The Last Detective

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Detective
Dangerous Davies: The Last Detective
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Detective Constable "Dangerous" Davies is the central character in a series of comic novels by Leslie Thomas and a TV series, The Last Detective made for ITV.

Davies is a low-ranked CID (Criminal Investigation Department) officer in the London borough of Willesden. He is nicknamed "Dangerous" ironically because he is the member of the department least likely to get into a dangerous situation. In the novels and TV series he is called "The Last Detective" from his superior's assessment of him as "the last detective you'd ever send out on a case". Despite this, Davies is by no means a poor detective, and although he can take longer than his colleagues, and is dogged by bad luck, he does usually "get his man" in the end.

Much of the appeal of the books and TV series lies in the comical interactions between Davies and the other characters. His kindly manner enables him to gain the confidence of witnesses and suspects, many of whom reveal their eccentricities to him. Other humour comes from his friendship with Mod, a would-be bohemian with a succession of low-status jobs, and from his relationship with his estranged wife Julie.

List of novels

Recurring cast in the TV series

http://www.twbooks.co.uk/crimescene/lastdetectiveitvfeb.htm
The Last Detective
9.00 Friday 13th Feb ITV1
First in a new four part series of the comedy drama series based on characters from Leslie Thomas’s novels following the misadventures of the hapless detective, Dangerous Davies starring Peter Davison as the bumbling detective.

Christine
Maurice Leyman, a wealthy artist, is found dead following a fire at his studio in the grounds of his luxury home. When closer inspection reveals that he was killed by a blow to the head rather than smoke inhalation, suspicion falls on his wife Christine who stands to gain everything from his will, has a history of using men for financial gain, and whose alibi fails to stand up under scrutiny.

Born in Newport, Monmouthshire, 1931, Leslie Thomas is the son of a sailor who was lost at sea in 1943. His boyhood in an orphanage is evoked in This Time Next Week, published in 1964. At sixteen, he became a reporter, before going on to do his national service. He won worldwide acclaim with his bestselling novel The Virgin Soldiers, which has achieved international sales of over four million copies.

http://www.action-tv.org.uk/guides/lastdetect.htm
ACTION TV ONLINE EPISODE GUIDE

The Last Detective
ITV 2003 - 2005
"Pass you over? I haven't even begun. The Last Detective, that's what you are, Dangerous. The last detective I'll ever think of - unless it's the crap jobs. Then you'll be the first".

SEASON ONE

The Last Detective
TX : 7th February 2003
Director : Nick Hurran
Script : Richard Harris, adapted from the novel Dangerous Davies, The Last Detective by Leslie Thomas.

Cast : David Troughton (Yardley), Joanne Froggatt (Josie / Celia), Rachel Davies (Mrs Norris), Leslie Schofield (Mr Norris), Ingrid Lacey (Roxanne), Rupert Farley (Burridge), Ian Targett (Lind), Andy Greenhalgh (Andrew Parsons), Desmond McNamara (Block), Kenneth McDonald (Stephen Pierce), Peter Cazjkowski (Christian), Mohammad George (Warren), Natalie Dakin (Young Roxanne), Jalaal Hartley (Young Burridge), Jason Heppenstall (Young Lind), Leon Black (Jimmy's Mate) and Mike Smith (Jimmy Ramscar).

Publicity : Detective Constable Davies (Peter Davison) is an old-fashioned kind of copper. Grateful little old ladies give him boxes of biscuits because he's good-hearted and thoughtful. He's thorough and assiduous, but is seen as a bit of a plodder by his colleagues, who have given him the tongue-in-cheek nickname of "Dangerous" Davies. This new series, based on Leslie Thomas' books, thus gives us another television detective "hero" who's a bit of a maverick. And, yes, Dangerous has a complicated personal life. He's separated from his wife (though they obviously still love each other), he lives in grotty digs and he has occasional custody of a lolloping great dog. But "Dangerous" Davies is not a man who should be dismissed lightly. His methods may seem cumbersome and slow, particularly to his nasty boss, a bully who gives Dangerous all the rotten jobs, but Dangerous gets his man (Though no one thanks him for it …). In this opening episode, Dangerous accidentally finds himself on the trail of a woman who vanished without trace twenty years earlier, aged seventeen. Davies meets the woman's haunted mother and the sister she never knew (played by every casting director's first choice for a troubled teen, Joanne Frogatt, who also plays the missing girl in flashback). Dangerous' relentless digging back into the past, with the help of a cheery Irish friend (played by comedian Sean Hughes), reveals that the solution to the case is very close to home. Although by now television detectives are ten-a-penny, Dangerous is a worthy addition to the ranks - and he'll be particularly welcomed by anyone who hates crash, bang, wallop cop shows, as The Last Detective is as easy-going as Dangerous himself. (Radio Times, February 1, 2003).

He's So Dangerous … that criminals love being nicked by him. Confused? Stand by to be enchanted by a cuddly television detective: Detective Constable "Dangerous" Davies is in hot pursuit of a suspect, running as fast as his ageing legs will carry him. To evade the Detective Constable, the criminal leaps off a first-floor balcony into a pile of bin-bags, hurting his leg in the process. "You all right?," Davies calls down, genuinely concerned. "Yes, thank you," replies the crook. When the perpetrator, a face well known to the police, is finally caught, he tells Davies with a smile, "It's always a pleasure to get arrested by you". The Detective Constable's gentlemanly concern is hardly the sort of behaviour you'd expect from, say, The Sweeney's snarling Jack Regan, or his spiritual heir, Jack Finn in Serious And Organised. In fact ITV1's Last Detective, based on a 1976 novel by Leslie Thomas (creator of Virgin Soldiers), is something of a throwback. The lead character is an antidote to your usual hacked-off, almost suicidal, dipsomaniac television detective. Played by Middle England's favourite actor, Peter Davison, he's gentle and - here's the real shock - good-natured. He's not likely to scream, "Shut it!" or "You're going down!" at the "slags" on his "manor".

 Ironically nicknamed "Dangerous", Davison is a plodding Police Constable Plod. Helped by eccentric sidekick and professional dog-walker Mod Lewis (comedian Sean Hughes), he has an old-school, rather shambling approach to detective work that is derided by his more cutting-edge colleagues at his police station in Willesden, north-west London. They mockingly warn him after the arrest of a particularly pathetic crook: "Don't go down any dark alleys on your way home, eh, Dangerous? I mean, his mum can be really nasty". Nick Hurran, the producer of The Last Detective, describes it as "real family viewing". And Davison says that he finds Dangerous a breath of fresh air. "I've always been slightly frustrated by hard-nosed television detectives," says the fifty-one-year-old. "I haven't had that much contact with the police - I hasten to add - but in my experience policemen are nice people. I've never heard them talking the way they do on television - all those detectives are so vile. So for a long time I've been thinking, `Wouldn't it be good to have a friendly policeman on our screen?' - and that's what we've got here. Dangerous is a policeman, but crucially he's also a normal bloke and he's polite!".

The Last Detective (also made into a film in 1980, starring Bernard Cribbins) tapes into our obsession with crime. "We're fascinated by murders," says Davison. "I was watching Holby City the other day, and in that the nurses do the detective work - one of them was investigating who had raped a patient. No matter what you're supposed to be in a television drama these days, you're basically a detective. I've never known so many different people undertaking investigations!". For Davison that even applies to his real life. In 2001, a thief stole a video camera from his car. Not only that, but the camera contained the first footage of the actor's newborn son Joel. "I chased the man down the road, wrestled him to the ground and sat on him until the police came," recalls Davison. "He told me he had a knife, but he was bluffing. I'd been doing all this running and chasing after criminals in The Last Detective, and didn't give it a second thought". Dangerous would have been proud of him. Radio Times (February 1, 2003 - Article by James Rampton).

Synopsis : "Dangerous Davies", so-named because he is not, is the last officer anyone would send on a major crime-solving mission. However, with the help of his gloomy friend Mod, he re-investigates a twenty-year-old unsolved murder.

Notes : This episode was originally transmitted 9:00pm to 11:00pm on ITV 1.

Dangerous By Moonlight
TX : 14th February 2003
Director : Douglas Mackinnon
Script : Richard Harris, adapted from the novel Dangerous By Moonlight by Leslie Thomas.

Cast : Sian Phillips (Vera Dulciman), Julia McKenzie (Sheila Harthog), Anthony O'Donnell (Anthony), Alison Garland (Marilyn), Andrew Buckley (Eric), Philip Whitchurch (Trevethiek), Guy Rhys (Ricky), Patrick Westwood (Vernon Dulciman) and Adam Astill (Trevor).

