The Corridor People

The Corridor People
Genre	Thriller Surrealism
Created by	Edward Boyd
Directed by	David Boisseau
Starring	Gary Cockrell Alan Curtis William Maxwell John Sharp Elizabeth Shepherd
Theme music composer	Derek Hilton
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	4
Production
Producer	Richard Everitt
Camera setup	Multiple-camera setup
Running time	55 minutes
Production company	Granada
Original release
Network	ITV
Release	26 August (1966-08-26) – 16 September 1966 (1966-09-16)

The Corridor People was a 1966 British television series produced by Granada Television for the ITV network, directed by David Boisseau and devised and written by Edward Boyd. ^{[1] [2]}

A surreal black-and-white detective series, The Corridor People pitched security agent Kronk against exotic villainess Syrie Van Epp over the course of four 55-minute episodes ^[2] .

Cast

• Elizabeth Shepherd as Syrie Van Epp
• John Sharp as Kronk
• Gary Cockrell as Phil Scrotty
• Alan Curtis as Inspector Blood
• William Maxwell as Sergeant Hound
• Ian Trigger as Nonesuch
• Calvin Lockhart as Theobald Aboo

Episode list

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
1	"Victim as Birdwatcher"	David Boisseau	Eddie Boyd	26 August 1966 (1966-08-26)
Syrie Van Epp kidnaps an ornithologist in order to gain control of a company which produces a unique product.
2	"Victim as Whitebait"	David Boisseau	Eddie Boyd	2 September 1966 (1966-09-02)
Seeking to locate a reclusive accountant, Syrie Van Epp restores Phil Scrotty to life with the help of a disillusioned scientist (whom she later has killed). However, Scrotty, unreliable as ever, turns the tables and outwits everyone.
3	"Victim as Red"	David Boiseau	Eddie Boyd	9 September 1966 (1966-09-09)
Syrie Van Epp is keen to assist a man who remembers nothing except the phrase two million pounds. It is likely that there is a connection with a client of Scrotty's who has lost his amnesiac brother, yet the outcome is not what anyone expects.
4	"Victim as Black"	David Boiseau	Eddie Boyd	16 September 1966 (1966-09-16)
Queen Helena of Morphonia visits Britain in search of her idealistic son, who is searching for the commoner whom he fell in love with. Unsurprisingly, Syrie Van Epp has a hand in the mystery.

Reception

NostalgiaCentral.com described the series as "confusing, erudite, self-consciously absurd and packed with eccentric dialogue." ^[3]

Critic Kim Newman wrote: "In 1968, audiences were baffled (and enraged) by the final episodes of The Prisoner . Lord knows what they made of The Corridor People, a surreal spy/detective/fantasy series which Granada broadcast two years earlier. I’m fairly attuned to ‘weird’, and even I find this show, which lasted for just four episodes, unsettlingly strange. It’s hard to judge whether the series achieves precisely what it sets out to do, or just misses the mark as either spoof or serious thriller." ^[4]

Television Heaven wrote: "The Corridor People was very much a product of its televisual times, following in the footsteps of such contemporaries as The Avengers and Adam Adamant Lives!. However, unlike these more popular series this stylized swinging sixties Mystery/Detective/Thriller/Spy drama has failed to develop any long-term fan base or appreciation. Perhaps this was due to its limited run which prevented the building of a viewing base or perhaps it was just too off the wall and leftfield even for the psychedelic decade. The otherwise excellent book the Guinness Book of Classic Television describes the programme rather unfairly as "...the Twin Peaks of its day." ^[5]

Tise Vahimagi wrote in British Television: An Illustrated Guide: "The mid-1960s was the prime period for offbeat thrillers and send-up series and this comic-strip yet stylish four-part adventure was one of the weirder ones devised. ... Unfortunately, the series was too short to develop its own special audience in the cult style of The Avengers and Adam Adamant Lives!." ^[6]

Home media

The series was released on DVD in 2012 by Network, with the original 405-line video converted to 625-line.

References

1. John Finch, ed. (2003). Granada Television--The First Generation. Manchester University Press. p. 105. ISBN   9780719065156 . Retrieved 22 January 2019.
2. "The Corridor People". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 24 January 2026.
3. "Corridor People, The – Nostalgia Central". nostalgiacentral.com. 3 January 2017. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
4. Newman, Kim (5 March 2022). "TV review – The Corridor People (1966)". The Kim Newman Web Site. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
5. Marcus, Laurence. "The Corridor People". Television Heaven. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
6. Vahimagi, Tise (1994). British Television: An Illustrated Guide. British Film Institute/Oxford University Press. p. 147. ISBN   978-0198183365.

External links

• The Corridor People at IMDb