Probation Officer (TV series) explained
Probation Officer was a British TV series that ran from 1959–1962 about probation officers.[2] It was made by Associated Television and starred John Paul, Jessica Spencer, David Davies and John Scott.[3] [4] Other actors who appeared in the series include Henry Oscar, Honor Blackman, Windsor Davies and Billy Milton.[5]
It was created by Julian Bond and was the first ever one-hour TV drama to screen on ITV.[6] Bond spent months researching the show from real life cases.[7]
Cast
- John Paul as Philip Main (53 episodes, 1959-1961)
- John Scott as Bert Bellman (33 episodes, 1959-1962)
- Jessica Spencer as Maggie Weston (32 episodes, 1960-1962)
- David Davies as Jim Blake (20 episodes, 1959-1960)
- Henry Oscar as Magistrate (15 episodes, 1960-1961)
- A.J. Brown as Judge (12 episodes, 1959-1961)
- Jack Stewart as Andrew Wallace (10 episodes, 1959-1960)
- Honor Blackman as Iris Cope (9 episodes, 1959)
- Humphrey Heathcote as Jailer (9 episodes, 1959-1961)
- Windsor Davies as Bill Morgan (8 episodes, 1962)
- Bernard Brown as Stephen Ryder (8 episodes, 1961-1962)
- Betty Hardy as Miss Randell (7 episodes, 1959)
- John Barrett as Clerk of Court (6 episodes, 1960-1962)
- Derek Benfield as George Cooper (1 episode, 1960)[8]
Archive status and home media
Like many British TV series of the same vintage, the archive holdings of Probation Officer are incomplete, with approximately three-quarters of the episodes missing.
In 2017 Network DVD release "Volume One" containing twelve extant episodes from the first series (1-3, 5-8, 13-16 & 22 - #8 is missing one courtroom scene) as a three DVD boxset. No further releases followed.
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: Probation Officer (1959-1962).
- Web site: Marcus . Laurence . December 2000 . Probation Officer . Television Heaven.
- Web site: Probation Officer[12/09/60] (1960)]. https://web.archive.org/web/20210602214700/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6a592458. dead. 2 June 2021. BFI.
- Web site: Probation Officer[30/11/1959] (1959)]. https://web.archive.org/web/20200406180301/https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/5b22f123be018. dead. 6 April 2020. BFI.
- Web site: Probation Officer[31/08/62] (1962)]. https://web.archive.org/web/20201130143449/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b87828515. dead. 30 November 2020. BFI.
- Web site: Probation Officer – Series One, Episode Two. December 24, 2016.
- http://www.uktvindex.co.uk/progs/Probation-Officer/ Probation Office
- Web site: Probation Officer (1959-1962).