Maigret
 In his trilby hat and belted
mac, Maigret used to light his
pipe and light up Monday nights. The late Rupert Davies achieved
celebrity status, and at the height of the 52 episodes he was able
to command £10, 000 to make a Dubonnet commercial.
When the French detective's creator, Georges Simenon, first met
Davies he was amazed at how like Maigret he was.
For a start, Davies himself was an inveterate pipe-smoker,
possessing some 40 pipes and a dozen kinds of tobacco. Simenon's
only complaint was that Davies's hair was too long.
On the subject of complaints, both Maigret and that other
wastrel George Dixon were accused of drinking too much on screen
by the Reverend George Boffin from Clekheaton, Yorkshire;
"Maigret drinks such a lot it's surprising he doesn't fall
flat on his face in the middle of every program. It amazes me he
can stay sober enough to arrest anyone. And Dixon spends too much
of his off-duty time in the local. I see no reason why Dixon and
Maigret shouldn't drink tea and ginger pop instead of pints of ale
and bottles of wine".
Can you imagine Jack Regan and George Carter from The
Sweeney drinking ginger pop?
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