Publicity : Poor old "Dangerous" Davies. He likes being a policeman, but his colleagues treat him as a figure of fun, only fit for investigating pilfering postmen. The best description his friend Mod (Sean Hughes) can manage is that he's a policeman with a good heart, which perhaps explains why when Dangerous questions Mrs Dulciman about her missing husband, he ends up taking her empty bottles to the recycling centre for her. But if Peter Davison as Detective Constable Davies looks like some doleful-eyed spaniel, he behaves like a terrier when he thinks he's on the scent of a case. So, despite the fact that Mrs Dulciman says she's not in the least bit worried about her husband's disappearance, Dangerous won't be put off and pursues his own line of inquiry among the ballroom-dancing pensioners in the area. Like Midsomer Murders, The Last Detective is amiable and non-threatening, a genteel crime drama with impeccable manners and some impressive guest stars, including, in this episode, Sian Phillips and Julia McKenzie. (Radio Times, February 8, 2003).

Is There A Detective In The House?: Until Sally Wainwright's At Home With the Braithwaites came along, it looked as if Peter Davison was destined for a life of voiceover work, guest appearances and being remembered as that nice Tristan Farnon from James Herriot - or perhaps Dr Who. Reinvigorated by the Braithwaites, Davison has grabbed his chance for something other than residual fame and has landed the eponymous role in The Last Detective (ITV1). This trick is known as "doing a Nettles" after that actor's return from a post-Bergerac hinterland with the deliriously bucolic Midsomer Murders. But where John Nettles' Barnaby deals in thatched cottages, deranged spinsters and dopey Sergeant Troy, Davison's DC "Dangerous" Davies has Willesden, missing teenagers and an odd-bod sidekick, Mod.

Although The Last Detective is thoroughly mainstream, solid and unsurprising, the whole thing works rather well and is much more enjoyable than you might like to admit in polite company. The story of a missing teenager presumed dead is by the book, right down to the obligatory flashbacks. Davies's position as a maverick with a troubled personal life is a slight twist on the TV detective but only in so far as Davies is ridiculed by his colleagues and not considered a lunatic alcoholic by them. And the denouement, when it comes, is so predictable it could have been written by anyone who has seen half a Poirot. With no loud noises or sudden movements, The Last Detective flatters and soothes its audience - and it must beat doing Doctor Who conventions. The Guardian (February 8, 2003 - Article by Gareth McLean).

Synopsis : Davies investigates the disappearance of a man whose wife seems strangely unconcerned about his whereabouts. And two ballroom dancing regulars discover a tragic secret.

Notes : The remaining episodes of this season were originally transmitted 9:00pm to 10:30pm on ITV 1.

Tricia
TX : 21st February 2003
Director : Pip Broughton
Script : Richard Harris, adapted from the novel Dangerous Davies, The Last Detective by Leslie Thomas.

Cast : Eleanor David (Tricia Lloyd), Anna Wing (Mrs Grant), Lloyd Notice (Job Centre Manager), Angela Curran (Cleaning Lady), Godfrey Jackman (Bishop), Nayef Rashed (Ben Yossef), Richard Albrecht (Hicks) and Daniel O'Grady (James Brady).

Publicity : A man rushes into the local job centre brandishing a shotgun and ordering the staff to open the safe. When they point out that they haven't got a safe, he snaps, "Course you have, you're a building society", before realising his mistake, saying something very rude and blasting a hole in the ceiling. Sounds like a case for Peter Davison's "Dangerous" Davies, the last detective you'd ever send on a tricky job, but the first to send on a pointless one. He's also the chap you'd send to give the irate victim of a burglary a lift home and the one you'd palm off on an interfering old woman who believes her neighbour is a murderer. So, a pretty full case-load for poor old Dangerous, then. But even though you can't believe any of them are crimes that really require investigating, once again one of them turns into something more complicated. "I think it's a waste of time," sighs Detective Inspector Aspinall (Rob Spendlove), when Dangerous starts following up a lead, "but as it's wasting your time, go ahead!". The Last Detective is very light-hearted and, as times, positively daft, so it makes pleasant viewing that's not all that taxing. However, it's also like eating a bag of marshmallows: nice enough at the time, but afterwards, you wonder why you did it. (Radio Times, February 15, 2003).

Meanwhile in the English winter our own red squirrel thrillers have been busy digging up their nuts. There is Peter Davison, for instance, as "Dangerous" Davies in the adaptation of Leslie Thomas' The Last Detective (ITV1, Friday). Davies is the kind of old-fashioned Dixon who gets old ladies cats down from trees or guides blind dogs over the road. He chases disaffected youths through urban wastelands and when he catches them they say "Ok, guv'nor, it's a fair cop", but in their own colourful lingo. Last week's first episode began in light quirky mode then turned incredibly dark and nasty when Davies discovered a trusted old colleague was guilty of a twenty-year-old murder and made him confess during his own retirement party. This week we were back to full-on quirk, as Davison sorted out an accidental killing among elderly ballroom dancing folk. If 24 is a pizza, piled with extra ham, this is a bowl of your granny's rid pud, and none the worse for that. The Guardian (February 9, 2003).

Synopsis : Davies is assigned to look after the victim of a vicious burglary, who believes the police aren't paying her enough attention. It soon becomes clear that this woman has a secret agenda.

Lofty
TX : 28th February 2003
Director : Matthew Evans
Script : Richard Harris, adapted from the novel Dangerous In Love by Leslie Thomas.

Cast : Norman Wisdom (Lofty Brock), Robert Perkins (Nick Lambert), Susan Tracy (Coroner), Josette Simon (Jemma Duval), Brenda Cowling (Old Lady), David Fleeshman (George Williams), Stephanie Street (Nita), Joanna Kanska (Greta Schuman), Peter Copley (Colonel Ingate), Frank Mills (Albert Bing), Peter Gordon (Adamson), Paul Sharma (Shivraj), Neil Jackson (Stuart Gilley), Stella Moray (Mavis Prenderley), Sebastian Abineri (Belcher) and Natasha Estelle Williams (Care Assistant).

Publicity : When Lofty, an old and confused tramp, is found drowned in the canal, it's treated as a sad and inconsequential death that's worth no more than a few minutes of most people's time. Except, of course, by Detective Constable "Dangerous" Davies (Peter Davison), who, despite being landed with an investigation into a wildlife shooting (does that make it a wild goose chase?), believes there's more to it than just the accidental death of a vagrant. He's also determined to prove to Jemma (Josette Simon), a social worker who knew Lofty, that someone cares about the little people. And, one suspects, if Jemma ends up caring a little about Dangerous, he'd be (quietly) pleased. As Dangerous begins to look into Lofty's demise, he realises that a mystery surrounds the strange man with a battered pram and a penchant for collecting litter. The contents of his pram, recovered from the canal, reveal a lot about him, and it seems Lofty is not who he says he is. Norman Wisdom makes a guest appearance - albeit briefly - as Lofty in the last episode of a series that has been pleasantly entertaining, if not exactly earth-shattering drama. (Radio Times, February 22, 2003).

Nobody would claim that The Last Detective is anything other than cosy escapism, but is it successful escapism? In a mild way, yes. Peter Davison's detective is a throwback to the days of Dixon Of Dock Green. His amiability is potent enough to drive his colleagues to drink without making the viewer feel the same way, and that is a clever trick to pull off. An added attraction tonight is watching Detective Constable Courteous being forced to deal with Miss Dangerously Needy, who may or may not turn out to be a bunny boiler. It is television's answer to a nice cuppa tea. The Times (February 15, 2003).

Synopsis : Davies unravels the true identity of an old tramp found floating in a canal.

SEASON TWO

Christine
TX : 13th February 2004
Director : Ferdinand Fairfax
Script : Richard Harris, adapted from the novel Dangerous Davies, The Last Detective by Leslie Thomas.

Cast : Susan Vidler (Christine Leyman), Nicholas Woodeson (Gerald Leyman), Anita Dobson (Ruth Leyman), Alan Corduner (Maurice Leyman), Karl Howman (Keith), Tony Maudsley (Billy Muldoon) and Marlon Yearwood (Henry Romane).

Publicity : Kind-hearted north London copper "Dangerous" Davies (Peter Davison) is back for a second series of lightweight police dramas. He's the kind of detective who's inclined to believe things are actually less sinister than they appear, which is strangely endearing. The main plot tonight is a locked-door mystery: an artist has burned to death in his studio - but how? His wife is rather calm about the whole thing and has a dodgy alibi, but Dangerous is reluctant to point the finger at her. Instead, he purses his lips, takes off his glasses (he does this a dozen times an episode) and looks for a less plausible explanation. The story unfolds in a baking-hot summer - but more oppressive than the heat is the fact that Dangerous has to shack up with the eccentric Mod (Sean Hughes), whose cold philosophising could drive even a patient policeman nuts. (Radio Times, February 7, 2004 - Article by David Butcher).

Dangerously Busy: Peter Davison was glad to return to the character of "Dangerous" Davies in The Last Detective (9:00pm ITV1) after playing a maniac in Too Good To Be True in the autumn. "The series is a different take on detective dramas," says Davison. "It's almost as if the crime-solving is secondary to the way Davies wades through life". Davison himself took just one day off during filming of the new four-part series of The Last Detective. But it wasn't for rest and recuperation - it was to get married. "Elizabeth and I had planned the wedding before filming began, so I had to take a day off for the ceremony and there was no time for a honeymoon," he says. "We did it all back to front. We had the children first, then the honeymoon - and two days in Rome - then the wedding". Radio Times (February 7, 2004).

