Background information > Cast & Characters > Jeff Slade

Who is Jeff Slade?

Jeff Slade is a detective who doesn't play by the rules. However like all rouge detectives his methods result in arrests. Although he tends to get both Holly and himself in trouble, he is a quick thinker, often coming up with ways out of tight situations. Jeff is a man who will speak his mind, and while he doesn't know everything gives the impression he knows more than he does.

Slade takes his job seriously, and is a dedicated detective. However his methods have often got him in trouble with his boss (Grisham) and he has been suspended on more than one occasion.

He's a man who would go out on a limb on a hunch or feeling, and while he has got it wrong on occasions, 9 times out of 10 he is right. He has taken more than his fair share of chances, and will push people to see how much he can get away with. He is a confident man, who seems rarely phased by anything that happens to him - except maybe when it comes to Holly Turner. With Holly he may have found a weakness in that he truely cares what happens to her.

He is a domesticated man as he seems to have lived alone for some time now. He can cook, and has done so for Holly. However he is not much for decorating, and he flat is incredibly sparse (see below).

The five words that describe him best are:-

  • Original
  • Handsome
  • Confident
  • Adventurous
  • Intelligent

About Slade's Flat

He lives in a flat which he got from a murderer. "...I found him other accommodation!" he tells Holly. The flat has very little furniture as he had no money left after he finished paying for the flat. His dinning room table is actually a table tennis table. He does own a sofa and coffee table. The sofa is not particularly attractive and was probably bought so he had something to sit on rather than for entertaining guests.

The flat has two levels, with the bedroom being upstairs. The flat appears to have all the mod-con's complete with a stereo and television. The walls are painted white and are very bare. The floors are covered in a beige carpet.

The flat tends to give the general impression of someone who doesn't use it very much. It is kept in a state of a man who only uses it to sleep in. However this is not because he is out sleeping in other people's flats, but because he takes his job seriously, and spends more time doing that than living in his flat. The flat looks very tidy, but that's because he hardly uses it, rather than being of a tidy nature.

About Slade's Love-life

Slade was married, however we have yet to learn anything about his wife and why they are no longer married. It seems to be an issue which he has put behind him, suggesting it was either a divorce on amicable terms or that she died some time ago. The latter seems more likely as he has a picture of a woman who died some time ago on his mantelpiece. However we have no real proof that it was his wife.

During the series, we have seen Slade gain a growing affection for Holly Turner. While he is not so forthcoming with his feelings you know he would never let anything bad happen to her if he could prevent it. He likes goading Holly into showing her feelings for him, making her admit she would miss him. Or deliberately saying vague things so she shows her jealous side. However this maybe his way of testing the water to determine her feelings.

Slade's relationship with Grisham

Slade has a high regard for his boss Grisham. After Holly, Grisham is Slade's best friend. Their relationship is analogous to a mother-son one, where Slade tries to get away with anything and Grisham keeps him in check. Slade cares a lot for Grisham, and has even saved her job as he wouldn't tolerate another boss.

Slade has let Grisham down in the past, however he has always made up for it. He seems to feel extremely bad whenever he upsets Grisham, and will do his best to make it up to her.

In some respect's Grisham is like a mother figure for Slade - someone he looks up to and tries to impress.

Like most relationship in the force, everyone is called by their last name, Grisham, and Slade are no exception.

Slade's relationship with Holly

He likes her....he won't admit it in public...but he likes her.

He has a great respect for her, and her scientific achievements. In some respects he may even consider himself beneath her - especially academically. An example was when they went to the cinema to see a film, you got the distinct inpression Slade would have prefered an action film, rather than the French art house one they saw.

He seems like a man who has had a fair bit of experience as far as women are concerned. However Holly is unlike any woman who he has met before, and he is unsure how to proceed. He is used to being in charge, and is finding it hard to come to terms with the fact where Holly is concerned he isn't. He knows he can goad and manipulate her, but has feelings of regret and guilt when he does. She is probably the first woman to get under his skin since his wife.

Although he has never made a move to become more than friends with Holly, he is extremely quick to become jealous should another man come sniffing around her. This was obvious when Stephen Marlow, and ex-boyfriend of Holly's came back into her life. Slade instantly took a dislike to him, as Marlow had more in common with Holly, being from a scientific background and having known Holly's father. It seemed like Stephen had that level of a connection he could never have with Holly, and this may have made him lash out at Stephen because it made him feel inadequate.

Slade would love to move their relationship forward - and he starts to do so by the last scene in the series.