Taggart

Taggart is a Scottish detective fiction television programme created by Glenn Chandler, who wrote many of the episodes, and made by STV Studios for the ITV network. It originally ran as the miniseries Killer from 6 until 20 September 1983, before a full series was commissioned that ran from 2 July 1985 until 7 November 2010. The series revolved around a group of detectives initially in the Maryhill CID of Strathclyde Police, though various storylines were set in other parts of Greater Glasgow and in other areas of Scotland. The team operated out of the fictional John Street police station. Mark McManus, who played the title character Jim Taggart, died in 1994. However, the series continued under the same name. Taggart is one of the UK's longest-running television dramas.

==History== The Scottish BAFTA-winning pilot episode "Killer", directed by Laurence Moody and broadcast in 1983, introduced the character Detective Chief Inspector Jim Taggart (played by Mark McManus until his death in 1994), a tough and experienced detective who had worked his way up through the ranks. His original sidekick was Detective Sergeant Peter Livingstone (Neil Duncan). Livingstone represented the new breed of young graduates entering the police force and frequently had a difficult relationship with Taggart as a result. Taggart's boss in the pilot was Superintendent Robert Murray (Tom Watson), and his boss after the second episode, "Dead Ringer", was Superintendent Jack McVitie (Iain Anders). Another important character was Taggart's wife Jean (Harriet Buchan), whose physical disability did not prevent her from pursuing a number of interests in life, while her cynical husband stuck mainly to his job. Throughout the McManus era, there was nearly always a sub-plot in every episode which involved the domestic life of the Taggarts, which on occasion became intertwined with the case being investigated. The most memorable of these was the Taggarts' ongoing care of Jean's senile Aunt Hettie (Sheila Donald), whom Jim despises and begrudges staying in his house. This sub-plot ran through 1990–91 until the Hettie character was killed off in the 1991 season finale, "Violent Delights", in which her funeral is carried out by a firm of undertakers who are also the subject of Taggart's investigation.