Synopsis : Wealthy artist Maurice Leyman is found dead in his blazing studio in the garden of his luxury home. Was it a tragic accident or was he killed? Dangerous Davies and sidekick Mod Lewis are called in to investigate.

Notes : This episode attracted 5.3 million viewers (twenty-five-percent of the available audience). Episodes of this season were originally transmitted 9:00pm to 10:30pm on ITV 1.

The Long Bank Holiday
TX : 20th February 2004
Director : Moira Armstrong
Script : Russell Lewis, adapted from the novel Dangerous Davies, The Last Detective by Leslie Thomas.

Cast : Bhasker Patel (Mr Lai), Hilary Sesta (Mrs Brady), Ken Drury (Mr Benson), William Ilkley (SOCO), Toni Palmer (Olive), Natasha Williams (Women's Police Constable Yvonne), Gina Gangar (Mrs Hargreaves), Lynda Bellingham (Councillor Balsam), Tracy-Ann Oberman (Mandy), Eden Ford (Jesus), Ifan Huw Daffyd (Bevis), Don Gallagher (Governor Connaught), Paul Ireland (McWatt), Jerome Willis (Mr Parish), Michael Attwell (Billy Clemens), Donald Sumpter (Alfie Clemens) and Michael N Harbour (Moorcroft).

Synopsis : Davies makes a gruesome discovery when he is called in to settle a dispute between neighbours over a leylandii hedge. The hapless detective is then called away to deal with a suspected suicide.

Benefit To Mankind
TX : 27th February 2004
Director : Gavin Millar
Script : Michael Aitkens, adapted from the novel Dangerous Davies, The Last Detective by Leslie Thomas.

Cast : Peter Jonfield (Pearly Gates), Michael Maloney (John Swannee), Susan Wooldridge (Sestrina) and David Threlfall (Carl Swannee).

Synopsis : After falling victim to a cruel practical joke by colleagues Barrett and Pimlott, Davies decides to toughen up. He is then dispatched to investigate the death of a medical researcher. It looks like suicide, but Davies is convinced it's murder.

Dangerous And The Lonely Hearts
TX : 5th March 2004
Director : David Tucker
Script : Russell Lewis and Tim Vaughan, adapted from the novel Dangerous Davies And The Lonely Hearts by Leslie Thomas

Cast : Dearbhla Molloy (Sinead), Yasmin Paige (Katy), David De Keyser (Mr Green), Trevor Laird (Paddy), Alexander Hanson (Gavin Barnwell) and Debra Stephenson (Angela Barnwell).

Synopsis : Dangerous Davies is on the trail of the killer of an Albanian refugee, and his search leads him to a dating agency - where one of the clients is someone he knows only too well.

Notes : This episode attracted 5.2 million viewers (twenty-three-percent of the available audience).

SEASON THREE

Friends Reunited
TX : 29th May 2005
Director : A J Quinn
Script : Kevin Clarke

Cast : Vineeta Rishi (WPC Kapoor), Steve Pemberton (Edward Netherton), Stephen Tompkinson (Simon Dabney), Niamh Cusack (Gill), Gina Bellman (Caroline), Peter Sullivan (Nick Roberts), Gregory Finnegan (Beamish), Rachel Lescovac (Princess), Joe Van Moyland (Marcus), David Calder (Denny Flemyng), Petra Letang (Kayleigh), Sara Ozeke (Leanne), Jim Sturgess (Ryan), Catherine Siggins (Ludmilla), Ken Campbell (Zero), Angus Kennedy (The Landlord) and James Marcus (Moody).

Publicity : Willesden's well-meaning copper, "Dangerous" Davies, is back for another run of offbeat mysteries. You'd think a detective with his clear-up rate would have risen above the rank of constable by now: after all, he has an uncanny ability to see through situations that fox his colleagues. But Dangerous is still bottom of the heap, driving an old banger and sharing a flat with his mad friend Mod (Sean Hughes). Tonight, Dangerous' boss reckons they've got a murder case wrapped up in record time. The victim was stabbed at a college reunion that's attended by a dazzling line-up of guest stars: Stephen Tompkinson, Niamh Cusack, Gina Bellman and Steve Pemberton from the League of Gentlemen are all implicated. But it's Tompkinson's character, a recovering heroin addict embittered by his hold friends' success, who's in the frame for the murder. Until, that is, Dangerous smells something fishy about the evidence and starts digging deeper. The plot turns fishy, too, soon enough, but in his quiet way, Peter Davison as Dangerous holds it all together and makes the quirky, meandering journey worthwhile. (Radio Times, May 28, 2005).

Synopsis : The comedy-drama series based on Leslie Thomas' Dangerous Davies novels returns for a new run. Davies uncovers a brilliant set-up when he investigates a murder at a college reunion party.

Notes : This season was transmitted 9:00pm to 10:30pm on ITV 1.

Towpaths Of Glory
TX : 5th June 2005
Director : David Tucker
Script : Matthew Thomas

Cast : Vineeta Rishi (WPC Kapoor), Lindsey Coulson (Cathy Moore), Hugo Speer (Stephen Kay), Kelly Harrison (Karla Moore), Charles Dale (Craig Thorn), Pip Torrens (Captain Boyden), Philip Wright (Phil Doyle), Clarence Smith (Ed Lund), Alex McSweeny (Tony Monkford), Marcello Walton (Detective Sergeant Jez Kendall), Paul Brennen (Frank Moore), Jude Akwudike (Bradshaw), Stewart Harwood (Clements) and Jamie Nichols (Shane).

Publicity : Much like New Tricks, the success of this inoffensive detective series lies in the appeal of its cast. But whereas New Tricks capitalises on the banter between its main characters, The Last Detective only has the genial Peter Davison to rely on. Even the oddball Mod (Sean Hughes) has been sidelined. In tonight's story, Detective Constable "Dangerous" Davies is investigating the murder of an army hero who "survived the Gulf and Bosnia, then got killed in Willesden". Dangerous makes his way through the closed ranks of the army and the victim's tight-lipped family to get the culprit. Davison is a master when it comes to nonplussed, affable types, so fans of well-mannered murder mysteries will be delighted with this. (Radio Times, June 4, 2005).

Synopsis : Davies struggles to break down the fiercely loyal brotherhood of an artillery regiment after the murder of an ex-warrant officer.

Three Steps To Hendon
TX : 12th June 2005
Director : David Tucker
Script : Matthew Thomas

Cast : Vineeta Rishi (WPC Kapoor), Ian McNeice (Billy Wunder), Tim Healy (Harvey Troupe), Tony Slattery (Teddy O'Connor), Nigel Planer (Gerry Jameson), Lia Williams (Dawn Luscombe), William Key (Trevor Dooley), Philip Middlemiss (Frank Luscombe), John Foregham (Bernie Wilson), Harry Miller (The Quizmaster), Isobel Middleton (Stephanie Wakelam), Sam Bloom (Young Teddy O'Connor), Matt Hickey (Young Harvey Troupe), Richard Neville (Young Gerry Jameson), Harry Williams (Young Trevor Dooley), Linzie Cooper (Young Dawn Luscombe), Sky Glover (Young Hazel), Paul Hawkyard (Clive Dodds), Dave Legeno (Justin) and Meritxel Lavanchy (Felicity).

Publicity : Sex, drugs and rock'n'roll? In Willesden? Yes, tonight Dangerous has to unravel the messy problems of a long-dead pop group. So we flash back to 1977 for a glimpse of the Sensations singing Yesterday's Boy, a one-off hit that Dangerous and his boss remember fondly. But the now middle-aged lead singer has been found dead. As usual, the mystery itself is the least of the pleasures here. There are nifty cameos galore: Tim Healy plays a drummer-turned-photographer; Ian McNeice is the band's manipulative manager; and Nigel Planer is the former guitarist, who's now a busker with some wry reflections on fame. It's a sad episode in the end, with poignant exchanges about the past being unclaimable and not taking good things for granted that resonate for Dangerous, what with the problems he and Julie have been having. (Radio Times, June 11, 2005).

Synopsis : A tragic tale of revenge, spurned talent and faded glory unravels when a hard-drinking former rock star is found dead.

Willesden Confidential
TX : 19th June 2005
Director : Matthew Evans
Script : Russell Lewis and Tim Vaughan

Cast : Vineeta Rishi (WPC Kapoor), Jamie Foreman (Leonard Crowe), Aidan Gillen (Leonard Crowe), Michelle Collins (Maureen Fallon), Dorian Lough (Andy Holden), Cathryn Bradshaw (Vicky Kingwell), Will Vanderpuye (Sergeant Willis), Stephen Aintree (Wilf), Kevin Doyle (Alan Kingwell), Penny Bunton (Chief Superintendent Pickard), Sid Mitchell (Roly Kingwell), Connor Byrne (Geoff Fallon), Thomas Byrne (Bobby Fallon) and Mae Wright (Zoe).

