The lost treasure of British TV: most episodes literally don't exist anymore.
Season 3 • Episode 10
LatestA BBC anthology series featuring adaptations of detective stories over 45 episodes in three seasons that ran from 1964 to 1969. As with many BBC programmes made before the early 1970s, many of its episodes no longer exist. Of the eighteen episodes from the first season only twelve are currently known to exist; likewise six of the sixteen editions from the second run are considered lost, and just one of the final ten survives in the archives.
Production
Live multi-camera BBC staging—no safety net, pure craft.
Writing
Adaptations of classic detective fiction, often by legendary authors.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The BBC's 'wiping' policy destroyed hundreds of 1960s programs; Detective is among the most decimated.
This series represents peak cozy British crime before gritty realism took over—think Miss Marple's world, not The Sweeney.
GB
