ATV Icon: Shaw Taylor

Continuing celebrating 70 years of ITV, the spotlight turns to Shaw Taylor…

Eric Stanley “Shaw” Taylor was born on 26 October 1924 in Hackney, East London, he grew up in a working-class family – his father was a fitter for the Gas Light and Coke Company and his mother worked in a local box factory.

Shaw attended Upton House Central Council School until the building was destroyed during the Blitz in World War II. At age 18, in 1943, he joined the Royal Air Force. Poor eyesight dashed his hopes of becoming a pilot, so he trained as a radar operator; he served at an RAF radar station on the Isle of Wight and later saw action in Burma against Japanese forces.

After the war, Taylor pursued his budding passion for acting.

He briefly joined an ex-servicemen’s repertory troupe called the Gateway Players – initially working as a stage manager and even a lorry driver for the group – on the Isle of Wight, although the troupe’s tour struggled, Taylor gained onstage experience and was soon promoted to leading roles. Determined to improve his craft, he won a London County Council grant to attend the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) for two years. There, he worked to neutralize his Cockney accent and honed his acting skills. Through the late 1940s and 1950s, Taylor landed small parts in West End stage productions, films, and early television dramas – experience he later described self-effacingly as that of an actor “of no consequence”. This foundation, however, paved the way for his true calling in broadcast presenting.

Shaw moved into the world of telly in the summer of 1957, when he filled in for six weeks as a relief continuity announcer at the ITV franchise ATV London. His professionalism and on-camera ease led ATV to offer him a full-time job. Tired of the uncertain “thespian life,” Taylor accepted and embarked on a new career as a television presenter.

Shaw Taylor, in an ATV promo / ATV

Shaw hosts quiz Password / ATV

In this early broadcasting period, Taylor quickly became one of ITV’s familiar faces hosting programmes for both ATV London and ATV Midlands. He was in high demand as a quizmaster, hosting or emceeing several game shows and quizzes. These included Tell the Truth, Pencil and Paper, Password, and Dotto. His genial but authoritative on-air style made him a natural for these formats. He also ventured into other presenting gigs – commentating on minor sports like figure skating and ten-pin bowling, covering royal events and the annual Cenotaph memorial service for ITV, and even introducing variety specials such as the Royal Command Performance for both ITV and the BBC.

One of his notable early milestones came in 1961, during a groundbreaking international broadcast. Alongside newscaster Reginald Bosanquet, Taylor co-presented the first ever live television transmission from behind the Iron Curtain, covering the opening of a British trade fair in Moscow. During that live link, Taylor spotted Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in the crowd and boldly seized the moment – he managed to secure an impromptu on-camera interview with the Soviet leader.

Beyond television, Shaw Taylor also made his mark in radio during this era. He was a late-night disc jockey on the BBC’s Late Night Extra program and co-hosted The Friday Spectacular on Radio Luxembourg.

However, it’s as host of the crime-busting Police 5 – a short, five-minute program devoted to appealing for public help in solving crimes. It first aired in the London ITV area, created by ATV, in 1962 and became Taylor’s signature role, running for an unprecedented 30 years until 1992. There were other versions of the show produced including by LWT, TVS and ATV Midlands (and later Central Television). Shaw hosted all these versions.

Shaw hosts an episode of Police 5 for ATV London / ATV

Shaw hosts Pencil and Paper / ATV

The idea for Police 5 came about when ITV executive Lew Grade needed a quick filler to plug a five-minute gap in the schedule. Steve Wade, head of outside broadcasts at ATV, suggested a crime appeal slot, co-produced with London’s Metropolitan Police. Shaw was tapped to present it. Initially commissioned for just a six-week trial in 1962, the segment proved immediately successful – remarkably, two of the three cases featured on the very first broadcast were solved within minutes thanks to viewer tips. Seeing this impact, ITV quickly extended the show. What began as a short experiment became a regular weekly fixture, with Taylor at the helm for three decades.

On Police 5, Taylor adopted a direct, urgent but unsensational tone in addressing the audience. Each episode was essentially a rapid-fire crime bulletin: Taylor would describe a few recent crimes or missing persons cases and show any available clues, then ask the public for information. He spoke to viewers with the warm authority of a local police constable – “the idealised village bobby,” as one obituary described.

At the end of every segment, he delivered what became his iconic catchphrase: “Keep ’em peeled!” This phrase – telling viewers to keep their eyes peeled for anything suspicious – became so famous that strangers would shout it at Taylor in the street for years afterward. Interestingly, it originated on the spin-off kids’ version of the show – Junior Police 5 (1972-1979) – and then migrated to the main programme; “Keep ’em peeled” entered the British pop-culture lexicon as a call for public vigilance.

At its height, Police 5 drew 10 million viewers per week in the London area, and it achieved a high success rate in aiding police. According to one report, roughly one in three appeals on the programme led to an arrest or case solved – a remarkable ratio. Taylor worked closely with detectives to ensure accuracy in the details he presented, and he sometimes filmed brief reenactments or showed photofit images of suspects to jog the public’s memory.

