The Squad (TV series)

The story

The Squad is a British television teen drama series, broadcast on ITV, that ran for just a single series of twelve episodes from 1 October to 17 December 1980. The series follows the fictional exploits of a group of Metropolitan Police police cadets as they take part in various community related projects whilst learning the ropes to become fully fledged police officers. The series specifically focused on the activities of four cadets: Alan Martin, George Booker, Jogger Cummins and Sandra Henley. Coincidentally, actor Mark Botham, who played the role of cadet Alan Martin, later went on to appear as PC Danny Sparkes in the BBC police procedural TV series Juliet Bravo.

The series aired at 4.30pm on Wednesdays, and featured a team of high quality notable writers, including the likes of John Kershaw, Paula Milne, Roy Russell, Simon Masters, William Humble, Barry Purchese and James Follett. The series also featured early acting credits from the likes of Gary Beadle, Jesse Birdsall, Perry Fenwick, Rik Mayall, Caroline Quentin and Josette Simon. Notably, the series has never been released on VHS or DVD.