Publicity : Detective Constable Dangerous Davies is one of the most hopeless characters in a television drama. This week, the last episode of the series, Dangerous has more reasons than usual to cringe. He;s been dispatched to look into a report of minor vandalism while the rest of the squad of stereotyped coppers are investigating a serious crime. Murder even. A racing driver has died in suspicious circumstances and the finger of blame is pointing at a dozen different suspects. If you can hear a dull thudding sound, it's probably Dangerous methodically plodding his way through the clues. (Radio Times, June 18, 2005).

Synopsis : When Detective Constable Dangerous Davies investigates the spectacular death of stock car driver Geoff Fallon, he discovers that the motive may lie closer to home than he cares to admit.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0312895/quotes
Memorable Quotes from "The Last Detective"

[looking at a suicide victim in the mortuary]
Dangerous Davies: Are you sure that he's dead?
Pathologist: Well I do have his brain in a jar here. So I presume he's dead... or he could be a detective constable working in North London.

[Mod Lewis has just joked that Dangerous Davies is starting to lose his hair]
Dangerous Davies: What do you call a row of rabbits marching backwards?
Mod Lewis: Dunno.
Dangerous Davies: A receding hare-line!

Dangerous Davies: I think I'm being stalked.
Mod Lewis: I knew a woman who wouldn't leave me alone. She'd follow me everywhere, buy me clothes and give me money.
Dangerous Davies: Did you go to the police?
Mod Lewis: No. It'd be a cruel man who'd turn in his own mother.

Dangerous Davies: Fancy a pint?
Mod Lewis: Well, I've never seen an unattractive one.

[Dangerous is trying to give Mod a driving lesson. As Mod is changing gear, he crunches the gears]
Mod Lewis: That didn't sound too healthy, Dangerous. When did you last have this thing serviced?
Dangerous Davies: [yells] Clutch! Clutch! Depress the clutch! And I don't mean tell it your life story.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0312895/
User Comments:
6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful:-
It's Shown On The Wrong Day, 2 April 2003
Author: Theo Robertson from Isle Of Bute , Scotland
When I say THE LAST DETECTIVE is a fairly lightweight show this is in no way meant as a criticism . It's the sort of hhhmmmm how can I put it ? not a comedy but neither is it a heavy serious detective drama like A TOUCH OF FROST or INSPECTOR MORSE . Starring the blandest Doctor Who ever Peter Davison ( Again by no means a criticism ) as DC Davies the episodes revolve more around the character's chaotic home life than the cases he solves . Sean Hughes steals the show as Mod Lewis a sort of Celtic huggy bear who walks dogs and gives Davies good advice .....
DAVIES : I think I'm being stalked
MOD : I knew a woman who wouldn't leave me alone . She'd follow me everywhere , buy me clothes and give me money
DAVIES : Did you go to the police ?
MOD : No . It'd be a cruel man who'd turn in his own mother
If you thought the above line was amusing you'll certainly like the show , but my major criticism is to do with the fact that it's shown on a peak time Friday night when much of the potential audience is down the pub . THE LAST DETECTIVE feels more like a show that would be far more successful shown on a late Sunday evening slot

Update: As of 2005 it's now shown on Sunday evenings . Thanks for listening ITV

http://www.offthetelly.co.uk/reviews/2003/lastdetective.htm
THE LAST DETECTIVE
Friday 07/02/03, ITV1
reviewed by Jack Kibble-White

Apparently the money ITV1 invests in programming is only recorded as having been spent once a show has been transmitted. This mildly obscure piece of accounting trivia may at first seem irrelevant, yet as The Last Detective tells us, it is only by examining and re-examining such minutiae that one is able to solve a mystery. In the case of this reviewer, this seemingly random fact provided the breakthrough in piecing together why it is that "Dangerous" Davies can be seen watching an episode from the first series of Survivor in this apparently brand new ITV1 drama series (The Last Detective, along with a raft of other dramas was held over for 18 months by ITV1 in order to meet budgetary requirements).

Resolutely billed as "family viewing", The Last Detective arrives on our screens appearing to all intents and purposes as a seat warmer for the already established Midsomer Murders (which previously occupied this slot). Yet whilst the John Nettles' series has comfortably become part of an established ITV1 tradition of competent detective series (see also A Touch of Frost, Taggart, McCallum etc), the first episode of The Last Detective is more reminiscent of the BBC's sometimes excellent Dalziel and Pascoe; evoking that series' propensity to flesh out minor characters, and its ability to grip the viewer with a sometimes languid pace.

However, at its heart, what makes The Last Detective so refreshing is its willingness to tell an entirely straight story. Often TV detective dramas rely on new developments occurring outside the investigation to move the action along. Such plotting ensures that the speed in which events unfolds and the timing of the plot revelations can be controlled arbitrarily, instead of in accordance with the speed of the detection process. In fact quite regularly these programmes do not actually involve a true investigation at all. Instead the criminal is flushed out by the misguided actions he or she takes as the drama continues. For those who come to TV detective programmes looking to solve a puzzle this makes for irritating viewing. Happily in The Last Detective the culprit plays no active part in the investigation (either on screen or off) at all and the audience is instead allowed to enjoy a thorough investigation as Davies makes his methodical way through each of the witness statements.

As this is supposedly family viewing, The Last Detective is obliged to pepper the story with moments of humour. Again, this device is not unusual, yet whereas A Touch of Frost will contrive to have David Jason lose a seemingly winning lottery ticket and fill an entire episode's quotient of light moments with a fruitless and "amusing" search that smacks of artifice, The Last Detective relies on brief flourishes, sometimes at the expense of the lead character, but often to highlight something of the personality of the less important figures in the story. In this respect, The Last Detective is actually most similar to the series that would seem to be its diametric opposite - Cracker.

The central performances of Peter Davison (DC "Dangerous" Davies), Sean Hughes (his sidekick Mod) and David Troughton (Yardley) are lugubrious and all the more entertaining for it. The reunion of Troughton and Davison in particular is a treat for those who enjoyed their performance in the BBC's A Very Peculiar Practice (whose quirky appeal The Last Detective vaguely resembles), and the final two-handed scene between the two, although somewhat predictable in content is superb in execution. Troughton's understated ability to emote, and Davison's ability to act like he is really listening ensures the viewer does not want to miss a second of the all-important "reveal".

Yet whilst these performances are just two of the many things that should be commended in this first outing, it is obvious that without a carefully thought out and detailed investigation at the heart of each episode, the future for The Last Detective will be less auspicious then that which we can currently hope for. Will it become indistinct from the myriad detective series around it? Will the willingness to tell entirely straight detective stories remain, or will The Last Detective soon revert to "investigations" in which "Deadly" Davies simply bides his time until the villain makes the inevitable "wrong move"? For now, this is a mystery worth investigating further.

http://www.ritchieneville.com/LastDetectivePR.htm
PETER DAVISON AND SEAN HUGHES BACK FOR NEW SERIES OF THE LAST DETECTIVE

Peter Davison and Sean Hughes take a trip down a musical memory lane with an outstanding guest cast including former Five star Ritchie Neville to unravel the first mystery in the new series of ITV1’s The Last Detective.

Filming has just begun on the third series which sees Peter Davison (At Home With The Braithwaites, Too Good To Be True) return to the role of offbeat detective Dangerous Davies, to investigate the tragic death of a 70’s pop idol, with Sean Hughes (Never Mind The Buzzcocks, The Commitmentsas his philosophising sidekick Mod.

With Tony Slattery, Nigel Planer and Tim Healy as the once famous pop stars, they are joined by Ritchie and Sam Bloom, from All Stars and CITV’s STAR street, playing the younger stars in their hey day, as the clock turns back to the 70’s.

Emma Amos (Goodnight Sweetheart, Moving Story) plays Davies’ estranged wife, Julie. Rob Spendlove (Soldier, Soldier, A Touch Of Frost), Charles De’Ath (City Central, Casualty) and Billy Geraghty (Casualty, Maisie Raine) star as fellow officers at Willesden police station, who constantly poke fun at the gentle detective. Vineeta Rishi (Silver Street) makes her debut in the series as the new police constable.

Comedian and actor Tony Slattery (Whose Line Is It Anyway? The Wedding Tackle) steps into the limelight as old rocker Teddy O’Connor, with Nigel Planer as guitarist Gerry Jameson (The Young Ones) and Tim Healy as drummer Harvey Troupe (Auf Wiedersehen Pet, Catterick) in the band, Overnite Sensations.

Ritchie Neville, from former boy band Five, makes his television acting debut as the young Gerry, and Sam Bloom, plays the young Teddy in flashbacks to the Seventies’ hey day of the Overnite Sensations.

The prestigious cast also includes Ian McNeice (Doc Martin, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason) Philip Middlemiss (Where The Heart Is, Coronation Street), John Forgeham (Footballers’ Wives) and Lia Williams

(The writers are Tim Vaughan, Kevin Clarke, Russell Lewis and Matthew Thomas. Matthew is the son of best selling author Leslie Thomas (The Last Detective, Virgin Soldiers) whose character, Dangerous Davies, was the inspiration for the series.

