DS JIMMY BECK (Played by Lorcan Cranitch)

Fitz once described Jimmy Beck as being "too old fashioned, too 'starsky and hutch'. He only knows one tune" which perfectly complemented his approach to police work - Jimmy preferred to use the more aggressive approach to many of the criminals they came across, and resented Fitz's involvement with the police. Bilborough's death, of which Beck was partly responsible, finally pushed him over the edge leading him to an act of rape against Penhaligon in 'Men Should Weep' which would eventually lead to his suicide in 'Brotherly Love'. After interviewing Albie in 'To Be A Somebody' and believing Albie's story that he had cancer as the reason for his shaven head, Beck later had to live with the guilt that it was his fault Albie later went on to murder Bilborough mainly because Beck felt he showed some "compassion" towards Albie but at the same time, didn't even check properly if what Albie had told him was infact, true. And the guilt he felt afterwards just overwhelmed him. 

Although in his suicide he 'apologises' to Penhaligon for raping her, he denies it right up to the last third of the episode when he breaks down in a pub and finally confesses to Fitz that he did rape her. Not much is really known about Jimmy's past. He came over from Ireland when he was 14, and we do meet his sister briefly in 'Best Boys' when she shows up for his funeral. And Beck left a suicide note for his mother just before he killed himself. He become infuriated by some of Fitz's suggestion's in 'One Day A Lemming Will Fly' that Beck thought for a time he could be homosexual. Even taking to eventually shaving off his moustache to 'prove I've got nothing to prove'. He often got things wrong and went about much the wrong way. He was primarily responsible for Dean's death in 'The Big Crunch' after assuming he was the killer (Dean later went on to kill himself), and was one for saying what he wanted when he wanted.

The Unofficial Guide To Cracker 1999-2006

(http://www.crackertv.co.uk)