Goodbye John Thaw

It had been a quiet week, what with the Olympics and all. New episodes of Changing Rooms had arrived, including one with a peek at the neighbors from hell, which was nice, but what little other new programming there is has been pretty unspectacular (Murder in Mind especially - what a let down - not bad, mind you, but nothing to clear your schedule for either.). I mentioned to my better half that I wasn't the least bit sure what to write about today and began to research an article about the well known in Britain, but virtually unknown here, series The Likely Lads, due for a one off remake this year, when one of my worst nightmares, as a writer, came true. A story came through well worth writing about but, I would have given the world for it not to be so.

John Thaw had died.

He had contracted cancer of the esophagus last year but it never seemed that serious, he said he was having it treated and he'd be back to work soon. His wife, Sheila Hancock, had beaten off cancer her self years earlier. But, of course, it was so very, awfully, serious and now he's passed on , leaving a legacy of acting excellence that will, at least, keep his memory alive for generations to come.

For me Thaw was first Jack Regan, street smart, hard man copper from The Sweeney. As a kid he was what being a cop was all about for me, my mates watched Baretta or Starsky and Hutch and my mum loved Macmillan and Wife, Kojack and Streets of San Francisco, but for me it was the rough and real world of The Sweeney that defined police drama. As I grew older and more refined so did Thaw and in 1989 he debuted in his defining role as Inspector Endeavor Morse, a more educated, thoughtful, cerebral copper working out of a comparatively sedate Oxford patch but still a detective to be reckoned with. Thaw translated Colin Dexter's sullen, opera loving, romanticly cursed sleuth so expertly that he instantly became eternally entwined with the character, even if the translation was not always strictly literal.

Thaw, naturally, managed a great deal of fine work in and around Regan and Morse and his most recent regular series character Kavanaugh Q.C. but it is for these roles that he will be most fondly remembered. Thaw's other series included the early, pre Sweeney, Thick as Thieves (with Bob Hoskins) and the pre-Morse Mitch and Home to Roost, the latter of which was quite good. He also excelled in the mini-series and television films, Stanley and the Women, Goodbye Mr. Tom and A Year in Provence, my personal pick for his best non-Sweeney, non-Morse role.