yes and no drama other than the story. I hate how the entertainment industry seem to think that a murder is not dramatic enough on its own so they have to add ridiculous music and voice overs and other extraneous details to pad it out. Especially the Yanks.
Patrol Car (1954-1956), “The Executioner, Season 1, Episode 1, aired 6 April 1955. Bruce Seton as Det. Supt. Robert Fabian, Peter Swanwick (as Peter Swannick) as Mr. Porter, Elspet Gray as Marion Courtland, Noel Howlett, the Vicar, Robert Raglan as Det. Sgt. Wyatt, William Abney, Jim Keyes, Marjorie Rhodes as Mrs. Boody, Totti Truman Taylor, the Schoolmistress, Geoffrey Denys, The Doctor, Peter Cellier as Peter, and Robert Fabian as Himself in Closing Statements.
Totti Truman Taylor, who played the schoolmistress, went on to become a t.v. producer. Peter Swanwick, who played the bald-headed lunatic, went on to play a key role in "The Prisoner" on Sixties t.v. before dying of heart trouble in 1968 at 46. He had an odd, 'weirdo' look about him that brings to mind John Reginald Christie, whose antics would still have been topical back in the mid-'50s, when this episode was filmed.
A rare example of a living person in Britain having a fictional series made about him - Robert Fabian was one of the most famous detectives of the 1940`s and 50s. He won the Police Medal for coolly disarming a bomb during WWII. He also solved some famous murder cases in these years.
This is Episode 19 out of 36 total episodes. This series lasted only one season. I do believe had the BBC ran this another season or stretched the time of the episodes to 50+ minutes, it would have been a decent series lasting beyond the one season (Nov. 1954 until Feb. 1956). For some reason (Copyrights, I suppose) the USA named this series "Patrol Car" much like they changed in the 60s the series "Danger Man" to "Secret Agent." >> FYI : You can do a Wikipedia search for Robert Fabian and read a very short note to his appearance at the ending here (and all the episodes).
Odd fact: The staccato music from the intro (or at least, a vaguely remembered version of it) inspired the intro to the prog rock classic "Yours is No Disgrace," by Yes.
Well that was different. Just a pity that they didn't figure it out until the last victim. He would have stopped after her. Then again, he was nuts so he might have decided to go on finding people to blame. Funny how he waited for so long though before taking revenge. I suppose his mind snapped for some reason later on.
The detectives all wear trilby hats and white handkerchiefs in their top pockets. Even the murderer wouldn't dream of going out to kill without wearing a tie.
Great stuff. When the police were our friends! And long before computers, and all the since-then accumulated data. One might think that more crimes would be solved now, with all that help. I don't know if that is the case. Anyway, apart from fingerprints, the only way then was to think clearly and logically, which is the attraction of all these old stories, from Sherlock Holmes and his Victorian contemporaries onwards. I don't like to be cruel, but at the end, when the actual Robert Fabian opened his mouth, it was quite apparent why he had not been asked to play the part of himself... Thank you.
......"oh alright then, I'll wait for you....yes..I'll be alone" - she says to a man who rings up 25 yrs later out of the blue. Very convenient she was in to say the least!. This must have had a shoe-string budget - no extras/passer-bys - and only 1 car! But do enjoy these old B & W British films. Thanks for uploading.
Kim, yes indeed. She would remember who they were and she would remember the drowning incident and all about it. You would think that she would have called the police earlier. But this TV show was based on alleged memoirs of a retired police detective, and the TV script most likely only approximates what was in the book, and the book may not have given much detail, even if the author remembered the case correctly.
This was an easy plot to form since at that timeline John George Haig The Real Acid Bath had just been executed, odd too that the killer here looked almost exactly like serial killer John Halliday Christie would also met the same fate around this time, and George Joseph Smith the original Bath Killer was hanged in 1915 in the memory of many. Just one very odd footnote a man was executed in Texas in 2009, his method of murder, yes a bathtub, showers might be safer but you would wonder eh!
Why didn't she tell her b/f the name of the man who was going to visit her that evening. That would be reasonable, since she had known the son of the visitor. Strange!
I did enjoy this but - huge mistake - how come the photograph of the young Porter, who was drowned when he was about 12 I presume, shows him as an adult man??? Answers on a postcard please......
Actually '12' comes from the reference to the son's death saying it happened "about 12 years ago" not that he was about 12. All the victims are aged 27 or 28 and the father refers to the son's birthday party as being for his 28th birthday so that would make the son 16 when he died, not 12.
