TheLittleSongbird Taggart is definitely gritty, but you can't really have a murder mystery that is funny. Sometimes Touch of Frost is like that, but that is because David Jason is a comedy genius, and also knows when to be serious. But if you want a gritty, sombre murder mystery with totally original ideas, Taggart is perfect for you. Such a shame that Mark McManus died during the series' very successful run, though Alex Norton does do a competent job as DCI Burke. Blythe Duff is a very talented actress, and John Michie and Colin McCredie do a credible job also. The episodes are sometimes brutal, but always gritty and tense. Although I am more familiar with the more recent episodes, I wish there were more repeats of the earlier ones with McManus. Another special mention should go to the theme tune, very good indeed, and it was a really original idea to base it around Glasgow. 9/10 Bethany Cox.

sisalmon Taggart is now officially the longest running cop show on British T.V. and indeed has been on for 3/4 of my lifetime. There are several reasons for its longevity but surely the main one is the underlying grim humour that enhances every episode. While it was undoubtedly at it's peak in the Mark "there's been a muurder" McManus years, it has recently returned to peak form with the introduction Alec Norton as the "heid man." Norton combines McManus's tough demeanor with an acting ability that outweighs his predecessor. But then McManus didn't need to be an Al Pacino, he WAS the character, dour and caustic. The other characters always provided a little colour along with occasionally convoluted personal lives. However the real star in Taggart was always Glasgow. while Glasgow has changed greatly since the '80's the city's character and natural humour always shines through. The title song puts it that "this is no mean town, this is no mean city", well it's obviously a mean enough city to sustain a 22 year murder series without ever really seeming unbelievable like the village of "Midsomer Murder" which has a body count higher than New York's! All in all a good cop show and one that as long as it can keep Alec Norton, should continue for a few more years yet.

funky_purple_hippie Taggart is a great show. first its scottish which makes it great i love watching it cos i can say i've been there. the actors are excellent mark macmanus was fantastic and made the show cool. i tohught it was perfect in 94 four when jardine and reid and taggart were togther it was great the humour was excellent. my fave character is played by blythe duff (whos an excellent singer i seen her on that country singer program and she was fab) shes a great actress. the shows aird this year showing the sad and dramtic deprature of reid long term friend jardine was deeply moving and i thoguht here acting in fire burn was great i was in tears. i also think that alex norton is great too the bit were hes eating ice cream i thought was funny. i also like that the character jackie is developing greatly with the addintion of brian holmes all though there was sparks between her and robbie ie john michie which i'd like to see develop.

merlin-35 Taggart is definitely the best of these British murder mystery police shows. Inspector Morse is good, but Taggart takes the cake due to its huge body count and fantastic Scottish accents. The body count is the major thing lacking in series like Morse and the woeful Inspector Wexford. With Taggart, we are barely given a chance to come up with a suspect for one murder and suddenly someone else has copped it and throws a spanner in the works. Excellent show.