New Scotland Yard (TV series)

New Scotland Yard is a police drama series produced by London Weekend Television (LWT) for the ITV network between 1972 and 1974.[1] It features the activities of two officers from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in the Metropolitan Police force headquarters at New Scotland Yard, as they dealt with the assorted villains of the day.[2]

New Scotland Yard
GenreCrime drama
Created byJack Williams
StarringJohn Woodvine (series 1–3)
John Carlisle (series 1–3)
Michael Turner (series 4)
Clive Francis (series 4)
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of series4
No. of episodes46
Production
Executive producerRex Firkin
Running time50 minutes (series 1)
60 minutes (series 2–4)
Original release
NetworkITV
Release22 April 1972 (1972-04-22) –
25 May 1974 (1974-05-25)

The first three series ran from 1972 to 1973 and starred John Woodvine as Det. Chief Supt. John Kingdom and John Carlisle as Det. Inspector,[3] later Det. Sgt.,[4] Alan Ward. But the series, scheduled on a Saturday night, failed to match the ratings of the similar format but more glamorous midweek counterpart from Thames, Special Branch.[5]

The programme was resurrected for a fourth series in 1974, with an all-new cast headed by Michael Turner as Det. Chief Supt. Clay and Clive Francis as Det. Sgt. Dexter.[6]

LWT were considered to have broken the rules of Saturday night broadcasting by showing a tough police drama in place of entertainment, but it was an inspiration for The Sweeney.[7] Dennis Waterman, who went on to play a lead role in The Sweeney, appeared in a 1973 episode of New Scotland Yard called 'My Boy Robby?'.[8]

The earlier unrelated Scotland Yard film series (1953–61) was made by Anglo-Amalgamated and was first aired on television by the American Broadcasting Company.[9]

Main cast members

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Critical reception

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Reviewing the DVD release of series 1,myReviewer.com noted "a fairly hard-hitting police drama even by today's standards";[10] and DVD compare.net called it " a fascinating issue-led series that is consistently good."[7]

Episodes

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Series Episodes Originally aired
Series premiere Series finale
1 13 22 April 1972 (1972-04-22) 15 July 1972 (1972-07-15)
2 13 13 October 1972 (1972-10-13) 12 January 1973 (1973-01-12)
3 13 23 June 1973 (1973-06-23) 15 September 1973 (1973-09-15)
4 7 13 April 1974 (1974-04-13) 25 May 1974 (1974-05-25)

Series 1 (1972)

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Series No. Episode No. Title Director Writer Original airdate
11"Point of Impact"Tony WharmbyDon Houghton22 April 1972 (1972-04-22)
22"The Come Back"Tony WharmbyTony Hoare29 April 1972 (1972-04-29)
33"Memory of a Gauntlet"Christopher HodsonDon Houghton6 May 1972 (1972-05-06)
44"The Palais Romeo"Bill BainStuart Douglass13 May 1972 (1972-05-13)
55"Hard Contract"Paul AnnettPhilip Martin20 May 1972 (1972-05-20)
66"Shock Tactics"John ReardonPatrick Alexander27 May 1972 (1972-05-27)
77"The Wrong-Un"Paul AnnettTony Hoare3 June 1972 (1972-06-03)
88"Fire in a Honey Pot"Bryan IzzardRobert Banks Stewart10 June 1972 (1972-06-10)
99"Perfect in Every Way"Paul AnnettStuart Douglass17 June 1972 (1972-06-17)
1010"The Banker"James OrmerodDon Houghton24 June 1972 (1972-06-24)
1111"Ask No Questions"Oliver HorsbrughLewis Greifer1 July 1972 (1972-07-01)
1212"Reunion"David CunliffeNicholas Palmer8 July 1972 (1972-07-08)
1313"And When You're Wrong"Bryan IzzardAlun Falconer15 July 1972 (1972-07-15)

Series 2 (1972–1973)

