Cops 'R' Us: Fiction's Finest Police Officers Quiz

Answer: Vick Mackie

Michael Chiklis played Vick Mackie in 71 episodes of the Emmy-winning 'The Shield' between 2002 and 2007. He was the boss of an elite team of detectives working out of a run-down station in one of the most crime-ridden areas of Los Angeles. Mackie had his own way of working, and if that meant bending the rules to catch the worst of the criminals, so be it.

When his bosses tried to catch him out by planting a detective on his team to report back, Mackie shot him dead. Mackie stood the whole idea of a good cop on its head and many people hated what the character stood for. Michael Chiklis, though, was compelling in the role.

Answer: Dalziel

Andy Dalziel was the creation of Reginald Hill in a number of 'Dalziel and Pascoe' novels that were also the subject of a British television serie (1996). Dalziel was every bit as crude and uncouth as the other detectives mentioned were educated and gentle - although his mannerisms were toned down in the TV series.

Answer: Scobie Malone

Scobie Malone was the hero of a series of novels by Jon Cleary between 1966 and 2004. Malone was his own man, frequently following his hunches with disregard for the many worries he gave his police chiefs. A movie based on the character was made in 1975. The other answers are also names of fictional Australian policemen.

Answer: Steve Carella

The "87th Precinct" series was created by the late Ed McBain and was perhaps the first and best-yet exponent of the police procedural genre. The books were set in the city of Isola, which bore more than a few similarities to McBain's native New York City. Carella's wife, Teddy, was profoundly deaf and did not have the power of speech. Ed McBain was the pen name of Evan Hunter, though the name on his birth certificate was Salvatore Albert Lombino.

He was born on October 15 1926 and died on July 6 2005.

As Evan Hunter he was the author of the book 'Blackboard Jungle', which was made into a movie, and also wrote the screenplay for Hitchcock's 'The Birds'. The 'wrong' answers are characters from 'Hill Street Blues', which can be seen as the television development of the 87th Precinct.

Answer: George Dixon

Many people in the UK hark back to the golden "Dixon of Dock Green" era of policing - though it's probably a rosy view of an ideal more imagined than real. George Dixon was a character in the 1949 movie "The Blue Lamp", and was shot dead by a robber played by Dirk Bogarde.

In the mid 1950s the character was brought back to life to police an area from the fictional London police station Dock Green. Jack Warner played the part for 21 years. Each episode started with 'Dixon' giving a cheery "evening all' welcome straight to camera.

He then outlined what was to be a tale of morality in which the baddy always got his comeuppance. At the end of the show, Dixon would wrap up direct to camera again, and wander of whistling. When Warner died, serving officers from the very real Paddington Green police station carried his coffin at the funeral.

Answer: Hunter Stone

Hunter Stone was the hero of the 'Guardians of the North' series created by Alan Morris. Originally a rancher, Stone's wife was killed by Indians and he was almost killed. He was nursed back to health by Reena O'Donnell, a Christian missionary to the Canadian frontier.

In later years, Stone became an officer in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and one of his tasks was to rescue Reena after she was kidnapped by an Indian chief. The books are classified as 'Christian fiction' and have a moralistic tenor.

Answer: Alex Cross

First published in 1993, Alex Cross was the creation of James Patterson in a series of books set in Washington DC. He joined the police department after struggling as a private eye. He lived with his grandmother and his two children. The death of his wife in a drive-by shooting was one case he never solved. In later books, Cross worked for the FBI. The character had a PH.D. in psychology from Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore.

Answer: Lucy Bates

Betty Thomas, now a respected film producer and director, played Lucy Bates in 100 episodes of 'Hill Street Blues' from 1981 to 1987. Bates was initially the only woman in the Hill Street precinct and had to overcome a lot of prejudice, eventually being promoted to desk sergeant. Lisa Sutton played Officer Robin Tataglia for 27 episodes from 1982 to 1987. Kim Delaney played Diane Russell in 119 episodes of 'Boomtown' between 1995 and 2003 while Sharon Gless played Christine Cagney in 'Cagney and Lacey' between 1982 and 1988.

Answer: Lynley

Detective Inspector Tommy Lynley, Eighth Earl of Asherton, was a detective inspector supposedly based in London but who got to travel the English countryside - usually in his classic Bristol 410 car. His partner Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers - he generally always called her Havers - was from working class stock.

The characters were created in 1988 by Elizabeth George in a series of novels, and brought to the TV screens by Nathaniel Parker and Sharon Small in "The Inspector Lynley Mysteries" (2001).

Answer: Jean D'Arblay

"Juliet Bravo" was the radio call sign for the British television policewoman Inspector Jean D'Arblay in a series of the same name. The show was first broadcast in the early 1980s and was a ratings winner for the BBC, attracting up to 18 million viewers. The show was created by Ian Kennedy Martin, the master of the British cop show genre.