John McGregor

Jim Bergerac is a detective sergeant in The Foreigners Office who likes to do things his own way. While dealing with his own personal demons Bergerac has a knack of finding trouble, and sometimes causing it.

Shoestring is a BBC detective drana set in Bristol and starring Trevor Eve as private detective Eddie Shoestring, who operatee his own show on Radio West, the local radio station. The programme ran between 30 September 1979 and 21 December 1980, in two series with 21 hour-long episodes. Eve opted not to return after two series, as he wanted to diversify into theatre, so the production team changed the setting to Jersey and created Bergerac, also following a detective returning to work after a bad period in his life.

Police sergeant Neil Howie is called to an island village in search of a missing girl whom the locals claim never existed. The investigation is further complicated as Howie’s religious views clash with those of the island’s residents.

'The Verdict Is Yours' premiered on September 2, 1957, in the CBS Daytime lineup. Unscripted, the show featured real lawyers playing the lawyers and judge. The defendants and witnesses on the program were professional actors who ad-libbed their dialogue, although they were given a general outline of what they were supposed to say. Sportscaster Jim McKay was the original reporter, providing commentary on the trials. He was succeeded in 1960 by newsman Bill Stout.