Telecrime

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Telecrime
Also known as Telecrimes
Genre Whodunit/Drama
Country of origin United Kingdom
Language(s) English
No. of episodes 17
Production
Running time  ?x10 minutes
12x15 minutes
?x20 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel BBC Television Service
Original run Telecrime:
10 August 1938 –
25 July 1939
Telecrimes:
22 October – 28 November 1946
External links
IMDb profile

Telecrime was a British drama series that aired on the BBC Television Service from 1938 to 1939 and in 1946. One of the first multi-episode drama series ever made, it is also one of the first television dramas written especially for television not adapted from theatre or radio. Having first aired for 5 episodes from 1938 to 1939, Telecrime returned in 1946, following the resumption of television after World War II, and aired as Telecrimes.

A whodunit crime drama, Telecrime showed the viewer enough evidence to solve the crime themselves. Most episodes were written by Mileson Horton. All 17 episodes are missing from the archives, as they were aired live and never recorded.

Contents

[edit] Production

The producers for the 1946 series were Gordon Crier, Stephen Harrison and Douglas Muir.[1]

[edit] Plot

In each episode of Telecrime featured a crime, and in a "whodunit" storyline, the viewers were given enough evidence to solve the crime themselves.

[edit] Episodes

The programme first aired, as Telecrime, for five episodes from 10 August 1938 to 25 July 1939 on the BBC Television Service. Each episode was ten or twenty minutes long. During World War II, the BBC suspended its television service.[2] The channel was brought back on 7 June 1946.[3] From 22 October to 28 November that year, Telecrimes, as it was now called, aired for a further twelve episodes.[4] Each 1946 episode was fifteen minutes long. As was typical at the time, all the episodes were aired live and no recording was made, meaning none survive.[5][4] The only visual record that survives are photographs.

[edit] Telecrime (1938-39)

# Episode Writer/s Original airdate
1 "The Back-Stage Murder"  Mileson Horton and H.T. Hopkinson 10 August 1938
 
2 "Poetic Justice"  Arthur Phillips 24 October 1938
 
3 "The Fletcher Case"  Mileson Horton 24 February 1939
 
4 "The Almost Perfect Murder"  Mileson Horton 15 April 1939
 
5 "Circumstantial Evidence"  Mileson Horton 25 July 1939
 

[edit] Telecrimes (1946)

# Episode Writer/s Original airdate
6 "The Concert Hall Murder Case"  Mileson Horton 22 October 1946
 
7 "Death of a Golfer"  Mileson Horton 22 October 1946
 
8 "The Case of the Drunken Skipper"  Mileson Horton 5 November 1946
 
9 "Death of a Scientist"  Mileson Horton 5 November 1946
 
10 "Poison in Pimlico"  Mileson Horton 12 November 1946
 
11 "The Case of the Gentle Accomplice"  Mileson Horton 12 November 1946
 
12 "Death of a Playwright"  Mileson Horton 19 November 1946
 
13 "The Case of the Poisoned Port"  Mileson Horton 19 November 1946
 
14 "Who Killed Crask"  Mileson Horton 25 November 1946
 
15 "The Case of the Twin Sisters"  Mileson Horton 25 November 1946
 
16 "The Stolen Tiara"  Mileson Horton 28 November 1946
 
17 "Death of an Art"  Mileson Horton 28 November 1946
 

[edit] References

General
Specific
  1. ^ UK TV All Shows (T). Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
  2. ^ The edit that rewrote history - Baird. Retrieved on 2007-05-28.
  3. ^ Rohrer, Finlo. "Back after the break", BBC News Magazine, bbc.co.uk, 2006-06-07. Retrieved on 2007-04-25. 
  4. ^ a b Missing or incomplete episodes for programme TELECRIMES. LostShows.com (2006). Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
  5. ^ Missing or incomplete episodes for programme TELECRIME. LostShows.com (2006). Retrieved on 2008-03-20.