Roger Moroney: Wild Bill hits the bobby beat

I remember seeing the American actor Rob Lowe in a film once but I can't remember what the film was.

It can't have been up to much because I only watched about 12 or 13 minutes of it and went out to clean up the garage instead.

It had something to do with him and some other young chaps and gals acting up somewhere and looking hip and saying hip things.

As they do in hip places like Hollywood.

And sharply chiselled profiles like Mr Lowe and his cohorts ruled the roads of Hollywood for a time back then ... whenever "then" actually was for it was also a time when my hair was dark and it is anything but now.

It's at the point where I could sit in as Santa somewhere this Christmas without requiring a white wig.

Lowe starred in a few films along the way and got into a rather well-publicised scrape off the set which kept his name scratched upon the landscape of publicity but hey, there is that old saying that any publicity is good publicity ... although I suspect Rob was shoved aside for a few roles in the wake of the 1988 "sex tape" scandal.

However, while his big screen outings declined he made a comeback in the late 90s ... on the smaller screen.

And, in the words of Bruce Forsyth "didn't he do well".

He played the part of Sam Seaborn in the political drama The West Wing, and he maintained that role for four seasons after taking it on in 1999.

It was a breakthrough and a nest egg in terms of accolades as he received nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award as well as couple of Golden Globe Awards.

In the long run, he would receive four other Golden Globe nominations as his career moved on through other sharp-rating shows like Brothers and Sisters, Code Black and his reality series The Lowe Files.

He also dabbled in comedy with Parks and Recreation.

Yes he's done a spot of acting, and has also produced and directed so it's all gone swimmingly well since those dark moments of public disdain and media scorn back in the late 80s.

It surely has because he's currently in the process of shifting house in Los Angeles, and his present mansion is on the listings for $42 million.

Maybe he's considering shifting across the great Atlantic ditch to set up home ... or should I say set up mansion ... in Blighty.

For he has been dabbling in the art of adapting to the ways of England, and the laws of England for that matter, and the result could be rather intriguing.

Dabbling on screen in the character of Bill Hixon in the aptly titled series Wild Bill which screens on TV1 tonight.

His full title is Chief Constable Bill Hixon who ups sticks from Miami and takes up a new life in the small port town of Boston in Lincolnshire.

His decision to shift far away was brought about by being sacked from his police role in Miami for assaulting a kid who he discovered had uploaded sexual images of his 14-year-old daughter, who accompanies him to Blighty for the new life.

He is a solo dad and joins the UK police force ... but it is not an easy transformation in that many of his new colleagues are a bit unsettled to have an American copper in their midst.

From the clips I've seen Lowe is as sharp as a tack in the role.

This is a drama, but with scattered light spots, and the reviews and ratings after it debuted in the UK were very good.

It's a sound premise in that these days the global populace is on the move more than ever, and where people deep-seated in their societies and communities become introduced to new arrivals.

All should be fine and dandy as long as Chief Constable Hixon went through the appropriate training to be able to say "allo allo allo ... wot's goin' on 'ere then?"

Wild Bill, TV1 at 8.30 tonight: Maybe it's because we all know that the bobby on the beat here is Rob Lowe and that he's an American that makes him look ever-so-slightly out of place in his new UK policing job.

But that's the whole point ... sort of.

Although it's when he says something that you start to sense that the hat he's wearing on duty kind of doesn't look right.

And therein lies the appeal of this new series as the US officer adapts to UK bobbying.

Wonder if he's carrying a Colt 45?

ON THE BOX

World's Busiest Train Stations, TV1 at 8.40 tonight: I think I'm safe in assuming that Wellington railway station does not play a part in this series as it appears to have more cancellations on its roster than scheduled services.

However, such grand and stately stations like Shinjuku in Japan, Howrah in India and Grand Central in New York don't step back when it comes to stepping up to deal with tens of thousands of train passengers daily.

How they deal with the logistics of running such remarkable terminals makes this four-part series a real eye-opener.

All aboard, but not for Johnsonville, sorry.

Madam Secretary, Prime at 9.30pm Thursday: While not a great fan of "reality" shows on the whole I think a "fly-on-the-wall" series about Donald Trump's daily life as President of the United States would be fascinating.

And probably quite frightening.

But it's never going to happen so here's the next best thing.

A drama series which appears to pick up its scripts from the reality of the White House occurrences.

In this episode there's an in-house stoush sparked by a policy involving the separation of children from illegal immigrants arriving over the border.

A response to Brexit plans can't be too far down the track.