The producer, Nick Hurran, says: “The streets of Willesden can once again sleep easy, as Leslie Thomas’ Dangerous Davies follows his famous hunches, in his own delightful way.”

The directors are Moira Armstrong, A.J. Quinn, David Tucker and Matthew Evans. The executive producers are Michele Buck and Tim Vaughan.

The Last Detective is a Granada production for ITV1.

SEASON FOUR

THE MAN FROM MONTEVIDEO
Granada Television Ltd
Executive Producers MICHELE BUCK & TIM VAUGHAN
Series Producer NICK HURRAN
Producer ROBBIE SANDISON
Directed by SANDY JOHNSON
Written by MATTHEW THOMAS

Casting Director - Susie Parriss, Camera Operator - Trevor Coop, Art Director - Beckie Harvey, Make-Up Artist - Paula Price, Costume Supervisor - Steve O'Sullivan, Production Manager - Sue Bunyan, Script Editor - Gabriel Silver, Make-Up Designer - Louise Walker, Production Executive - Jon Williams, Music by Rupert Gregson-Williams and Alastair King, Film Editor - John Macdonnell, Director of Photography - Derek Suter BSC, Production Designer - Jim Grant, Executive Producers - Michele Buck and Tim Vaughan, First Assistant Director - Nick Throth, Second Assistant Director - Sean Clayton, Third Assistant Director - Chantelle Stoffel, Location Manager - Hans Van Der Werf, Unit Manager - Jason Waller.

Series Devised for Television by Richard Harris, Produced by Robbie Sandison, Directed by Sandy Johnson.

Granada Drama, London
The Last Detective IV
The Man From Montevideo

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/guide/netw/200610/programs/ZY8573A001D28102006T212500.htm
The Last Detective
Once Upon A Time On The Westway
9:25pm  Saturday, 28 Oct 2006
Top villain Jimmy Vincent comes out of the nick and is greeted by associates Micky Keating (Roger Daltrey) and Billy Palmer (John Shrapnel) - the same day as a daring diamond heist takes place.

The detective team are on the case, headed up by Detective Inspector Aspinall (Rob Spendlove), who pay Jimmy a visit. They discover that he has just sold his memoirs to publisher Desmond Marshall and is celebrating his success. Aspinall and the boys; Barrett (Billy Geraghty), Pimlott (Charles De'ath) and Dangerous Davies (Peter Davison) are made welcome but Jimmy gives nothing away about the heist. Next morning Jimmy is found dead.

Dangerous interviews a security guard, a victim of the diamond heist, but he's vague about his assailants. Dangerous tracks down Micky, now running gangland tours, but he denies any of the gang had a hand in the robbery.

Meanwhile Marshall, the publisher, is getting threatening calls and does a runner. It is soon discovered that the shot fired in the heist was from the same gun that killed Jimmy.

Dangerous eventually discovers the diamonds but it is one dead end after another as he tries to unravel who is responsible for the heist and the murder.

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/guide/netw/200611/programs/ZY8573A002D4112006T212800.htm
The Last Detective
Dangerous Liaisons
9:25pm  Saturday, 04 Nov 2006
A young couple looking for a trysting place enter an abandoned house and make a gruesome discovery: CAST: Peter Davison

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/guide/netw/200611/programs/ZY8573A003D11112006T212600.htm
The Last Detective
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Willesden
9:25pm  Saturday, 11 Nov 2006
An old comedian literally dies on stage during his performance but was it foul play? CAST: Peter Davison

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/guide/netw/200611/programs/ZY8573A004D18112006T212700.htm

The Last Detective
The Man From Montevideo
9:25pm  Saturday, 18 Nov 2006
A limousine driver is found dead but the plot thickens when he is discovered to have had two identities, this week on The Last Detective, Saturday November 18 at 9.25pm.

His distraught wife, Linda, tells Dangerous how they had migrated from Uruguay to begin a new life in the U.K. but a post mortem reveals Tony Hill had a lot of plastic surgery done to alter his appearance.

Dangerous discovers Hill had once driven a London cab under the name of Jim Horner - who had made headlines many years ago after finding $2 million in cash in the back of a cab and disappearing with it to South America.

A double investigation takes place - into the life of Horner/Hill, and into the various suspects who may have killed him.

Dangerous meets the man who lost the $2 million; a wealthy Arab who claims to be happier and better adjusted without it.

Dangerous also finds Horner's first wife, an older version of his widow, who is still full of resentment, despite having been sent regular wads of cash from her ex-husband.

Meanwhile on the home front, Mod has taken up with an Eastern European woman who becomes very vocal every time he brings her back home for sex at Dangerous' house.

http://www.abc.net.au/tv/guide/netw/200611/programs/ZY8573A005D25112006T212800.htm
The Last Detective
Dead Peasants Society
9:25pm  Saturday, 25 Nov 2006
In the final episode of the season, it is one shocking revelation after another that tests loyalty and life in The Last Detective.

Daniel Boden is stabbed in his car as he waits by a football pitch for someone late one night. Boden's widow Rose is convinced Daniel was having an affair, probably with someone from work.

In the pub that night Dangerous is accosted by a woman at the bar who accuses him of a police cover up - and talks about Boden's involvement with the Lodge. Dangerous goes to the Lodge and encounters Alan Carty, a slightly sinister figure who tells him Boden was indeed a member.

On leaving Dangerous sees the mysterious woman again - who turns out to be an investigative journalist, Claire Symmonds. She had been meeting Daniel Boden to research a story, and tells Dangerous about an insurance scam the Lodge is involved in, known as Dead Peasants Society, whereby they take insurance out against members who then subsequently die. She gives Dangerous a list of names - and on it is Aspinall's.

When confronted about this by Dangerous, Aspinall is furious. He says it's years since he was at the Lodge and strenuously denies a cover-up.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/tv-reviews/the-last-detective/2006/09/29/1159337324626.html
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Last Detective

Karin Bishop, reviewer
September 30, 2006
Dangerous Davies (so-called because he isn't) is trying to win back his wife in a bar.

Type Crime, Comedy, Drama
Channel ABC
Date Saturday September 30
Time 9:25 PM

Dangerous Davies (so-called because he isn't) is trying to win back his wife in a bar. They are pretending they don't know each other and it isn't going very well - so it probably doesn't matter that he ends up dumping her and rushing into the gents to talk two would-be brides out of setting fire to their erstwhile fiance.

None of this has anything much to do with the real crime of this episode: the stabbing and murder of a wealthy entrepreneur, Nick, at his college reunion.

Initial suspicion falls on his former best mate, Simon, a recovering heroin addict, with whom he had a quarrel on the night. Simon stormed out and went for a walk, clearing the way for someone to steal his coat, commit the murder, plant the knife and then set fire to his blood-spattered coat in an obvious place.

Simon's defence relies on finding an unknown bloke he spoke to while he was out for his walk, so it's up to Dangerous to find The Man With No Name.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/tv-reviews/the-last-detective/2006/11/17/1163266765934.html
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Last Detective

Fergus Shiel, reviewer
November 18, 2006
Another enjoyable episode and one that's curiously graced by a sheep called Mint Sauce.

Type Drama
Channel ABC
Date Saturday November 18
Time 9:25 PM

When Alison Braithwaite (Amanda Redman) won the lottery, her bank manager husband David (Peter Davison) quickly had an affair with his secretary and their family exploded in spectacular fashion. But Alison's and David's suburban nightmare was a dream come true for fans of light drama because At Home With The Braithwaites made Redman a small-screen star and it spared Peter Davison from the prospect of a lifetime of guest appearances at Dr Who and All Things Great And Small fan conventions.

His career revitalised by the Braithwaites, Davison has gone on to shine as the eponymous Last Detective, while Redman continues to splendidly defy the notion that older women can't be both gutsy and sexy in her role as queen bee of New Tricks, DSI Sandra Pullman.

Drawn from the novels of Leslie Thomas, Davison's DC "Dangerous" Davies is a counter-cultural wonder: a maverick with manners; a crimebuster who wears pyjamas to bed and is kindly as his drooling St Bernard. Driven by an old-fashioned sense of right and wrong, Dangerous perseveres in the face of boofheaded colleagues while at home he struggles to match wits with his sassy wife Julie (Emma Amos, formerly Yvonne Sparrow of Goodnight Sweetheart) and to make sense of his idiosyncratic lodger and best friend Mod Lewis (comedian Sean Hughes).

This week Dangerous discovers a limousine driver named Tony Hill, found bloodied and lifeless on the plush leather of his limousine, had two identities. Hill's distraught wife, Linda (Maggie O'Neill, aka Sheila from Shameless), tells Dangerous they'd recently returned from Uruguay to begin a new life in Britain. But a postmortem reveals Hill was once far better known as Jim Horner, a London cabbie who made headlines after scarpering with £2 million left in the back of his taxi by an Arab gentleman.

