Shaw returns for more 'Gently'

[Perdita]

The BBC has commissioned four new George Gently dramas to air next year.

Based on Alan Hunter's Inspector Gently book series, the new films will focus on veteran Scotland Yard detective George Gently (Martin Shaw) and his partner John Bacchus (Lee Ingleby) as they solve crimes in '60s Northumberland.

Peter Flannery and Mick Ford will co-write the four instalments.

"The joy of writing the Gently stories lies in the period and the place," said Flannery. "The place because it's where I grew up; the period for the same reason, plus it gives me a chance to write about a country on the cusp of change.

"Each issue I look at at the heart of a crime - abortion, sexuality, youth gangs, child abuse, race, terrorism - was seen differently in the early '60s compared to today. As L. P. Hartley said, 'The past is another country. They do things differently there'."

Holby City's Sharon Maughan will appear as an old flame of Gently who assists him in an investigation. Guest starring as suspects and victims in the first two films are Jill Halfpenny, Mark Williams, Paul Copley, Mary Jo Randle, Tracey Wilkinson and Brendan Coyle.


Martin Shaw

[Perdita]

Inspector George Gently is to return to BBC One for four new feature-length episodes.

Martin Shaw will reprise his role as the passionate detective, with Lee Ingleby also returning as his sidekick John Bacchus.

The four films will be set in 1968 - the first has been written by Peter Flannery and will feature guest performances from Roger Lloyd Pack (Only Fools and Horses) and Geraldine Somerville (Harry Potter).

'Gently With Class' will follow Gently and Bacchus as they investigate the death of a young girl found in the passenger seat of an aristocrat's upturned car.

Second film 'Gently Northern Soul' will focus on the racially-motivated murder of a young black girl. Written by David Kane (Sea Of Souls), the instalment will star Lenora Crichlow (Being Human), Eamonn Walker (Oz) and Maggie O'Neill (EastEnders).

Simon Block's third episode will focus on the kidnap of a middle class couple's adopted child, while the final film, again written by Flannery, sees a suspended Gently pursued by old enemies from his London Met days.

"Gently and Bacchus return to Durham and Northumberland, my home turf, with plenty more murders and cases to solve," said Flannery. "It's 1968 with huge changes in society at that time, and hopefully our series continues to give a real portrait of the age."

The four new Inspector George Gently films are currently shooting on location in Durham and the North East and will be shown on BBC One later this year.

[alan45]

The year is 1968 and Martin Shaw returns to BBC One as Inspector George Gently, in four new feature length films created by Peter Flannery (The Devil’s Whore, Our Friends in the North).

This classic series set in Northumberland is a vivid and colourful insight into a time of major social change as the swinging 60s hits the North-East. With the wit and sharp banter between our passionate growling detective hero (Shaw) and his mouthy sidekick Bacchus (Lee Ingleby) Inspector George Gently lovingly recreates the warmth of the period and the Geordie world that they inhabit.

Writer Peter Flannery says: "Gently and Bacchus return to my home turf of Durham and Northumberland with plenty more murders and cases to solve. It's 1968 and there are huge changes taking place in society, and hopefully our series continues to give a real portrait of the age."

Written by Flannery, the first film, Gently With Class, sees a darker side of 1968 as the social landscape of the Western World is being shaken to its core. In Paris, riots rage as the workers and students take to the streets. In the United States, thousands rally against the Vietnam War. And in England, antipathy for the upper class’ outmoded social graces and their abuse of privilege is growing by the day.

The indefatigable Chief Inspector George Gently and Detective Sergeant John Bacchus experience the inflated authority of their ‘social betters’ first hand, when a beautiful young girl called Ellen Mallam is found dead in the passenger seat of a an upturned car, registered to local aristocrats.

Guest stars include Roger Lloyd Pak and Geraldine Somerville as Lord and Lady Blackstone; with James Norton, Nick Hendrix, Christopher Fairbank and Fred Pearson. The film also introduces Ebony Buckle as the young and free-spirited Ellen, who sings “with a voice that could make angels weep”. As ever, Bacchus and Gently clash over their differing opinions - Bacchus believes that the aristocracy’s days are numbered, whilst Gently feels that the ruling class will stay impenetrable as ever…

The second film, Gently Northern Soul, written by David Kane (The Field of Blood, Sea Of Souls), sees the racial unrest that is sweeping the United States reach British shores as Enoch Powell launches his tirade against immigration. But racial harmony can be found at the ‘all-nighters’ that take place in 1968, where disillusioned young people, black and white, escape the boredom of factory life to dance the night away to imported soul music.

In Newcastle, the haven of equality found at the Carlton Ballroom all-nighter is destroyed when a young black girl, Dolores Kenny, is murdered, leading Gently to uncover a disturbing and racialist undercurrent growing within the local community. Guest stars include Leonora Crichlow, Eamonn Walker, Philip Correia, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Gary Carr, John Bowler and Maggie O'Neill.

In the third 90-minute film, written by Simon Block, Gently and Bacchus are thrown into an emotionally-wrought case when a middle class couple’s adopted child is kidnapped. It takes them to a mother and baby home where young single mothers are forced to give up their infants, where the shame of illegitimacy still burns the cheeks of single mothers.

