El C.I.D. Explained

Genre:Crime drama
Comedy
Creator:Chris Kelly
Iain Roy
Starring:Alfred Molina
John Bird
Simón Andreu
Tony Haygarth
Donald Churchill
María Isbert
Kenneth Cranham
Amanda Redman
Cristina Sevilla
Theme Music Composer:Mike Moran
Country:United Kingdom
Language:English
Num Episodes:19
Num Series:3
List Episodes:
  1. Episodes
Producer:Matthew Bird
Executive Producer:Sally Head
David Plowright
Cinematography:Michael B. Poppley
David Head
Runtime:60 minutes
Company:Granada Television
Network:ITV

El C.I.D. is an ITV television crime drama comedy that ran for three seasons from 7 February 1990 until 2 March 1992.[1] The series starred Alfred Molina as Bernard Blake, a C.I.D. officer who takes early retirement and moves to Spain where he and his work partner, Douglas Bromley (John Bird), a retired records officer, keep an eye on the expat community of British gangsters. As well as settling into life on the Costa del Sol, the storyline featured the pair helping out a local private eye, Delgado (Simón Andreu) to investigate cases.[2]

The series was highly publicised following criticism of Spain's extradition treaty with the UK, which was featured heavily in the newspapers during the series' run. Before the third series, Molina left the cast, and was subsequently replaced by Amanda Redman, who joined the series as the daughter of Bird's character, Bromley. The series also co-starred Kenneth Cranham as a notorious British gangster who fled to Spain. Scriptwriter Jimmy McGovern wrote episodes for both the first and second series. The title is a play on El Cid, the 11th-century Castilian knight and warlord in medieval Spain.[3]

Cast

Episodes

Series 1 (1990)

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal airdate

Series 2 (1991)

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal airdate

Series 3 (1992)

No.TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal airdate

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Itvstudios .
  2. Web site: El C.I.D. (ITV 1990-1992, Alfred Molina, John Bird). 2016-05-25.
  3. Web site: El C.I.D. - ITV Comedy Drama. British Comedy Guide.