DUMB MARTIAN 
Armchair Theatre production (produced by Sydney Newman), broadcast on Sunday 24 June 1962 as a foretaste to a new science fiction series starting the following week - Out of This World (see separate entry). William Lucas as Duncan Weaver, a space pilot, has reached 35, the age limit for flying. Duncan has consistently gambled away his pay. So he accepts a job on a space station. The prospect of two years alone on the most airless "pebble," less than 40 miles across, seems interminable. Even a microfilmed library and a huge collection of taped music would not compensate for only one ship a month calling to refuel. So to offset the loneliness, and to help with the chores, Duncan buys Lellie (Hilda Schroder), a Martian girl. At first the "Mart's" lisping speech seems cute to Duncan. But as the novelty wears thin Duncan's boorishness emerges. To him Marts are little better than dumb animals. He pushes Lellie around, treating her like a fool. A rare visitor is Dr. Alan Whint, a geologist. In this role is Ray Barrett, better known at the time as Dr. Don Nolan in the popular medical drama series Emergency-Ward 10. Whint is the opposite of Duncan. He's a thinking man and he doesn't underrate the Marts. Lellie, naturally becomes the sparking point of conflict between the two men. It is Lellie, too, who produces some surprises. Hilda Schroder had to wear a blank expression all through this play, adapted from John Wyndham's story, as all the inhabitants of Mars were described as having expressionless faces. Unfortunately, this episode of Armchair Theatre, directed by Charles Jarrott and designed by James Goddard, no longer survives in the archives.
60 minutes duration. ABC Weekend Network Production. 1962
Based on the 1965 movie 'Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion,' and appearing on television in the same year as the motion picture 'Born Free' this series tapped into the public's sudden affection for all things wildlife. Daktari (the Swahili name for doctor) which replaced Rawhide on CBS was set at the Wameru Study Centre for Animal Behaviour in East Africa and was run by Dr. Marsh Tracy (Marshall Thompson) and his daughter/assistant Paula (Cheryl Miller), assisted by US conservationist Jack Dane (Yale Summers), and Mike (Hari Rhodes), a native African. In truth, the series was filmed (rather convincingly) at Africa, USA, a wildlife park near Los Angeles. The real stars of the series were Clarence the lion Judy the chimpanzee. Judy loved to climb on Clarence's back for a free ride and the lion was so mild mannered that it let her. The concept was developed by producer Ivan Tors who was inspired by the work of Dr. A.M. Harthoorn at his animal rights orphanage in Nairobi and a visit to Africa, USA where he first came across Clarence and the animal's odd physical condition. When the audience saw what Clarence saw, it was in double vision. In the last season a seven-year old orphan joined the family. Young Jenny Jones was played by Erin Moran who would find even greater television fame as Joanie Cunningham in both Happy Days and Joanie Loves Chachi
DVD Availibility: 
from Amazon UK
Adam Dalgliesh was the detective hero of fourteen mystery novels by P. D. James, the first of which appeared in 1962. In this novel, 'Cover Her Face,' Dalgliesh is a DCI in the Metropolitan Police, but is subsequently promoted to Commander. More Morse than Regan, Dalgliesh is an intensely cerebral and private person who writes poetry, lives in an expensive flat above the Thames at Queenhithe and drives a Jaguar. Chosen to play Dalgliesh was the imposing 6 foot 3 inch Roy Marseden, who, in spite of his stature and athletic build said he was anxious to get away from the macho image of a tough, hard-drinking, semi-literate TV copper. Instead, he modelled himself; cool, suave and well-dressed, on some of Britain's most senior officers at that time. His dress and demeanour were modelled in part on Commander William Hucklesby, former head of Scotland Yard's Anti-Terrorist Squad. Marsden also tried to impart a degree of loneliness which he felt went with the job of the most senior police officers, experimenting with gentleness and softness as he explained in an interview for 'Television and Radio 1986': "Most of the matters investigated are domestic and when one is dealing with family structure the degree of hardness is less. The other side of policing is coming up against hardened criminals, and the approach then is obviously different." The first ten novels (not made or shown in chronological order to the books) were adapted by Anglia Television for transmission on the ITV network between 1983 and 1998. In 2003 the BBC took the show and made two further episodes with Martin Shaw in the lead.
