Sergeant Cork

6.5

1963•1h

Sergeant Cork is a British detective television series which first aired between 1963 and 1968 on ITV. It was a police procedural show that followed the efforts of two police officers and their battle against crime in Victorian London. In all 66 hour-long episodes were aired during the five-year run, although the last episode was not broadcast until January 1968, 16 months after the others. Journalist Tom Sutcliffe has credited it as a first example of the use of the Victorian-era policeman in a television crime series. A 1969 review in The Age opined that rather than suspense, the strengths of the series were its "excellent period settings and wonderfully thick pea-soupers" which "add up to splendid evocative stuff", as well as the performance of star John Barrie. At no time during the whole series is Sergeant Cork's first name given.

Seasons

13 Episodes • Premiered 1963

1. Case of the Reluctant Widow

If it was murder, who was responsible? The dead man's wife, Julie? The young cafe assistant, Clive? Sergeant Cork, one of the pioneers of the newly formed C.I.D., applies his unique methods of detection to the case.

2. The Case of the Girl Upstairs

Lucy Beasley is certain that a crime is being committed in the Beasley household and she implores Cork to investigate. Is she a bitter, frustrated woman out to cause trouble, or are her fears justified?

3. The Case of the Two Drowned Men

When Cork and Marriott begin their investigations to find two criminals wanted for murdering a bank messenger; a tip off takes them to the London waterfront, where they uncover a sordid riverside trade.....

4. The Case of the Knotted Scarf

Cork and Marriott are called in to investigate the murder of a retired general's young wife, found strangled in a derelict bungalow in the grounds of an old country house is Devonshire.

5. The Case of the Stagedoor Johnnie

Kate Seymour, a young star of the music hall, receives poison pen letters threatening her engagement to John Stratton, a stagedoor Johnnie.

6. The Case of the Respectable Suicide

Cork and Marriott are called in to investigate what appears to be a case of suicide when Mr Bertram, a respectable and deeply religious man, is found dead by his housekeeper, Mrs Holland.

7. The Case of the Slithy Tove

An urchin sees a mysterious gentleman visiting Trumble, an ex-criminal, in his slum house. When Trumble is later found dead, the urchin goes to Cork.

8. Season 1, Episode 8

Prince Frederick of Silecia arrives in London on a trade mission for his country. Cork is made responsible for his safety, and faces the problem of discovering those who are plotting the Prince's assassination.

9. Season 1, Episode 9

In spite of opposition from the Melrose family, Cork is determined to discover the murderer of a laundry maid, whose body is found in their stable by a drunken coachman.

10. Season 1, Episode 10

A strike at a factory; the army is called in to keep order, and during a riot outside the gates a striker is shot. Accident or murder?

11. Case of the Public Paragon

Cook is summoned when an up-and-coming politician is murdered. His wife and the maidservant found a burglar standing over his body, but they are unable to distinguish any of his features.

12. Season 1, Episode 12

Ella Barnes - a sewing girl from the East End of London - is found drowned in a canal. At the inquest, however, it is revealed that she had been attacked before she drowned.

13. Season 1, Episode 13

Klein, a money lender, suspects fraud when a man called Carylon offers to sell him gold bars at a cut price. He calls in Cork and Marriott, who set a trap to discover whether Klein's suspicions are justified.