South of the Border is a British television detective drama series, created and written by Susan Wilkins, that first broadcast on BBC1, and ran for two series between 25 October 1988 and 22 June 1990. The series starred Buki Armstrong as Pearl Parker, a black woman. In the first and second series, she works alongside Finn Gallagher (Rosie Rowell).
Dinah Stabb, Valentine Nonyela, Jimmi Harkishin, Brian Bovell, Corinne Skinner-Carter, Saul Jephcott and Alwyne Taylor all co-starred in all series.
The drama series follows pair of female private detectives, Pearl Parker (Buki Armstrong) and Finn Gallagher (Rosie Rowell) operating within the multicultural communities of South London. Former school friends, a secretary and a tearaway, Pearl and Finn decide to set up as private investigators after demonstrating a flair for sleuthing.
The series received mostly positive reviews. Nostalgia Central praised the series' casting, characterization, production values and writing, concluding the protagonists' "unsystematic approach made a refreshing change from the 'kick-in- the-door-and-yell-freeze' routine so often employed." In her monograph Representing Black Britain, Sarita Malik writes that "brought a touch of contemporary realism to the adventure/crime series while also subverting its traditional White, male dominance. These varying discourses - multicultural, social-conscience, politically divisive, crossover - emerged out of the divergent 1980s context of public anti-racist struggle, ethnic minority cultural politics, targeted programming and mounting commercial pressure."