Scotland Yard (TV series)

Scotland Yard
Genre	Crime/Drama
Presented by	Edgar Lustgarten
Starring	Edgar Lustgarten Russell Napier Harry H Corbett John Le Mesurier
Country of origin	Great Britain
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	39
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Release
Original network	ABC
Picture format	Black-and-white
Audio format	Monaural
Original release	1953 – 1961

Scotland Yard is a series of 39 half-hour films produced by Anglo-Amalgamated.^[1] Produced between 1953 and 1961, they were short films made to support the main feature in a cinema double-bill. Each film focuses on a true crime case with names changed, and feature an introduction by the crime writer Edgar Lustgarten.^[2]

The earlier films were produced by Alec C. Snowden, who was succeeded by Jack Greenwood.^[3][4] Directors included Ken Hughes and Montgomery Tully. The principal character in each film was a Detective Inspector, played by a variety of actors but most frequently by Russell Napier (usually portraying DI Duggan).^[5] Many of the films featured actors later to become well-known, in either their debut performances or in small roles.^[6] They included Jill Bennett, Peter Arne, James Villiers, Arthur Lowe, Peter Halliday, Wilfrid Brambell, Rita Webb and Roger Delgado.^[1]

All of the episodes were shot at Merton Park Studios in London and on location on monochrome 35mm film. Most of the episodes were presented in the old Academy screen ratio of 1.33:1, whilst a handful of the later episodes were shot in a hard-matted widescreen ratio of 1.66:1.^[6]

The series later found a new audience on television in both the UK and the US.^[7][8]

The complete series has been released on DVD in the UK by Network.^[9]

Episode list

Here is the list of Scotland Yard episodes (with their PAL running times):

• ‘The Drayton Case’ (24:47)
• ‘The Missing Man’ (29:31)
• ‘The Candlelight Murder’ (31:24)
• ‘The Blazing Caravan’ (31:46)
• ‘The Dark Stairway’ (31:32)
• ‘Late Night Final’ (28:31)
• ‘Fatal Journey’ (30:08)
• ‘The Strange Case of Blondie’ (31:52)
• ‘The Silent Witness’ (31:50)
• ‘Passenger to Tokyo’ (31:14)
• ‘Night Plane to Amsterdam’ (30:34)
• ‘The Stateless Man’ (28:36)
• ‘The Mysterious Bullet’ (31:09)
• ‘Murder Anonymous’ (31:58)
• ‘The Wall of Death’ (30:22)
• ‘The Case of the River Morgue’ (32:16)
• ‘Destination Death’ (31:41)
• ‘Person Unknown’ (31:47)
• ‘The Lonely House’ (32:14)
• ‘Bullet from the Past’ (31:46)
• ‘Inside Information’ (30:40)
• ‘The Case of the Smiling Widow’ (31:33)
• ‘The Mail Van Murder’ (29:10)
• ‘The Tyburn Case’ (32:24)
• ‘The White Cliffs Mystery’ (32:20)
• ‘Night Crossing’ (31:50)
• ‘Print of Death’ (26:46)
• ‘Crime of Honour’ (26:46)
• ‘The Cross-Road Gallows’ (28:17)
• ‘The Unseeing Eye’ (27:39)
• ‘The Ghost Train Murder’ (31:19)
• ‘The Dover Road Mystery’ (29:05)
• ‘The Last Train’ (31:52)
• ‘Evidence in Concrete’ (28:03)
• ‘The Silent Weapon’ (27:18)
• ‘The Grand Junction Case’ (26:48)
• ‘The Never Never Murder’ (29:46)
• ‘Wings of Death’ (27:41)
• ‘The Square Mile Murder’ (27:39)

US TV scheduling

Scotland Yard aired at 10 p.m. Eastern opposite The $64,000 Challenge on CBS and The Loretta Young Show on NBC. It was replaced on the 1958 fall schedule by the five-week series Encounter, a drama anthology which originated from Toronto, Canada.^[10]

The 1960s BBC television series of the same name, and the 1970s London Weekend Television series New Scotland Yard are unrelated to these films.

See also

• The Scales of Justice

References