I hope he wasn't as stupid in real life- knocks politely on the door of a woman he knows to be in imminent danger-- then has a polite chat with the murderer instead of checking the bathroom-- trusts an absentminded fruitloop of a vicar to call for backup-- he's at the local vicarage in the afternoon but doesn't get to the local woman's house till night time???
Wanda, you can be sure that's just a stupid TV scriptwriter's nonsense. A real cop would have grabbed the phone and called in himself, no matter how dim he might be.
I wish someone would reply to my comment🇨🇦 Are these episodes based on the true story? I see nothing to give me this information. Can someone help me much appreciated thank you and have a terrific evening.🙂🌌
I can only think all the episodes are based on the true stories of the real life character, as this is eluded to in the short documentary i posted, link in the description above in the description, hope this helps
Outstanding! Love the shadowy, creepy ambience! Superb acting and a brilliant story! Thank you for posting!
Remember this series from my childhood in the fifties. Lovely to see this one .
Enjoyed this, and the way they got the British inspector to take part xx
I was born yesterday of the 6th April 1955 the day this program was first shown
A very enjoyable episode, unlike today's films, it had a beginning, plot and an ending.
yes and no drama other than the story. I hate how the entertainment industry seem to think that a murder is not dramatic enough on its own so they have to add ridiculous music and voice overs and other extraneous details to pad it out. Especially the Yanks.
Awesome high quality movie which can only be made from the early years of cinematic. Era thanks somuch for sharing ❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉
Brought back some memories of watching these dramas in the fifties. Thank you .
Great episode! A terrific production, especially when compared to the utter garbage screened on TV today.
Yes utter rubbish on tv today give me a 50s or 60s crime drama any day
Well said!!!!!
These may be old, but they are topnotch!
Wow--used to watch this in the late 50's. Thanks for posting!
Patrol Car (1954-1956), “The Executioner, Season 1, Episode 1, aired 6 April 1955. Bruce Seton as Det. Supt. Robert Fabian, Peter Swanwick (as Peter Swannick) as Mr. Porter, Elspet Gray as Marion Courtland, Noel Howlett, the Vicar, Robert Raglan as Det. Sgt. Wyatt, William Abney, Jim Keyes, Marjorie Rhodes as Mrs. Boody, Totti Truman Taylor, the Schoolmistress, Geoffrey Denys, The Doctor, Peter Cellier as Peter, and Robert Fabian as Himself in Closing Statements.
Totti Truman Taylor, who played the schoolmistress, went on to become a t.v. producer.
Peter Swanwick, who played the bald-headed lunatic, went on to play a key role in "The Prisoner" on Sixties t.v. before dying of heart trouble in 1968 at 46. He had an odd, 'weirdo' look about him that brings to mind John Reginald Christie, whose antics would still have been topical back in the mid-'50s, when this episode was filmed.
I knew I recognized him. Thank you.
A rare example of a living person in Britain having a fictional series made about him - Robert Fabian was one of the most famous detectives of the 1940`s and 50s. He won the Police Medal for coolly disarming a bomb during WWII. He also solved some famous murder cases in these years.
I didn't know that! Thank you, Mr W. Wright.
Thank you for posting these great series :)
This is Episode 19 out of 36 total episodes. This series lasted only one season. I do believe had the BBC ran this another season or stretched the time of the episodes to 50+ minutes, it would have been a decent series lasting beyond the one season (Nov. 1954 until Feb. 1956). For some reason (Copyrights, I suppose) the USA named this series "Patrol Car" much like they changed in the 60s the series "Danger Man" to "Secret Agent." >> FYI : You can do a Wikipedia search for Robert Fabian and read a very short note to his appearance at the ending here (and all the episodes).
Brilliant, this story line has been used since in many detective shows
We've taken a house in Richmond.
Times when you could afford too.
😂
Thanks for putting this up, loved it. :-)
"Our old friend, the blunt instrument" strikes again!
Odd fact: The staccato music from the intro (or at least, a vaguely remembered version of it) inspired the intro to the prog rock classic "Yours is No Disgrace," by Yes.
Fabian prevented the Bathtub killer from making a CLEAN getaway. Jolly good show, and all that rot!
Good pun
that right everybody turn there back on the crazy man thanks for posting
Good stuff
Well that was different. Just a pity that they didn't figure it out until the last victim. He would have stopped after her. Then again, he was nuts so he might have decided to go on finding people to blame. Funny how he waited for so long though before taking revenge. I suppose his mind snapped for some reason later on.
