British Comedy Guide
Borderline. Image shows from L to R: Clive Hassler (David Elms), Grant Brodie (Jamie Michie), Linda Proctor (Jackie Clune), Andy Church (Liz Kingsman), Tariq Mansoor (David Avery). Copyright: Little Rock
Borderline

Borderline

  • TV sitcom
  • Channel 5
  • 2016 - 2017
  • 12 episodes (2 series)

Improvised mockumentary about the border guards working in an airport. Stars Jackie Clune, David Avery, Liz Kingsman, David Elms, Jamie Michie and more.

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Series 1, Episode 3 - The Cop

Borderline. Image shows from L to R: Grant Brodie (Jamie Michie), Clive Hassler (David Elms). Copyright: Little Rock
The regular flight schedule into Northend Airport is suspended, and a special guest is in the building, in the form of Detective Terry Bradshaw from the London Met.

Further details

The regular flight schedule into Northend Airport is suspended, and a special guest is in the building, in the form of Detective Terry Bradshaw from the London Met. This silver-tongued, handsome charmer takes the morning briefing, and explains that a renowned international criminal has been extradited back to the UK, and will be landing at Northend later today, at which point Terry will then escort them down to London. All he needs is someone to stamp the criminal's passport.

No one is more excited than Clive, who has always dreamed of being a policeman - saving lives, going on stakeouts, saying "10-4" without knowing what it means. Proctor, meanwhile, is just thrilled that she is no longer the one in charge, as everything, for today, must go through Terry. She puts her feet up and abdicates all responsibility.

Terry shows his true colours when he cruelly dismisses the ever-keen Clive - though Clive is too optimistic and naive to realise it. Tariq sees though the facade and is less than thrilled at Terry's presence in the office, not least as he is uncomfortable with the detective's interest in Andy. In a rash moment, feeling angry that Andy seems to be falling for the detective's sleazy charms, Tariq decides to call his ex-girlfriend, Monica.

The moment of truth arrives when the criminal comes through passport control, and just when all seems to be going wrong, Clive saves the day, leaving Terry with egg on his face.

As the team leave, Andy tells Tariq she was never interested in Terry, but the conversation is interrupted by the surprise arrival of Monica, who has turned up early for their date. It's a bit of a nightmare for Tariq, but it's a problem of his own making, so now he has to deal with it.

Broadcast details

Date
Tuesday 16th August 2016
Time
10pm
Channel
Channel 5
Length
30 minutes

Cast & crew

Cast
Jackie Clune Linda Proctor
David Avery Tariq Mansoor
Liz Kingsman Andy Church
David Elms Clive Hassler
Jamie Michie Grant Brodie
Ralf Little Narrator
Guest cast
Katharine Bennett-Fox Monica
Graham Dickson Detective Terry Bradshaw
Writing team
Chris Gau Writer
Michael Orton-Toliver Writer
Matt Jones Story
Ralf Little Story
Production team
Matt Jones (as Matt L Jones) Director
Zoƫ Rocha Producer
Ralf Little Executive Producer
Sarah Doole Executive Producer
Chris Gau Executive Producer
Michael Orton-Toliver Executive Producer
Amer Iqbal Editor
Jonathan Paul Green Production Designer
Andrew Rodger Director of Photography
Lucia Santa-Maria Costume Designer
Velina Iankova Make-up Designer
Vlad Berkhemer Composer
Jake Rollins 1st Assistant Director

Press

The Met meet Northend Airport's border-force team as this border-control spoof continues. It's a crime-cracking coupling as likely as Sherlock and Eamonn Holmes, yet Proctor's posse are tasked with processing a criminal who is arriving by plane. Was their dedication to duty the reason for their selection? Or is it merely that Northend is dreary enough to deter press attention? Either way, with all other activity on hold, idling about doing nothing is the day's main task. So, business as usual.

Mark Gibbings-Jones, The Guardian, 16th August 2016

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