In this television play, a respectable physician turns to crime as a form of intellectual and scientific experiment.
Dr. Clitterhouse (Hugh Sinclair), a wealthy and respected London physician, becomes fascinated by the physiological reactions of criminals. To conduct his research firsthand, he decides to become one himself. He infiltrates the city’s underworld and assembles a gang of thieves, including the streetwise ‘Oakie’ (Bill Owen) and the flirtatious Daisy (Vera Day). Using his superior intellect, Clitterhouse plans a series of daring robberies, culminating in a meticulously organised raid on a warehouse. His criminal enterprise, however, soon attracts the attention of Detective-Inspector Charles (Ronald Leigh-Hunt), forcing the doctor to use all his nerve and ingenuity to maintain his double life.
This was the BBC’s third production of Barre Lyndon’s popular stage thriller, mounted for the prestigious Sunday-Night Theatre drama slot a decade after its first television broadcast. The play’s appeal lies in its central character: a classic, eccentric gentleman anti-hero whose motives are purely scientific, not financial. This live studio production is most notable today for a cast populated by future British television mainstays. It provided early roles for Bill Owen, who would later find fame in Last of the Summer Wine, and Wilfrid Brambell, the future patriarch of Steptoe and Son, both playing members of Clitterhouse’s criminal gang.
Broadcast: BBC Television, 1 Episode, Sunday 7 July 1957
Written by: Barre Lyndon
Producer: Alan Bromly
Designer: Frederick Knapman
Main Cast: Hugh Sinclair (Dr. Clitterhouse), Bill Owen (‘Oakie’), Andrew Cruickshank (Sir William Grant, K.C.), Joy Parker (Nurse Ann), Ronald Leigh-Hunt (Detective-Inspector Charles), Vera Day (Daisy), Jerold Wells (‘Pal’ Green), David Lander (Benny Kellerman), Wilfrid Brambell (‘Badger’ Lee)
