Backup (TV series)
Backup is a British television police procedural crime drama series, devised by Nigel McCrery and Roy Mitchell, that ran for a total of fourteen episodes across two series on BBC One between September 7, 1995, and July 2, 1997. Focusing on the work of a police Operational Support Unit, similar to the Territorial Support Group, the series follows the operations of the nine officers of Charlie Van, an OSU of the West Midlands Police.
| Backup | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Police procedural |
| Created by | Nigel McCrery |
| Written by | Roy Mitchell |
| Directed by |
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| Starring |
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| Composer | John Lunn |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 14 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Producer | Hilary Salmon |
| Cinematography |
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| Editor | John Rosser |
| Running time | 50 minutes |
| Production company | BBC Pebble Mill |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC1 |
| Release | 7 September 1995 – 2 July 1997 |
Both series were filmed at Pebble Mill Studios, and saw the likes of Martin Troakes, Christopher John Hall and Nick Miles among the main cast. A then-unknown Matthew Rhys starred in the second series as PC Steve 'Hiccup' Higson, his first televisual role. Initial press releases for the series stated, "When things get too much for the officers on the front line, they call for Backup, the Operational Support Unit (OSU)."
Notably, the series has never been released on DVD, and aside from a single repeat run on UK Gold in the late 1990s, has yet to be further repeated on British television.