Softly Softly

[www.doyouremember.co.uk]

This was a spin-off from Z-cars on the BBC circa 1975-1976. It had policemen in it, police cars and bad men who would get their comeuppance.It was firstly broadcast in black and white from 1966, but was then rebooted when the BBC turned to color broadcasting in 1969. At that time it was also given a slightly new - not wildly different - name (Softly, Softly: Taskforce)The main characters were, Detective Chief Inspector Barlow (Stratford Johns) and Detective Inspector Watt (Frank Windsor) By 1972 it was looking a little old (it had been going 7 years!) but it continued until 1976.

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[airfix]

Re: Softly Softly

Yep, I remember it well. I always thought of it as the CID spin-off from Z-Cars, as it centred more on the detective side of things rather than everyday police work by uniform. The theme tune was also a clever reworking of the Z-Cars theme, in that the melody was partly inverted but retained the same rhythm. I suppose, being a geeky musician, I would notice such things!

[Richard1978]

Re: Softly Softly

I did read that Softly Softly was originally inteded to replace Z Cars, but the parent show remained popular to keep going.

The was a further spin off called Barlow At Large, later retitled simply Barlow (or was it the other way round?)