The final film this series, written by Peter Flannery, sees Gently’s enemies from his London Met days coming after him. Gently finds himself suspended from duty – powerless, unprotected and persecuted. Gently must confront his deepest fears and fight to the death…

[Perdita]

Ep 1/4

Sunday 26 August
8.30-10.00pm
BBC ONE


It's 1968 and the racial unrest sweeping the United States has reached British shores, with the National Front launching a tirade against immigration and "multiculturalists' policies".
But racial harmony can be found at the all-nighters, where disillusioned young people, black and white, escape the boredom of factory life to dance the night away to obscure soul music. In Durham, the haven of equality found at the Carlton all-nighter is destroyed when a young black girl Dolores Kenny (Pippa Bennett-Warner) is murdered.

Chief Inspector George Gently (Martin Shaw) soon uncovers a disturbing and malevolent racist undercurrent lurking both within the local community and his own police force.

Set against the backdrop of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Gently and Bacchus (Lee Ingleby) have their eyes opened to the shocking consequences of casual racism, as racial tension spirals out of control, leaving a path of destroyed friendships, love affairs and families in its wake.

Refusing to let deep-seated prejudices cloud their vision, Gently and Bacchus work tirelessly to unmask how Dolores died.

[Perdita]

Ep 2/4

Sunday 2 September
8.30-10.00pm
BBC ONE


It’s 1968 and the social landscape of the western world is being shaken to its core. In Paris, riots rage as workers and students take to the streets. In the US thousands rally against the Vietnam War, and in England antipathy for the upper class’s outmoded social mores and abuse of privilege is growing by the day.
The indefatigable Chief Inspector George Gently (Martin Shaw) and his sidekick, John Bacchus (Lee Ingleby) experience the inflated authority of their ‘social betters’ firsthand when a beautiful young girl called Ellen Mallam (Ebony Buckle) is found dead in the passenger seat of an upturned car registered to local aristocrats the Blackstone family.

When it becomes clear that the driver of the car left Ellen to drown in the river in which the car was submerged, Gently and Bacchus must untangle a web of secrets to get to the truth.

Free-spirited Ellen represented a challenge to the Establishment, beguiling the sensitive heir-apparent James Blackstone with promises of a beautiful world outside his gilded cage. But James’ mother, Alethea (Geraldine Somerville) has planned her son’s future from the moment he was born and refuses to be defeated. Only her son’s death can stop her in her tracks.

Bacchus is convinced they are on the brink of a brave new world in which the aristocracy’s days are numbered. But as the investigation takes an astonishing turn, Gently is unsurprised to find the hegemony of the ruling class is as unshaken and as impenetrable as ever.

[Perdita]

Ep 3/4

Sunday 9 September
8.30-10.00pm
BBC ONE


The adopted child of a middle-class couple is kidnapped. Suspicion initially falls upon the natural mother - did she ‘steal’ her own baby back?
It's 1968 and the Abortion Act of 1967 is yet to be implemented. The number of pre-marital pregnancies has rocketed since the end of the war and the number of babies being adopted peaks at 28,000.

The shame of illegitimacy still burns the cheeks of single mothers and their families who often force their unmarried daughters into ‘Mother and Baby homes’ to conceal their dirty secret. Here, the emphasis is placed on getting the babies adopted into married homes whilst providing a moral education for these fallen women.

For some girls it offers an opportunity to return to their old lives uninterrupted, hopes and dreams intact. For others, the pain of having to give up their child is unbearable; their suffering is a life sentence, and for the childless couples who have long yearned for a baby, it offers them the opportunity to finally become a ‘proper’ family.

Inspector George Gently and his sergeant, John Bacchus, are given an insight into the complexities of this emotionally-wrought world when the adopted child of a middle-class couple is kidnapped.

Suspicion initially falls upon the natural mother – did she ‘steal’ her own baby back? But investigations into the Mother and Baby home itself reveals a much darker side to this hothouse of morality and raises questions as to how far this seemingly perfect couple is prepared to go to get a child.

[Perdita]

Ep 4/4

Sunday 16 September
8.30-10.00pm
BBC ONE


It is now four years since George Gently came north, and four long years since the death of his wife. His work for the Met through the Fifties and Sixties made him many enemies – not only among the criminals he put away, but also among some of his ex-colleagues and the criminals whose interests had become synonymous with them.
The seismic forces that displaced him in 1964 are once more active – and have followed him to Durham. Underworld figure, Rattigan, who Gently sent down all those years ago, has been cleared on the grounds that evidence was fabricated by Gently himself, and now he is hell-bent on revenge.

Donald MgHee (Kevin Whately), Gently’s friend and colleague from the Met, appears on the scene – but can Gently trust him?

Bacchus is torn between his loyalty to Gently and his ambition to make it to the Met. Gently finds himself suspended from duty – powerless, unprotected and persecuted. If he is to survive, Gently must confront his deepest fears and fight to the death.

[N.Fan]

The last series definately ended with a cliff hanger,it is annoying that viewers will have to wait till the next series to find out if Gently and Bacchus survive being shot.

[alan45]

The last series definately ended with a cliff hanger,it is annoying that viewers will have to wait till the next series to find out if Gently and Bacchus survive being shot.

Why is it annoying?. Almost every series ends in a cliffhanger to encourage people to tune in to a new series . Holby, Casualty Heartbeat The Royal to name but a few.

[alan45]

The last series definately ended with a cliff hanger,it is annoying that viewers will have to wait till the next series to find out if Gently and Bacchus survive being shot.

Why is it annoying?. Almost every series ends in a cliffhanger to encourage people to tune in to a new series . Holby, Casualty Heartbeat The Royal to name but a few.