Taggart "Taggart" was one of the UK's longest-running television dramas and the longest-running police drama after the cancellation of "The Bill". Mark McManus, who played the title character Jim Taggart, died in 1994; however, the series continued under the same name. The series theme music is "No Mean City" sung by Maggie Bell. The Scottish BAFTA-winning pilot episode, "Killer", directed by Laurence Moody and broadcast in 1983, introduced the character Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Jim Taggart (played by Mark McManus until his death in 1994), a tough and experienced detective who had worked his way up through the ranks. His original
Taggart long-suffering sidekick to Jardine, former long-suffering sidekick to Taggart. Fraser was later revealed to be gay. (McCredie had made an early appearance in Taggart when he played a suspect part of a youth gang). DI Robbie Ross (John Michie) joined the team in 1998 (Michie had made an early appearance in "Taggart" in 1990, when he played a suspect called Robby Meiklejohn in an episode called "Love Knot"). When MacPherson left the series in 2002 his character was killed off and replaced with DCI Matt Burke, formerly of Special Branch (played by Alex Norton, who had previously appeared in the