Dixon of Dock Green

Dixon of Dock Green was a popular BBC television series, which ran from 1955 to 1976, and later a radio series.

Related Topics:
BBC - Television - 1955 - 1976

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The main character, PC George Dixon, played by Jack Warner, was an old-style British "bobby" (policeman). The character had first appeared in a 1950 British film, 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.

Related Topics:
PC - Jack Warner - British - Policeman - 1950 - The Blue Lamp - Dirk Bogarde - Ted Willis

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Each episode started with Dixon speaking directly to the camera. He always began with a salute and the greeting "Evening all!" (good evening, everyone), which has lived on in Britain as a jocular greeting to a group of people. In similar fashion, episodes finished with a few words from Dixon, often in the form of philosophy on the evils of crime.

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Initially, Dixon continued in the same role as in the film The Blue Lamp, a constable based at the fictitious Dock Green police station, somewhere in the East End of London. The character of Andy Mitchell, the young constable in the film, became a detective named Andy Crawford, in the CID at Dock Green (although not played by the same actor), and he was married to Dixon's daughter Mary (who did not appear in the film).

Related Topics:
East End of London - CID

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By the end of the series, Jack Warner was quite elderly, and George Dixon had been promoted to sergeant, and later given a desk job as local coordinator.

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In the final series, made when Warner was eighty, Dixon had retired from the police.

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In 2005, the series was revived for BBC radio, with David Calder as George Dixon and David Tennant as Andy Crawford.

Related Topics:
Radio - David Calder - David Tennant

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