A 12-year old boy overhears two sinister men plotting to assassinate their country's ruler. That is the sudden drama which faces Nicholas, holidaying on a Mediterranian island. Unsure who to tell and who to trust, Nicholas goes on the run. Mervyn Joseph played Nicholas, his first part in a TV series, although he had appeared previously on television in a milk commercial. For the story, "Southerner," the high-powered jet-engined launch owned by Southern Television, usually used for outside news broadcasts, was 'armed' and fitted out as a gunboat. This series also featured real-life husband and wife team Eric Barker and Pearl Hackney.
One of Betty White’s earliest sitcom efforts. She starred as newlywed Vicki Angel; her husband was insurance agent Gus (Bill Williams). The pair would get their friends and neighbours into various comic situations, all of which were resolved by the show’s end. Natalle Masters and Roy Engle played neighbours Wilma and George Clemson; Richard Reeves was friend Murph; and Jimmy Boyd appeared occasionally as the Angels’ nephew Wheeler. Chrysler Corporation was the show’s sponsor (future game show host Tom Kennedy did the commercials for the Plymouth line), but low ratings meant no more dates with the Angels; the show ended its run in January 1958. The following month, White filled the time slot for Chrysler with a short-lived comedy variety series which ran through April.
Years before Lou Grant became a massive hit in the US, British series Deadline Midnight focused on the investigative reporting team of fictitious Fleet Street newspaper The Daily Globe. The series featured the usual suspects of editors, senior reporters, the hard-bitten veteran and the less than efficient junior. To give the series credit it brought in former Daily Express editor Arthur Christiansen, who was been employed by ATV as Editorial Advisor, to oversee the series authenticity. It also gave an early TV outing to Peter Vaughan who went on to appear in 1969's The Gold Robbers, Wolfie Smith's prospective father-in-law in Citizen Smith and the less-than-genial Harry Grout in Porridge. When he left the series he was replaced by Glyn Houston.
The old mother-in-law joke was turned upside down in this sitcom, which began on radio in 1952 and made the move to television two years later. Veteran character actress Spring Byington played Lily Ruskin, a vital widow always looking for a suitable man; she was based on creator Parke Levy's own mother-in-law. Lilly got along well with her son Matt Henshaw (Dean Miller) and her daughter-in-law Ruth (Francis Rafferty). Her best friend was outspoken Hilda Croker (Verna Feldon); Lily and Hilda would get into a number of unusual situations. Also on hand was Lily's next-door-neighbour Pete Porter (Harry Morgan), who didn't like HIS own mother-in-law, and complained often about his never-seen wife Gladys. Because it was jointly produced by Desilu and CBS, December Bride won the coveted time slot behind I Love Lucy on Monday nights, and became a solid top-ten series. It ran for five seasons, but the character of Pete Porter was popular enough to launch a separate series. Pete & Gladys starred Morgan with Cara Williams as Gladys, a scatterbrained but earnest woman. Verna Feldon and Francis Rafferty were occasional regulars on the show, which ran from 1960 through 1962. Morgan would later go on to television fame as Officer Bill Gannon on Dragnet (1967-70) and Colonel Sherman Potter in M*A*S*H.
Created by cartoonist Hank Ketcham, Dennis first appeared in US newspapers in 1951 before making his television debut in October 1959 in the person of 7 year-old actor Jay North.
Although Dennis's long suffering parents had to endure the antics of a child who always tried to help out -only to find that he had created mayhem in his wake, their plight was nothing compared to that of luckless next door neighbour George Wilson. Actor Joseph Kearns died before filming had been completed for the 1961-62 season and was replaced by Gale Gordon, who was initially introduced as George's brother, John. For the last season John moved into the house next door with a wife of his own. By that time, the lovable tyke was 11 years old, but still dressed in striped tee-shirt and dungarees. In the UK the series was renamed Just Dennis to avoid confusion with the Dennis the Menace cartoon strip in the popular children's comic, Beano. The series continued in reruns for many years, in 1987 there was a one-off sequel starring Victor DiMattia as Dennis and an animated series ran from 1986 to 1988. But by far the most successful revival was the 1993 feature film, 'Dennis', starring Mason Gamble and Malter Matthau.
