Рет қаралды 89,427
Dixon of Dock Green. Full Episode called “Firearms Were Issued” (Made in 1973) and starring Jack Warner as George Dixon.
More from Dixon of Dock Green on my playlist • Dixon of Dock Green
This episode…
Written by …N. J. Crisp
Created by… Ted Willis
Music by… Jeff Darnell
Produced by… Joe Walters
Directed by…Vere Lorrimer
Full cast members in this complete episode were…
Jack Warner as George Dixon
Peter Byrne as Det. Insp. Andy Crawford
Peter Tilbury as DC Cox
Nicholas Donnelly as Sgt. Wills
David Masterman as PC Dewar
Harry Meacher as Price
Sidney Kean as Wade
Gregory de Polnay as Det. Sgt. Mike Brewer
Richard grant as Ch. Supt. Smith
Percy Herbert as Det. Ch. Supt. Donovan
Arthur Marsh as Sgt. Hedges
Melanie Jane as Mrs Dewar
Cyril Shaps as Green
Part 6/6 History of Dixon of Dock Green
By the final years of the series in the 1970s, Warner was getting elderly and looking increasingly implausible in uniform. He had increasing difficulty moving about, which was helped slightly by a treatment involving bee stings. When it became known that the 1976 series of eight episodes would be the last, some changes saw familiar faces including long-standing and popular cast member Peter Byrne leave, bringing in some new blood. The final series was shown in 1976 when Warner was 80 and the producers saw the opportunity to make some changes to the format. George Dixon was shown as retired from the police and being re-employed as a civilian as the collator, a temporary appointment which allowed him to train up whoever would be the next permanent collator. The introductory monologue and winding-up speech continued to be delivered by George Dixon, now out of uniform and behind his collator's desk. There was an increase in action whilst retaining detailed storytelling with Dixon's values at the core.
The last series of eight episodes ended on Saturday 1 May 1976 with "Reunion", with Dixon retiring completely from Dock Green. Lord Willis said, "I knew it had to come to an end sometime and I thought something was in the wind. They usually renew my Dock Green contract in February and it hasn't been renewed this time". There were thoughts about continuing with the current cast using the revamped format, though any continuation would have been under a different title. Any ideas and plans were never seriously followed up and after 21 years of Dixon of Dock Green, with its lead character out of the picture, the series came to a natural end.
Criticism
Over the two-decades-plus that Dixon was broadcast, it came in for increasing criticism, especially in its later years. The Guinness Book of Classic Television described the programme as "...an anachronism by the time it ended and a dangerous one at that". Ted Willis summarised the changing critical reception for Dixon in an article published in the TV Times in 1983. "In the first years, the critics were almost unanimous in their acclaim for Dock Green, hailing it as a breakthrough, praising its realism. But slowly, the view began to change. We were accused of being too cosy and the good word was reserved for series like No Hiding Place, Z Cars and Softly, Softly. These, in turn, were superseded by the violent, all-action type of police drama like The Sweeney, ... Strangers and Killer." He also stated that: "Eighty per cent of police work is ordinary and unsensational".
Ted Willis made some observations. He found that, in fact and fiction, characters akin to Jack Regan ("The Sweeney") were to be underplayed by the police who sought to restore their place in modern communities. The surviving episodes (with an emphasis on the latter years of the programme) which saw DVD releases allowed Dixon to be seen less deserving of its reputation as a "cosy" stereotype, and more as a programme that tells the stories honestly and entertainingly. Willis noted that it would be harder for the police to build relationships with the public if they were continually to go around beating up every suspect.
Indeed, Alan Plater, who wrote police drama as well as in any other avenue of drama he contributed to, made this argument in 1976 (published in the police publication 'Context'); "It is just as irresponsible to portray the police as always chasing murderers and big-time criminals as it is to show them as boy scouts like George Dixon. The Sweeney is ridiculous. It's James Cagney and the Sundance Kid rolled into one and given a British background." With a more enlightened view over a longer period of time possible from the 21st century than it was from the 1990s even, the chance to review some of those existing episodes has allowed some refinement of views on the series.
More on Dixon of Dock Green shoot locations at my playlist information here... • Dixon of Dock Green