The BEST episodes of Taggart
Every episode of Taggart ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Taggart!
In the early eighties, Robert Love, Controller of Drama at Scottish Television, and Glenn Chandler, pathologist turned writer, created a Glaswegian police detective named Jim Taggart. A creation which resulted in a world-wide successful television drama that has lasted for over twenty years. With over eighty episodes currently in the can the series, which follows the exploits of Maryhill CID, continues to win over viewers old and new despite major changes in the cast which caused most in the business to write it off. Since the pilot episode "Killer", the only installment to not carry the trade mark name, to the most recently aired episode, the show has presented more grizzly murders and plot twists than even the most ardent of fans can remember. Its film noir quality along with the stunning setting of Glasgow, the second city of the empire, that helps it remain a success even after all these years. The excellent cast, both present and past, have provided characters which have become much loved and remain in the hearts of fans even after their departure. This guide is dedicated to the memories of Mark McManus, Iain Anders, Robert Robertson, and Tom Watson. Taggart is now 20 years old becoming the longest running police drama on television the show is still as popular as it was when Mark McManus was at the helm. Taggart is made by SMG Productions and broadcast on the ITV network over the UK.
#1 - Watertight
Season 18 - Episode 3 - Aired 7/8/2002
The discovery of the body of an underage prostitute causes Ross to go after a long time nemesis with renewed vigour. This decision sets into motion a chain of events which not only puts the Inspectors career in jeopardy but also numerous lives.
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#2 - Puppet on a String
Season 21 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/6/2005
Dr. Mellor is attacked by a masked assailant carrying a syringe full of lethal drugs. Dr Mellor points the finger at rival doctor Thomas Finn, but Finn has an alibi. Dr Mellor is found dead the next day. Finn again has a cast-iron alibi.
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#5 - Nest of Vipers
Season 7 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/9/1992
The discovery of two skulls at the site for a new by-pass road leads the team to a pharmaceutical company. Someone doesn't want the skulls identified and will go to any length including murder.
#6 - Running Out Of Time
Season 22 - Episode 4 - Aired 11/4/2005
Burke is shot whilst taking a break from work, and on the same day, another fraud squad detective's body is found by a colleague. When both victims' properties are searched, large amounts of cash are found, leading to fears of bribery. With Burke's reputation and life on the line, the race is on to find the perpetrator.
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#7 - Atonement
Season 20 - Episode 2 - Aired 12/3/2003
When Billy McCree is found dead in his workshop with his severed hand by his side, recently-released prisoner Jim Naysmith is the prime suspect for his murder - as the dead man's testimony had put Naysmith behind bars twenty years before. While Burke and Reid investigate another member of Naysmith's gang, Ross is flattered when law student Mary Cullen asks to shadow him, but Gemma becomes suspicious of Mary's motives.
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#8 - Penthouse and Pavement
Season 20 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/7/2003
The months since Taggart's last outing have done nothing for DCI Burke's temper or his people skills. He's still a gruff so-and-so who shouts far more than is really necessary. Soon, though, he and his loyal detectives unearth some nasty goings-on. A famous horror novelist is found murdered in an alley the morning after a prestigious book launch. While attempting to quell the ensuing media frenzy, Burke and the team start to piece together the author's last movements, but initally their only lead is a drugged and confused prostitute with a memory problem. Soon evidence emerges that disputes the author's image as an upstanding citizen.
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#9 - Do or Die
Season 22 - Episode 6 - Aired 12/9/2005
The team investigate the suspicious death of an army recruit at a training camp. D.I. Robbie Ross goes undercover in an attempt to understand the mentality of the regime that teaches young men to kill or be killed - before other deaths occur.
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Season 5 - Episode 3 - Aired 3/1/1990
A far-right political party seeking the return of capital punishment are embroiled in a series of murders during a by-election campaign, in which both the candidate and her agent become victims of the killer. DCI Taggart is pressed for a quick result, with strong media interest in the case and Supt. McVitie strapped for manpower.
#11 - Violent Delights
Season 7 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/1/1992
When a sixth form student who is spying on his French teacher becomes the prime witness to her husband's murder, DCI Taggart, newly promoted DC Jackie Reid and DS Jardine have no choice but to exhume an entire graveyard when the prime suspect - an undertaker - refuses to let on where he has buried the parts of his mutilated body. Unfortunately, one of the deceased includes Jean Taggart's Aunt Hettie (much despised by Jim) - who also passes away in the episode and inconveniently interred by the same undertaker.
#13 - Out of Bounds
Season 14 - Episode 2 - Aired 3/1/1998
When a sixty-year-old skeleton is found in the grounds of an exclusive boys school and is linked to the disappearance of a school master in 1939 Jardine's team suddenly find themselves not only investigating the pre-war case but the murder of the master's successor. The 'old boys' network closes ranks but when another master is murdered the team are faced with digging deep into the past to solve this one.