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Series No. Episode No. Title Director Writer Original airdate
141"Nothing to Live For"Bryan IzzardTony Hoare13 October 1972 (1972-10-13)
152"A Case of Prejudice"Oliver HorsbrughStuart Douglass20 October 1972 (1972-10-20)
163"A Gathering of Dust"Bryan IzzardDon Houghton27 October 1972 (1972-10-27)
174"Evidence of Character"Bryan IzzardPeter Wildeblood3 November 1972 (1972-11-03)
185"Prove It"Peter MoffattRichard Harris10 November 1972 (1972-11-10)
196"Shadow of a Deadbeat"Bryan IzzardDon Houghton17 November 1972 (1972-11-17)
207"Papa Charlie"John ReardonStuart Douglass24 November 1972 (1972-11-24)
218"Error of Judgement"Oliver HorsbrughVictor Pemberton1 December 1972 (1972-12-01)
229"Two Into One Will Go"Howard RossAlun Falconer8 December 1972 (1972-12-08)
2310"The Money Game"Bill TurnerBasil Dawson15 December 1972 (1972-12-15)
2411"We Do What We Can[11]"John ReardonTony Hoare22 December 1972 (1972-12-22)
2512"Hoax"John ReardonStuart Douglass29 December 1972 (1972-12-29)
2613"My Boy Robby?"Paul AnnettTony Hoare12 January 1973 (1973-01-12)

Series 3 (1973)

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Series No. Episode No. Title Director Writer Original airdate
271"Where's Harry?"John ReardonTony Hoare23 June 1973 (1973-06-23)
282"Diamonds are Never Forever"Oliver HorsbrughTony Hoare30 June 1973 (1973-06-30)
293"Bullet in a Haystack"Bill TurnerDon Houghton7 July 1973 (1973-07-07)
304"Weight of Evidence"Jim GoddardAndrew Brown14 July 1973 (1973-07-14)
315"Crossfire"Paul AnnettNicholas Palmer21 July 1973 (1973-07-21)
326"Property, Dogs & Women"Paul AnnettStuart Douglass28 July 1973 (1973-07-28)
337"Exchange Is No Robbery"Bill TurnerPeter Hill4 August 1973 (1973-08-04)
348"Daisy Chain"John ReardonJames Andrew Hall11 August 1973 (1973-08-11)
359"Don't Go Out Alone"Bill TurnerPeter Wildeblood18 August 1973 (1973-08-18)
3610"The Stone"Bill TurnerJames Andrew Hall25 August 1973 (1973-08-25)
3711"Monopoly"Cyril CokeStuart Douglass1 September 1973 (1973-09-01)
3812"Rogues Gallery"Bill BainJohn Lucarotti8 September 1973 (1973-09-08)
3913"Pier"Cyril CokePeter J. Hammond15 September 1973 (1973-09-15)

Series 4 (1974)

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Series No. Episode No. Title Director Writer Original airdate
401"Comeback"Philip CassonPeter Hammond13 April 1974 (1974-04-13)
412"The Trojan Horse"Colin CantBasil Dawson & Frank Williams20 April 1974 (1974-04-20)
423"Death by Misadventure"Derrick GoodwinPeter Wildeblood27 April 1974 (1974-04-27)
434"For All Their Faults"Oliver HorsbrughTony Hoare4 May 1974 (1974-05-04)
445"A Man of His Word"Oliver HorsbrughPeter Hill11 May 1974 (1974-05-11)
456"All That Glitters"Bill TurnerKeith Bacchus & Tony Hoare18 May 1974 (1974-05-18)
467"A Year to Kill"Philip CassonStuart Douglass25 May 1974 (1974-05-25)

References

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  1. ^ "New Scotland Yard (ITV 1972-1974, John Woodvine, John Carlisle)". 8 March 2015.
  2. ^ "New Scotland Yard | TV Guide". TVGuide.com.
  3. ^ a b "New Scotland Yard: The Complete Series 1". Archived from the original on 23 February 2020.
  4. ^ a b "New Scotland Yard: The Complete Series 2". Network On Air.
  5. ^ "BFI Screenonline: TV Police Drama". www.screenonline.org.uk.
  6. ^ "The Trojan Horse (1974)". BFI.[dead link]
  7. ^ a b "New Scotland Yard: The Complete First Series (TV)".
  8. ^ "My Boy Robby (1973)". BFI. Archived from the original on 19 June 2022.
  9. ^ "CTVA UK - "Scotland Yard" (Merton Park Studios,UK)(1953-61) hosted by Edgar Lustgarten". ctva.biz.
  10. ^ "myReviewer.com - Review for New Scotland Yard - The Complete Series 1". www.myreviewer.com.
  11. ^ "New Scotland Yard: We Do What We Can (ITV 29 Dec 1972)". 25 August 2016.
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