#dave quinnan/steve loxton

[augustusaugustus]

13.118 Free to Speak?

The PWP of screencaps…

Liz’s Rod-is-acting-even-stranger-than-usual face.

Why is Rod sitting with his arm practically around Dave?

Back to the Dave/Steve. Poor Rod’s rejected by everyone. First Debs and now Dave.

WAITER: Who’s the tart. SLATER: Her name’s Debbie. KEANE: *is not amused*

Nick’s last episode and it’s a great one, although I’m glad to be done with the recent spate of Nick-centric episodes. He takes Debs out to dinner and Steve, Dave and Rod scheme to try to ensure it’s a memorable night for all the wrong reasons. Debbie has different ideas.

They can’t seem to decide whether Rod’s friends with uniform or not, but I do enjoy the episodes where he is. I think his maturity level works better there than with most of the CID crowd.

[steveloxton]

Series 11 Minor Appearances

[reghollis]

11.92 Charity and Beating

[inspectormonroe]

11.81 A Bird in the Hand

[jimcarver]

10.108 Kickback

[augustusaugustus]

11.144 No Questions Asked

QUINNAN: Smile. She thinks something’s up. Or we’re an item.

[augustusaugustus]

9.93: What a Pair

LOXTON: What do you want: cheese and pickle, or cheese and pickle? QUINNAN: What, no afters? LOXTON: We could be looking at overtime, here. QUINNAN: Is that what you call it? Can’t remember the last time I took a bird out for dinner. LOXTON: Waste of time and money, mate. QUINNAN: I suppose you just buy them a cheese and pickle sandwich.

This is like really bad flirting and I can't work out which of them's the one doing it.

[augustusaugustus]

13.136 No Trace

Dave implies that this is a P.I. novel, but actually it’s Hot Zone, by Richard Preston which is about Ebola and other viruses.

Steve leaves a going-away present for Sun Hill in the form of cause to search a paedophile's home. I love that Steve trusts Dave to follow the breadcrumbs—and that Dave trusts Steve enough to do just that. Whether you ship it or not, they portrayed Steve & Dave’s friendship really well over the seasons, along with Dave & Tony—which is one of the reasons that pushing Dave & George as besties felt so forced.

Very sad to see Steve go. He has to be one of the best characters TB had, whether you like him or not. The writers (and Tom Butcher) did such a good job of keeping Steve’s exterior consistent while gradually showing all of the complexity underneath his steely stare. So much so that he went from my least liked character list in his first series to being one of my favourites by series nine. I’m glad they gave him a proper send off, instead of letting him drift into nothingness like so many other long-term characters did.

Oh, and of course it’s a crime against kids that Steve’s willing to set someone up for. He never was any good at convincing people he hated kids.

[augustusaugustus]

10.135 The Melting Pot

LOXTON: Scandal, isn’t it, lack of creche facilities for house breakers?

DEREK: Don’t want you to throw your teddies in the corner, just because I’ve had greatness thrust upon me.

It's so obvious that Tom Butcher is as good with kids as his alter ego is, because all the ones on the show clearly adore him.

CONWAY: What the bloody hell do you think you’re doing? MONROE: The spare bedroom.

Ummmm?

The perfect comedy episode for Derek’s first day in the top job. Steve + kids is always adorable, and the juxtaposition of the top brass & the PCs at their respective drunken social events is just *chef’s kiss*

[augustusaugustus]

13.135 P. C.

LOXTON: I want to make a complaint. BROWNLOW: I’m sorry, Steve, I don’t have the time at the moment. LOXTON: Make time. If I was someone else with a complaint about me, you’d listen then, wouldn’t you?

LOXTON: How long have I been here, do you know? BROWNLOW: Six, seven years. LOXTON: Since 1989. I’ve put eight years into Sun Hill. I know the streets, I know the villains, and I think I know when there’s going to be trouble, so why doesn’t anyone listen to me? I nicked a bloke this morning. Should still be in the cells, but June Ackland, in her wisdom, decided to bail him. He’s just gone out and stabbed a young girl to death. Why? Because June Ackland is just like all the other custody sergeants: she’s afraid of the rules. Treats the codes of practice like they’re written in stone. BROWNLOW: Her hands are tied. LOXTON: Oh, I know that, Sir. All our hands are tied. I’m in trouble now because I forgot to give my name before a search this morning. I’ve just spent forty-five minutes waiting for a towaway truck because traffic division say you have to stay at the scene of an R.T.A. I should’ve been out chasing a murderer, not sitting in my car. BROWNLOW: I’m sure it’s very frustrating. LOXTON: You sure. Are you? How the hell would you know? BROWNLOW: Now look here, Loxton— LOXTON: You sit in here, miles away from any trouble. And when someone comes in to make a complaint against a poor sod like me, you can’t even back me up!

