Thats not to say it invented the musical TV show far from it.
Join us as we look back at the all-singing, all-dancing musical serial.
Ostensibly, this is to revive the towns fortunes, but its really as much about his own ego.
Moreover, and quite fitting for his business, hes a gambler.
Looking back though, the star-making turn here is Tennants.
At once a romantic anti-hero and a slightly crooked copper, hes the most beguiling character in the serial.
But its the chemistry between the three leads that really keepsBlackpoolburning for the full length of its run.
Set in the overcast Northern English equivalent, that tempers the more fantastical element.
Carlisle becomes determined to nab Ripley for the murder from the moment he meets him.
Tennant and Parrish didnt return, but David Morrissey headlined once again, with Georgia Taylor returning as Shyanne.
The CBS remake that followed, co-created by Bowker and produced by Hugh Jackman(!
), was the infamousViva Laughlin.
His ex-business partner turns up dead on the premises, and he becomes embroiled in a murder investigation.
Scheduled afterCSI, it was a huge dud with audiences too.
Does that just mean thatBlackpoolwas intrinsically British?
Heck, it must feel like Christmas whenever anybody who runs a Tumblr about Tennant GIFs discovers it.