TV Series: The Thin Blue Line

I've recently watched the last episode of a British comedy series, The Thin Blue Line, having found the little treasure about two weeks ago. Running between November 1995 and December 1996, I was a little too young to understand anything if I'd watched it then, except maybe recognising a familiar Mr. Bean in police uniform.

The Thin Blue Line, Season 1

I enjoy dry humour. The show's content was not heavy, although it did touch on some serious topics. It was a good filler for a boring afternoon. The comedy  centres round the life of the police force at the Gasforth police station, a fictitious town near London. The main character is Inspector Fowler (Rowan Atkinson) whom I would describe as an effete, old-fashioned and a prim and proper policeman. Sometimes seeming very rigid in the his views and of the law, but proved a few times in the series that he can find ways around it. He reveres the Queen and worships the Mayoress, which greatly annoys his girlfriend, Sergeant Dawkins. The latter character loves Fowler and gets jealous easily if she sees him with other women. Sometimes the woman is Constable Habib, who is of South Asian descent, being very intelligent and witty, often presenting arguments methodically. She is criticised by Fowler as being prone to take the leftist view of things. She is the love interest of Constable Goody, a easily-confused and dim-witted police officer who has a good heart, and is a bit soft. They are joined by their older colleague, Constable Gladstone, who was born in Trinidad and can make a good laugh out of a sexist joke. They are the uniformed squad.

In the other corner of the Gasforth police station, the CID unit is seen in casual clothes and often laughing at the uniformed squad. It is headed by Detective Inspector Grim, an 'ethnocentric' in terms of thinking the CID superior to the uniformed unit. He is often seen at logger heads with Inspector Fowler. He is very conspicuous about letting his desire of some crime actually happening in Gasforth and his desire to get a promotion. He sometimes appears to be silly, which is amplified when is with Boyle or Kray, his subordinates - Boyle replacing Kray in the second season. Boyle and Kray are quite cynical and like using their police status to get special treatment. The differing views of the different units are often the source of conflict between them.

The Thin Blue Line, Season 2

The mix of such characters is a recipe for disaster at the police station and yet the town of Gasforth seems like a pretty safe place to be. It has hilarious conflicts especially between Inspectors Fowler and Grim, often resulting from their differing views, Fowler being a patriotic upholder of the law while Grim being ignorant and loud, and sometimes downright silly. It is also laced with innuendo. Some of the characters, such as Inspector Grim, are given 'tag-lines', which in his case, "fannying about" and "hoity-toity". The jealousy displayed by Dawkins is laughable. I especially enjoyed the character Goody, who is a real comic relief in the already comedic show, bringing a little slapstick comedy into the show. Witnessing how they get things done is an amusement in itself.

Having only 2 series and only 14 episodes, half an hour each, watching an episode a day and squeezing in another did not feel like a chore. The only drawback is that is it was too short. I don't like long, dreary dramas, but this one was left hanging in mid-air somewhat. There was a new agenda for each episode, but it didn't seem to be heading in any particular direction. Most of the characters' goals were clearly portrayed but there lacked an obvious inclination that they were going to achieve them after all
14 episodes. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed it and even learned some new words, including some British slang words, and understood a bit more of British culture, I hope.

Defined very clearly in the first episode that the thin blue line separates order and chaos, this series was a comedic take on the many characters in the police force and in society in general. Opening each episode with a jolly jingle, I highly recommend it for a good laugh.

Cheers
zhusun

Further Reading
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thin_Blue_Line_(TV_series)
For a more critical view of the show, see http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/thethinblueline/