TV cops
Sir: Elwyn Jones's defence by impeachment of plodding British police proce durals shows an astonishing lack of awareness of the scope and intention of
. series drama and an anti-American bias which is all too common on the English writing scene. Character appeal via characteristics, is a shorthand quality which Mr Jones has carefully exploited in his own career as a series writer, and the whole tone of his article is of sanctimonious self-justification.
One cannot lump together several American imports without regard for • their structural variations. Colombo, a 'mystery movie', has a ninety-minute slot. It follows the best traditions of the 'English eccentric detective', unravelling a crime by methods endemic to the private eye, even if Columbo is ostensibly a cop, In all 'mystery movie' productions the tone is intentionally light; realism, in any degree, is not part of the production brief. The somewhat • dated Jack Webb production Adam Twelve has a running time of twenty-five minutes, and the advantage of only two running characters; also the preditable structure 'ofa standard 'sit-corn.', grading from an amusing incident, through a minor crime, to the third and major climax; invariably involving gunplay or a car chase. It is neat and exciting but hardly the epitome. of 'realism', whatever the New York cops think of it.
If one looks for 'realism' in series drama, then The Streets of San Francisco comes close to being the true reflection of American police methods, perhaps because of the influence of Mrs Dorothy Uhnak, writer of the original 'novels, whose practical experience of policework is unrivalled. Streets has an adequate warmth in the character relationships without that spurious bonhomie which infects Cannon, Iron. side and Harry 0.
Whatever its shortcomings as realist tract, Kojak's storylines are neither sloppy nor dismissive. Most episodes are tautly structured and subtle in pace, without that massive overstressing which many English crime series drag along like an anchor Cars, of course, excepted. One hopes that Kojak's technical excellence will lead to a higher
standard of story selection and editing all round the board and that dreary, cliche-ridden, pseudo-documentary accounts of British social evils disguised as series drama will not escape the transatlantic influence.
Hugh C. Rae Drumore Farm Cottage, Gartness Road. Balfron Station, Stirlingshire, Scotland
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