The detectives all wear trilby hats and white handkerchiefs in their top pockets. Even the murderer wouldn't dream of going out to kill without wearing a tie.
Wonder why the Police Doctor calls it "homicide" (as the say in the States) instead of "murder"???
Looks like its in the same era as saber of London
Both excellent
Great stuff. When the police were our friends!
And long before computers, and all the since-then accumulated data. One might think that more crimes would be solved now, with all that help. I don't know if that is the case. Anyway, apart from fingerprints, the only way then was to think clearly and logically, which is the attraction of all these old stories, from Sherlock Holmes and his Victorian contemporaries onwards.
I don't like to be cruel, but at the end, when the actual Robert Fabian opened his mouth, it was quite apparent why he had not been asked to play the part of himself...
Thank you.
nice movie,
......"oh alright then, I'll wait for you....yes..I'll be alone" - she says to a man who rings up 25 yrs later out of the blue. Very convenient she was in to say the least!. This must have had a shoe-string budget - no extras/passer-bys - and only 1 car! But do enjoy these old B & W British films. Thanks for uploading.
She probably didn't say that, but the program is doing a public service by drawing attention to how indiscrete talk can have consequences.
Some familiar faces here - Robert Raglan (Dad's Army) and Elspet Gray (Blackadder, Fawlty Towers). Amazing to see Elspet Gray so young.
Who did he play in Farty Towers?
@@Bigbadwhitecracker She was the wife of the psychiatrist in the episode 'The Psychiatrist'.
All her friends were killed and the last victim took no precautions. I love it
Kim, yes indeed. She would remember who they were and she would remember the drowning incident and all about it. You would think that she would have called the police earlier.
But this TV show was based on alleged memoirs of a retired police detective, and the TV script most likely only approximates what was in the book, and the book may not have given much detail, even if the author remembered the case correctly.
The wonderful Marjorie Rhodes
"Mrs Snudge"
This was an easy plot to form since at that timeline John George Haig The Real Acid Bath had just been executed, odd too that the killer here looked almost exactly like serial killer John Halliday Christie would also met the same fate around this time, and George Joseph Smith the original Bath Killer was hanged in 1915 in the memory of many. Just one very odd footnote a man was executed in Texas in 2009, his method of murder, yes a bathtub, showers might be safer but you would wonder eh!
Why didn't she tell her b/f the name of the man who was going to visit her that evening. That would be reasonable, since she had known the son of the visitor. Strange!
Fabian said it was a psychomotive,does that make it a close cousin to a locomotive?
I did enjoy this but - huge mistake - how come the photograph of the young Porter, who was drowned when he was about 12 I presume, shows him as an adult man??? Answers on a postcard please......
Actually '12' comes from the reference to the son's death saying it happened "about 12 years ago" not that he was about 12. All the victims are aged 27 or 28 and the father refers to the son's birthday party as being for his 28th birthday so that would make the son 16 when he died, not 12.
The chap in the photo is clearly an adult, not a 16 year old.
Any other websites showing more online episodes of this?
18.53 "Ring the Yard and tell them to pick up Robert Porter." Unless father and son share a first name it's a bit late. 12 years too late.
An Old Corker with Real Guts.
Spooky good.
Hi Andrew, can I ask where you sourced this recording? Thanks 😊
Hi, I recorded it in the 90s it was part of a whole evening the BBC were showcasing ,TV detectives through the decades, Regards
Good but hard to see very dark
I hope he wasn't as stupid in real life- knocks politely on the door of a woman he knows to be in imminent danger-- then has a polite chat with the murderer instead of checking the bathroom-- trusts an absentminded fruitloop of a vicar to call for backup-- he's at the local vicarage in the afternoon but doesn't get to the local woman's house till night time???
Wanda, you can be sure that's just a stupid TV scriptwriter's nonsense. A real cop would have grabbed the phone and called in himself, no matter how dim he might be.
@Terry Ward Gee, did that make you feel better?
@Terry Ward : Try dark chocolate made by a well known American firm - it's got just as much caffeine and a whole lot of sugar.
Fabian sucker punched the dude🤣
I wish someone would reply to my comment🇨🇦
Are these episodes based on the true story?
I see nothing to give me this information. Can someone help me much appreciated thank you and have a terrific evening.🙂🌌
I can only think all the episodes are based on the true stories of the real life character, as this is eluded to in the short documentary i posted, link in the description above in the description, hope this helps
if only,
'Can't you go any faster' (Police in London). Nope: never ending roadworks at taxpayer expense.