Meanwhile, Dangerous is alarmed to discover there's more to Mod than an encyclopedic knowledge of biscuits and an ability to burp the Irish national anthem when Mod hooks up with a Polish barmaid and she raises the rafters with cries of deeply satisfied delight every time he brings her back to their place. It's another enjoyable episode and one that's curiously graced by a sheep called Mint Sauce.

http://tvschedule.knowledgenetwork.ca/knsch/KNSeriesPage.jsp?seriesID=13672241&seriesTitle=thelastdetectiveiv
March 16, 2007

THE LAST DETECTIVE IV

Gentle detective 'Dangerous' Davies (Peter Davison) is back in a new series of crime stories. Despite his colleagues constant mocking of his investigative style, Davies solves all manner of crime including exposing a dead limo driver's double identity and finding out why an ex-con was killed the day after his release from jail. Davies' marriage seems back on track, no thanks to the amorous antics of his sidekick Mod (Sean Hughes)!

http://www.itvmedia.co.uk/default.asp?section=104&page=406&subpage=2174
The Last Detective
A new series of adventures with offbeat detective Dangerous Davies
Peter Davison and Sean Hughes are joined by a host of guest stars for a new series of The Last Detective. Davison returns to the role of offbeat detective 'Dangerous' Davies, with Hughes as his philosophising sidekick, Mod. Emma Amos plays Davies’s wife Julie, while Rob Spendlove, Charles De’Ath, Billy Geraghty and Vineeta Rishi star as fellow officers at Willesden Police Station who constantly poke fun at the gentle detective.

In the first episode, Once Upon A Time On The Westway, Jimmy 'the Gent' Vincent (Anthony Valentine) is released from prison to a big welcome home party with his family, friends and ex-cons. But within 24 hours of his release, Jimmy is found floating dead in his swimming pool. He'd been writing a no-holds-barred exposé of his life as a criminal which threatened to implicate many in the murky underworld. Was he killed to stop him publishing?

Meanwhile, Julie Davies is cross that Mod shows no sign of moving out of their house, even though he was meant to be a temporary resident. She gives Dangerous an ultimatum: either Mod goes by the end of the week or she leaves.

Showing on Thursdays from 3 May at 9pm on ITV1

http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/entertainment/sevendays/tm_headline=family-affair-s-a-safe-bet-for-crime-buster-dangerous--&method=full&objectid=18982501&siteid=64736-name_page.html
29 April 2007
FAMILY AFFAIR'S A SAFE BET FOR CRIME-BUSTER DANGEROUS
BEST OF THE WEEK THE LAST DETECTIVE THURSDAY, ITV, 9PM
By Steve Hendry

Veteran TV star Peter Davison is used to strange co-stars.

He worked with farmyard animals when he played vet Tristan Farnon in All Creatures Great And Small and faced up to all manner of weird aliens when he was in control of the Tardis as Doctor Who in the 1980s.

But the 56-year-old actor was thrown - and thrilled - to be working with his own daughter, Georgia Moffett, for the first time in the new series of The Last Detective.

Peter returns as mild-mannered detective 'Dangerous' Davies, while in the first episode Georgia plays a young woman caught up in a murder investigation when a famous cat burglar is found dead after his release from jail.

He said: "I have always said I would love to work with her. Not only is it the first time we have acted together, it is the first time I have seen her acting live.

"When I have dropped her off on sets before she would never allow me to see her working. So I've only ever seen her on screen.

"I think she is very good. I had no doubt she would carry it off. I was more fazed by her being on set than she was. It was very strange doing our first scene together when I had to talk to her as if I didn't know her." Since making The Last Detective, which is back for a run of five episodes, the two have gone on to star together in comedy Fear, Stress And Anger.

Butwhen Georgia first turned up to film The Last Detective, she pretended not to know him.

Peter joked: "She said to me before we started filming she was going to pretend she didn't know me. The first morning of filming she said, 'Hello Peter.'

"But then she was hanging around with me in my trailer all day, so it didn't last very long."

As Dangerous Davies, Peter is a normal policeman by current TV standards. He doesn't go back in time, run about in fast cars or wave guns about.

Peter said: "It is a kind of antidote to the more hectic crime shows.

I like the idea that Dangerous is not a supercop. He does solve the crimes but he is not a super sleuth. He solves the crimes by instinct and plain hard work. I've always been frustrated that TV policemen never matched my experience of policemen.

"In real life I've never met a policeman who has leapt over the bonnet of a Ford Capri. I wanted to play the kind of policeman that might come round to your house when someone has broken in - a harmless individual who is just doing his job."

In this week's episode of The Last Detective, burglar Jimmy 'The Gent' Vincent (Anthony Valentine) is released from prison to a big welcome home party. But within 24 hours, he has been shot dead.

As well as solving the murder, Dangerous has to deal with tension with his wife Julie (Emma Amos), which is mainly down to his best mate Mod, played by comic Sean Hughes, who has moved in with the couple. The Who singer Roger Daltrey also stars, as a crook.

In real life, Peter enjoys family life with his wife Elizabeth and their two sons Louis, seven, and five-year-old Joel.

He said: "I don't know whether either of them will follow in my footsteps.

"But then there wasn't really any indication with Georgia. She was quite fiercely against it and just look at us now."

http://www.your-tv-guide.com/tv/ITV1_London/
The Last Detective (21.00 - 22.30)
The Who's lead singer Roger Daltrey, fresh from a guest-starring role in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, stays closer to home playing a cockney villain in the latest story centred on Leslie Thomas's endearingly old-fashioned detective. Peter Davison returns as the ironically nicknamed "Dangerous" Davies, a gauche but well-meaning and dogged detective constable who always gets his man based on good, solid, slogging police work. Here he's on the trail of whoever murdered gangland kingpin Jimmy the Gent (Anthony Valentine), found shot dead in his swimming pool on the day of his release from prison. Jimmy the Gent was the last of a dying (literally) breed of London gangsters with their supposed code of honour and respect. But Davies digs beneath the surface to find misplaced loyalties, seething resentment and the dangerous romanticising of brutal, murderous men. It's not an adventure that will have you biting your nails, but The Last Detective is appealing in its own, downbeat kind of way. RT reviewer - Alison Graham

http://www.a2mediagroup.com/?c=137&a=14785
April 27th, 2007
THE LAST DETECTIVE (SERIES 4) - Once Upon A Time On The Westway
Peter Davison and Sean Hughes are joined by a host of guest stars for a new series of The Last Detective. Jimmy the Gent Vincent (Anthony Valentine) is released from prison to a big welcome home party with his family, friends and ex-cons.

But within 24 hours of his release, Jimmy is found floating in his swimming pool. He's been shot dead.

Before his murder Jimmy had been writing a no-holds barred expose of his life as a criminal which threatened to implicate many in the murky underworld.

Was he killed to stop him publishing?

Julie Davies (Emma Amos) is cross that Mod (Sean Hughes) shows no sign of moving out of their house, even though he was meant to be a temporary resident. She gives Dangerous an ultimatum: either Mod goes by the end of the week or she leaves.

Mod is spoiling their attempts at reconciliation. Both Julie and Dangerous want their relationship to work this time round.

An armoured van is ambushed on the streets of Willesden by a double decker bus.
 
Two men in balaclavas leap out of the bus, carrying a gun and a canister of petrol. One man pours petrol over the windscreen of the van, and holds out his lighter.

Gary Green (O.T. Fagbenle), the driver of the van, opens his door and is grabbed by one of the men. He is dragged to the back of the van and ordered to open the doors with a gun pointed at his head.
 
The other two guards sit tight, refusing to move, until a bullet ricochets around the inside of the van. They jump out leaving the two men to help themselves to trays of diamonds. The robbers race away in a waiting getaway car.

The diamond heist has all the hallmarks of a job by Jimmy the Gent, and he just happens to have been released from prison that day...

ITV1 Network Thursday 3 May 9:00 PM to 10:30 PM

http://library.digiguide.com/lib/uk-tv-highlight/The+Last+Detective-388
The Last Detective
Dangerous Davies is back in a new series

Peter Davison returns to the role of offbeat detective Dangerous Davies, with Sean Hughes as his philosophising sidekick Mod in the new series of The Last Detective.

Jimmy the Gent Vincent (Anthony Valentine) is released from prison to a big welcome home party with his family, friends and ex-cons.

But within 24 hours of his release, Jimmy is found floating in his swimming pool. He's been shot dead. Before his murder Jimmy had been writing a no-holds barred expose of his life as a criminal which threatened to implicate many in the murky underworld. Was he killed to stop him publishing?

PETER Davison wasn't sure what to expect when his actress daughter Georgia Moffett was cast alongside him for the first time in his latest TV appearance.

The father and daughter starred in recent sitcom Fear, Stress And Anger, but before that they filmed upcoming drama The Last Detective (ITV1, May 3).

