Jim Bergerac is a recovering alcoholic, divorcee and father of a young daughter. He is a detective sergeant with the Bureau des Étrangers, a department for non-residents in Jersey, Channel Islands. Jim likes doing things his own way, a true maverick, and consequently doesn't always carry out his investigations in the traditional manner, the way his boss, Barney Crozier, would have preferred. But Jim's winsome grin and chirpy optimism always win through, and in a way he still manages to remain on fairly good terms with Crozier despite their differences. Jim gets his fair share of women during the series, but more than anything else he is married to his job, which becomes increasingly difficult for some of them. In the later series Bergerac leaves the police to become a private investigator.