Features
Reminisce with our feature about Bobbies on TV, trace the development of the Bobbies' uniform, and meet a Superindendent
Bobbies on the Box
We have considered the genre of private detectives on film and in fiction under the Sherlock Holmes icon. Here we look at the 50-year history of representations of police officers – both uniformed and plain-clothed – on British television, and examine the changing styles and enduring appeal of the cop-show.
Uniforms Through the Years
The first 1,000 of Robert Peel’s police, dressed in blue tail-coats and top hats, began to patrol the streets of London on September 29, 1829. The uniform was carefully selected to make the Peelers look more like ordinary citizens, rather than soldiers. Today police uniform is anything but inconspicuous - so how has it changed?
Famous Ex-Bobbies
When author and former politician Jeffrey Archer was jailed in July 2001 for perjury, one of the great ironies noted by the media was his previous involvement in law-enforcement, rather than law-breaking: he briefly joined the Metropolitan Police Force in 1960. But Archer isn’t the only famous name to have donned a bobby’s uniform…
Interview: A Superintendent With the Met
To find out more about what life as a police officer is really like, ICONS met Superintendent Alan King of the Metropolitan Police.
