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The Thin Blue Line

  • TV Series
  • 1995–1996
  • TV-PG
  • 30m
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
8.6K
YOUR RATING
Rowan Atkinson in The Thin Blue Line (1995)
SitcomComedyCrime

Various mishaps at a police station in an English town. The main character is the anachronistic, yet charming and funny Inspector Fowler. CID foil to Fowler, Inspector Grim is a bumbling, se... Read allVarious mishaps at a police station in an English town. The main character is the anachronistic, yet charming and funny Inspector Fowler. CID foil to Fowler, Inspector Grim is a bumbling, seething idiot.Various mishaps at a police station in an English town. The main character is the anachronistic, yet charming and funny Inspector Fowler. CID foil to Fowler, Inspector Grim is a bumbling, seething idiot.

  • Creator
    • Ben Elton
  • Stars
    • Rowan Atkinson
    • Mina Anwar
    • James Dreyfus
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.5/10
    8.6K
    YOUR RATING
    • Creator
      • Ben Elton
    • Stars
      • Rowan Atkinson
      • Mina Anwar
      • James Dreyfus
    • 43User reviews
    • 4Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 1 nomination total

    Episodes14

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    Photos46

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    Top cast70

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    Rowan Atkinson
    Rowan Atkinson
    • Inspector Raymond Fowler
    • 1995–1996
    Mina Anwar
    Mina Anwar
    • W.P.C. Maggie Habib
    • 1995–1996
    James Dreyfus
    James Dreyfus
    • P.C. Kevin Goody
    • 1995–1996
    Serena Evans
    Serena Evans
    • Sergeant Patricia Dawkins
    • 1995–1996
    David Haig
    David Haig
    • D.I. Derek Grim
    • 1995–1996
    Rudolph Walker
    Rudolph Walker
    • P.C. Frank Gladstone
    • 1995–1996
    Kevin Allen
    Kevin Allen
    • D.C. Robert Kray
    • 1995
    Mark Addy
    Mark Addy
    • D.C. Gary Boyle
    • 1996
    Joy Brook
    • D.C. Crockett
    • 1995
    Lucy Robinson
    Lucy Robinson
    • Dame Cristabelle Wickham
    • 1996
    Gabrielle Blunt
    Gabrielle Blunt
    • Elderly Lady…
    • 1995–1996
    Walter Sparrow
    Walter Sparrow
    • Elderly Man…
    • 1995–1996
    Stephen Fry
    Stephen Fry
    • Brigadier Blaster Sump
    • 1995
    Owen Teale
    Owen Teale
    • Gary
    • 1995
    Sheila Gish
    Sheila Gish
    • Maeve the Sex Therapist
    • 1995
    Stephen Moore
    Stephen Moore
    • Ron
    • 1995
    Jean Ainslie
    • Elderly Lady
    • 1995
    Jonathan Cake
    Jonathan Cake
    • Stallion
    • 1996
    • Creator
      • Ben Elton
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews43

    7.58.6K
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    Featured reviews

    10thekuruptx

    Absolutely Hoity Toity Fun

    I have heard that English Comedy is excellent , so has been proved by the masterpieces throughout the years "Monty Python" , "Fawlty Towers" and "Black Adder", but recently i was lucky enough to watch this series , and it was lovely . It was almost the feel i had when i saw blackadder that "Wish the Print was a bit better" although i am not a slightest bit annoyed by the darkness in the lighting, in fact it is almost ironic for it truly portrays British "Dark" Comedy.

    The thin Blue Line is a series which sets up in a small town of england called Gasforth where the cast resides mostly at their work station i.e. Police Station, The police consists of two parties The Uniformed "Bell Topped" Coppers and the upto date and rather modern Criminal Investigation Dept. "CID" The Main Characters in the Series are the Uniformed coppers 1.Inspector Fowler (Rowan Atkinson) 2.Constable Goody 3. Constable Gladstone 4.Constable Maggie Habib and Sargeant Dawkins and the CID consists of Derek Grim and Inspector Garry Boyle.

    The Whole plot is actually the constant arguments and differences b/w the CID and the Blues and ever episode is based on both sides constant bafoonaries.

