The Human Jungle

I don't recall seeing 'The Human Jungle' when it was originally shown on TV but its return on the excellent 'Talking Pictures' channel has provided much pleasure. In every respect, the production is very good, with credible storylines and characters, and crisp dialogue and photography. I have never found Herbert Lom to fail to deliver, whatever his role, and this is certainly no exception as he fits the part of Dr Roger Corder perfectly and acts it with aplomb. And he is invariably well-supported by the other actors, who are a veritable cornucopia of reliable stalwarts from the period - mostly well-recognised if not always easy to name. Fiction it is, but it is convincing as well as entertaining and it is perhaps a pity that Dr Corder is not in reality available for consultation - not that I am (yet) in need of psychiatric help!

I remember watching this series when I was a young boy. And I've always been dismayed that the series never made it to home video on either VHS, Laserdisc, or DVD. Fortunately, someone uploaded the entire two-season, 26-episode series in 480P to YouTube. And using Firefox download helper, I was able to download the entire series - which I'll shortly be converting to DVD format.

I've re-watched most of the episodes and am convinced this series was one of the best dramatic series of its time. That doesn't mean the content is always pleasing. In one episode, after his patient had undergone some drug therapy for an unreasonable fear of sunlight, Dr. Corder reassures his patient by telling him that "electro-shock therapy" will begin shortly. Yup, back in 1963, it was considered a viable treatment in the psychiatric community (now abandoned, thank goodness). But on the side of progressive thinking in a different episode, Dr. Corder didn't even bat an eyelash when a 62 year-old patient admitted that her guilt had come from a Lesbian attraction she experienced when she was younger. He treated her "guilt" as the problem, not her sexual orientation. And in 1963, the psychiatric community still considered homosexuality to be a mental disorder.

The writing was superb. The acting was superb. The settings and the stories were all very believable and, in many cases, riveting. You can't ask for much more than that in a dramatic series. If it's ever digitally remastered and released on DVD, I'll be one of the first people to buy it. Until then, I'll still enjoy the downloaded episodes on DVD - though some of them have a weathered look.

UPDATE!!! The complete series is being released on DVD but, so far, only in the U.K. The release is set for mid-June 2012.

Dated but enjoyable. Watched a few episodes and was unmoved, but stuck with it and was eventually drawn in by the interesting stories and generally great performances. It's a somewhat strange 1960s world, both familiar and alien to see. And I'm ready to to watch another episode and go back into that world.

I loved this series and would dearly like to see it again. I used to watch it every week without fail and was so disappointed when it finished.

I used to enjoy the twists and turns of each story and the guest actors were well chosen for their respective roles.

This is indeed for me one of the most memorable television series of the sixties.

As an aside Mary Yeomans who played Herbert Lom's secretary was the mother of a school friend of mine but I did not get to know her until after the series had finished which is such a pity.

Saw this - accidentally - on the Talking Pictures channel (old films, and TV from yesteryear). I was around in the early 60s, which this show dates from, but I don't remember it.

It seems a solid attempt to show a rather different sort of show, that early TV era had crime shows, and various dramas, but this seems to be an attempt to educate the public about mental health or psychiatric issues, rather ahead of its time?

The issues are put into some sort of drama, and played out, with Lom in the main role and lots of supporting talent.

It's not my subject matter, so I doubt I'll bother any more, but if nothing else it's a good look back at that era.

Oh, reviewer Gibbs says "Also don't talk about diversity - not a black actor in sight." . . .which may be one of the daftest comments on here, some achievement!

Back then, in the early 60s, most of the country had VERY FEW black people, in some country areas, a black face appeared about as often as Halley's Comet.