ABSTRACT
Sherlock Holmes (of 221b Baker Street) and George Dixon (of Dock Green) stand at either ends of our period as symbolic figures of authority embodying policing ideals. Conan Doyle wrote Holmes into existence in 1887, and Dixon was on TV screens from 1955. Holmes was a unique genius whereas George was universally genial; Holmes relished scientific forensic detective methods, whilst George let his knowledge of human nature guide him to the truth; Holmes was a Nietzschean superman, and George was an ‘ordinary copper’ as Jack Warner, the actor who played Dixon, tunefully sang:
The C.I.D. are always in the headlines, but I prefer the ordinary scene.
As an ordinary copper who’s patrolling his beat, around Dock Green.
Now I’ve been in the police force for a long time, more years than I care to think about.
Sergeants come and go and inspectors come and go,
But I’ll stay on until they kick me out.
I like the people I meet every day, as I go quietly whistling on my way. 1