"That was the first time we worked together, which was very odd because in our first scene I wasn't meant to know her," Peter says. "She plays a gangster's girlfriend, and I found it very odd because I had to introduce myself, look into her eyes and say, 'Hi, DC Davies,' and it was just very weird. She of course claims it was all fine and no problem for her."

The former Doctor Who is of course, very much the proud dad. "I'm very impressed with her as an actress," says Peter.

But he wasn't always sure that Georgia would follow him and her mum, Peter's actress ex-wife Sandra Dickinson, into the profession.

"When she was about 12 years old, she told me she was never going to be an actress because there were too many of them," Peter adds. "But then she suddenly said, 'I want to be an actress,' completely out of the blue.

"Looking back at it now, it was obvious that she would follow in my footsteps, because she was brought up in the theatre and television - she was always around it. When I did a play, she would come and see it countless times. And at school, the only thing she really put any effort into was acting - a bit like me!

"It's not an easy life, especially for an actress," he confides. "But I think she's terrifically good. She's had no training at all really, apart from what she did at school, and watching me from the inside out."

At the end of the last series of The Last Detective, Peter's character made a concerted effort in winning back estranged wife Julie. However, in this week's first episode, the couple have another obstacle in the way of marital bliss. Dangerous' hapless sidekick Mod (Sean Hughes) has been kicked out of his flat and is crashing with the couple, much to Julie's horror.

"The biggest change as far as Dangerous is concerned is that he's back with his wife which is nice, but Mod is also in the way," Peter chuckles. "And Julie isn't very happy about it. It puts a strain on their relationship, and Julie ends up kicking Mod out, with a `him or me' ultimatum."

Infamous gangster

However, Dangerous' investigation into the murder of an infamous gangster and a diamond heist gets Mod badly beaten up.

"Dangerous and Julie take pity on him and invite him back to live with them, which is where he stays," explains Peter, who enjoyed teaming up again with comedian Sean Hughes who plays Mod. "He's very witty," Peter says. "Although I'm about 10 minutes behind some of his jokes.

But while Dangerous gets stuck into crime fighting, his hapless colleagues continue to hinder rather than help him.

"It's difficult because he has these two idiots - Barrett, who's his equal and Pimlott, his superior," Peter says. "Although I suspect they are rather like a lot of detectives - high flyers, wearing suits and ties. Dangerous is the old sort of detective who, from being at the bottom of the pile, has gradually worked his way into the confidence of the powers that be."

This series also sees guest appearances from a number of stars including Russ Abbott, Josie Lawrence, Norman Pace, Celia Imrie, Leslie Phillips and Who singer Roger Daltrey.

"There wasn't necessarily anyone I enjoyed working with more than anyone else," Peter says. "Leslie Phillips was great and Josie Lawrence turns up as a dominatrix. But for me, working with Roger Daltrey was a bit special."

Away from the set, Peter is busy being a dad to his two young children - Louis, seven, and five-year-old Joel - by his second wife, actress and writer Elizabeth Morton. And like most kids, they're big fans of Doctor Who, who Peter played in the 1980s.

"I think David Tennant is fantastic," he enthuses. "My kids absolutely love it. I'm still involved in the show in that I do some of the audio plays and go to some conventions."

Louis

So will he be encouraging Louis and Joel to go into the TV business?

"It's fine with me whatever they decide to do. But there's this terrible pressure on kids these days. They're only five and seven and they do homework. I never saw homework at that age!

"If they do get to 18, and say, `Dad I'm going to be an accountant,' I'd be rather disappointed," he admits. "I'd rather they did something more creative. And for that, I don't think you need to be pushed in the way kids are these days. Who gives a monkeys about physics or maths?"

Having just filmed a role in a new Marple episode alongside Geraldine McEwan, Peter is considering new projects, including a return to the much-loved character Tristan Farnom for a Beeb Christmas special of All Creatures Great And Small.

"It's just a script that fell out of the cupboard recently," he says. "Would people watch it? I would do it, but only if the characters were older and had aged."

In the meantime, he's going to sit back and enjoy watching DC Dangerous do his stuff.

"I really like the series - it's getting better and better," Peter smiles. "It's the sort of programme I would watch if I wasn't in it," he adds.

"It's a more of an urban detective series than other shows - gentle, funny, but with some dark moments. We're on the fourth series now so we must be doing something right."

http://www.tv.com
The Last Detective
Star:
Peter Davison (Dangerous Davies),  Rob Spendlove (DI Aspinall),  Sean Hughes (Mod Lewis),  Vineeta Rishi (WPC Maya Kapoor),  Billy Geraghty (DC Darren Barrett),  Charles De'Ath (DS Philip Pimlott),  Emma Amos (Julie Davies)

Once upon a Time on the Westway
Jimmy 'the Gent' Vincent is murdered within 24 hours of his release from prison. Do his unpublished memoirs reveal the identity of his killer?

Dangerous' Liaisons
A recluse is found dead at home, and foul play is suspected. A cache of film reels leads to the solution of two murders.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Willesden
A veteran comedian dies on stage. Davies investigates the world of show business jealousies.

The Man from Montevideo
Davies uncovers the secret life of a chauffeur, found stabbed in the neck with a broken champagne bottle.

Dead Peasants' Society
Members of a secretive gentlemen's club are dying in mysterious circumstances.

Introduction
The Last Detective is back with a new set of serious crimes for Dangerous Davies and his team to solve. At the end of the last series he had rekindled his love for estranged wife Julie but that is being jeopardised by a certain character called Mod.

The star of the show, Peter Davison, told itv.com “The last series ended with our reconciliation but it is all rather screwed up by the fact that Mod is now their house guest. He's getting in the way.”

Peter says Dangerous is still the same rather plodding guy ITV audiences have come to love.

“He is fundamentally the same, he's still old school. He's a good policeman who has missed the boat in his career. There's no chance of him being a high flyer at Scotland Yard but he wouldn't have it any other way.”

Interview with Peter Davison
Detective Constable Dangerous Davies is never going to become a high flying supercop but he is going to stay truthful to himself. And that's exactly what the public like about him, says actor Peter Davison.

He is an ordinary, polite guy who solves crimes his way. Father of three Peter, 56, has noticed the creeping lack of politeness in modern day life. “There is a general debate going on at the moment about this lack of politeness,” he tells itv.com.

“People don't seem to be as nice to each other as they once were and that's reflected in The Last Detective. I'd like politeness to make a comeback.” What's the cause? Is there a general domestic breakdown of law and disorder?

“There are so many causes. Television wants to push it so that everyone is at each other's throats. If you look at EastEnders it appears that you can't even have a quiet drink down the pub without a fight breaking out.

“We've been having a debate about politeness at home. If a teacher is prevented from telling off a pupil because it will infringe on their civil liberties, the child is exactly in control. After all, if you stuck ten kids on a desert island they would all become wild. I don't punish very often but you have to at least have the possibility of a sanction.”

Peter based DC Davies on an old TV actor called Alfred Burke from Public Eye. “I watched Public eye and I loved his performance and so I made Davies similar to him. He was never a super successful private eye.”

There are rumours that this is the last series of The Last Detective. Has Peter heard anything?

“It rather depends on how this series goes. I'd love to come back for series five because it's very good and I enjoy doing it. There is a new broom sweeping through ITV, so we'll have to wait and see.”

We can't let Peter go without asking him about At Home With The Braithwaites. Will we ever see David, Alison and their troublesome brood again?

“I was thinking the other day that I could now spend the rest of my career doing revivals of old series I've been in,” laughs Peter. “We stopped doing them originally because Sally Wainwright wanted to go off and do other things.

“The Braithwaites Now would be a good title for it. It was a fascinating drama and it just hit the spot with audiences. You could certainly do a revival.”

There is also a rumour about a proposed reunion of the All Creatures Great and Small cast. It has been reported that Robert Hardy (who played Siegfried Farnon) and Christopher Timothy (James Herriot) have seen a script and given it their blessing.

Peter explains what has happened. “This all started when someone found an old script in a cupboard. It was for a Christmas special and they read it and thought, ‘This would still kind of work'.

“They approached the three main actors and we said we'd do it as long as they took account of our ages. We're old codgers now and it would be fun to follow their misadventures.”

Peter Davison
Peter Davison returns to play Dangerous Davies in the fourth series of The Last Detective.

Having starred in the show since its first season in 2003, Peter is thrilled to be playing the down-to-earth detective once again. He tells itv.com: “I like the series and I like the character. I think it is a kind of antidote to the more hectic crime shows.

“I like the idea that Dangerous is not a supercop. He solves the crimes by instinct and plain hard work.”

It's the first time he has starred opposite his daughter Georgia Moffett.

“I was more fazed by her being on set than she was,” he says. “It was very strange doing our first scene together when I had to look straight at her and talk to her as if I didn't know her.”

“She said to me before we started filming that she was going to pretend she didn't know me. So when I walked on the make-up caravan the first morning of filming she said ‘hello Peter'.

“But then she was hanging around with me in my trailer all day, so it didn't last very long.”

Peter is married to the writer Elizabeth Morton and also has two sons Louis, seven, and Joel, five.

