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Dixon of Dock Green was a popular BBC television series, which ran from 1955 to 1976, and later a radio series. Despite being a drama series, it was initially produced by the BBC's light entertainment department. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
The police procedural is a sub-genre of the mystery story which attempts to accurately depict the activities of a police force as they investigate crimes. ...
Edward Henry Willis, Baron Willis (January 13, 1918 - December 22, 1992), commonly known as Ted Willis, was a British television dramatist who was also politically active in support of the Labour Party. ...
Jack Warner OBE (October 24, 1896–May 24, 1981) was a popular English film and television actor. ...
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For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ...
is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar). ...
is the 121st day of the year (122nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
Year 1976 Pick up sticks(MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ...
A television program (US), television programme (UK) or simply television show is a segment of programming in television broadcasting. ...
Light entertainment is a term used to describe a broad range of usually televisual performances. ...
Overview Beginning in 1955 and finally ending in 1976, Dixon Of Dock Green was a popular series although its homeliness would later become a benchmark to measure the "realism" of police series such as Z Cars and The Bill. The series was set in a suburban police station in the East End of London and concerned uniformed police engaged with routine tasks and low-level crime. The ordinary, everyday nature of the people and the setting was emphasised in early episodes by the British music-hall song "Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner" with its sentimental evocations of a cozy community, being used as the series theme song. Unlike later police series, Dixon focused less on crime and policing and more on the family-like nature of life in the station with Officer Dixon, a warm, paternal and frequently moralising presence, being the central focus where crime was little more than petty larceny. However as the 1960s and the early 1970s brought more realistic police series from both sides of the Atlantic to the British public, Dixon Of Dock Green seemed increasingly unrealistic, a rosy view of the police that grew out of touch with the times. Yet the writer of the series always maintained to the end of the program's time that stories were based on fact and that Dixon was an accurate reflection of what goes on in an ordinary police station. Z-Cars (sometimes written as Z Cars, and always pronounced zed, never zee) was a British television drama series centred around the work of regular beat police officers in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby near Liverpool, in the north-west of England. ...
This article is about the British TV series. ...
A typical suburban police station in the United States (this one is in San Bruno, California). ...
The term East End is most commonly used to refer to the East End of London. ...
This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ...
In the United States, larceny is a common law crime involving stealing. ...
Outline of characters and plots The main character, Police Constable George Dixon, played by Jack Warner, was an old-style British "bobby" (policeman). The character first appeared in a 1950 British film by Ealing, The Blue Lamp, in which he was shot and killed by a criminal played by Dirk Bogarde. However, it was decided to bring him back to life for a television series, written by Ted Willis. For the painter see John Constable. ...
Jack Warner OBE (October 24, 1896–May 24, 1981) was a popular English film and television actor. ...
For the band, see The Police. ...
Year 1950 (MCML) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
The Blue Lamp is a British crime film released in early 1950 by Ealing Studios. ...
Sir Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde (28 March 1921 – 8 May 1999), better known by his stage name Dirk Bogarde, was an actor and author. ...
Edward Henry Willis, Baron Willis (January 13, 1918 - December 22, 1992), commonly known as Ted Willis, was a British television dramatist who was also politically active in support of the Labour Party. ...
If Dixon was known to the public, the actor Jack Warner was even better known. Born in London in 1896, Warner had been a comedian in radio and in his early film career. Starting in the early 1940s he broadened his range to include dramatic roles, becoming a warmly human character actor in the process. But as well as playing in films with dramatic themes, such as The Blue Lamp, Warner continued to play in comedies such as the successful Huggett family programmes on BBC Radio and films made between 1948 and 1953. Jack Warner OBE (October 24, 1896–May 24, 1981) was a popular English film and television actor. ...
A comedian, or comic, is an entertainer who amuses an audience by making them laugh. ...
In Dixon Of Dock Green, Warner ixon is a "bobby" on the beat - lowest-ranking policeman on foot patrol. With the inevitable heart of gold, Dixon was a widower raising an only daughter Mary (Billie Whitelaw in early episodes, later replaced by Jeannette Hutchinson). Alternate uses: see widow (typesetting). ...
Billie Whitelaw, CBE (born June 6, 1932) is a distinguished English actress for both stage and film. ...
Each episode started with Dixon speaking to the camera. He began with a salute and the greeting "Evening all!" (good evening, everyone), which has lived on in Britain as a jocular greeting. In similar fashion, episodes finished with a few words from Dixon in the form of philosophy on the evils of crime. For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ...
Initially, Dixon continued in the same role as in the film The Blue Lamp, a constable based at the fictitious Dock Green police station in the East End of London. The character of Andy Mitchell (played by Jimmy Hanley), the young constable in the film, became a detective named Andy Crawford (played by Peter Byrne), in the CID at Dock Green, and he was married to Dixon's daughter Mary (who did not appear in the film). The East End of London, known locally as the East End, is an area, with no formal authority or boundaries, that spans a number of administative districts of London in England. ...
Jimmy Hanley (22 October 1918-13 January 1970) was an English actor. ...
Peter Byrne (born 29 January 1928) is an English actor and director. ...
Charles Vincent, founder of the Metropolitan Police CID The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is the branch of all British Police and many other Commonwealth police forces to which plain clothes detectives belong. ...
By the end of the series, Warner was elderly and George Dixon had been promoted to Station Sergeant and given a desk job. In the final series, when Warner was 80, Dixon had retiredlice. Station Sergeant, or Station Police Sergeant (SPS), was a rank in the London Metropolitan Police. ...