#14 - Apocalypse
Season 13 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/16/1997
A series of bizarre murders of opponents and ex-members of a religious cult have the team baffled. Each murder follows the Biblical plagues of Egypt, which according to the Book of Revelation will proceed Armageddon. There are more than fifty members of the cult, most of whom would kill if asked to do so by the cult leader, David Burns. Who is responsible for that?
#15 - Long Time Dead
Season 15 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/1/1998
When a murder occurs at a hotel during a dinner for the police force, the hunt is on for the killer. When the husband of one of the hotel employees is also murdered the team begin to wonder what the killings have to do with something dark that is going on at the hospital?
#16 - Hard Man
Season 19 - Episode 1 - Aired 12/14/2002
DCI Burke and the team are called in to investigate the discovery of a mangled body in what appears to be an industrial accident at a Clyde shipyard. But when it is revealed that the victim was already dead before the accident, Burke finds himself dealing with a murder.
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#17 - Compensation
Season 20 - Episode 3 - Aired 4/30/2004
DCI Burke's personal life comes to the fore as the team are called to the countryside of Fenmore after a farmer is killed in a suspicious fire. With few clues and no villager prepared to offer information, Burke feels they have stepped into a private war.
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#18 - Saints and Sinners
Season 20 - Episode 4 - Aired 12/30/2004
Top lawyer Richard Fleet is shot in the head in his car after a late business dinner with his partner Charlie Muir and client Simon Turner, the MD of building company Arcadia. Despite the gun being left at the scene there are few clues for the team to go on. Reid and Burke visit Fleet's widow, Adele, and are shocked to discover that not only are they faced with a less than sympathetic wife but that she is also having an affair with his business partner Muir. Neither have alibis for the time of the murder and fail to mention Fleet's £5m life insurance policy. Residents Betty McGoldrick and Martha Ramsay are protesting against the new phase of housing development. They believe that a pharmaceutical company once stood on the site and that chemical contamination has already caused a spate of illnesses, including Martha's son Ben who has leukemia. The women inform them that the case was thrown out of court and to Burke's surprise he discovers that Fleet and Muir represented the residents and not Arcadia – despite being on Arcadia's payroll. When Muir is shot on the Arcadia site and another identical gun is found near the body, Burke begins to suspect Turner. However, his suspicions are without cause when Turner is later found shot dead in the Fleet's home, again with a gun at his side. As the team start to unravel the mystery, an unnamed fourth man is discovered to have been at the restaurant on the night of the first murder. But can a paralysed Muir help them find the guns, the killer and the identity of the fourth man?
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#19 - Bad Blood
Season 19 - Episode 5 - Aired 1/11/2003
In the aftermath of the stabbing of a Kurdish minicab driver, Burke finds himself delegated an officer with a working knowledge of race-hate crimes - an ambitious woman who Ross, Fraser and Reid take to immediately. However, Burke resents his investigation being shackled by politically correct demands, especially when a motive has yet to be established.
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#21 - Halfway House
Season 19 - Episode 6 - Aired 1/18/2003
A young man is found shot in a public park, and the only clue to his identity is a library ticket from a local college. Burke, Ross and Reid set about tracing the young man which leads them to a halfway house boasting a familiar list of numerous ex-cons.
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Season 6 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/4/1990
The death of a policeman during an armed raid in London in which a number of diamond thieves managed to get away with a large haul, is traced back to Scotland as DCI Taggart and the team have to contend with a gypsy's curse. When the matriarch of a gypsy family is found murdered in her caravan, the case takes an unexpected twist.
#23 - The Hit Man
Season 8 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/17/1992
An old friend from Taggart's past gets out of prison and the bodies start piling up. But is there some fishy business going on that muddies the waters for the Taggart Team.
#24 - Knife-Edge
Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 2/24/1986
Taggart and Livingston investigate after the discovery of a woman's severed leg. However as the body parts build up Taggart finds himself no closer to the cases solution. The investigation leads them to a butcher George Bryce who Taggart and Livingston are convinced is the killer. When he turns up dead, killed with the same gun that the dismembered corpse it appears to be another dead end. However with a little further digging links start appearing and Taggart realises he's closer to cracking the case than he thought.
#25 - Flesh and Blood
Season 5 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/5/1989
DCI Taggart attends the wedding of social worker Jane Ross and former bank robber Charlie Forbes. Janie is later found murdered, having been crushed to death by a car. Meanwhile, a criminal hijacking a truck discovers more than he bargained for when he discovers a cache of explosives, and a chain of seemingly unrelated events begins.