New Scotland Yard 1972-74

[Vienna]

Not to be confused with the earlier 1950s series with a similar name, this thread is about LWT's gritty police drama created by Jack Williams. It stars John Woodvine as Det. Chief Supt. John Kingdom and John Carlisle as Det. Inspector. Alan Ward from Metropolitan Police C.I.D. who solve crimes during rapidly changing 1970s London, sometimes with the help of journalist Harry Carson. The two men have a strained relationship that makes the show quite gripping and it gets worse throughout the series: later on, Ward actually seems to want to bend the rules to get a conviction.  Series 4 had a different cast from 1-3 with Michael Turner and Clive Francis in the leading roles. The show was supposedly an inspiration for The Sweeney, and Dennis Waterman actually appeared in a 1973 episode called 'My Boy Robby'. The series didn't do particularly well at the time as it had to compete with Special Branch which aired on week days at the time.

Network have now released all the DVDs. Does anyone watch or like this series?

Vi

[Arthur Pringle]

I've seen a clip of it but not got the dvd. Unfortunately the problem with some of the cop shows prior to The Sweeney, including Special Branch, is that they look & feel rather dated in comparison & that puts me off buying them.

[Vienna]

It's a fair point you make Arthur about other police dramas before The Sweeney came along. However, I think it is quite a decent series if a bit dated with the passing of over forty years. Unfortunately, the DVDs don't contain any extras, which is disappointing considering both actors who played the lead roles are still alive. I believe John Woodvine is still acting well into his 80s.



Vi

[Dirty Epic]

IIRC John Woodvine was in the excellent Edge of Darkness from Troy Kennedy Martin.

[Deleted]

Was just gonna start a new thread until I realised it’s all ready been done! By V’
just come across the New Scotland Yard series this morning, on IMBD after looking for more 70s cop show box sets! to watch. I will definitely be purchasing this series! Even if it is more like Special branch and other studio based cop shows of that era Im still intrigued and think it will be good to watch! Plus there’s 46 episodes to get through!! a thumbs up!! 
since I’ve not watched it yet I can’t comment any further, but makes ya realise and also after reading the previous comments in this thread,  just how ground breaking the Sweeney was when it first came out! and what an absolute buzz the actors must of got when appearing in the show and how special they must of felt! Especially John Thaw and Dennis Waterman. 
If we now today think how good it is regardless of being dated a bit, even though it’s stood the test of time! Can ya imagine the atmospheric buzz at the time, when the Sweeney was at its peak! 
looking forward to getting New Scotland Yard on dvd! Like all 70s cop shows, they all have their  place 

[Vienna]

I haven't seen this series for about four years, GC. However, I enjoyed watching them back in 2016 on DVD, although I didn't watch Series 4 as there was a complete change in cast. 'Nothing to Live For' was one of my favourite episodes from Series 2.

Vi

[Deleted]

How frustrating to completely change the cast in series 4!! 

[Del Boy]

Vi, I've repaired the links above (poxy photo-bucket )
Must admit this forum does throw up some obscure titles that i'd never heard of and it's great news that its on Dvd
When I read the name John Woodvine above it didn't ring any bells, then i saw his boat after googling him and recognised him. He's a good actor that I've seen in a few things.

New Scotland Yard - Episode 1

[Vienna]

Thanks for the repairs to the broken links, Del 

BTW, I mentioned in an above post that both actors were still alive in 2016. Recently someone had discovered that John Carlisle, who played D.I. Alan Ward, had died way back in December 2011. 

Vi

[Del Boy]

No problem Vi, and thanks for the update. 
Sad news he's no longer with us.