The ValJon Production Company (Dr. Simon Locke) Four Star International (Dr. Simon Locke/Police Surgeon) Viacom Enterprises (Dr. Simon Locke) CTV Television Network (Police Surgeon) Sterno Productions Limited (Police Surgeon)
Dr. Simon Locke (on-screen title is Doctor Simon Locke) is a Canadianmedical drama that was syndicated to television stations in the United States from 1971 to 1974 through the sponsorship of Colgate-Palmolive.[1] After the first season, the show was renamed Police Surgeon.
The series was initially a medical drama that originated from the fictional rural town of Dixon Mills, where a young physician, Dr. Simon Locke (played by soap opera star Sam Groom), yearning for more than the big-city medical environment, arrives in town to assist veteran physician Dr. Andrew Sellers (played by veteran actor Jack Albertson), with some pushback and resistance from the local citizens to the new doctor. The plot lines were more fitting for a big city medical drama, including a typhoidepidemic, child abuse, and even a murder. The series co-starred Len Birman as Sheriff Dan Palmer and Nuala Fitzgerald as Nurse Louise Wynn.
In 1972, Albertson left the show, and the series was renamed Police Surgeon, where Dr. Locke moved back to the city and worked for the police department's emergency unit, where he assists the cops in solving crimes that require medical research. The reworked series initially featured Len Birman returning in his role, now as Lieutenant Dan Palmer, but in the third season Larry D. Mann stepped into the role as Locke's superior, as Lieutenant Jack Gordon. Nerene Virgin played Ellie the Dispatcher in over thirty episodes of the reworked series, best known for her "3-M-D-9" radio call. The series also featured guest stars such as William Shatner, Leslie Nielsen, Donald Pleasence, Michael Ansara, Martin Sheen, and Keenan Wynn. Additionally, a then-unknown John Candy made his 1974 TV debut in episodes "Target: Ms. Blue" and "Web of Guilt".[2]
Howard Dimsdale,Chester Krumholz,and Wilton Schiller
10October1974(1974-10-10)
85
7
"No More Brass Bands"
Peter Carter
San Ross
17October1974(1974-10-17)
86
8
"Final Approach"
John Meredyth Lucas
Donald Jack
24October1974(1974-10-24)
87
9
"Fatal Deception"
Peter Carter
Wallace Bennett
31October1974(1974-10-31)
88
10
"The Killer"
John Meredyth Lucas
Chester Krumholz,Barry Pearson,Wilton Schiller,and Kaino Thomas
7November1974(1974-11-07)
89
11
"Lady Be Dead"
Peter Carter
Kaino Thomas
14November1974(1974-11-14)
90
12
"The Loser"
Peter Carter
Oliver Crawford
21November1974(1974-11-21)
91
13
"Stairwell"
Peter Carter
E. Jack Kaplan
28November1974(1974-11-28)
92
14
"Time Bomb"
Peter Carter
Robert Hamner
5December1974(1974-12-05)
93
15
"My Son,My Son"
John Meredyth Lucas
Gerard Banning and Mel Goldberg
12December1974(1974-12-12)
94
16
"Cry Murder"
John Meredyth Lucas
George Salverson
19December1974(1974-12-19)
95
17
"Requiem for an Animal"
John Meredyth Lucas
Robert Hamner,Chester Krumholz,Wilton Schiller,and Kaino Thomas
2January1975(1975-01-02)
96
18
"Mannequin"
Gerald Mayer
Chester Krumholz,Wilton Schiller,and Lou Shaw
9January1975(1975-01-09)
97
19
"Insight to Murder"
Peter Carter
Jim Carlson
16January1975(1975-01-16)
98
20
"Web of Guilt"
Gerald Mayer
Kaino Thomas
23January1975(1975-01-23)
99
21
"Vanished"
John Meredyth Lucas
Mort Forer
30January1975(1975-01-30)
100
22
"Angel of Mercy"
John Meredyth Lucas
John Meredyth Lucas
6February1975(1975-02-06)
101
23
"Run Harry Run"
John Meredyth Lucas
Jonah Royston and Kaino Thomas
13February1975(1975-02-13)
102
24
"Pint of Friendship"
John Meredyth Lucas
Chester Krumholz,Martin Roth,and Wilton Schiller
20February1975(1975-02-20)
103
25
"Halfway House"
Gerald Mayer
Lew Lehman
27February1975(1975-02-27)
104
26
"Sing a Sad Song"
Peter Carter
Jim Carlson
6March1975(1975-03-06)
Syndication/current airings
While this series appeared on some stations in Canada in syndication,CTV,which co-produced this series under network president Murray Chercover,did not offer this series to its affiliates until 1972,when the show became Police Surgeon.
In December 2014,it was announced that the Retro Television Network would begin broadcasting reruns of Police Surgeon.
Most of the filming of the original season one episodes set in the fictional town of "Dixon Mills" took place in the village of Kleinburg,and surrounding Nashville and Vaughan areas of Ontario,often along more rural countryside roads. A number of episodes featured scenes filmed along Kirby Road and at the bowstring arch bridge by the Humber River in the Nashville Conservation Reserve. One episode "Crash" was filmed along present day Rutherford Road near Pine Valley Drive,another,"Two Points of a Pitchfork" used the Humber River bridge along Huntington Road north of Kirby Road as the checkpoint into town during a Typhus outbreak.
Some episodes were also filmed at the Valley Halla Estate on the Toronto Zoo grounds,and featured the house as the doctor's office and residence building. One episode from season 1 was shot at the old Markham,Ontario water tower in a story involving a mute boy who dangerously climbs the tower. Other season 1 scenes were shot at Highland Creek in Scarborough,Ontario,and at the old ski hill on Twyn Rivers Road in Pickering,Ontario.
Starting in the second season when the series was renamed and moved to a big-city setting,the filming moved strictly to Toronto (although Toronto wasn't specifically mentioned in the show as the setting). Much of the filming took place in the Etobicoke area,usually in various Mimico and New Toronto neighbourhoods,plazas,industrial areas and train yards. A lot of the stock footage of the ambulance van driving on the highway was filmed along the Gardiner Expressway around Sunnyside and downtown Toronto. One episode featured scenes shot inside Westwood Theatre,another a ride on a Gray Coach bus.
↑ Episode Guide – Police Surgeon (Series) (1971–1975) Jan 23, 1975 – "Web of Guilt" Dr Locke intervenes when a woman judge (Nancy Olson) endangers herself by becoming too protective of her brother who is accused of murder. Richie: John Candy. Bonnie: Helen Shaver. Scharfman: Don McGill.
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