Around London: Transport / ATV London

Around London: Newspapers / ATV London

The programme also launched spin-off CrimeStoppers across the ITV network, these short minute long trailers asked for information on a single crime, some regions such as Tyne Tees in the North East also occasionally broadcast special half-hour versions. While Shaw helped launch CrimeStoppers each region had their own narrator and host for the format. In the criminal underworld, Taylor earned the nickname “Whispering Grass” – a nod to the idea that he “whispered” their secrets to the nation.

After 30 years and over 25,000 on-air crime appeals, Taylor’s original Police 5 run came to an end in late 1992. Changes in the ITV network and the rise of longer-format crime shows like Crimewatch led to the forma being discontinued. It did make a comeback many years later, in 2014, for Channel 5. By then in his 80s Shaw returned for one last hurrah with the weekly series where he once more had viewers ‘keepin’ em’ peeled’.

Within police circles and the broadcasting industry, Taylor’s influence is still acknowledged. He has been called “TV’s original crime fighter,” and his famous line “keep ’em peeled” is so entrenched that “all police officers are taught [it] from day one,” according to one former officer and TV presenter. Media scholars recognize him as one of the “great unflappable pioneers of live broadcasting,” someone who confidently handled unscripted, real-world content on air. Shaw Taylor not only helped solve individual cases but also permanently changed the way television could serve the public interest.

With ATV he hosted several factual programmes including interview series Talking About which saw famous names or everyday people discussing a subject, hobby or topic they indulged in. There was also a forerunner to the original Top Gear (BBC) with motoring magazine show Drive-In (1971-78), announcer for The Sun Television Awards (LWT) and Around London which visited interesting places across the capital to go ‘behind what the public see’. When ATV was rebranded on ITV Midlands in 1982 as Central he remained with the company, however also branched out with presenting for the BBC too when he was lured to host Bookshow for BBC Two.

Noele Gordon and Shaw Taylor host Christmas Lunch Box / ATV

Shaw hosts Talking About. in this episode he discusses ‘Football in the Sixties’ with Jimmy Hill / ATV

There were also cameos across the years including a guest spot in Crossroads (1966) where he appeared as himself in a fictional Police 5 report on a crime in the fictional Kings Oak village where the show was based. Many years later he also featured in another mock Police 5 segment in an episode of BBC’s drama Ashes to Ashes (2008). Additionally, during the 1970s he contributed as a travel reporter on the popular ITV holiday show Wish You Were Here…? (Thames TV) also for Thames Television he hosted crime quiz Whodunnit? 

He was also a judge on the talent show New Faces (ATV) in the 1970s and a frequent voice-over artist for commercials and corporate videos. Though he downplayed his acting résumé, Taylor did occasionally act on screen. He had bit parts in films such as Tell the Truth (1955) and What a Carry On! (1973) and appeared in early TV dramas during the 1950s. His stage name “Shaw” was actually adopted when he became a professional actor, in place of his given name Eric.

His most significant honour was being bestowed an MBE in 1987 for “services to law and order,” acknowledging the public service impact of Police 5. A memorable anecdote accompanied this award: it was reported that Queen Elizabeth II, in presenting him the gong, personally thanked him for his role in recovering a set of priceless antique medallions that had been stolen from Kew Palace. During the appeal for those items, Taylor had deliberately kept the victim’s identity anonymous, referring only to a “distinguished lady who was not amused,”

Beyond the MBE, Taylor did not seek the limelight of industry awards, but his peers often acknowledged his achievements. In 2010, he was invited to the Crimewatch 25th anniversary special, celebrating the continued work of telly crimefighters.

Police 5 with Shaw from LWT / London Weekend Television

Bookshow, with Shaw / BBC PR 1982

In his personal life, Shaw Taylor was known as a private yet kindly gentleman who valued family and community. He married Ianetta “Jane” McKay in 1948; The two had met through theatre circles. Jane, who was an actress and singer herself, supported him through the ups and downs of show business. The couple had one son, Richard Taylor, born in the 1950s. They remained married for 60 years until Jane’s passing in 2008.

After being widowed, Taylor found companionship with his long-time partner Shirley Ferrari in his later years. Shirley and Shaw lived together on the Isle of Wight, and she was present at his home in Totland when Taylor died on 17 March 2015 at the age of 90. According to friends, Shaw and Shirley shared a love of the quiet life on the island. He often jokingly referred to his semi-retirement as “fishing without a license,”

Shaw loved puzzles and games, he was an avid bridge player, frequently taking part in games and even turning that pastime into a teaching TV series. Friends describe him as a man of “true gentility”. He enjoyed that his catchphrase kept him connected with the public; he never tired of hearing a stranger cheerfully call out “Keep ’em peeled, Shaw!” – in fact, it delighted him until the end.

On the Isle of Wight, where he spent his final decades, Taylor is remembered not only as a TV personality but as a neighbour and local benefactor. The Shanklin Theatre, which he helped save, honours his memory, and the local press noted the island had lost one of its adopted sons when he died. Nationally, obituaries in outlets like The Guardian, The Independent, The Telegraph, and the BBC celebrated his life and legacy.

“Keep ’em peeled!”

Shaw hosts Police 5 for LWT / London Weekend Television