''Probation Officer'' was a British TV series that ran from 1959–1962 about probation officers. It was made by

Associated Television ATV Network Limited, originally Associated TeleVision (ATV), was a British broadcaster, part of the ITV (TV network), ITV (Independent Television) network. It provided a service to London at weekends from 1955 to 1968, to the Midlands on week ...

and starred

John Paul John Paul may refer to: People Given name * John Paul (given name), a list of bearers of the name, and equivalent names in other languages * Pope John Paul I (1912–1978) * Pope John Paul II (1920–2005) Given name and surname *John Paul (actor) ...

, Jessica Spencer, David Davies and John Scott. Other actors who appeared in the series include

Henry Oscar Henry Wale (14 July 1891 – 28 December 1969), known professionally as Henry Oscar, was an English stage and film actor. He changed his name and began acting in 1911, having studied under Elsie Fogerty at the Central School of Speech and Dr ...

Honor Blackman Honor Blackman (22 August 1925 – 5 April 2020) was an English actress and singer, known for the roles of Cathy Gale in '' The Avengers''Aaker, Everett (2006). ''Encyclopedia of Early Television Crime Fighters''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. ...

Windsor Davies Windsor Davies (28 August 1930 – 17 January 2019) was a British actor. He is best remembered for playing Battery Sergeant Major Williams in the sitcom '' It Ain't Half Hot Mum'' (1974–1981) over its entire run. The show's popularity resulted ...

and

Billy Milton Billy Milton (8 December 190522 November 1989) was a British stage, film and television actor. Born in Paddington, Middlesex, (now in London), as William Thomas Milton, he was the son of Harry Harman Milton (1880–1942), a commission agent, and ...

. It was created by

Julian Bond Horace Julian Bond (January 14, 1940 – August 15, 2015) was an American social activist, leader of the civil rights movement, politician, professor, and writer. While he was a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, during the ea ...

and was the first ever one-hour TV drama to screen on ITV. Bond spent months researching the show from real life cases.

Cast

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) *

as Magistrate (15 episodes, 1960-1961) * A.J. Brown as Judge (12 episodes, 1959-1961) * Jack Stewart as Andrew Wallace (10 episodes, 1959-1960) *

as Iris Cope (9 episodes, 1959) *Humphrey Heathcote as Jailer (9 episodes, 1959-1961) *

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 Derek Benfield (11 March 1926 – 10 March 2009) was a British playwright and actor. He was born in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, and educated at Bingley Grammar School. He was the author of the stage farce ''Running Riot'' and pla ...

as George Cooper (1 episode, 1960)

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 released "Volume One" on DVD, containing 12 existing episodes from the first series (Episodes 1-3, 5-8, 13-16 & 22 - Episode 8 is missing one courtroom scene) as a three disc DVD boxset. No further releases followed.

Professional views on the programme

Shortly after the first programmes were aired, concerns were raised by both reviewers and the National Association of Probation Officers (

Napo (trade union) Napo (formerly the National Association of Probation Officers) is the trade union and professional association that represents probation staff including probation officers and other operational and administrative staff and Children and Family C ...

) who formally disassociated itself from the programme. Later the same year a Home Office spokesperson confirmed that future programmes would be vetted by Seldon Charles Forrester Farmer, Principal Probation Officer for Inner London Probation Service, before television broadcast. Not all press was negative and once professionally moderated the reports appeared to be predominantly about production and contract challenges with some reporting suggesting that an 'Oscar' should be awarded for performance by June Watts.

Production issues and withdrawal of the programme

A number of programmes had production impacts from the

Equity (British trade union) Equity, formerly officially titled the British Actors' Equity Association, is the trade union for the performing arts and entertainment industries in the United Kingdom. Formed by a group of West End performers in 1930, the union grew to incl ...

strike in 1961-2; however, the future of many programmes became untenable. In April 1962 the return of ''Probation Officer'' was still not secured. A change of the lead actor was announced in May 1962 following unsuccessful contract negotiations. Reports are less certain on the formal cancellation of the show such as key characters featuring in new shows, but by Late 1962 it seemed to be off the screens.

References

External links

Probation Officer
at

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

Probation Officer
at UKTV

at Cherished Television 1959 British television series debuts 1962 British television series endings 1950s British drama television series 1960s British drama television series British English-language television shows ITV television dramas Television series by ITV Studios Television shows produced by Associated Television (ATV) Probation {{UK-tv-prog-stub