{"id":137395,"date":"2026-07-07T09:51:04","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T14:51:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=137395"},"modified":"2026-07-07T09:51:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T14:51:22","slug":"1980s-tv-shows-a-trip-down-memory-lane-with-paul-moriarty-detective-sergeant-jake-barrett-in-the-gentle-touch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=137395","title":{"rendered":"1980s TV Shows:  A Trip Down Memory Lane with\u2026 Paul Moriarty (Detective Sergeant Jake Barrett in \u201cThe Gentle Touch\u201d)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1545664804358300\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block; text-align: center;\" data-ad-layout=\"in-article\" data-ad-format=\"fluid\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1545664804358300\" data-ad-slot=\"8616314829\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=137395\" rel=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=137395\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-137396 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Paul-Moriarty-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Paul-Moriarty-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Paul-Moriarty-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Paul-Moriarty-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Paul-Moriarty-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Paul-Moriarty.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Exclusive Interview by Karen Beishuizen<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Gentle Touch\u201d was a British police series made by London Weekend Television for ITV. It aired from 1980 to 1984, five seasons and 56 episodes. It was the first series in Britain to feature a female police officer as the lead: Jill Gascoine as Detective Inspector Maggie Forbes. The role of Detective Sergeant Jake Barrett was played by Paul Moriarty for the entire show.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>KB: &#8220;The Gentle Touch&#8221;: What was the show about?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>After very male versions of the police, it was thought that it was time for a more compassionate image: \u201cThe Gentle Touch\u201d! This was brilliantly inhabited by Jill Gascoine.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>KB: How did you get the part as Detective Sergeant Jake Barrett?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>I went for the audition and, as I left, they said that if I was offered the part would I wear the overcoat I was wearing. The coat got me the part.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>KB: What did you like about the character and how did you make it your own?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Good to play a policeman with a sense of serving the public with empathy and a sense of justice.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>KB: Did you and the other actors got some police training to make it look believable on screen?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Detective Inspector Gearing was our advisor.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>KB: How did a week on the set looked like from getting the script to filming?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Two days on set. Thursday was practice for crew and actors. Friday the show was taped.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>KB: Where was the show filmed?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Because of budget, the joke was that it had to be filmed within a cable length of LWT.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>KB: Do you have a favorite episode where you starred in and why this one?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>I enjoyed them all, because it felt like being in a very happy family.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>KB: Looking back now, would you have played Jake Barrett differently?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Led by very good scripts, so guided by them and wouldn&#8217;t have done anything differently.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>KB: How do you explain that this show is still beloved after 40+ years?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Having a woman as the leader gave it a sense of compassion and a group of people that wanted a sense of justice and fair play. Maybe they should bring it back!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; color: #808000;\"><a style=\"color: #808000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.authorhouse.com\/en\/bookstore\/bookdetails\/232300-BOXING-INTERVIEWS-OF-A-LIFETIME\">Click Here to Order Boxing Interviews Of A Lifetime By &#8220;Bad&#8221; Brad Berkwitt<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"wpforms-container wpforms-container-full\" id=\"wpforms-126533\"><form id=\"wpforms-form-126533\" class=\"wpforms-validate wpforms-form wpforms-ajax-form\" data-formid=\"126533\" method=\"post\" enctype=\"multipart\/form-data\" action=\"\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F137395\" data-token=\"0a8e2d840d49f940ea22e084768ee81a\" data-token-time=\"1783443257\"><noscript class=\"wpforms-error-noscript\">Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.<\/noscript><div class=\"wpforms-field-container\"><div id=\"wpforms-126533-field_1-container\" class=\"wpforms-field wpforms-field-name\" data-field-id=\"1\"><label class=\"wpforms-field-label\">Name <span class=\"wpforms-required-label\">*<\/span><\/label><div class=\"wpforms-field-row wpforms-field-medium\"><div class=\"wpforms-field-row-block wpforms-first wpforms-one-half\"><input type=\"text\" id=\"wpforms-126533-field_1\" class=\"wpforms-field-name-first wpforms-field-required\" name=\"wpforms[fields][1][first]\" required><label for=\"wpforms-126533-field_1\" class=\"wpforms-field-sublabel after\">First<\/label><\/div><div class=\"wpforms-field-row-block wpforms-one-half\"><input type=\"text\" id=\"wpforms-126533-field_1-last\" class=\"wpforms-field-name-last wpforms-field-required\" name=\"wpforms[fields][1][last]\" required><label for=\"wpforms-126533-field_1-last\" class=\"wpforms-field-sublabel after\">Last<\/label><\/div><\/div><\/div>\t\t<div id=\"wpforms-126533-field_4-container\"\n\t\t\tclass=\"wpforms-field wpforms-field-text\"\n\t\t\tdata-field-type=\"text\"\n\t\t\tdata-field-id=\"4\"\n\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t<label class=\"wpforms-field-label\" for=\"wpforms-126533-field_4\" >Name Email Comment<\/label>\n\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" id=\"wpforms-126533-field_4\" class=\"wpforms-field-medium\" name=\"wpforms[fields][4]\" >\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div id=\"wpforms-126533-field_2-container\" class=\"wpforms-field wpforms-field-email\" data-field-id=\"2\"><label class=\"wpforms-field-label\" for=\"wpforms-126533-field_2\">Email <span class=\"wpforms-required-label\">*<\/span><\/label><input type=\"email\" id=\"wpforms-126533-field_2\" class=\"wpforms-field-medium wpforms-field-required\" name=\"wpforms[fields][2]\" spellcheck=\"false\" required><\/div><div id=\"wpforms-126533-field_3-container\" class=\"wpforms-field wpforms-field-textarea\" data-field-id=\"3\"><label class=\"wpforms-field-label\" for=\"wpforms-126533-field_3\">Comment or Message<\/label><textarea id=\"wpforms-126533-field_3\" class=\"wpforms-field-medium\" name=\"wpforms[fields][3]\" ><\/textarea><\/div><script>\n\t\t\t\t( function() {\n\t\t\t\t\tconst style = document.createElement( 'style' );\n\t\t\t\t\tstyle.appendChild( document.createTextNode( '#wpforms-126533-field_4-container { position: absolute !important; 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It aired from 1980 to 1984, five seasons and 56 episodes. It was the first series in Britain to feature a female police officer as the lead: Jill Gascoine as Detective Inspector Maggie Forbes. The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":137396,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35042],"tags":[35539],"class_list":["post-137395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-1980s-tv-shows-a-trip-down-memory-lane-with","tag-1980s-tv-shows-a-trip-down-memory-lane-with-paul-moriarty-detective-sergeant-jake-barrett-in-the-gentle-touch"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=137395"}],"version-history":[{"count":-3,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/137396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=137395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=137395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=137395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}