| Alt Name: | Police Surgeon |
| Runtime: | 30 minutes |
| Creator: | Chester Krumholz and Wilton Schiller for Dorian-Bentwood Productions |
| Executive Producer: | Wilton Schiller Murray Chercover for CTV |
| Producer: | Chester Krumholz |
| Starring: | Sam Groom as Dr. Simon Locke Jack Albertson as Dr. Andrew Sellers (1971–1972) Larry D. Mann as Lt. Jack Gordon (1972–1974) |
| Country: | Canada |
| Company: | The ValJon Production Company (Dr. Simon Locke) Four Star International (Dr. Simon Locke/Police Surgeon) Viacom Enterprises (Dr. Simon Locke) CTV Television Network (Police Surgeon) Sterno Productions Limited (Police Surgeon) |
| Network: | Syndication (1971–1974) CTV (1972–1974) |
| Num Seasons: | 4 |
| Num Episodes: | 104 |
Dr. Simon Locke (on-screen title is Doctor Simon Locke) is a Canadian medical drama that was syndicated to television stations in the United States from 1971 to 1974 through the sponsorship of Colgate-Palmolive.[1]
The series was initially a medical drama that originated from the fictional rural town of Dixon Mills, where a young physician, Dr. Simon Locke (played by soap star Sam Groom), arrived in town to assist veteran physician Dr. Andrew Sellers (played by veteran actor Jack Albertson). The plot lines were more fitting for a big city medical drama, including a typhoid epidemic, child abuse, and even a murder. The series co-starred Len Birman as Sheriff Dan Palmer and Nuala Fitzgerald as Nurse Louise Wynn.
In 1972, Albertson left the series, and the series was renamed Police Surgeon, where Dr. Locke moved back to the city and worked for the police department's emergency unit, where he assists the cops in solving crimes that require medical research. The reworked series also starred Larry D. Mann as Locke's superior, Lieutenant Jack Gordon, with Len Birman returning in his role, now as Lieutenant Dan Palmer. Nerene Virgin played Ellie the Dispatcher in over thirty episodes of the reworked series, best known for her "3-M-D-9" radio call. The series also featured guest stars such as William Shatner, Leslie Nielsen, Donald Pleasence, Michael Ansara, Martin Sheen, and Keenan Wynn. Additionally, a then-unknown John Candy made his TV debut in the 1975 episode "Web of Guilt".[2]
| Season | Episodes | Premiered: | Ended: | On-screen title | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 26 | Doctor Simon Locke | |||
| 2 | 26 | Police Surgeon | |||
| 3 | 26 | ||||
| 4 | 26 | ||||
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While this series appeared on some stations in Canada in syndication, CTV, which co-produced this series under network president Murray Chercover, did not offer this series to its affiliates until 1972, when the show became Police Surgeon.
In December 2014, it was announced that the Retro Television Network would begin broadcasting reruns of Police Surgeon.
As of December 2023, the series was dropped from their schedule.https://www.tvpassport.com/tv-listings/stations/retro-tv-network/14646/2023-12-30
Most of the filming of the original season one episodes set in the fictional town of "Dixon Mills" took place in the village of Kleinburg, and surrounding Nashville and Vaughan areas of Ontario, often along more rural countryside roads. A number of episodes featured scenes filmed along Kirby Road and at the bowstring arch bridge by the Humber River in the Nashville Conservation Reserve. One episode "Crash" was filmed along present day Rutherford Road near Pine Valley Drive, another, "Two Points of a Pitchfork" used the Humber River bridge along Huntington Road north of Kirby Road as the checkpoint into town during a Typhus outbreak.
Some episodes were also filmed at the Valley Halla Estate on the Toronto Zoo grounds, and featured the house as the doctor's office and residence building. One episode from season 1 was shot at the old Markham, Ontario water tower in a story involving a mute boy who dangerously climbs the tower. Other season 1 scenes were shot at Highland Creek in Scarborough, Ontario, and at the old ski hill on Twyn Rivers Road in Pickering, Ontario.
Starting in the second season when the series was renamed and moved to a big-city setting, the filming moved strictly to Toronto (although Toronto wasn't specifically mentioned in the show as the setting). Much of the filming took place in the Etobicoke area, usually in various Mimico and New Toronto neighbourhoods, plazas, industrial areas and train yards. A lot of the stock footage of the ambulance van driving on the highway was filmed along the Gardiner Expressway around Sunnyside and downtown Toronto. One episode featured scenes shot inside Westwood Theatre, another a ride on a Gray Coach bus.