Juliet Bravo is a British television police procedural drama series, first broadcast on 30 August 1980, that ran for six series and a total of 88 episodes on BBC1. The theme of the series concerned a female police inspector who took over control of a police station in the fictional town of Hartley in Lancashire. The lead role of Inspector Jean Darblay was played by Stephanie Turner in series 1 to 3, but in series 4 to 6 she was replaced by Anna Carteret for the role of Inspector Kate Longton. Carteret remained with the series until its demise in 1985. The series was devised by Ian Kennedy Martin, who had already enjoyed success with another police drama series, The Sweeney. Although the genre of police dramas was well-established on British television by 1980, Juliet Bravo and London Weekend Television's The Gentle Touch, which started a few months earlier, were the first series that saw female officers as lead characters, having to fight both crime and the prejudice of male colleagues. Kennedy Martin based the character of Jean Darblay on a real female police inspector, Wynne Darwin. UKTV’s Drama channel reran all six series in 2018 and again in early 2019. The series had previously been repeated in its entirety on the cable and satellite channel UK Gold from the launch in 1992 until 2001. Production The series' name was devised from the inspector's radio call sign "J-B" or "Juliet Bravo" as it features in the NATO phonetic alphabet. This sign was used only twice during Stephanie Turner's tenure, both times in series 3, episode 14 Where There's Muck – Stephanie Turner's final outing as the series' protagonist – when Inspector Darblay initially radios into Hartley Police Station from the scene of a road traffic accident involving a lorry carrying chemical-filled drums. On all other occasions she identifies herself as Inspector Darblay in radio communication. However, from the fourth series onwards, the call sign was frequently used. The original working title of the programme was "Inspector, Ma'am," a reference to the lead character's rank and title. This title was held during the filming of the first series, but was dropped prior to broadcast. The character upon whom Inspector Jean Darblay was based held the rank of Inspector at Great Harwood station just outside Blackburn. However, the fictional Lancashire town of Hartley featured in the programme was based on Bacup. The