Probation Officer (TV series)

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Probation Officer
Probation Officer (TV series).jpg
GenreDrama
Written by Julian Bond
Peter Yeldham
Phillip Grenville Mann
Directed by Peter Sasdy
Christopher Morahan
Royston Morley
Josephine Douglas
Starring John Paul
John Scott
Jessica Spencer
David Davies
Henry Oscar
A. J. Brown
Jack Stewart
Humphrey Heathcote
Derek Benfield [1]
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series4
No. of episodes109
Production
ProducersAntony Kearey
Rex Firkin
Running time60 minutes
Production company Associated Television
Original release
Network ITV
Release14 September 1959 (1959-09-14) 
14 September 1962 (1962-09-14)

Probation Officer was a British TV series that ran from 1959-62 about probation officers. [2] It was made by Associated Television and starred John Paul, Jessica Spencer, David Davies and John Scott. [3] [4] Other actors who appeared in the series include Henry Oscar, Honor Blackman, Windsor Davies and Billy Milton. [5]

Contents

It was created by Julian Bond and was the first ever one-hour TV drama to screen on ITV. [6] Bond spent months researching the show from real life cases. [7]

Cast

Archive status and home media

Like many British TV series of the same vintage, the archive holdings of Probation Officer are incomplete, with approximately three-quarters of the episodes missing.

In 2017 Network DVD release "Volume One" containing twelve extant episodes from the first series (1-3, 5-8, 13-16 & 22 - #8 is missing one courtroom scene) as a three DVD boxset. No further releases followed.

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References

  1. "Probation Officer (1959-1962)".
  2. Marcus, Laurence (December 2000). "Probation Officer". Television Heaven.
  3. "Probation Officer[12/09/60] (1960)". BFI. Archived from the original on 2 June 2021.
  4. "Probation Officer[30/11/1959] (1959)". BFI. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020.
  5. "Probation Officer[31/08/62] (1962)". BFI. Archived from the original on 30 November 2020.
  6. "Probation Officer – Series One, Episode Two". 24 December 2016.
  7. Probation Office at UK TV Index Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  8. "Probation Officer (1959-1962)".