<P> Inspector George Gently (also known as George Gently for the pilot and first series) is a British television crime drama series produced by Company Pictures for BBC One, set in the 1960s and loosely based on some of the Inspector Gently novels written by Alan Hunter . The series features Martin Shaw as the eponymous Inspector, Lee Ingleby as Detective Sergeant John Bacchus, and Simon Hubbard and Lisa McGrillis in supporting roles as police constables for the fictitious North East Police Constabulary . </P> <P> The series is notable for moving the setting of the stories to North East England, centering on Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland and County Durham, as opposed to the Norfolk, as portrayed in the books . As the series begins, the death penalty is still in effect in Britain, and is used as a plot feature in some early episodes . The abolition of the penalty in 1965 is a change that is noted in the series . The earliest episodes are set in 1964, and the series progresses in approximately real time, with the closing scenes of the eighth series taking place in 1970 . </P> <P> After fair ratings for the first three series, it was announced in January 2010 that the BBC had secured funding from the North East Content Fund to produce further episodes of the series . The fourth series was filmed from January to June 2011, and was broadcast that autumn . On 26 March 2012 the BBC announced that four new feature - length episodes were being produced to air later the same year . The fifth series ended on a dramatic cliffhanger, with the fate of both leading characters uncertain . However, in September 2012, lead writer Peter Flannery confirmed that a sixth series consisting of four episodes had been commissioned . The sixth series aired in February 2014 . A seventh series of four episodes was subsequently commissioned, and began airing in April 2015 . The eighth and final series is set to broadcast in 2017 . </P> <Ul> <Li> Martin Shaw as Chief Inspector George Gently </Li> <Li> Lee Ingleby as Sergeant, later Detective Inspector John Bacchus </Li> <Li> Simon Hubbard as PC Taylor </Li> <Li> Lisa McGrillis as WPC, later Sergeant Rachel Coles (Series 6--8) </Li> <Li> Tom Hutch as PC Tom Reynolds (Series 4--8) </Li> <Li> Tony Rohr as China (Series 1--4) </Li> <Li> Melanie Clark Pullen as Lisa Bacchus (Series 2--6) </Li> <Li> Katie Anderson as Leigh Ann Bachhus (Series 5--6) </Li> <Li> Annabel Scholey as Gemma Nunn (Series 7) </Li> </Ul>

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