''Gideon's Way'' is a British television crime series made by

ITC Entertainment The Incorporated Television Company (ITC), or ITC Entertainment as it was referred to in the United States, was a British company involved in production and distribution of television programmes. History Incorporated Television Programme Compan ...

and broadcast by ITV in 1964–1966, based on novels by

John Creasey John Creasey (17 September 1908 – 9 June 1973) was an English crime writer, also writing science fiction, romance and western novels, who wrote more than six hundred novels using twenty-eight different pseudonyms. He created several charac ...

(writing as 'J. J. Marric'). The series was made at

Elstree Studios Elstree Studios is a generic term which can refer to several current and demolished British film studios and television studios based in or around the town of Borehamwood and village of Elstree in Hertfordshire, England. Production studios ha ...

in twin production with '' The Saint'' television series, which was likewise produced by Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman. The show did not acknowledge any help from

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

or any other police force or advisor.

Synopsis

Daphne Anderson starred as Gideon's wife, Kate; their three children were played by Giles Watling as younger son Malcolm, Richard James as elder son Matthew (who seemed to have a lot of new girlfriends), and

Andrea Allan Andrea Allan (born 18 November 1946) is a Scottish-born actress who appeared in many British films of the 1960s and '70s. She also appeared in magazine spreads for both ''Playboy'' and '' Penthouse''. Her films included ''Carry On Cowboy'', ''T ...

as daughter Pru. Unusually for police stories, Gideon was shown as a family man at home—though urgent phone calls from his bosses tend to disrupt family plans too often. However, he did admit in "State Visit" that his wife had walked out on him for a while years ago, when he put the job first and her second. They live in an expensive detached house in

Tufnell Park Tufnell Park is an area in north London, England, in the London boroughs of Islington and Camden. The neighborhood is served by Tufnell Park tube station on the Northern Line. History Origins and boundary ;Medieval and later manor Tufnel ...

Cast

The series stars John Gregson in the title role as Commander George Gideon of Scotland Yard, with

Alexander Davion Alexander Davion, (March 31, 1929 - September 28, 2019) French-born British actor. He was perhaps best known in the UK for his starring role in ''Gideon's Way'' as Detective Chief Inspector David Keen. He was born in Paris, France. He died in Lon ...

as his assistant, Detective Chief Inspector David Keen,

Reginald Jessup Reginald is a masculine given name in the English language. Etymology and history The meaning of Reginald is “King". The name is derived from the Latin ''Reginaldus'', which has been influenced by the Latin word ''regina'', meaning " queen". ...

as Det. Superintendent LeMaitre (nicknamed Lemmy), Ian Rossiter as Detective Chief Superintendent Joe Bell and

Basil Dignam Basil Dignam (24 October 1905 – 31 January 1979) was an English character actor. Basil Dignam was born in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire. Before the acting, he tried many jobs, from a company clerk to a journalist. He acted on film and ...

as Commissioner Scott-Marle.

Guest stars

Many well-known British actors appear in guest roles, including Patrick Allen, Keith Baxter, George Cole,

Harry Fowler Henry James Fowler, MBE (10 December 1926 – 4 January 2012) was an English character actor in film and television. Over a career lasting more than six decades, he made nearly 200 appearances on screen. Personal life Fowler was born in Lambe ...

, Gordon Jackson, Ronald Lacey, Anton Rodgers,

Rosemary Leach Rosemary Anne Leach (18 December 1935 – 21 October 2017) was a British stage, television and film actress. She won the 1982 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a New Play for ''84, Charing Cross Road'' and was nominated for the BAFTA Award fo ...

, Gerald Harper, Victor Maddern, Richard Carpenter and

John Hurt Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 25 January 2017) was an English actor whose career spanned over five decades. Hurt was regarded as one of Britain's finest actors. Director David Lynch described him as "simply the greatest actor in t ...

. There was an early role for Donald Sutherland in the episode "The Millionaire's Daughter". Several actors, including Mike Pratt, Angela Douglas, Jean Marsh and

Kay Walsh Kathleen "Kay" Walsh (15 November 1911 – 16 April 2005) was an English actress, dancer, and screenwriter. Her film career prospered after she met her future husband film director David Lean, with whom she worked on prestige productions such as ...

, appear twice in the series, cast in different roles.

Production

There was extensive location shooting in mid-1960s London, with fast-paced action and strong story lines, which made the series very popular in its day. The show was broadcast in the United States under the title ''Gideon CID''. There were different starting titles for the American series, showing incidents of violent crime while the British titles just introduced the main characters. The theme music was composed by

Edwin Astley Edwin Thomas "Ted" Astley (12 April 1922 – 19 May 1998) was a British composer. His best known works are British television themes and scores, most notably the main themes for '' The Saint'', ''Danger Man'' and '' The Baron''. He also successf ...

. In scoring the incidental music, Astley re-used some of the cues from '' The Saint'' on which he was also working; in turn, he re-purposed material composed for this series in '' The Baron'', which followed a year later.

Episodes

Episodes were filmed between June 1964 and May 1965, on location and at

. Fifteen episodes (#101 – #115 below) were filmed by December 1964, after which the cast and crew were allowed a week's break before filming on the second batch of eleven episodes (#116 – #126 below) began on 11 January 1965. Airdate is for ATV Midlands. ITVBefore 1968 ATV transmitted weekdays in the Midlands and weekends in London. See

History of ITV The history of ITV, the United Kingdom " Independent Television" commercial network, goes back to 1955. Independent Television began as a network of independently-owned regional companies that were both broadcasters and programme makers, beginn ...

regions varied date and order. The first transmission was on ATV London on 17 October 1964 (The V Men).

Broadcasters

United Kingdom

The series began a repeat run in October 2019 at 9pm on Talking Pictures TV. This revival ended on 18 February 2020 with "The Nightlifers" including an onscreen tribute to guest star

Derek Fowlds Derek James Fowlds (2 September 1937 – 17 January 2020) was an English actor. He was best known for his appearances as "Mr Derek" in ''The Basil Brush Show'' (1969–1973), Bernard Woolley in the sitcom ''Yes Minister'' (1980–1984) and its s ...

who died in January 2020. The series was shown again on the channel in Spring 2021, and in April 2022.

Australia

The Australian rights are held by the

Nine Network The Nine Network (stylised 9Network, commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of five main free-to-air television netw ...

who, over many decades, have shown numerous repeats in non-peak viewing times. From 2012 to 2019, there were numerous showings in the early hours of the morning on

Gem A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, an ...

, a Nine Network digital outlet, sometimes twice per morning. The ''Gideon's Way'' repeats alternate with re-screenings of another British series ''

Danger Man ''Danger Man'' (retitled ''Secret Agent'' in the United States for the revived series, and ''Destination Danger'' and ''John Drake'' in other overseas markets) is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again b ...

'', and of the Canadian program '' Seaway''.

DVD

All 26 episodes of this classic 1960s British crime thriller series was released on Region 2 DVD by Network Distributing in August 2005.

References

External links

John Creasey brand owner Owatonna Media
* {{John Creasey 1960s British crime television series Television shows shot at Associated British Studios Television series by ITC Entertainment ITV television dramas John Creasey characters Television shows based on British novels British detective television series 1960s British drama television series 1966 British television series endings 1965 British television series debuts Black-and-white British television shows English-language television shows Cultural depictions of Metropolitan Police officers