The Commander (TV series)
| The Commander | |
|---|---|
DVD cover
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| Genre | Crime drama |
| Created by | Lynda La Plante |
| Starring |
Amanda Burton Matthew Marsh Nicholas Jones Christopher Robbie Tristan Gemmill Mark Lewis Jones Paul Brightwell Poppy Miller Thomas Lockyer Pip Torrens Anthony Valentine Monica Dolan Nadine Marshall Connie Hyde Niall MacGregor Sian Brooke |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of series | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 16 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Lachlan Mackinnion |
| Running time | 90 mins (Series 1-3) 60 mins (Series 4-5) |
| Production company(s) | La Plante Productions |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV/STV/UTV |
| Original release | 16 February 2003 – 12 November 2008 |
| External links | |
| www |
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The Commander is a British crime drama, broadcast on ITV1, starring Amanda Burton as the principal character, Commander Clare Blake. The series first broadcast on 16 February 2003, and a total of five series were produced over a five-year-period, with the last episode airing on 12 November 2008.
The series focuses on Blake, the leader of an elite murder squad in London. Throughout the series, Blake has two main sidekicks. Matthew Marsh starred in the first four series as DCI Mike Hedges, and following his decision to quit the role, he was replaced by Mark Lewis Jones, who appears in the final two seasons as DCI Doug James.
The series has been released on DVD in the UK via Contender Entertainment Group and Acorn Media UK. In the United States, all six series have been issued in two double DVD sets, again via Acorn Media.
The Commander focuses on Clare Blake, a rather inept leader of an elite murder squad based in London, who allows her interpersonal relationships to cloud her judgement, and on several occasions, make bad calls which are detrimental to the investigation. Midway through the series run, Ofcom and ITV received many complaints from viewers over Blake's willingness to sleep with suspects so that evidence can be gained from them - exemplified in her relationship with murderer James Lampton (Hugh Bonneville). Many viewers said that as much as the story was fictional, such action was so far out that it could not possibly considered believable or true to life.
The series began with a one-off feature-length story broadcast in two parts in February 2003. Only known as The Commander for television broadcast, it did not carry an official title until the joint DVD release of series one and two in 2005. The episode gained enough viewers for two more stories to be commissioned. The other investigating officers in this episode are DCI Mike Hedges (Matthew Marsh), DCS Les Branton (Nicholas Jones), DAC Edward Sumpter (Christopher Robbie), DI Ken Miles (Tristan Gemmill), DS Brian Hall (Paul Brightwell) and DC Carol Browning (Poppy Miller).
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