Before Midsomer Murders, actor John Nettles made his name in the crime drama Bergerac which ran from 18 October 1981 to 26 December 1991 for nine series.
Bergerac plot
Similar to producer Robert Banks Stewart's previous detective series Shoestring, Bergerac follows divorced father DS Jim Bergerac as he returns to work after recovering from alcoholism and breaking his leg.
Bergerac is a true maverick who prefers doing things his own way and consequently doesn't always carry out his investigations the way his boss would prefer.
Bergerac cast
Jim Bergerac (John Nettles)
The lead character of the show, Bergerac was a somewhat unorthodox police officer who as well as recovering from alcoholism is dealing with a divorce. Bergerac regularly drives a burgundy 1947 Triumph Roadster.
Charlie Hungerford (Terence Alexander)
Former father-in-law of Jim, Charlie was a lovable rogue and would-be tycoon often involved in shady dealings.
Deborah (Deborah Grant)
Bergerac's ex-wife Deborah makes had custody of their teenage daughter Kim Bergerac and makes several appearances in the show.
Superintendent Barney Crozier (Sean Arnold)
Sean Arnold played Bergerac's boss Barney who later became Chief Inspector in the show.
Bergerac location
Much of the series was shot on location in Jersey. When filming the first series, the producers slyly put the word out that they were filming a documentary rather than a crime drama to prevent crowds of locals from gathering during filming.
Unfortunately by the second series, the local attention from the much wiser locals meant that a lot of the show ended up being relocated from Jersey's capital St Helier to more remote areas.
Haut de la Garenne controversy
The detective series featured former Jersey children's home Haut de la Garenne as the location of the police station.
The building was at the centre of a historical child abuse investigation that found a number of instances of abuse against former residents. This caused the BBC to drop plans to run a full rerun of Bergerac.
At the time, John Nettles said: "I am not angry, I am disappointed because I was looking forward to seeing them again, as I haven't for a few years."
Can I still watch Bergerac?
The TV show is often repeated on channels such as Alibi and Drama and you can also catch up on Britbox.
Bergerac reboot
It's official, Bergerac will be returning for a reboot! While details are being kept under wraps currently, Brian Constantine, an executive producer on the reboot did tell BBC Breakfast that some A-list names are interested in becoming the next Jim Bergerac.
"Of course, we'll leave that up to the casting experts, but there has been a lot of interest from some very big names and it's really encouraging. It was just such a multi-faceted interesting character so fingers crossed, whoever it may be will do a fantastic job and maybe be the next John Nettles with his blessing."
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