The Gentle Touch
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| The Gentle Touch | |
|---|---|
| Format | Police procedural |
| Starring | Jill Gascoine William Marlowe Brian Gwaspari Bernard Holley |
| Country of origin | UK |
| No. of episodes | 56 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 1 Hour |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ITV |
| Original run | 1980 – 1984 |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Gentle Touch is a British television drama made by LWT for ITV which ran from 1980-1984. Commencing transmission on April 11, 1980, the series is notable for being the first to feature a woman police detective as its leading character, beating the BBC series Juliet Bravo by four months.
The series starred Jill Gascoine as Detective Inspector Maggie Forbes, who has worked her way up through the ranks of the police force and is based at the Seven Dials police station in London. Maggie's husband, a police constable, is murdered during the first episode, leaving her to juggle her career with single parenthood, raising her teenage son.
The Gentle Touch largely dealt with routine police procedures and a frank depiction of relevant social issues (including racism, sexism, homosexuality, mental health and euthanasia) and was low on action and violence in comparison to previous crime series such as The Sweeney. Maggie was usually seen behind the wheel of a stationary car, because in real life actress Jill Gascoine could not drive[citation needed].
The Gentle Touch was a huge ratings success in the UK, where it was screened on Friday nights in a 9.00pm slot. The series made Gascoine a household name in the UK and lasted for five seasons, however the character of Maggie Forbes lasted longer. In 1985, she returned in the more action oriented series C.A.T.S. Eyes (also created by Terence Feely) about a team of female detectives in Kent. The series has often been described as a British version of 'Charlie's Angels'
[edit] Episode list
[edit] DVD release
The first and second series of The Gentle Touch were originally released on DVD (Region 2, UK) by DD Home Entertainment, but the company entered into administration as of 26th July 2007. The series rights were then acquired by Network DVD who re-released series 1 (with new artwork) in January 2008, and followed on with the release of series 2 in April 2008.
