WPC 56
Tags: murder

Plot synopsis:
=== Series 1 ===
Set in 1956, the series follows WPC 56 Gina Dawson through the trials of being the first female officer to serve in her home town of Brinford in Birmingham. Chief Inspector Roger Nelson gives her a small office, previously a storage room, and has her making tea, doing paperwork, dealing with children and women. She is told not to distract the men, who might seek to protect her in dangerous situations, so that they can deal with the important police work. She finds that she has to work hard to be taken seriously by her male colleagues, and is shocked by some of the methods employed by Sergeant Sidney Fenton and the blind eye turned by the rest of the officers in order to keep the Chief Inspector in the dark.
Dawson lives at home with her parents, Joe and Brenda Dawson, and has a boyfriend, Frank Marshall.
The first series revolves around two missing boys and a serial attacker, and the relationships of the officers and their families.
=== Series 2 ===
Detective Inspector Jack Burns leaves the police to look after his sick wife and his daughters. He is replaced by a Londoner, Detective Inspector Max Harper. Inspector Nelson and Desk Sergeant Pratt are replaced by Briggs and Swift. Police Constable Eddie Coulson is on honeymoon with Cathy Sinclair. His father, now Assistant Chief Constable Coulson, has sexual designs on WPC Dawson. Sergeant Fenton has a daughter and is on friendly terms with the local brothel madam, Rosie Turner, and the crooked boxing promoter Lenny Powell. Cathy Sinclair is replaced by Susie Nightingale as the station secretary.
The second series revolves around a councillor's dead body and his missing girlfriend Rebecca Jones.
=== Series 3 ===
WPC Gina Dawson, having been cleared of all blame in a shooting, moves to the Metropolitan Police. Assistant Chief Constable Coulson reneges on his promise to Inspector Briggs that he will retire early after sexually molesting Dawson.
WPC Annie Taylor, whose father is a retired Brinford police sergeant, replaces Dawson. She lives with her parents and knows how to handle her fellow officers, including Sergeant Fenton.
Fenton returns to duty, after being shot, his confidence dented; which he tries to regain using Constable Perkins.
Detective Inspector Harry Sawyer, a Jewish officer who is estranged from his mother, replaces DI Max Harper.
The third series revolves round the shooting of a retired Brigadier and events at a secure hospital and the relationships of Inspector Briggs, his wife Charlotte, homosexual Carl Saunders and Coulson's desire to take control of the station and undermine those that know of his past misdemeanours.

Review: Z Cars is on...
Put the kettle on, love!.
The beautiful Jennie Jacques plays the lead role of WPC Gina Dawson.
Although the series revolves around her there are many intelligently woven threads in the plot that give all the other players a good chunk of airtime, too.
None of them disappoint, either.
Things wind up nicely after five episodes but there's still a little wriggle room for another series and I, for one, hope that their is.After all the time and trouble that the producers, cast and crew went to, to get this right I'm surprised that this was aired just after lunch during the week where probably not many people got the chance to see it.
That was an extremely irresponsible decision by the faceless suits at the beeb who think they know something about television.The story is well paced and intelligently laid out.
The details, language and props were first rate and appropriate.
The cast, photography and script were also all top notch.
This is intelligent television drama...
something the Americans are becoming good at and which we Brits have rather lost our way on.Much, much better than that dreadful garbage, Prime suspect..
No more WPC 56?.
I've just read on WPC 56 official Social networking page, that there's no more WPC56?
Yet the 3rd series was the BEST by far?!
Wow BBC heads, you are not keeping up!The new WPC Annie Taylor is amazing!
Why would the BBC take this off?The programme has improved ten fold with the new WPC & the amazing new, thrilling story lines, it so deserves/ed an evening slot!
Seasons 1 & 2 were (although good) no where near as strong as season 3.
and was like starting over a brand new programme.
Claudia Jessie, a much stronger actor which impacted on the character's strength!
SHAME ON YOU BBC for taking off this amazing show?!
I bet you are keeping Doctors though?
no offence, I see that Claudia Jessie got nominated best storyline in the soap awards in Doctors?
might be a clue there BBC?Unbelievable!.
Sad and wrong there is no series 4.
WPC 56 (and particularly season 3) is or was essential viewing!
An innovative crime show like this should NOT be taken off the TV, especially in it's infancy!
And even more particularly since season 3 with the new WPC (Annie Taylor) took over and brought it to a new level!!!!
What the heck is wrong with the BBC?
Who's ever decision it is, or was to take it off is a real shame!
and they need their head's checking!
I really hope one of the other channels take it over, I am sure it would probably do better on ITV anyhow!I get a feeling that the new controller or boss who decides whether programmes stay or go are a bit of a SNOB, if something doesn't come from London then it's just not good enough.
