Barnaby accepting drinks during the workday
Is this just a quirk of the series, or are policemen in England not barred from consuming alcohol during their work shifts?
I’ve seen him accept beer, wine, and even whiskey.
The series was made in 1997. Such things happened back then.
Go back even further when it comes to TV series and movies from the 50s, 60s and 70s and you will be shocked at tge amount of casual drinking and smoking that happens.
It seemed every house had a bar and a drinks cabinet. And even offices and indeed police stations had senior police offering drinks to people.
Different times...different world...
The 1990s decade was a while ago, but it wasn’t the 1950s. Plus I just saw another instance in series 6, which is dated 2003. It was jarring. In an American program, such an incident would make the viewer think negatively about the character, suggesting he has an alcohol problem or that he disregards regulations and operates outside the rules.
Barnaby does occasionally skip some steps in his investigations (conducting searches without a warrant.), but I don’t believe viewers are meant to infer Barnaby considers himself above the law.
Perhaps in the books Barnaby did operate outside the law all the time? (When were they published.) It was pretty common in 1970s US police dramas to find officers acting on their own, searching without warrants, occasionally acting the vigilante. But programs have gotten “smarter” and sharper since then.
The regulations (certainly in respect of London's Metropolitan Police) actually used to be that a police officer couldn't enter licensed premises unless on an official visit, and couldn't render him/herself unfit for duty through drink. It wasn't that they couldn't drink (although that was the common misperception, reinforced by many TV dramas).
That was the case in the 1990s. I don't know if it's changed now.