But one character remained ever present during its record-breaking 27-season run – the city of Glasgow.

The series, created by Glenn Chandler and produced by STV, provided an extraordinary document of a changing city and, in turn, documented the lives of Glaswegians, places, buildings, vehicles, fashions, and attitudes.

Now, to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the show’s pilot Killer, Glasgow Caledonian University is launching Taggart: The People’s Archive – to recognise the role the public played in one of the world’s longest-running police dramas.

Members of the public who were involved in location shoots, worked as extras, played a corpse or provided props or expertise to the show are being urged to come forward so their stories can be captured.

A team of retired detectives will host drop-in sessions at Glasgow Caledonian University Archive Centre next month in a mock police station to take ‘witness statements’ resulting in the creation of a new archive.

Drop-in sessions will be held from September 6-8 at Sir Alex Ferguson Library, Glasgow Caledonian University Archive Centre. Opening times:

• Wednesday 6 September – 11am – 4pm
• Thursday 7 September – 11am – 7pm
• Friday 8 September – 10.30pm – 3pm

Taggart star Dr Blythe Duff, who donated all of her scripts from the show to the archives at Glasgow Caledonian in 2018, will join volunteers over three days, from September 6-8.

Blythe, who played Jackie Reid in the show and is an honorary graduate and cultural fellow of Glasgow Caledonian, said: “Everyone I meet has a Taggart story: ‘Oh you filmed in my auntie’s house’ or ‘in our street’, or ‘I was an extra for the day’.

“I’ve worked with so many people who watched us film and it inspired them to become directors, writers or join the police.

“It made me realise how important these stories are to the fabric of the series.”

In 2018, Blythe donated scripts from 95 episodes to the University’s archives, along with a treasure trove of Taggart material, including still photographs, awards, rare memorabilia and press cuttings. A selection of the items will be on display during the drop-in sessions.

Retired detectives, helped by the university’s archivists, will collect all the stories and some of the contributions will be added to display boards and maps in an ‘incident room’ set up on campus.

Blythe, who devised the new archive, added: “The police were always incredibly supportive of the series when we filmed and they are ready to step up to the mark and have some fun as we recreate an incident room where the public can give us witness statements and hopefully some memorabilia, which will be used as evidence to corroborate their story.”