US Western series starring Henry Fonda. He wasn't the deputy - he was the Marshal, Simon Fry, who each week would assign his deputy, Clay McCord (actor Allen Case) to whatever task was required such as going undercover to learn the plans of a gang of outlaws, trekking into Apache territory on a peace mission or protecting a citizen from a hired gunman. As such it was Case rather than Fonda who was the real star of the show and of the 75 episodes made 54-year old Fonda only featured in half-a-dozen stories, the rest of the time he appeared at the beginning to send McCord on his task and at the end to congratulate him on a job well done! The series was inspired by the 1957 movie Tin Star starring Fonda and Anthony Perkins in which Fonda played a veteran marshal-turned-bounty hunter who decides to help a young and inexperienced deputy protect himself from the criminal elements in town. The series is notable for giving a TV debut to a young Robert Redford. Allen Case went on to co-star in the 1965 western series The Legend of Jesse James as outlaw Frank James. Sadly, he died of a heart attack at the age of 52. The series was created by Norman Lear, who would go on to develop some of the biggest TV comedy hits of the 1970s, like All in the Family, Sanford and Son and Maude.
Billed as the British equivalent to Highway Patrol, Dial 999 was an above standard cops n' robbers thriller starring Canadian actor Robert Beatty as Detective Inspector Michael McGuire. What set this show aside from the standard police series format was that it was made with the cooperation of Scotland Yard, and threw a spotlight on real police methods of the time. Advisor to the series was an ex-Superintendent by the name of Tom Fallon -in fact the very man who had been responsible for setting up the 999 emergency call service for the London area. The series centred around McGuire, a "Mountie" who had been seconded on temporary assignment to "The Yard" to study advanced crime detection techniques. He was assisted by Detective Inspector Winter (Duncan Lamont) and Detective Sergeant West (John Witty). This Anglo/American venture was co-produced by ATV and Ziv Television Programmes in America, where it received its first airing. A number of scenes were shot at Elstree Studios, but the shows large budget ($1¼ million) allowed for extensive location scenes in the streets of London and of many provincial cities.
The best known of all 18c highwaymen, working mainly around London (but eventually hanged in York), Dick Turpin and his horse, Black Bess, became legend in the 19c thanks to the Penny Dreadfuls, sensational stories of gruesome events serialised in weekly parts at the cost of one penny. A romantic version of the Turpin legend had already been filmed in 1933 starring Victor McLagen (an instantly forgettable film that is perhaps only notable for starring James Finlayson -the comic foil or protagonist to comic legends Laurel and Hardy in numerous movies). This 1979 TV version starring former Man About The House star Richard O'Sullivan was no less of a romantic tale. Turpin, cheated out of his wealth while on duty in Flanders, decides to regain his money using his own, not so lawful methods. The law was represented as corrupt in the form of Sir John Glutton (Christopher Benjamin) and his sneering sidekick, Capt. Nathan Spiker (David Daker), whilst Turpin was assisted by a young tearaway by the name of Swiftnick (Michael Deeks). A spin-off mini series, Dick Turpin's Greatest Adventures (1981) starred Dallas bad girl Mary Crosby.
