Dangerfield (TV series)


Dangerfield is a British television medical drama series, first broadcast on BBC One, which described the activities of small town doctor and police surgeon Paul Dangerfield, played by Nigel Le Vaillant. The series places particular emphasis on Dangerfield's constant struggle to manage the conflicting demands of his two jobs, to come to terms with the death of his wife Celia in a car accident a few years earlier, and to bring up his two initially teenaged, but later grown up, children, Alison and Marty. Six series of the programme were produced, broadcasting from 27 January 1995 until 19 November 1999. After Le Vaillant left the role in 1997, Dr. Jonathan Paige, played by Nigel Havers, became the new central character, after previously appearing in the final two episodes of Le Vaillant's tenure. The BBC decided to end the series in November 1999 when Havers announced his decision to quit. The BBC felt viewers would not find the series credible if the main character was changed for a second time.
The show, like a number of other BBC dramas of the 1980s and 1990s, also featured a number of borderline fantasy episodes. These included "Tricks", "Angel" and "Haunted". The TV trailers for Dangerfield were heavily parodied by The Fast Show, in which the character was called Monkfish and would appear as a tough uncompromising Doctor, Policeman, vet and even as an interior designer — with titles mixed in with other BBC shows of the time. The show was mainly filmed in Warwick, Warwickshire, with some scenes being filmed in neighbouring Leamington Spa. The first two series have since been released on DVD.
Dangerfield is regularly shown on UKTV Channels - Alibi & Drama

Cast

A number of famous actors appeared as guest stars: they included Keith Allen, Robin Ellis, Edward Hardwicke, Anita Dobson, Brigit Forsyth, Brendan Coyle, Richard Hawley, Michael Elphick, Rachel Davies, Helen Baxendale, David Daker, Stephen Moore, Roberta Taylor, Corin Redgrave, Hilda Braid, Jean Marsh, Denys Hawthorne, John Duttine, Owen Teale, Andrew Lancel, Jim Carter, Mary Healey, Tom Bell, Joe McGann, Haydn Gwynne, Simon Williams, Michelle Holmes, Phyllida Law, Miles Anderson, Robert Pugh, Elizabeth Bennett, Roger Brierley, Colin Baker and Richard Lumsden. Some future stars who also appeared included Kevin Bishop, Adrian Bower, Hannah Waterman and Daniel Ryan. In addition, Alan Towers, the former main anchor on the local news programme Midlands Today, appeared as a local television reporter in a few episodes.

Episodes

Series 1 (1995)

Series 2 (1995)

Series 3 (1996)

Series 4 (1997)

Series 5 (1998)

This was the first series to feature Nigel Havers as the primary character, Dr. Jonathan Paige. Jane Gurnett was similarly introduced as the new main investigating officer in the series, D.I. Gillian Kramer. Many of the cast from the two previous series were retained; with the exception of Michael Melia, Tim Vincent, Tamzin Malleson and Fiona Victory. This series was broadcast at 9:35pm on Fridays. Viewing figures for this series was strong enough for a sixth series to be commissioned.

Series 6 (1999)

DVD releases

The first two series were released on DVD in the United Kingdom. The entire 6 series were released on DVD in Germany. As common with many releases of British series in Europe the DVDs contain the original soundtrack but the menu, subtitles and packaging are in German. It is unclear whether the rest of the series will get a DVD release in the United Kingdom. Both releases are encoded Region 2 discs.
There has also been an Australian release of Series 1 and 2; these are encoded Region 4.