The Midlands is a fantastic place, especially to film with it's great history, locations and it's wonderful art and culture, something to be proud of!
It's not all about London and Manchester you know!
It should be about the great story's and talent!Get it back on the TV!
Us fans should have a say!.
Great series.
We really enjoyed this series.
We thought that the plotting was very good and riveting.
The acting was pretty lifelike, and we felt that the series captured the 50's environment very well.
We can remember the drabness of this era very well and we thought that the series captured this very well, even better than in "Call The Midwife" which gives a much glossier view.Why oh why was it shown in the early afternoon though.
Possibly not suitable for a pre9.00pm showing, but we thought it would make a great replacement for the much missed "The BIll".Please BBC give us another series, but at a better viewing time, where it can get a lot more viewers, than those of us who can watch in the afternoon, and even then we had to record it to playback at tea-time.
Well worth seeking out.
There are some real Drama gems hidden away on daytime TV and WPC56 is certainly one of them.
Why it's not on (or at least repeated) at a later time I'll never know.Well written and performed it tracks the career of one of the first female police officers back in the 50's.The show certainly looks the part in terms of set and costumes and the one a day style of episode screening only makes the cliffhangers that little bit more gripping.Maybe in their wisdom the BBC will recommission the show for a third series or even better show it in an early evening slot.
It would not look out of place against some of the other,bigger name Dramas..
These series has one distraction, Jennie Jacques Eyes.
Jennie Jacques portrays all the ambitions, fears & acceptances of young women in 1956 England.
I let myself go when watching the case solving, but I forget the plot when the camera is focused on her.
I literally have to shake my head at times to follow the story.I really like the scenes where she's not on camera.
But from the first 5 minutes of episode one, she's the portrayed character I want to see next.Not her fault, but Jennie Jacques' eyes are too magnetic.
That said, the little known supporting cast are drawn from the deep well of British acting talent.
This was Britain in 1956.That I found Jennie Jacques' beauty distracting should not deter others from giving this a first viewing.
She did what the writers & director dictated, & her performance is worthy of high praise.I mark this down because of formulaic writing, but I mark it up because of the ensemble performances.
This is series worthy of watching..
Interesting but disappointing.
As a police officer in the 50's I was interested but disappointed by this new series.
Senior police officers do not walk about with their hand in their pockets being churlish to other police officers.
Remember most were ex military in the 50's.
Those who wore helmets did not wear the chin strap under their chins but resting on them.
Whistle chains were always worn, by men, in the top left hand pocket, so they could undo their jackets without undoing their chains.
Guns were not that readily available for any PC.
Corrupt sergeants existed but not as openly as suggested.
The TV series "SCOTT & BAILEY" have most of these things down pat, and the interviewing is well acted.
This series is streets ahead of "WPC 56".
By the way "PRIME SUSPECT" was also an excellent series.
Factual?
I don't know, but good entertainment..
Is there a season 4?
This show has gotten better with age and new characters.
Season one and 2 were OK, but season 3 beat all of them with the new Annie Taylor.The crimes getting more interesting.
I like it a lot!
So why not an evening slot?
Hey person in control, we'd like to see season 4 in the evening prime time please.
It would be a real shame if it ends here with this new lot!
This season was also so funny!I see S3 is now on DVD too.
I will be getting a copy of this and look forward of more of this fantastic show.
Hurry up!
(there just aren't enough episodesThank you!.
Come on BBC1 where is Season 4?.
Please can the BBC tell us when season 4 is coming to our screens?This show BELONGS up there with all the other top BBC drama's Holby City, Casualty, Bergerac (when it was around) Happy Valley, Call the Midwife and many others that stand out for me and a lot of other viewers!
Why has it not been brought to evening slots?
of course we have the advantage of iplayer and catch up, but it's good enough, if not BETTER than some of the programs I have just mentioned above!
Why tease us with a re run and not give us any more?
Season 3 just got better!
and so doesn't make sense to not have a new and/or continuing series!
It's the BEST police program on tele right now!
and as it's a different era, makes it more appealing.10/10 for me!.
Good premise, Poor writing.
Right off the bat, the show's premise presents several creative venues to pursue.
You have a woman officer in a male dominant profession, allowing premise for critique of workplace sexism, assault, gender discrimination, and oppression.
You can also tie with racial and socioeconomic issues and create a golden show.
This is where the first season starts, showing a lot of promise.
But it quickly turns to cliches of personal relationships for the women officer.
It is sad to see such a good premise being wasted in form of a one-dimensional character who is defined by her love life and the men in her life.
The second season onward, this show is no different from any other gender-normative writing.
I wish the writers rethink why they wanted to make the show in the first place.
Personal lives are interesting, but it shouldn't define the character alone.