    The comedy in this series is unique and tummy hurting till the very end, the best thing about it is that unlike black adder where edmund black adder is the one with the last laugh in jokes , here every character has his punch line and laughs i love it and hope that everyone appreciate the true art of Humour, the editors and writers are same as of black adder which includes Rowan Atkinson and Ben elton.

    The biggest mistake that the bbc made after almost canceling black adder was that to cut the thin blue line into only 14 epis and then hack the show of ....................

    Buch of egg heads.

    Love the show and recommend it to any decent man or woman , who wants to view elegant , "CLEAN" humor (by clean i mean its totally absent from any nudity) but the material is hilarious " Two things that an American cannot beat the British at........ Clean and unique Humor and Rock and Roll"
    Mmyers2003

    No Fannying about!!!

    The best characters in this sitcom have to be Inspector Fowler and Inspector Grimm. Grimm cracks me up everytime with his bad use of speech and his catchphrase "No Fannying about". I like the idea of the CID and the Police officers not wanting to accept help from each other. Goody is also very funny as is Constable Kray (Series 1). A rare find in the 90's sitcom era thats actually good (Bottom, Vicar of Dibley and Men Behaving badly are the only other good comedies from the decade). British comedy at its best as always.
    8budikavlan

    Old-fashioned farce

    This series was a bit of a step back for Elton and Atkinson after the audaciously original Blackadder and Mr. Bean series. The Thin Blue Line is an old-fashioned farce set in a city police station. That's not to say it's bad--it's actually very funny, just not anything groundbreaking. A lot of the humor derives from playing stereotypes against themselves: our heroes are bumbling cops who manage to make fools of themselves while eventually solving the crimes and making fools of the bad guys (not to mention the detective division) in the end. Goody, who could be described as a flaming heterosexual, manages to combine a full repertoire of "nelly" mannerisms with a hopeless crush on Habib. Habib herself is both a stereotype (attractive young female character constantly pursued by almost every male character) and a skewerer of stereotypes. This show has its cake and eats it too, but the viewer is too busy laughing to question any of it. And in the tradition of the best British farces, it goes to unbelievable lengths to track down and hammer home every conceivable double entendre and smutty one-liner. When one finishes groaning and/or laughing, one can't help but admire such perseverance in the pursuit of craft.
    9zzzzzzzzzzzzzzx

    A wonderful British sitcom

    This show has Rowan Atkinson (Inspector Raymond "Feely" Fowler) at his very best, funnier than either Mr. Bean or Black Adder. He shares the screen with a delightful array of competent actors who all know how to deliver a funny line without squashing it, although sometimes I find David Haig's delivery of Detective Inspector Grimm's rants to be just a little too much.

    I don't find much of what Ben Elton has written to be that funny, but this show has me laughing out loud time and again. Almost every episode in the two seasons available is well paced and loaded with double entendres. If only American sitcoms could match or come close to this!
    9magicalmouse

    This is a gem of a series !

    I just got the series from Netflix after reading about it in one of my Brit-com books. I was sorry when the two discs were done. It is laugh out loud funny. Atkinson as Fowler is right on form and the rest of the ensemble cast matches him. Haig as Grimm is amazing he never falters even in his most tongue twisting lines ! Constable Goody is amazing the facial expressions alone are worth the rental cost. If you love Brit-coms this is a must see ! This is also one where you don't want to miss a word of the dialog. Sharp and witty. I noticed that in almost each episode there appear to be two- three distinct plot lines and how they do it is a mystery but everything comes together and is shown to be interconnected by the final fade out.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The "Have You Seen This Man" poster seen on the wall behind Fowler's desk is a picture of Ben Elton the creator of the series.
    • Quotes

      Detective Inspector Derek Grim: I haven't got time Raymond. If you get in the way I'm responsible. Your cock up - my arse!

    • Connections
      Featured in Comedy Connections: Not the Nine O'Clock News (2005)

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    FAQ18

    • How many seasons does The Thin Blue Line have?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • November 13, 1995 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United Kingdom
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Mitt liv som snut
    • Production companies
      • British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
      • Tiger Aspect Productions
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      30 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Stereo
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

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