- The Gentle Touch
infobox Television
show_name = The Gentle Touch
caption = Main title caption
format =Police procedural
runtime = 1 Hour
creator =Terence Feely
starring =Jill Gascoine William Marlowe Brian Gwaspari Bernard Holley
country = UK
network =ITV
first_aired =1980
last_aired =1984
num_episodes = 56
list_episodes = List of The Gentle Touch episodes
imdb_id = 0083420"The Gentle Touch" is a British
television drama made byLWT forITV which ran from 1980-1984. Commencing transmission on11 April 1980 , the series is notable for being the first British series to feature a woman police detective as its leading character, being ahead of the similarly-themedBBC 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 inLondon . Maggie's husband, apolice 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.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.Episode list
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.External links
* [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/976412/index.html British Film Institute Screen Online]
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