Dinah Shore was one of the few women who headlined her own variety series on American television in the 1950's. And for good reason. She was beautiful, had a distinctive vocal style, was always generous to her many guests, and like her TV contemporary Perry Como, her relaxed presence made for pleasant viewing. It’s no wonder when she sang her sponsor’s jingle, “See The U.S.A. In Your Chevrolet,” even die-hard Ford owners couldn’t help but join her. Dinah Shore had long been a familiar singer and actress to Americans; she easily made the transition to the new medium. Starting in November 1951, Shore starred in a 15-minute live show that aired before NBC’s Camel News Caravan on Tuesday and Thursday nights. She sang a few songs, had an occasional guest star and featured such vocal acts as The Notables and The Skylarks. The Dinah Shore Show was loved by critics; Jack Gould of “The New York Times” noted Shore “was the picture of naturalness and conducted her show with a disarming combination of authority and humility." By the fall of 1956, Dinah’s 15-minute show was reduced to just Thursday evenings–not because she was canceled by the network. NBC gave Shore an entire hour in prime time, now known as The Dinah Shore Chevy Show, every Friday night. After one season, the 15-minute show was dropped for good, and the “Chevy Show” moved to Sundays, where she held her own against the Western craze of the period. Shore remained the charming hostess, with the longer format giving her more of a showcase for her songs and interactions with a long list of guest stars. Dinah continued to sing the praises of her car maker sponsor (sometimes in elaborate filmed musical numbers), and ended each show by giving the audience a great big kiss–MUAH!. Chevrolet’s long relationship with Dinah Shore ended in the fall of 1961, when her series moved back to Fridays (alternating every other week with the prestigious Bell Telephone Hour). In the fall of 1962, the series–now known as The Dinah Shore Show–alternated with The DuPont Show Of The Week on Sundays. Shore herself won four Emmy awards for her television work, but her series ended its run on May 12th, 1963. She went on to host a number of specials, then became a staple of daytime television with musical/variety/interview programs such as Dinah! and Dinah’s Place. And remained the attractive, talented and gracious woman she always was–right up to her death from ovarian cancer in February 1994.
Benjamin Disraeli (played here by Ian McShane) went down in history as one of the most colourful and controversial politicians ever to walk the corridors of power. A staunch British imperialist, his work on projects such as the Suez Canal have left a legacy very few Prime Ministers have matched. Turbulent, astute, tenacious and yet easily hurt, this outstanding television series tells the intimate story of his long and determined rise to power against overwhelming odds. Written by the Oscar-nominated David Butler and directed by Claude Whitham, Disraeli also features sterling performances from Patricia Hodge, Anton Rogers, William Russell and Rosemary Leach as Queen Victoria. It was broadcast in the US as part of Masterpiece Theatre in 1980 as Disraeli: Portrait of a Romantic.
With the anticipated start of commercial television in the UK and a growing US market to tap into, Douglas Fairbanks Jr decided to embark on an ambitious series of half hour films using British performers, directors and technicians. In 1953, with a contract to supply thirty-nine telefilms to NBC, Fairbanks leased the British National studios at Elstree. In charge of Production of the first seven stories was Herman Blaser, before he was succeeded by Harold Huth. In the USA the series was shown under the titles of Rheingold Theatre and Paragon Playhouse. Douglas Fairbanks Productions also supplied British cinemas with a total of 10 compilation films (in some cases 2 and in other cases 3 re-edited TV episodes) prior to them being shown on British television. For example; 'The
Red Dress' released in 1954 was a 76 minute film made up of the TV episodes 'The Red Dress', 'Meet Mr. Jones' and 'Panic'. Fairbanks hosted and often appeared in many of the TV episodes and the series proved popular enough for a total of 156 episodes were made over a four-year period. Among the British directors recruited were Leslie Arliss and Terence Fisher. Christopher Lee appeared in numerous productions and there were also appearances by Honor Blackman, Fulton McKay, Diana Dors, Billie Whitelaw, Bill Owen, Hugh Griffith, Wilfrid Hyde-White, John Laurie, John le Mesurier, Sybil Thorndike, William Hartnell, Irene Handl and Buster Keaton. A 1957 episode; 'The Ludlow Affair' starring Robert Beatty as Bulldog Drummond was an unsold pilot for a series. Douglas Fairbanks Presents was shown on ITV from 1955 to 1959 (the last episode was actually filmed in 1957) and was seen around the regions under various titles such as Play Gems, Saturday Playhouse and Crown Theatre.
