Q.E.D.

John Hawkesworth was one of the handful of geniuses the TV medium has produced. Together with Jean Marsh and Eileen Atkins, he fashioned one of the greatest TV dramas of all time, the ORIGINAL Upstairs/Downstairs. He also created some other terrific shows: theFlame Trees of Tika, The Dutchess OF Duke StreetBy The Sword Divided, and , of course, the superb Granada Sherlock Holmes.This is one of his best, and it is now almost forgotten and totally unavailable on DVD. Like The Wild Wild West and The Adventures of Brisco County Junior, it was that rarity, a "steampunk" Fantasy/adventure drama. Hawkesworth created it as a kind of Jules Verne/H.G. Wells flavored detective show. Sam Waterson was wonderful as the brilliant, eccentric, unlikable, "scientific detective" Quentin Edward Deverill, an American expatriate living in late Edwardian/Early Georgian England. Another influence on the show, which apparently no-one has mentioned, were the wonderful "Thinking Machine detective stories of Jacques Futrelle, with their brilliant, arrogant hero, Professor S.F.X Van Dusen. It sis truly sad that this series only lasted six episodes, and we never got to see him battle German spies during World War One.

I loved this series. I got the last episode on tape before I realized the series was long gone. I have regretted not taping the whole series so many times. I'd love to see it revived and get a chance to relive the plots over again. Where can I get a Boxed Set?? This was one program that would stand the test of time. It's a shame to let it go without giving the next generation a chance to see it. It had meat! Some series on TV now are so much air........QED was meat! It's hard to realize that Sam Waterston was the lead. Seeing him in his role of Jack McCoy is so different from the professor. Sam is one of my favorite actors and anything he does is something special.

I recall this running as a very limited series in my youth. It still seems magical, and in my memory the production values were spectacular. I've enjoyed a lot of the other work by the director. Interestingly enough, if you search for the tapes by their "Mastermind" title, you can sometimes find them on ebay. I hope to get a copy soon and provide a review based a on a viewing from the 21st century.

Everything I remember about it was excellent... great cast with Sam Waterston & George Innes (before he became more familiar to US audiences).... excellent scripts as only the English can do - Edwardian Sherlock Holmes/Lord Peter Wimsey/Albert Campion type mysteries, but with a Jules Verne twist. Sort of like MacGyver would have been had it been in England 80 years earlier... right at the beginning of the scientific/technological revolution of the 20th century.

I've often wondered if the creators of MacGyver saw these shows. MacGyver first aired about 3 years later.

I still have 1 episode on a much deteriorated tape.

QED was shown on daytime ITV or Channel Four (Ulster Television area) and I remember that episode plots revolved around Deverill thwarting the untimely use of anachronistic inventions: one of the stories saw him trying to stop the use of an atomic missile in 1912! I can only think of 'Wild Wild West' being anywhere like this series in content, but QED had a decidedly British flavour and humour to it, even with the American actor Sam Waterston in the lead. His was a thoroughly enjoyable, frenetic presentation of a not altogether appealing character. Exciting and funny, 'QED' was cult viewing and is long overdue reappraisal. Perhaps it was scheduling, or the then current trend for 'A-Team' pseudo-violence that left this series on the shelf? Either way, it was a real showcase for Sam Waterston, whose performance might surprise those more acquainted with him in 'I'll Fly Away' or 'Law and Order.' Very definitely on my 'must get' DVD list - when that is possible - and a 'must see' if you like 'Wild Wild West' or 'Doctor Who.'