Bulman seems to be a little known/remembered series, but was popular enough at the time (enough to be shown in the U.S. on PBS), and has had tremendous influence on subsequent - but, alas, lesser - detective/police/crime dramas.The series was unique, but not in the sense that it was so far superior to predecessors or contemporaries. No, Bulman was one of several excellent detective/police/crime dramas to come out of the seventies and eighties, including The Sweeney and Minder. Each show had a very unique concept, and featured memorable and real characters played by amazingly talented actors. The one characteristic all these series shared was true grit - they reflected real toughness, machismo, and cynicism, as opposed to the ridiculous posing one sees in modern cop dramas.Anyone who thinks modern programs like From Ashes to Ashes or Life on Mars are so wonderful should watch or re-watch any one of those afore-mentioned series. A direct comparison would be evidence that, where television is concerned, quality has suffered over time. Sure production values have improved, but writing and performance have greatly suffered. Prime Suspect is the one exception I can think of.While television today is primarily all style and no substance, series like Bulman proved that great substance produces remarkable style.

Why oh why must we suffer constant repeats of average stuff when gems like the 20 episodes of this brilliant series lie idle in the vaults having only been shown once (?). It can't even be bought on DVD as far as I know....come on you budding entrepreneurs !! make the copyright holder an offer and release this wonderful set....if only as a testament to the brilliant but sadly no longer with us Don Henderson - a truly great character actor - don't let his memory pass relatively unappreciated. Even the previous 'Strangers' series (during which he was a cop - this led to the writing of Bulman) is worthy of a re-run - his two police sidekicks (whose names escape me) being completely in awe of his idiosyncratic ways.

Gawd I miss this show. Did anyone else ever see it? The characters (especially the lead, Bulman himself played by the brilliant Don Henderson), the plots, the acting were the very best. Bulman was this mercurial Shakespearean personality, complex, explosive, completely unpredictable, always raging, always tragic, always most human. Years & years ago Sam Peckinpah had a short-lived western series on American TV called, I think "The Westerner" starring Brian Keith that was sort of like this. Real jewels amidst the garbage.