Liverpool 1 – Nostalgia Central

1 9 9 8 – 1 9 9 9 (UK)
12 x 60 minute episodes

Set in the murky underworld of drugs and prostitution in Liverpool, the vice squad cops in Liverpool 1 (“Everton 2”, cracked half of Merseyside) dealt with pornographers, paedophiles and the city’s violent drug scene.

The (initially) six-part series starred Samantha Janus (who made her name in the comedy series Game On) as Detective Constable Isobel de Pauli and Mark Womack as Detective Constable Mark “Cally” Callaghan.

Isobel was an Essex girl with attitude who had recently transferred from the Met to Liverpool.

Their biggest adversary was John Sullivan (former Brookside star Paul Usher), the ruthless head of a Liverpudlian crime family which ran snooker clubs, pubs, video stores, betting shops and other properties, all acting as a front for drugs.

Sullivan and Cally had been childhood friends, and the cop’s brother, Patrick (Scot Williams), was a drug addict caught in Sullivan’s orbit.

Stephen Graham appeared in one of his earliest television roles as a minor recurring character named Thewlis.

Janus and Womack began a highly public real-life relationship during production of the show, splitting with their existing partners to be together. They later married.

The show returned for a second series, with six further episodes in 1999. No third series was forthcoming. A move that shocked fans and the show’s creators.

DC Mark “Cally” Callaghan
Mark Womack
DC Isobel “Pauly” de Pauli
Samantha Janus
John Sullivan
Paul Usher
DI Howard Jones
Tom Georgeson
DC Jo McMullan
Katy Carmichael
DC Frank White
Paul Broughton
Chief Inspector Graham Hill
Eamon Boland
Julie Callaghan
Gillian Kearney
Ian Callaghan
Andrew Lancel
Patrick Callaghan
Scot Williams