6.4 /10 1 Votes
4.7/10 TV Written by Various Country of origin United Kingdom First episode date 4 April 1998 | 8/10 IMDb Directed by Various Original language(s) English Final episode date 19 June 2000 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Starring Paul NichollsIan AspinallDave HillAshley JensenSarah KirkmanSean McKenzieTerence HarveyMichael BegleyLorraine AshbournePhilip Martin Brown Similar Earthfasts, The Biz, HolbyBlue, Thief Takers, Roughnecks | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
City Central was a BBC's police procedural television drama series, created by Tony Jordan, and broadcast on BBC One between 4 April 1998 and 19 June 2000. Three series of the programme were produced. The series was initially described as a "star vehicle" for actor Paul Nicholls, but focus slowly shifted away from his character and later focused on an ensemble cast.
Contents
The series is notable for having never been released on DVD; and also having never been repeated since its original broadcast.
Synopsis
City Central follows the everyday public and private lives of the detectives, policemen and policewomen who work at the inner-city Christmas Street police station in Manchester. Although heavily focusing on the uniform relief working at the station, the series featured a small number of CID officers, a factor which was later reduced in the third and final series, after creator Tony Jordan noted that The Bill had started focusing more on the storylines featuring their CID detectives rather than focusing on the everyday officer on the beat.
The series saw actor Paul Nicholls specifically step away from his role as Joe Wicks on EastEnders to take up the part of P.C. Terry Sydenham, after Nicholls described feeling "troubled and depressed", and felt that a change of character would help him with his own lifestyle. Many at the BBC described the series as a "star vehicle" for Nicholls. However, Nicholls soon began to feel that he was "trapped" by the series, and asked for his character to be written out mid-way through series two.
Series 3 (2000)
The final episode of the series was due for broadcast on 17 June 2000, but was moved due to overrunning coverage of Euro 2000.