The Human Jungle

The Human Jungle
Genre Drama
Created by Ronald J Khan
Starring Herbert Lom
Theme music composer Bernard Ebbinghhouse
Played by John Barry and his orchestra
Composer(s) Bernard Ebbinghhouse
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of series 2
No. of episodes 26 (list of episodes)
Production
Producer(s) Julian Wintle
Leslie Parkyn
Cinematography Bert Mason
Running time 49-51 minutes
Production company(s) Independent Artists for ABC Television
Broadcast
Original channel ITV
Picture format Film 35mm 4:3 Black and white
Audio format Monaural
Original run 30 March 1963 – 13 May 1965[1]

The Human Jungle is a British TV series about a psychiatrist, made for ABC Television by the small production company Independent Artists for transmission on ITV. Starring Herbert Lom, it ran for two series, which were first transmitted during 1963 and 1965.

Outline

The majority of the episodes (26 x 50mins) focused on a specific patient, whose psychological ailment Dr Corder would treat and, invariably, cure, using an idiosyncratic approach which mixed Freudian psychoanalysis with more contemporary methods associated with the then fashionable theories of R. D. Laing.[1]

Cast and characters

Production notes

The series was created by Ronald J Khan, credited on screen as 'assistant to the producers', and produced by Julian Wintle and Leslie Parkyn.[2]

The theme music was composed by Bernard Ebbinghouse, arranged and recorded by John Barry and his Orchestra.[3]

A number of high-profile guest stars appeared in his surgery, or as hospital patients, including Joan Collins, Margaret Lockwood, Flora Robson, Roger Livesey, Rita Tushingham and André Morell.

The first series was filmed at Beaconsfield studios, which closed down shortly after production ended, causing the second series to be undertaken at Elstree Studios owned by parent company Associated British Picture Corporation.

The script editor was John Kruse and the advisor on psychiatric content was Dr Hugh L. Freeman on behalf of the National Association for Mental Health.

Episode list

Series one

Airdate is for ABC weekend television[4] ITV regions varied date and order. Order as the Network DVD.

Episode # Title Directed by Written by Original airdate
1"The Vacant Chair"James HillBill MacIlwraith30 March 1963
Stars Ronald Leigh-Hunt, Lloyd Lamble, Keith Pyott, Geoffrey Palmer, Edward Evans, Hamilton Dyce and Jonathan Burn
2"The Flip Side Man"Sydney A. HayersRobert Stewart6 April 1963
Stars Jess Conrad and Michael Ripper
3"Run with the Devil"Vernon SewellDavid T Chantler,
John Kruse (story)
13 April 1963
Stars Derek Farr, Jenny Laird and Harry Fowler
4"Thin Ice"John AinsworthBill MacIlwraith,
Robert Stewart (story)
20 April 1963
Guest stars Janina Faye and George A. Cooper
5"The Lost Hours"John AinsworthJohn Kruse27 April 1963
Stars Leonard Sachs, Ursula Howells, Frank Jarvis, Larry Martyn, Stacy Davies and June Murphy
6"A Friend of the Sergeant Major"Don SharpLewis Davidson4 May 1963
Stars Alfred Burke, Richard Leech, Cavan Kendall, John Harvey and Steven Scott
7"14 Ghosts"Sydney A. HayersLeo Leiberman11 May 1963
Stars André Morell, Justine Lord, William Marlowe, Peter Bathurst and Bernard Davies
8"Fine Feathers"Vernon SewellRobert Stewart18 May 1963
Stars Jane Merrow and Philip Gilbert
9"The Wall"James HillJohn Kruse25 May 1963
Stars Blake Butler, Arnold Diamond, Derek Murcott, Rosamund Greenwood and Hana Maria Pravda
10"A Woman with Scars"James HillRobert Stewart1 June 1963
Stars Frank Lawton, Jeanne Moody and John Glyn-Jones
11"Time-Check"Alan CookeLewis Davidson8 June 1963
Stars Melvyn Hayes, Warren Mitchell, Gerald Drake and Fabia Drake
12"The Two Edged Sword"Vernon SewellBill MacIlwraith15 June 1963
Guest star Pauline Yates, Roger Delgado and Glynn Edwards
13"Over and Out"Vernon SewellJohn Kruse,
Lewis Davidson (story)
22 June 1963
Stars Ian Bannen, Zena Marshall, June Barry and Simon Lack

Series two

Airdate is for Associated-Rediffusion[5] ITV regions varied date and order. ABC weekend television transmitted two days later. Order as the Network DVD.

Episode # Title Directed by Written by Original airdate
1"Struggle for a Mind"Sydney A. HayersJohn Kruse18 February 1965
Stars Joan Collins, Clifford Evans and Derek Godfrey
2"Success Machine"Sydney A. HayersJohn Kruse25 February 1965
Stars Edward Judd, Sylvia Syms, Harold Goldblatt, Philip Latham and Wanda Ventham
3"The 24-Hour Man"Robert DayRobert Stewart4 March 1965
Stars Johnny Sekka, Dolores Mantez, Inigo Jackson, Donald Morley, Frank Coda and Mark Lester
4"Solo Performance"Roy BakerBill MacIlwraith11 March 1965
Stars Margaret Lockwood, James Villiers, Rona Anderson, Terence Brook and Malcolm Tierney
5"Ring of Hate"Charles CrichtonJohn Kruse,
Leo Lieberman (story)
18 March 1965
Stars Dudley Sutton Bernard Lee, Francis Matthews, Walter Gotell, Jimmy Gardner, Peter Diamond
6"Conscience on a Rack"Roy BakerBill MacIlwraith25 March 1965
Stars Flora Robson, Megs Jenkins, Ronald Hines and Adrienne Posta
7"The Quick and the Dead"Roy BakerJohn Kruse1 April 1965
Stars Richard Johnson, Robert Beatty, Andrew Keir, David McAlister and Moray Watson
8"The Man Who Fell Apart"Roy BakerJohn Kruse8 April 1965
Stars Rita Tushingham, Barbara Shelley, Alan Dobie, Patrick O'Connell, Griffith Davies
9"Dual Control"Roy BakerAnne Francis15 April 1965
Stars Peggy Cummins, Dennis Price, Annette Andre, Rona Anderson and Yvonne Antrobus
10"Skeleton in the Cupboard"Roy BakerBill MacIlwraith22 April 1965
Stars Roger Livesey, Ann Firbank, Allan Cuthbertson, Russell Waters and Donald Pickering
11"Wild Goose Chase"Vernon SewellMarc Brandel29 April 1965
Stars Francesca Annis, Vladek Sheybal, Faith Brook, Gary Watson, Aimée Delamain and Tony Steedman
12"Enemy Outside"Roy BakerBill MacIlwraith6 May 1965
Guest star Avis Bunnage, Barbara Ferris and Rona Anderson
13"Heartbeats in a Tin Box"Roy BakerRobert Stewart13 May 1965
Stars Susan George, Gerald Harper, Ray McAnally, John Junkin, Donald Eccles, Tenniel Evans and Arnold Ridley

DVD

The complete series was released during November 2012 as a 7 DVD (Region 2) boxset with accompanying series guide by Andrew Pixley.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Mark Duguid "Human Jungle, The (1963-65", BFI screenonline, retrieved 21 November 2012
  2. series guide by Andrew Pixley in the DVD set, p.4
  3. Pixley, p.9
  4. Before 1968 ABC transmitted weekends in the Midlands and the North. See History of ITV
  5. Before 1968 Associated-Rediffusion transmitted Monday to Friday in London. See History of ITV

External links