Sergeant Cork

Sergeant Cork is a police procedural set in the 1890's, that ran between 1963 and 1968 on ITV in the UK. It is based on the Criminal Investigation Department of Scotland Yard, which was a new department focused on introducing new techniques in the detection of crime. It stars John Barrie as Sergeant Cork and William Gaunt as Detective Constable Bob Marriott.

The first two series depict a do-good police sergeant tackling crime in a grimy and impoverished class based system in London and makes telling points about the treatment of people in society at the time. In the later series, the type of cases is more varied and less focused on the under privileged. In the later series, Marriott sometimes takes a major role in solving the cases. It is possible that John Barrie was over committed as he was also involved in Z-Cars at the same time.

In many ways the series was ground breaking with its moralising and technique - it had one of the first portrayals of a siege on TV. The cases were predictable and there was not much tension, however I found the show quite watchable. The quality was OK, however, there were not enough re-takes - quite a few stumbles with the dialog and there was the odd moving wall and stray boom microphone in the shot. Shot in black and white, all 66 episodes have survived.

I used to enjoy 'Sergeant Cork' on Saturday evenings in the mid-1960s, not least with a fish and chip supper. Freddie Fowler's character Chalky was something of a scene stealer: 'Here's your tea, Sergeant - it's just how you like it: as hot as Hell and as strong as the Devil'. I paraphrase the quote today still, on occasion. Towards the end of the series, production standards seemed to slip - certainly it seemed like live television. I never found Charlie Rodway particularly convincing - sorry. Bruce Forsyth paid tribute to the show's two main characters in one of his Sunday Night shows around 1964.

Gaunt and Barrie are good in their roles, and the Victorian atmosphere is convincing. Though what year is it? Rosalie Crutchley's clothes don't fit any era... Why is she wearing an 1860s snood in 1887? Never mind, she's brilliant in a creepily Ancient Greek role.

One thing that strikes me: the preachiness. Oh, look, it wasn't all Upstairs Downstairs, the working classes suffered at the hands of the aristocracy. "One day women will have votes!" explain the characters, and "I'm afraid you're working class but perhaps one day things will be different!"

They don't quite say, "I say - we could call in the National Health Service!", but almost.

I always want to get back to Cork and Marriott and the detecting, and fast forward over the suffering Victorian poor.

Early 60s? Weren't there a few suffering 1960s poor? And downtrodden women? Oh I say how clever... or do I mean clunky?

This series doesn't shy away from any of the Victorian virtues and vices from social reform, the rise in the unions, the Church, Child poverty, baby farming, prostitution, military matters, Empiricism and high political intrigue. A fantastic regular cast of John Barrie, William Gaunt and later Charles Morgan gel marvelously as detectives working in the newly set up CID and the chemistry between them is a joy to watch. The atmosphere and sets are first class for the early 60's and the series has been preserved in its entirety. It's also fun to spot famous actors who would go on to star in TV for years to come. I hope one of the many satellite and cable channels decide to show this again to show that strong hard hitting police drama isn't a modern phenomenon. A must watch TV gem.

I recently watched all the available episodes on YouTube. Of course it's a mid-60's production with a limited budget (they made them very fast) and actors frequently fluff lines, but they carry on to save film.

The stories are good, the characters are well developed and the way they conclude episodes is refreshingly simple. John Barrie was unknown to me as an actor, apparently he gave up acting while still in his prime and, sadly, died quite young. He deserves to have been better known.

If you can stand watching g black and white 60s tv, this is well worth investing time in.