Detective (TV series) explained

Genre:	Anthology Crime Mystery
Runtime:	50 minutes
Channel:	BBC
Country:	United Kingdom
Language:	English
Num Series:	3
Num Episodes:	45

Detective is a British mystery anthology television series adapted from stories by numerous prominent crime fiction writers, with each episode focusing on a particular detective character. Several prominent fictional sleuths were showcased, including Sherlock Holmes, Dr. John Thorndyke, Philip Trent, Sir Henry Merrivale, Roderick Alleyn, Father Brown, Albert Campion, C. Auguste Dupin, Sir John Appleby, Inspector Ghote, Nigel Strangeways and Gervase Fen.

Many of the episodes were introduced by Rupert Davies, in-character as Inspector Maigret, reprising his role from the eponymous BBC series that had aired from 1960 to 1963. Several episodes functioned as Backdoor pilots for potential future series. Of the 45 episodes, only three such shows were produced as a result: Cluff (1964–65) starring Leslie Sands, Thorndyke (1964) starring Peter Copley, and Sherlock Holmes (1965–68) starring Douglas Wilmer, and later, Peter Cushing.

Recurring cast

Characters who have appeared in more than one episode:

• Glyn Houston and Bernard Horsfall as Nigel Strangeways (2 episodes)
• David Horne and Martin Wyldeck as Sir Henry Merrivale (2 episodes)
• Michael Hordern and John Welsh as Detective Inspector Rason (2 episodes)
• Geoffrey Keen and Michael Allinson as Roderick Alleyn (2 episodes)
• Dennis Price and Ian Ogilvy as Sir John Appleby (2 episodes)
• Patrick Troughton and Colin Blakely as Jasper Shrig (2 episodes)
• Jane Merrow and Penelope Horner as Eve Gill (2 episodes)
• Lee Montague as Fred Fellows (2 episodes)
• Derek Godfrey and Edward Woodward as Commissaire Bignon (2 episodes) (Woodward had previously played C. Auguste Dupin.)

List of episodes

Series One

No.	Title	Original author(s)	Detective(s)	Actor(s) who portrayed detective(s)	Notes
1.1	The Moving Toyshop		Gervase Fen, Oxford professor		^[1]
1.2	The Drawing		Detective Sergeant Caleb Cluff, Yorkshire policeman		^[2]
1.3	Trent's Last Case		Philip Trent, journalist		^[3]
1.4	End of Chapter		Nigel Strangeways, private detective		^[4]
1.5	The Judas Window		Sir Henry Merrivale, amateur detective		^[5]
1.6	Dishonoured Bones	John Trench	Martin Cotterill, archeologist		^[6]
1.7	The Man Who Murdered in Public		Detective Inspector Rason, officer of "The Department of Dead Ends"		^[7]
1.8	The Speckled Band		Sherlock Holmes, consulting detective		^[8]
1.9	The Night of the Horns	Douglas Sanderson	Robert Race, lawyer	Frank Lieberman	^[9]
1.10	Subject: Murder	Clifford Witting	Inspector Charlton and Peter Bradford		^[10]
1.11	Death in Ecstasy		Roderick Alleyn, police inspector		^[11]
1.12	A Connoisseur's Case		Sir John Appleby, police officer		^[12]
1.13	The Loring Mystery		Jasper Shrig, Georgian era hero		^[13]
1.14	The Hungry Spider		Eve Gill		^[14]
1.15	The Case of Oscar Brodski		Dr. John Thorndyke, Forensic sleuth		^[15]
1.16	The Speaking Eye	Clark Smith	Nicky Mahoun, accountant		^[16]
1.17	Death of a Fellow Traveller		Dagobert and Jane Brown, married investigators	Leslie Randall and Joan Reynolds	^[17]
1.18	The Quick One		Father Brown, Roman Catholic priest		^[18]

Series Two

No.	Title	Original author(s)	Detective(s)	Actor(s) who portrayed detective(s)	Notes
2.1	The Deadly Climate		Caroline Emmett		^[19]
2.2	Dover and the Deadly Poison Pen Letters		Inspector Wilfred Dover, irascible police officer	Paul Dawkins	^[20]
2.3	A Man and His Mother-In-Law		Detective Inspector Rason, officer of "The Department of Dead Ends"		^[21]
2.4	Lesson in Anatomy		Sir John Appleby, police officer		^[22]
2.5	The German Song		Reggie Fortune, police consultant		^[23]
2.6	The Beast Must Die		Nigel Strangeways, private detective		^[24]
2.7	The Avenging Chance		Roger Sheringham, amateur sleuth		^[25]
2.8	Born Victim		Fred Fellows, police officer		^[26]
2.9	The Unquiet Sleep		Rachel Borrowdaile and Colonel Charles Russell, government agents		^[27]
2.10	The High Adventure		Jasper Shrig, Georgian era hero		^[28]
2.11	Cork on the Water		Montague Cork, insurance agent		^[29]
2.12	The Case of the Late Pig		Albert Campion, gentleman detective	Brian Smith	^[30]
2.13	The Golden Dart		Eve Gill		^[31]
2.14	Crime of Passion	Colin Morris (dramatization of the real-life Dr. Crippen case)			^[32]
2.15	Artists in Crime		Roderick Alleyn, police inspector		^[33]
2.16	Deaths on the Champs Elysees	Francis Didelot	Commissaire Bignon		^[34]
2.17	The Murders in the Rue Morgue		C. Auguste Dupin, French detective		^[35]

