Filming has begun on four new feature-length films on location in Northumberland.

 

Episode 1: ‘Gently Between The Lines’ by Tim Prager

Gently is shocked to receive Bacchus’s resignation, but he soon realises that his sergeant has lost his confidence. Setting about to fix Bacchus, Gently insists that while he serves out his notice, he needs him to help investigate a death in custody. The Newcastle police have arrested rioters as they tried to clear a slum due for demolition. The next morning, one of the protesters is discovered dead in the cells by WPC Rachel Coles (Hebburn‘s Lisa Mcgrillis). This will turn into a case that will have both Gently and Bacchus questioning what it means to be a police officer at a time when attitudes to the police are changing. They are no longer the trusted, familiar, local ‘bobbies on the beat’. Police officers are now being seen as agents of the state.

 

Episode 2: ‘Green For Greencoat’ by Jess Williams

This takes Gently and Bacchus to a family holiday camp to investigate staff and holidaymakers, when the body of one of the greencoats is washed up nearby. The colourful inmates of the holiday camp, from the flamboyant owner and his sister, to the chalet girls, performers, lifeguards and guests, throw the investigation sideways as Gently and Bacchus uncover a story of jealousy, ambition and the dark underbelly of the permissive society. PC Rachel Coles (Lisa Mcgrillis) is now part of the support system for Gently and Bacchus at the police station with her modern policing ways…

 

Episode 3: ‘Gently Going Under’ by Mike Cullen

This sees the painful effects that the pressures on the coal mining industry in Northumberland have on a close-knit pit community. A suspicious death in the mine in Burnsend leads Gently and Bacchus to explore the tensions and relationships in a community whose seams have been ripped wide open by politics – and discover grudges that date back to the Second World War.

 

Episode 4: ‘Gently From The Cold’ by Jess Williams

When two deaths connect in an unexpected way, Gently finds himself drawn into the world of drugs and LSD, and considering a Cold-War conspiracy. In the process of his investigation Gently relies on the help of an old friend – and as they begin to dig into the case, old feelings begin to stir for Gently.

 

Series 7 was commissioned by BBC Controller of Drama Ben Stephenson last November.

> Buy the Series 1-3 DVD boxset on Amazon.

Are you looking forward to Series 6? Let us know below…