Boyd Q.C.

Boyd Q.C.
Genre	Legal drama
Written by	Jack Roffey
Starring	Michael Denison Charles Leno
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of episodes	80 (67 missing, 5 incomplete)
Production
Executive producer	Caryl Doncaster
Running time	60 minutes
Production company	Associated-Rediffusion
Original release
Network	ITV
Release	24 December 1956 (1956-12-24) – 23 September 1964 (1964-09-23)

Boyd Q.C. is a British legal television programme transmitted from December 1956 to September 1964 by the ITV franchise holder Associated-Rediffusion. It focused around a barrister in a London courtroom and the cases in which he was involved. It ran for seven series in total. ^[1]

Cast

• Michael Denison – Richard Boyd Q.C.
• Russell Waters – Albert
• Charles Leno – Narrator

Reception

The show was reportedly so accurate that Denison was invited to speak at Law Society of England and Wales dinners. ^[2]  

Archival status

Most of the series was lost. Of the eighty episodes produced, eight episodes survive as recordings; five others survive incomplete; and three have been rediscovered since 2022. ^[3]

In March 2022, "Sunday's Child", a missing episode from the fifth series, turned up on an eBay auction and sold for £310. It is unknown who the successful bidder was, or if the episode is being negotiated for return to the archives. ^[4]

On 16 September 2024, it was announced by the Film is Fabulous initiative that three episodes had been found in a private collection:

"The Balance of Her Mind" (Broadcast: 30 April 1958)

"Findings Keepings" (Broadcast: 6 July 1961)

"Sunday's Child" (Broadcast: 20 July 1961)

It is unknown whether the copy of "Sunday's Child" is the one from the aforementioned eBay listing. ^[5] A fourth episode has since been recovered.

References

1. Jeff Evans, The Penguin TV Companion (Penguin Books, 2001)
2. Joseph, Michael (1980). 25 Years on ITV (PDF). London: Independent Television Books Ltd. p. 18. ISBN   0 900727 81 0 . Retrieved 22 February 2025.
3. Conflicting evidence. "thiswaydown.org". Archived from the original on 17 September 2013. is more pessimistic as to the survival rate than lostshows.com
4. "Boyd Qc – Sundays Child – 1961 S5 Episode 9 16Mm B/W Sound 800Ft Cine Film Itv".^{[ dead link ‍]}
5. "Boyd Q.C. Episodes Recovered!". Film is Fabulous. Retrieved 18 September 2024.