IT'S enjoying its silver anniversary this year and you could become part of the celebrations!

Taggart is 25 this year and, with shooting for the 100th episode about to begin, we've teamed up with its producers to give you the chance to be part of its history.

For the first time, one lucky reader will see their name used in a show.

But it won't be as a walk-on character, their name will be used for the person who is at the heart of the episode.

It will be given to the unluckiest person in the show - the murder victim!

When DCI Matt Burke utters the immortal line "there's been a murder" - it could be you that Maryhill CID's finest is referring to.

And not only that, the winner will get to visit the set as shooting begins, meet the stars of the show and even the actor or actress who will be given your unlucky' name.

Tomorrow we'll publish five questions about the show, and it could be anything from its very early days with Mark McManus, right through to today's crime-busting team.

To give you some clues to the answers and to mark 25 years of Britain's most successful TV police series, we're publishing 25 facts about Taggart today: 1. The first series of Taggart was actually named Killer. The name Taggart wasn't used until 1985. The names for all of the early characters and Taggart himself came from names on gravestones in Maryhill Cemetery.

2. Although the TV series only touched on his personal life, the show's creators had created a whole life story for the craggy faced cop.

Taggart was born in 1937, the son of a Corporation tram driver and grew up in the second floor of a tenement in Springburn.

But the crime fighter was a cause of crime in his younger days, shoplifting Jimmy Shand records to order from Woolworth's in Dennistoun.

3. The original title song was called No Mean City, written by composer Mike Moran. It was sung by Maggie Bell of Stone the Crows fame who appeared in an episode of the programme called Evil Eye, in 1990, playing a character called Effie.

4. The old Partick Police Station in Anderson Street, now a disabled resource centre, was the original home for Taggart's fictional Maryhill force.

5. The series is shown in more than 80 countries. There are families in Brazil and Afghanistan who sit down to watch crimes taking place on the streets of Glasgow. The programme is considered in France as part of the film noir' genre due to its dark storylines.

6. In France, actor Pierre Santini is the voice of Taggart. The French love the show so much that they have discarded subtitles for a dubbed version.

One of the few countries not to take rights to the series is Italy where, the actors believe, their Scottish looks don't go down too well with the well groomed Latins.

7. The show has even made it on to children's TV - well not quite. Ant and Dec' did a spoof sketch based on their morning show called Tagg*art.

8. Ill health dogged McManus in the 1990s and the last episode to feature him and Detective Inspector Jim Taggart was on the anniversary of another Scottish legend. It took place on Burns Night, 1995.

9. In 2004 the Taggart cast and crew were honoured for their services to the city of Glasgow. Blythe Duff collected one of the Lord Provost's awards at a prestigious ceremony to mark 20 years of the show and as a thanks you for bringing Glasgow to the attention of an international audience.

10. McManus was also the first posthumous recipient of the prestigious Lord Provost's award. It was awarded months after his death from pneumonia in September 1994.

11. Forget Dixon of Dock Green, The Sweeney or even the Bill. Taggart has made it into the Guinness Book of Records as the longest running TV police series in British history.

12. Blythe Duff, who plays Jackie Reid, is now the longest serving member of the cast. She first appeared in the show in 1990, aged 25. In real life, she is married to a former police officer.

13. Take a good look at the murder scenes next time you tune in - they should look fairly authentic. The production team often liaise with Glasgow University's forensic department to make sure the injuries are right.

14. After Mark McManus died a major public debate began as to what should happen to the show.

The Evening Times polled the public and readers decided that actor Maurice Roeves should become the new star.

Roeves telephoned from his home in LA to say he would quit the USA to take the role.

But the leading part went to Taggart's sidekick Mike Jardine (James Macpherson) instead.

15. Jardine was written out of the script eight years later when DCI Mike Jardine breathed his last in 2002 after being murdered. Actor James Macpherson was sick of playing the character... and being called Mike by the public.

16. Don't mention author William McIlvanney's Glasgow detective, Laidlaw.

The comparisons between Laidlaw and Taggart have been a bone of contention for years. Some smug critics have even highlighted the fact that they both share their surnames with car dealers.

17. The show has long been a rite of passage for Scottish actors and actresses (see panel), but it has also featured some other Scots famous for something other than treading the boards. Former Thistle player Chic Charnley and current Rangers number two Ally McCoist both have Taggart caps'.

18. Taggart achieved its best audience ever of an astonishing 18.3million viewers with the 1992 episode Violent Delights.

19. Yes, the crane shown in the opening credits of the classic episodes is theFinnieston Crane.

20. Read all about it! The Evening Times' old offices at Albion Street were used in a number of early episodes, and the paper has featured on screen several times, including this scene with Colin McCredie.

21. Alex Norton, who plays current star of the show, DCI Matt Burke,previously appeared in the series.

He played a murder suspect in the 1986 episode, Knife Edge.

22. It takes around three months to plan and research each episode.

23. The make up design team use several different types of fake blood to make their wounds including the attractively titled, "Fresh Scab", "Wound-filler Light" and "Wound-filler Dark"!

24. Four major characters have met their makers during the show's 25 years. Episodes featured the deaths of Taggart (Mark McManus), Chief Superintendent McVitie (Iain Anders), pathologist Dr Stephen Andrews (Robert Robertson) and DCI Mike Jardine (James Macpherson).

25. It is only fitting that a Glasgow institution should have a connection with another city obsession - football. Ibrox and Celtic Park have both been used in the series, with Partick Thistle's boardoom even used as a murder scene in the 1990s episode Football Crazy.