Series Three

No.	Title	Original author(s)	Detective(s)	Actor(s) who portrayed detective(s)	Notes
3.1	The Prisoner's Plea		Fred Fellows, police officer		^[36]
3.2	The Singing Sands		Inspector Alan Grant, policeman		^[37]
3.3	The Public School Murder	R.C. Woodthorpe	Sir Luke Frinsby		^[38]
3.4	Put Out the Light		Miss Pye		^[39]
3.5	The Tea-Leaf		Ruth Kelstem		^[40]
3.6	Hunt the Peacock		Inspector Ganesh Ghote, Bombay policeman		^[41]
3.7	Elimination Round	Ludovic Peters	Ian Firth and John Smith		^[42]
3.8	And So to Murder		Sir Henry Merrivale, amateur detective		^[43]
3.9	The Poisoners	Francis Didelot	Commissaire Bignon		^[44]
3.10	Mr. Guppy's Tale		Rev. Clarence Purefoy	Geoffrey Rose	^[45]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Detective: The Moving Toyshop. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 30 March 1964 .
2. Web site: Detective: The Drawing. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 6 April 1964 .
3. Web site: Detective: Trent's Last Case. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 13 April 1964 .
4. Web site: Detective: Detective: End of Chapter. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 20 April 1964 .
5. Web site: Detective: The Judas Window. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 27 April 1964 .
6. Web site: Detective: Dishonoured Bones. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 4 May 1964 .
7. Web site: Detective: The Man Who Murdered in Public. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 11 May 1964 .
8. Web site: Detective: The Man Who Murdered in Public. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 18 May 1964 .
9. Web site: Detective: Sherlock Holmes: The Speckled Band. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 25 May 1964 .
10. Web site: Detective: Subject: Murder. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. June 1964 .
11. Web site: Detective: Death in Ecstasy. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 8 June 1964 .
12. Web site: Detective: A Connoisseur's Case. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 15 June 1964 .
13. Web site: Detective: The Loring Mystery. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 22 June 1964 .
14. Web site: Detective: The Hungry Spider. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 29 June 1964 .
15. Web site: Detective: The Case of Oscar Brodski. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 6 July 1964 .
16. Web site: Detective: The Case of Oscar Brodski. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 6 July 1964 .
17. Web site: Detective: Death of a Fellow Traveller. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 20 July 1964 .
18. Web site: Detective: The Quick One. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 27 July 1964 .
19. Web site: Detective: The Deadly Climate. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 17 May 1968 .
20. Web site: Detective: Dover and the Poison Pen Letters. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 24 May 1968 .
21. Web site: Detective: A Man and his Mother-in-Law. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 31 May 1968 .
22. Web site: Detective: Lesson in Anatomy. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 7 June 1968 .
23. Web site: Detective: The German Song. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 14 June 1968 .
24. Web site: Detective: The Beast Must Die. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 21 June 1968 .
25. Web site: Detective: The Avenging Chance. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 28 June 1968 .
26. Web site: Detective: Born Victim. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 5 July 1968 .
27. Web site: Detective: The Unquiet Sleep. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 7 July 1968 .
28. Web site: Detective: The High Adventure. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 14 July 1968 .
29. Web site: Detective: Cork on the Water. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 21 July 1968 .
30. Web site: Detective: The Case of the Late Pig. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 28 July 1968 .
31. Web site: Detective: The Golden Dart. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 4 August 1968 .
32. Web site: Detective: Crime of Passion. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 11 August 1968 .
33. Web site: Detective: Artists in Crime. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 18 August 1968 .
34. Web site: Detective: Death on the Champs Elysees. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 25 August 1968 .
35. Web site: Detective: The Murders in the Rue Morgue. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. September 1968 .
36. Web site: Detective: The Prisoner's Plea. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 7 September 1969 .
37. Web site: Detective: The Singing Sands. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 14 September 1969 .
38. Web site: Detective: The Public School Murder. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 21 September 1969 .
39. Web site: Detective: Put Out the Light. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 28 September 1969 .
40. Web site: Detective: The Tea-Leaf. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 5 October 1969 .
41. Web site: Detective: Hunt the Peacock. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 12 October 1969 .
42. Web site: Detective: Elimination Round. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 19 October 1969 .
43. Web site: Detective: And so to Murder. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 26 October 1969 .
44. Web site: Detective: The Poisoners. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 2 November 1969 .
45. Web site: Detective: Mr Guppy's Tale. June 19, 2023. BBC Programme Index. 9 November 1969 .