''Telecrime'' was a British

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used i ...

that aired on the

BBC Television Service BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

from 1938 to 1939 and in 1946. One of the first multi-episode drama series made, it is also one of the first television dramas written especially for television rather than being adapted from

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

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productions. Having first aired for five episodes from 1938 to 1939, ''Telecrime'' returned in 1946, following the resumption of television after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and aired as ''Telecrimes''. Each episode of ''Telecrime'' featured a crime, and in a "

whodunit A ''whodunit'' (less commonly spelled as ''whodunnit''; a colloquial elision of "Who asdone it?") is a complex plot-driven variety of detective fiction Detective fiction is a subgenre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an criminal ...

" storyline, the viewers were given enough evidence to solve the crime themselves.. Most episodes were written by Mileson Horton. All seventeen episodes are lost. Aired

live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film * ''Live'' (2023 film), a Malayalam-language film *'' Live: Phát Trực Tiếp'', a Vietnamese-langua ...

, their preservation would have been technically difficult at the time. The

producers Producer(s), The Producer(s), or co-producer(s) may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *Producer, a stakeholder of economic production * Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes t ...

for the 1946 series were Gordon Crier, Stephen Harrison and Douglas Muir.

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 the Second World War, the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

suspended its television service. The channel resumed on 7 June 1946. From 22 October to 28 November that year, ''Telecrimes'', as it was now titled, aired for a further twelve episodes. Each 1946 episode was fifteen minutes long. As was typical at the time, all the episodes were aired

and no recording was made, meaning none survives. The only visual record that survives of the programme is a single publicity photograph.

''Telecrime'' (1938-39)

''Telecrimes'' (1946)

References

;General * * * ;Specific

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0261493, Telecrime 1938 British television series debuts 1946 British television series endings 1930s British television series 1940s British television series BBC television dramas British live television series British crime television series Lost BBC episodes British English-language television shows