The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre

It was never a show! or a TV series! it was a cinema film series which was then sold to America as a TV series, and now everybody (for some reason) lists it as a TV series rather than a series of films!! But it was first released to British cinemas by Anglo-Amalgamated as second features between 1962-7, sometimes as a companion to the 'Carry-on' films. Most of the films are very enjoyable, as well as seeing actors like Steptoe & Son's Harry H. Corbett doing something totally different!, in his doing a straight role as a police inspector rather than his usual comedy or seeing Londoner Sir Michael Caine in 'Solo For Sparrow' (1962), with an Irish accent!! What else is new? These were over 30 features made for the 'Edgar Wallace' film series but then (for American TV) it was filled up to 50, so how many are true Edgar Wallace??? Writers like Richard Harris and Roger Marshall have said that none of the films were based on Edgar Wallace stories, but were all original in the same way as the colour series of 'The Saint' with Roger Moore that wasn't based on any Leslie Charteris' stories. It's also good to watch to see future stars at the start of their careers in small roles e.g. Wanda Ventham as a waitress in 'Solo For Sparrow' (1962), future 'Eastenders' and 'Carry On' star Barbara Windsor, as well as Kenneth Cope from 'Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)' and Barbara Shelly in 'Deathtrap' (1962) with Kenneth Cope again in 'Change Partners' (1965). Great to watch.

The Edgar Wallace mysteries were originally cinema second features, supporting the big films - then were sold to television much later. So now they are often thought of as a TV series.

Whatever they are, they are sometimes excellent, sometimes routine, the same as any other long running series. What they do have are interesting casts - many big names at the start of their careers such as Barry Foster, Michael Caine, Patrick Allen, Harry H Corbett. There is also a fabulous theme tune Man of Mystery written by Ron Goodwin and performed by The Shadows.

These mysteries are always watchable and as they run less than an hour they have both time to develop plot and characters, and not to outstay their welcome.

The Edgar Wallace mysteries series of TV programs shot by Merton Park films was much in the vein of the classic 'B' movies of the time.

That said, they are first class productions with many new actors coming through into the big time that would go on to greater things in the cast.

Michael Caine, John Thaw and many others would start here and become well known later in the decade and beyond.

The films fit a lot in to the hour duration and they are well worth watching for all the background scenery too, giving us a view of the nation at the time, now long gone. The scripts are well written and thought out.

Watch the background scenes and interior shots of the buildings to see how much these have changed in the last 60 years!

At the time of filming, the death penalty was still in force and it is surprising that like in real life, did not seem the deterrent that it should have been - reflected in the high body count overall in these films overall!

The catchy theme tune 'Man of mystery by Michael Carr, recorded by the Shadows in 1960, is used as the theme music for the films, although not performed by the Shadows and there are about 4 different versions of the music, the 3 guitar based ones are more in the Shadows style than the first.

You'll notice once you've seen a few of the films a lot of the same cars appearing in later episodes!

The films convey a Britain in the first modern decade after WW2, that would go on to change British society perhaps more than any since.

A great bit of nostalgia and well worth watching.

A series of films with clever plot twists, surprises and the best of British. Looked upon as a TV series, but these were low budget B movies.

The quality does vary somewhat, when they're good, they're great, and episodes such as Change Partners, Ricochet and Playback are all terrific thrillers.

Return to Sender and Locker 69 are the only real clunkers, but in a way, both are still fairly watchable. Sometimes the format did get a little repetitive, and I'd argue that on a few instances there was just a lack of variety.

Expect to see some wonderful, well known faces, the likes of John Thaw, Michael Gough, William Hartnell and of course Michael Caine. Two of my personal favourite performances come from Barry Forster and Kenneth Cope.

That simple, but effective opening sequence still looks great, and that accompanying music still sounds wonderfully haunting.

I love the visuals, the clothes, cars, interiors etc, one thing always gets me, just how busy The High Streets aleUs are.

I'm still struggling to track down The Malpas mystery, for some reason it just seems impossible to track down, one day.

8/10.

Not originally meant as a TV series, The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre was a series of B movies, the movies played second in a double feature. In this case the movies were all based on books by Edgar Wallace (surprise, surprise!).

The movies are all murder mysteries and generally involve your standard "murder committed (maybe with a bit of scene setting) - cops arrive and investigate - detective solves case" formula. There are a few exceptions (one of the best episodes has an insurance investigator as the detective).

The plots are pretty good. The murderer is generally not that predictable and there is a fair amount of intrigue, twists and turns. Performances are solid, even for minor characters, and the feel of the movies is one of quality.

However, the character engagement is quite limited. This isn't Poirot: there's no colourful recurring central character. Nearly every movie has a different bunch of characters, including the lead detective, and it's all straightforward, by-the-book policework. There's very little in the way of sub-plots or humour: it's all pretty dour.

Overall: interesting enough, but not brilliant.