Charles De'Ath
Charles De'Ath reprises his role as Dangerous Davies' nemesis Detective Sergeant Philip Pimlott.

DS Pimlott's conniving, underhand ways will get viewers' blood boiling and Charles is concerned about how much people hate his character.

“I have had viewers telling me to stop bullying Dangerous when they've recognised me in the street,” he said.

“Someone told my wife they were glad my character had been stabbed in an earlier series and he deserved it. So I realised then the depth of the venom people had for him.”

Charles is no stranger to ITV dramas, having appeared in A Touch of Frost, The Bill, The Royal and Emmerdale.

He was delighted when Pimlott was scripted to have played for his real life favourite team, West Ham.

But that wasn't the original plan. Charles had to persuade writer Matthew Thomas to change the script because the detective started out as a Millwall fan.

“I told Matthew I didn't mind saying I played for any other team, but not Millwall,” he explains. “I was like a little kid in a candy store when he wrote that Pimlott played for West Ham.”

Billy Geraghty
Billy Geraghty plays DS Pimlott's laid back sidekick DS Darren Barrett.

A big fan of The Who, Billy couldn't believe his eyes when Roger walked on to the set of The Last Detective, to appear in the first episode.

“Roger Daltrey is one of my heroes,” says Billy. “I grew up listening to The Who, and I learnt to play music listening to them. When you meet your heroes you suddenly feel like a fan. I had a scene with Roger and I was so made up.”

Billy grew up in Dorset and was always passionate about music but decided to pursue his acting ambitions instead. However, he does still play guitar and sing in a band called the Sidekicks.

But his character in The Last Detective is by far the most fun. He adds: “Barrett is lazy and a shirker. He is not bright in the worldly sense. He is a simple soul.”

Emma Amos
Emma Amos plays Dangerous Davies' estranged wife Julie, whose marriage has been teetering on the brink of divorce since day one. But the confused couple reunited at the end of the last series.

“There was lots of speculation about how their relationship could go ahead,” she says. “There needs to be a settling-in period for them.”

And so there is, with plenty of kissing and cuddling to help rekindle their romance.

“In the new series we got to snog a lot, which is quite amusing when you have known each other for so long,” Emma admits. “Peter and I have worked together for five years. We've never done any kissing. We've only ever rowed before. It was a bit like a real life marriage.”

Emma is adamant she is nothing like her flirtatious character in the drama. “Being a good-time girl is not me and that's what attracted me to the role in the first place,” she adds.

“A woman I met on holiday recently said ‘you are not very nice are you?' I tried to assure her that I do get nicer.”

Roger Daltrey
The Who legend Roger Daltrey has happily dipped in and out of TV series for over 20 years.

The fact that he was nominated for a Golden Globe in 1976 for the rock musical Tommy has been largely forgotten.

He pops up in the first episode of The Last Detective, as an ex-convict.

Roger, 62, is still a restless spirit. “I just love working,” he says. “I'm a letterbox actor. If something comes through my letterbox, and I can make it work, I will have a go at it. I hate sitting around doing nothing.”

Roger describes his character, Mick Keating, as living in a ‘Walter Mitty world.'

“He flits on the edge of the underworld. He loves the glamour of it, and thinks he is part of it,” he says.

“But since he injured his leg in the early part of his criminal career he has been kept on the outside, and he's bitter about it.

“Mick's colleagues are all rich and infamous, and he is just a jobsworth. His story is about someone living in a world he thought he was accepted in, and then finding out he's not really accepted at all.”

Roger is best known for his work with The Who but he has appeared in more than 30 films and numerous theatre productions.

But his heart still belongs to music and he can't wait for The Who's European tour to kick off.

“We are getting to the age when the old bones creak, and the eye sight is going, and you think you'd better get out there,” says Roger.

“As long as you can play the music, that's all we're interested in.”

Episode 1
Once Upon a Time on the Westway
Thursday 3rd May, 9pm
The new season kicks off with notorious crook, Jimmy the Gent Vincent, being released from prison to a big welcome home party with his family, friends and ex-cons.

Meanwhile, Dangerous and the team have their hands full when a diamond heist, which has all the hallmarks of Jimmy the Gent, takes place the same day.

The following morning, Jimmy is found floating in his swimming pool. He has been shot dead.

In prison, Jimmy had been writing his memoirs of a life in crime. They could have implicated many members of the underworld and his death has solved several problems. Was that what got him killed?

Meanwhile, Julie is sick of having Mod invading her house and gives Dangerous an ultimatum: either Mod goes or she does.

But Julie later feels guilty when Mod, who has resorted to staying in a bedsit, has a nasty encounter and ends up in hospital.

Episode 2
Dangerous Liaisons
Thursday 10th May, 9pm
Teenage lovers Jerome and Manda are looking for a hideaway when they fall upon what appears to be an empty house. But they soon make a grim discovery – a man who has clearly been dead for some time.

Dangerous, Pimlott and the boys are called in to find out the circumstances surrounding the man's death and tests soon find that he was murdered.

The victim is identified as Dominic Sylvester, a recluse who had lived in the house for over 30 years.

Dangerous finds a collection of film reels in the house and is horrified when one of them turns out to be a snuff movie; showing a young girl being murdered in the same room where Dominic was found.

While trying to discover the dead girl's identity, Dangerous is drawn into the seedy underworld of the porn industry and illegal immigrants who sold themselves to make money for their families.

The humble detective soon finds the ties that bind the murders together…

Episode 3
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Willesden
Thursday 17th May, 9pm
Veteran comedian Bunny Hopper drops dead on stage after taking a sip of red wine and it doesn't take a genius to figure out he was poisoned.

Dangerous discovers that Bunny was a Casanova who had a string of dalliances with his female fans, leading the detective to wonder if a jealous lover was responsible for his murder.

Bunny's biggest fans, Denise Templeton and Marguerite Jewel, accuse each other of murdering the man they both claim to love.

Bunny's comedy partner, Jules Rendell, tells Dangerous that he kept the act going while Bunny was off flirting with all the women, but appears to be devastated by his death.

However, there's an ironic twist as Dangerous finds out the dead comedian didn't always drink from the glass of red wine...

Meanwhile, Pimlott and the team are called in to round up an influx of Chinese immigrants and Mod decides to try out a new career – in stand up comedy.

Episode 4
The Man from Montevideo
Thursday 24th May, 9pm
Cabbie Jim Homer has an unexpected windfall when a drunken passenger leaves a suitcase containing £2m in the back of his taxi. He packs up and heads off to a new life in Montevideo, without even telling his wife.

Ten years later, Dangerous investigates the murder of taxi driver Tony Hill, who was stabbed to death in a stretch limousine.

Noting similarities between Jim's disappearance and Tony's death, Dangerous believes there may be a link between them.

He is further intrigued when it emerges Tony Hill had lived in Montevideo with his wife for five years and had undergone extensive plastic surgery.

Elsewhere, Mod is in the throes of passion with barmaid Katrina, much to the annoyance of Julie and Dangerous. But Mod soon realises the lusty lady is more than he can handle.

Episode 5
Dead Peasants Society
Thursday 31st May, 9pm
In the last show of the series, Dangerous Davies is called in when business executive Daniel Boden is found dead at the wheel of his Land Rover.

With no forensic evidence inside the car, Dangerous hits a brick wall, until he discovers that Daniel made a phone call to a man called John Mosshead shortly before he died.

It emerges that Daniel was involved in a lucrative insurance scam set up by a local gentleman's club.

His distraught wife, Rose, claims she knows nothing about the scam but is convinced Daniel was having an affair.

Dangerous soon finds the elusive John Mosshead, who turns out to be rather different to what he expected, while Daniel's so-called lover is adamant she was not romantically involved with him.

The detective is also shocked to find his colleague and superior DCI Ray Aspinall's name on a list of members at the gentleman's club. Could he be a player or a target?

http://www.mirror.co.uk/showbiz/tv/todaystv/tm_headline=the-last-detective&method=full&objectid=19184888&siteid=89520-name_page.html
Mirror.co.uk - Showbiz - TV - Today's TV - THE LAST DETECTIVE
THE LAST DETECTIVE
ITV1, 9PM
by Jane Simon 24/05/2007

THE gently plodding detective is joined by another high-calibre string of acting talent for this week's murder investigation.

There's Kenneth Cranham, Alison Steadman, Maggie O'Neill from Shameless and, er, Norman Pace - whose TV career has been virtually non-existent of late.

Pace plays The Man From Montevideo - the name of the episode - but he then suffers the indignity of spending most of it looking rather blue on a mortuary slab.

And a very convincing corpse he makes too.

Turns out he is a former taxi-driver who once fled to Uruguay after he found a suitcase full of cash in the back of his cab. But now he's met a bloody end in a stretch limo and it's up to DC Dangerous Davies (Peter Davison) to find out why and how - in his usual painstaking fashion.

That "Dangerous" nickname is as ironic as ever, but he does have one hairy moment with a leather-clad dominatrix, who is played by yet another guest star - Josie Lawrence.