| Creator: | Roy Mitchell |
| Genre: | Crime drama |
| Director: | Various |
| Starring: | Reece Dinsdale Grant Masters Brendan Coyle David Sterne Nicholas Ball Lynda Steadman Amanda Pays Robert Willox Gary McDonald Pooky Quesnel Simone Lahbib |
| Composer: | Mark Ryder |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
| Num Seasons: | 3 |
| Num Episodes: | 25 |
| List Episodes: |
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| Executive Producer: | Ted Childs (Series 1–2) Jonathan Powell (Series 3) |
| Producer: | Gina Cronk Colin McKeown |
| Runtime: | 50 minutes |
| Company: | Central Independent Television |
| Channel: | ITV |
Thief Takers is a British television crime drama series, created by Roy Mitchell, and produced by Central Independent Television for the ITV network. The series depicts the work of a team of officers based in the Metropolitan Police Service's Flying Squad, which Reece Dinsdale, Brendan Coyle, Grant Masters and Nicholas Ball appearing in the principal roles. The series was Carlton's attempt to rival Thames Television's The Bill, after the producer unexpectedly retained the series despite a major take-over by Carlton.[1] A total of three series were broadcast between 1 February 1995 and 18 December 1997, with a total of twenty-five episodes broadcast. Each episode features a stand-alone case, with the exception of a small number of two-part episodes. However, the personal lives of each of the officers in the team provide the backdrop for a continuing story arc throughout all three series.
Reception for the third and final series was mixed, and a major shake-up in the main cast was cited as the main reason for declining viewing figures. Subsequently, the series was axed in 1998 shortly before a fourth series was set to go into production.[2] All three series, plus the pilot episode, were released on VHS on 26 January 2000.[3] [4] [5] An official book, entitled "The Inside Story", written by Geoff Tibballs, was also published to coincide with the first series.[6] An official novelisation, written by Lee O'Keefe, was also published on 11 January 1996.[7] Notably, the series has yet to be released on DVD.
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