Her ambitions, passions, inner struggles all could be explored, but weren't.
Perhaps get more women writers and producers..
Predictable, but the acting, plots, and details make up for that.
The negative of the show is that much of it is predictable.
The powerful men have to act macho and the woman is not respected as an equal.
The woman has much better instincts as a copper than the men who've been on the police force for years.
The worst of the coppers is, predictably, almost a 2-dimensional character, at least through the 2 seasons I've seen so far.The positives include that there are some sensitive male characters who give Gina a chance.
The supporting cast is excellent.
The plots are interesting and appropriate to the times.
And the attention to detail (sexism, racism, brutality, repressed sexuality, clothing, sets, hair styles, makeup, music, dialog) makes me almost believe it really is 1956 on the set.Having lived through the 1950s (age 11 in 1956) I can attest that much of what we see on this show was very much like this.
In many work places women were considered to be either eye-candy or efficient old maids who had no life outside of their employment, This continued well into the 60s until the women's movement had some clout.
It would have been even more so for Gina who would have been about 10 years older than I was in 1956.Gina's character has to be independent enough to take on a nontraditional job, tough enough to be a cop, yet still have a sensitive side.
I think Jennie Jacques manages to pull it off well..
Precious TV series to take some break....
The series is about Gina Dawson's, who is one of the first WPCs(Woman Police Constable), life as female police officer at precinct where dominated by male in West Midlands.
Naturally She faces some difficulties as a woman because time is 1950s and it is the peak of the sexism and also awaking of the male protest.
WPC 56's genre contains both drama and comedy and also beauty of the Jennie Jacques.
There is an aspect, a thing thing that I can distinguish WPC 56 than other TV series.
İt is not about the story telling or acting performance.
Even I do like the both of them, there is an original shade in TV series.
Both TV series focuses the female police officer's life and her life that is made difficult by her family, colleagues and dominant culture ideology of her community at that years, WPC 56 shows us and it take us an journey that how conditions of woman in business are in first.
Also it offers us a compression about woman in the field that dominated by male between past and present.
Consequently it is a great series to witness an era and discover how the woman rights and woman in business life comes far from past to present.
I hope that there are more TV shows like WPC 56.
I like that kind of series that there is real cause to makes it.
So I rate it 8/10 because it deserves that.
Acting, storytelling, scenario and reflection of an era when tells struggle of women are very fascinating..
Absolutely unbelievably dreadful.
I purchased two seasons of this series on DVD expecting it to be an intelligently written and directed period drama.
I could not have been more wrong!
Words fail me to describe how absolutely awful this series is.
The writing is monumentally crude and heavy-handed - imagine an episode of a third-rate soap opera, and then, if you can, think of something many, many times dumber and cruder than that.
Just wallopingly dumb and over-done.
And then there's absolutely no sign that anything was done in the direction to try to introduce any subtlety or intelligence.
With writing and direction like that, it's really not fair to even try to judge the actors - I'd imagine with better material most of them would be thoroughly professional.
I really just could not believe how absolutely dreadful this was.
The production values are OK - they spent some money on costumes and props.
could the writers and directors really be this bad?
Or are they just cynics who believe that only dreadful, crude, heavy-handed trash will succeed with the public?
I don't know.
But seriously, don't expect anything in the way of competence or finesse from this series.
It is beyond dreadful..
WPC 56 Rocks Around The Clock.
I love this series.
of course, i'm old ...
i was 10 in 1956 (& in USA).
the attitudes of the men toward women is especially well done, here.
i did spot one little mistake ...
in the Briggs' bedroom, there's a cube-shaped box of tissues--i remember only rectangular tissue boxes during that era; although, i think i remember the cute little square ones appearing in the 1960s.
BRITBOX is showing only 3 seasons and i think there are more--if there's more, please, bring 'em on!
i want more, more, more.
thank you BBC..
Shame on you BBC for not doing more series of this.
At last I found something the BBC had on that made paying the License Fee worth while, then low & behold after series three we don't get to see anymore..
I don't know who you employ to make these decisions but shame on you getting rid of this..
Only thing worth watching in years , god knows what "Trash" you will be giving us to watch now.
Season 3 best.
I watched season 1 and 2 and thought they were OK but felt that season 3 was the best!All the actors in the new or latest season are really excellent!
And the story-lines better than before.
I would TOTALLY disagree with a couple of comments who say the writing is bad etc.
This is totally untrue, maybe in S1 & S2 the story lines weren't as strong as in S3, this I would agree with.
The strength in S3 far beats the other seasons, far superior in acting overall I would say.I much prefer Annie Taylor's character to Gina Dawson's!
It really brought the to life!Enjoying the repeats.
WPC 56 is one of the best police shows out there.
My husband and I love this series!
Can't wait to see the next season!