Scotland Yard (film series)

Scotland Yard
Genre	Crime/Drama
Presented by	Edgar Lustgarten
Starring	Edgar Lustgarten Russell Napier
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	39
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	1953 (1953) – 1961 (1961)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Scotland Yard is a series of 39 half-hour episodes produced by Anglo-Amalgamated.^[1] Produced between 1953 and 1961, they are short films, originally made to support the main feature in a cinema double-bill. Each film focuses on a true crime case with names changed, and feature an introduction by the crime writer Edgar Lustgarten.^{[citation needed]}

The earlier films were produced by Alec C. Snowden, who was succeeded by Jack Greenwood.^[2][3] Directors included Ken Hughes and Montgomery Tully. The principal character in each film is a Detective Inspector, played by a variety of actors but most frequently by Russell Napier (usually portraying Detective Inspector Duggan).^[4] Many of the films feature, in supporting roles, actors later to become well-known.^[5] They include Jill Bennett, Peter Arne, Harry H. Corbett, James Villiers, Edward Judd, Arthur Lowe, Peter Halliday, Wilfrid Brambell, Rita Webb, Peter Bowles and Roger Delgado, and Jack Howarth^[1]

All of the episodes were shot at Merton Park Studios in London and on location on monochrome 35mm film. Most of the episodes were presented in the old Academy screen ratio of 1.33:1, whilst a handful of the later episodes were shot in a hard-matted widescreen ratio of 1.66:1.^[5]

The series later found a new audience on television in both the UK and the USA.^[6][7] The complete series has been released on DVD in the UK by Network.^[8] From 2017 it has been shown on the UK TV channel Talking Pictures TV.