 1961) is an English actor. Early life He attended the De La Salle Academy, Liverpool, De La Salle Grammar School, Liverpool. Mark's father Joe was a Royal Naval Commandos, Royal Naval Commando, who landed on ...

and

Catherine Neilson Catherine Neilson (born 3 October 1957) is a British stage, television and film actress, who was active from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s. Career On stage, Neilson starred as Christie in ''Traps'' by Caryl Churchill, at the Royal Court Theatre ...

also appearing as detectives in the series. The series was well received by viewers and critics alike, despite only lasting one season. However, the series also received negative press, with ''Matters Criminous'' stating that "The series chiefest goal seemed to have been to explore just how very badly a dramatisation can corrupt and befoul the ideas and characters of a book." The series was also celebrated for the use of state-of-the-art technology involved with the production, including becoming one of the first series on British television with

stereo sound Stereophonic sound, commonly shortened to stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configurat ...

. The series has never been released on DVD.

Novels

In the ''Yellowthread Street'' novels, the detectives of the Yellowthread Street police station are based in the fictitious Hong Bay,

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. Four principal characters are featured in the novels; DCI Harry Feiffer, of European heritage but third generation born and brought up in the Colony, Senior Inspector Christopher O'Yee, a half-

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

American and the ever-bickering team of Inspectors Auden and Spencer, who attempt to find the rational basis for inexplicable and seemingly bizarre crimes. One of the most notable novels is 1988's ''Out of Nowhere'', in which Feiffer must figure out why in the pre-dawn hours, four people in a plate-glass-filled van with Chinese

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

blaring out of the tape deck were driving on the wrong side of a deserted motorway, miles from the nearest on-ramp, before dying in a violent collision with an oncoming lorry. Sixteen novels were published between 1975 and 1998: ''Yellowthread Street'' (1975), ''The Hatchet Man'' (1976), ''Gelignite'' (1976), ''Thin Air'' (1977), ''Skulduggery'' (1979), ''Sci-Fi'' (1981), ''Perfect End'' (1981), ''War Machine'' (1982), ''The Far Away Man'' (1984), ''Roadshow'' (1985), ''Head First'' (1986), ''Frogmouth'' (1987), ''Out of Nowhere'' (1988), ''Inches'' (1994), ''Nightmare Syndrome'' (1997) and ''To The End'' (1998).

Cast

Main

* Ray Lonnen as Chief Inspector Alex Vale * Doreen Chan as Detective Jackie Wu *

as Detective Nick Eden * Robert Taylor as Detective Peter Marenta *

as Detective Eddie Pak *

as Detective CJ Brady *

as Detective Kelly Lang

Recurring

* Kenny Chan as Detective Chan * Diego Swing as Frankie Ku * Ming-Yang Li as Blind Beggar * Christopher Leung as Szi Tai * Winnie Tang as Jei *

Nicholas Eadie Nicholas Eadie (1958 – 22 January 2025) was an Australian television, film and theatre actor. Early life and education Born in Sydney, New South Wales to actor and Australian Broadcasting Commission radio announcer Mervyn Eadie, he attended ...

as Finn

Production

The series cost approximately £8 million. This made it the most expensive series fully financed by an

company at the time of its broadcast.

Episodes

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0098954, title=Yellowthread Street 1990s British drama television series 1990 British television series debuts 1990 British television series endings 1990s British crime television series ITV television dramas Television shows based on Australian novels 1990s British television miniseries Television series by ITV Studios Television series by Yorkshire Television British English-language television shows Television shows set in Hong Kong