BROWNLOW: You’ve had a bad day. LOXTON: No, Sir, I’ve had a typical day. That’s why I’m giving you this.

Let’s face it, Steve was always going to crash and burn out of the force eventually. As much as he wanted everyone to think that he was completely emotionless, his problem was always that he felt things too deeply, and had no way of healthily dealing with those feels. Tom Butcher is incredible in this episode, as he always is. Steve would’ve been just another prat if Tom hadn’t been so good at showing what lay beneath the tactless bluster.

[augustusaugustus]

1997 Credits

The Steve and Dave scene from the 1997 credits, in memoriam of P.C. Loxton’s time at Sun Hill ;)

[augustusaugustus]

14.69 Up for Trouble

Reg is due to get his commendation, but rumour at the station is that he bottled it on a call-out.

It’s interesting how they’ve been writing Dave as being completely susceptible to Eddie’s manipulation. The other long-timers are happy to complain about Reg, but ultimately believe he’d be there if they needed him, but Dave’s willing to believe Eddie over what he knows himself from working with Reg for years. It’s as if he’s trying to replace Steve, not realising that Eddie’s his opposite: charming on the outside and rotten on the inside, instead of Steve’s spiky, tactless exterior hiding a kind heart underneath.

[augustusaugustus]

11.60 See No Evil

This is one of those episodes where they bring in completely new PCs for a particular plotline so they can deal with an issue without sullying the characters of their regulars. (As opposed to the soap era, where they sullied away to their wild abandon.) The most important part is the fact that the shirt Reg wears to Polly’s birthday party is the same hideous shirt worn by Hywel Simons in 10.77. Rude that we were made to see it twice.

[augustusaugustus]

13.24 Rolling in It

The happiest Steve’s ever been.

LOXTON: This is the ultimate.

QUINNAN: Yeah, only if you’re going to make up for inadequacies in other areas, if you know what I mean, Steve.

When special interests collide: have some car porn. I’m not usually a big Lambo person, but this one is sexy af.

[augustusaugustus]

13.105 Flower Power

PROCTOR: Do you fancy a drink later? I know this nice little place up in town. JARMAN: You know, the male sperm count has dropped by twenty-five per cent in as many years. You’re eating too much processed food.

QUINNAN: Do you fancy a drink and some food later? Unwind after a hard day. JARMAN: Thanks, but I’ve got other plans, Dave.

JARMAN: Can I ask you a question? HOLLIS: Sure. JARMAN: Are you free for dinner tonight?

Elizabeth-Anne Wheal wrote such great character episodes, and this is one of them. A perfect Reg storyline with hints of gardening and the satisfaction of the pretty customs officer correctly realising that he’s more of a catch than his macho colleagues. The first episode where Tom has a personality, too.

[augustusaugustus]

13.104 Not in the Script

BOULTON: The way this guy’s dressed is just screaming out conman. RAWTON: Yeah the problem is the public just aren’t as smart as you, Sarge.

BOULTON: When it comes to cocking things up, Nick Slater’s got special powers.

RAWTON: She was all for going at him with a cleaver, but fortunately her boss told her she’d be better off talking to us. BOULTON: Ugh, pity.

JARVIS: Anyone seen Nick? PAGE: I don’t think he’s here yet. STAMP: Oh, he’s here. We just can’t see him. McCANN: He just sort of blends into the background. STAMP: Or maybe he’s come as Polly!

RAWTON: Let’s get back to the station, shall we? If we’re going to be made a laughing stock, we might as well get it over with.

Two pol’acs in two episodes for Nick! Liz has recommended him for an SO10 job, and everyone else at the station thinks she’s bonkers. (With good reason, I might say.) He looks like he’s going to mess up a CID job, just to prove everyone right, but comes through in the end.