TV Detectives

[Drago]

TV detectives. Its easy really. All you need is...

A. A quirky and memorable surname.

B. A mysterious backstory that emerges over serval episodes or, even better, over several series.

C. A unusual and totally unsuitable car.

D. A title for the show that is either just the detectives surname, or a pun, etc, based on the surname.

So what TV detectives can you come up with?

 

[Saluki]

Cormoran Strike. (The books are better by far). Quirky surname, definitely an unusual backstory, his car is a BMW, but his detective partner drives a proper old Landy, does that count?
The TV show is just called Strike.
That ticks all your boxes @Drago

 

[Drago]

A. Mustard.

B. Dave "Colonel" Mustard is a hard boiled detective of the old school who breaks all the rules but gets the job done. Twenty years ago he was arrested for beating up a Jehova's Witness who he mistakenly thought was pinching his milk from the doorstep. The magistrate took pity and offered him one last chance - prison, or join the Flying Squad. To this day the tinkle of milk bottles brings alarming flashbacks at critical moments in the action which viewers see played out in black and white. Terence Stamp played the original, while Roy Schieder played the lead in the US remake.

C. An Escort Mk1 that's always on the verge of breaking down but which he is busy restoring. The running gag at the end of each episode is that within seconds of getting the car back from the nodyshop, having a new engine, etc, some harm befalls it including, but not limited to, pianos dropping on it, meteor strikes, being blown up by the bomb squad, etc.

D. Cut The Mustard.

 

[Gunk]

I used to like Dan Tanner, he parked his 1957 Thunderbird in his office, what’s not to like!

 

[Drago]

I used to like Dan Tanner

A detective who used his knowledge of leather goods to solve crime!

 

[Vapin' Joe]

Winston O'Callaghan, mixed race Irish born Oxford educated man with a Desmond in economic science who turned down a mega salary job with a merchant bank to join the police. Plays strictly by the rules, is respectful to his superiors and drives a Citroen 2CV.

Has a flirtacious relationship with a female traffic warden who once booked him, leaving viewers to speculate on "Will they, won't they." This results in a cliffhanger at the end of the penultimate episode of the last series when he pops the question and she reveals she was actually born a man.