In 2005, the series was revived for BBC radio, with David Calder as George Dixon, David Tennant as Andy Crawford, and Charlie Brooks as Mary Dixon. A second series followed in 2006, with Hamish Clark replacing Tennant owing to the latter's Doctor Who filming commitments. David Calder (born Plymouth, England on 1 August 1946) is a British actor probably best known for his performances on television. ...
David Tennant is the stage name of David John McDonald (born 18 April 1971), a Scottish actor from Bathgate, West Lothian, best known for portraying the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in the television series Doctor Who. ...
Charlie Brooks as Janine Butcher in EastEnders Charlie Brooks (born May 3, 1981 in Barmouth, Wales) is a Welsh actress, trained at The Arts Educational School. ...
Hamish Clark (says he was born in 1965) in Broughty Ferry, Dundee. ...
The Tenth Doctor is the name given to the tenth and current incarnation of the fictional character known as the Doctor seen on screen in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who. ...
Cast - Jack Warner ... PC George Dixon / ... (432 episodes, 1955-1976)
- Peter Byrne ... Det. Sgt. Andy Crawford / ... (424 episodes, 1955-1975)
- Geoffrey Adams ... Det. Con. 'Laudie' Lauderdale / ... (298 episodes, 1958-1972)
- Arthur Rigby ... Sgt. Flint (253 episodes, 1955-1965)
- Jeanette Hutchinson ... Mary Crawford / ... (212 episodes, 1956-1969)
- Nicholas Donnelly ... Sgt. Johnny Wills / ... (206 episodes, 1960-1976)
- Moira Mannion ... WP Sgt. Grace Millard / ... (142 episodes, 1956-1961)
- Robert Arnold ... PC Swain / ... (132 episodes, 1964-1971)
- David Webster ... Cadet Jamie MacPherson / ... (92 episodes, 1959-1962)
- Graham Ashley ... PC Tommy Hughes / ... (79 episodes, 1958-1974)
- Robert Cawdron ... Det. Insp. Cherry / ... (56 episodes, 1955-1965)
- Anthony Parker ... PC Bob Penney (56 episodes, 1957-1959)
- Anne Ridler ... WP Sgt. Chris Freeman (55 episodes, 1962-1964)
- Jocelyn Rhodes ... WPC Kay Shaw / ... (54 episodes, 1959-1971)
- John Hughes ... PC John Jones (50 episodes, 1962-1964)
- Anne Carroll ... WPC Shirley Palmer / ... (50 episodes, 1963-1966)
- Peter Thornton ... PC Burton / ... (44 episodes, 1964-1976)
- Hilda Fenemore ... Jennie Wren / ... (43 episodes, 1955-1965)
- Michael Osborne ... PC David Newton (42 episodes, 1970-1972)
- Jan Miller ... WPC Alex Johns (39 episodes, 1962-1964)
- Joe Dunlop ... Det. Con. Pearson / ... (38 episodes, 1966-1975)
Jack Warner OBE (October 24, 1896–May 24, 1981) was a popular English film and television actor. ...
Peter Byrne (born 29 January 1928) is an English actor and director. ...
Dixon's name The Blue Lamp was produced by Michael Balcon, a former pupil of George Dixon School in Birmingham, which was in turn named after a local politician, George Dixon. Sir Michael Balcon (19 May 1896–17 October 1977) was a British film producer, best known for his work with the Ealing Studios. ...
Birmingham (pron. ...
George Dixon George Dixon (1820 – 1898) was a councillor, Mayor, and MP in Birmingham, England. ...
Release and reception The BBC scheduled Dixon in the family time slot of 6:30 on Saturday night. At the time it started on air in 1955, the drama schedule of the BBC was mostly restricted to television plays so that Dixon of Dock Green had little trouble in building and maintaining a large and loyal audience. In 1961, the series was voted second most popular programme on British television with an estimated audience of 13.85 million. Even in 1965 after three years of the gritty and grimy procedural police-work of Z Cars, the audience for Dixon stood at 11.5 million. However as the 1960s wore on, ratings began to fall and this, with health questions around Jack Warner, led the BBC to end the series in 1976.
The series was the creation of writer Ted Willis, who not only wrote the series over its 20 years on British television but had a controlling hand in production. Longtime producer of the series was Douglas Moodie whose other television credits include The Inch Man and The Airbase. Dixon was produced at the BBC's studios at Lime Grove. Altogether some 430 episodes were made, at first running 30 minutes and later 45 minutes. Only a handful of episodes still exist[1] Edward Henry Willis, Baron Willis (January 13, 1918 - December 22, 1992), commonly known as Ted Willis, was a British television dramatist who was also politically active in support of the Labour Party. ...
The Airbase is a short-lived British black-and-white sitcom that lasted for only one season in 1965. ...
Trivia - "George Dixon's" original greeting was, "Good Evening All", as it was thought at the time that a Police Constable should "speak correctly". The BBC changed it to "'Evening all" in the early 1970s.[2]
- A lot of Dixonisms are used as catchphrases in Terry Pratchett's Discworld Night Watch cycle, most often by the 'good cop' Carrot Ironfoundersson.
- A 1970s advertising campaign for a brand of colour television set featured the slogan "Are you still watching Dixon of Dock Grey?"
Image File history File links Broom_icon. ...
For the painter see John Constable. ...
For other uses, see BBC (disambiguation). ...
Terence David John Pratchett OBE (born April 28, 1948, in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England[1]) is an English fantasy author, best known for his Discworld series. ...
Cover of an early edition of The Colour of Magic; art by Josh Kirby Discworld is a comedic fantasy book series by the British author Terry Pratchett set on the Discworld, a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants which are in turn standing on the back of...
 Carrot Ironfoundersson is a fictional character in Terry Pratchetts Discworld novels. ...
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