Season 5 • Episode 7
LatestCade's future is in doubt when he comes under fire from the tabloid press.
The Chief is a British crime drama transmitted on ITV from 20 April 1990 to 16 June 1995. Produced by Anglia Television, it centred on the politics at the top of a typical English police force in its continual battle to solve the problems the times, in this case the fictional Eastland of East Anglia.
Acting
Martin Shaw's simmering authority anchors every scene
Writing
Jeffrey Caine's scripts weaponize parliamentary procedure
Production
East Anglia locations reeking of institutional beige
Creator
Jeffrey Caine
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Launched months after the Hillsborough disaster and during the West Midlands Serious Crime Squad scandal, The Chief channeled real public mistrust of police leadership into prestige drama.
Martin Shaw reportedly refused to sign multi-year contracts, forcing writers to keep Cade's survival uncertain — the tension you feel is literally contractual.
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