The
lowdown: 'Dial 999' is a British police drama featuring
Robert Beatty as Detective Inspector Mike Maguire, a Canadian
policeman who has been attached
to Scotland Yard to learn about British police methods. One season of 39
episodes were
made, and the series was
broadcast on ITV1 in 1958-59. It was a British-US co-production, and presumably
the producers
hoped to sell it to the
North American market. The series looks very dated today, and its 25-minute
format provides little time
for character development.
However, it still has appeal for viewers who enjoy seeing how British cop
shows used to be made.
The
episode: '50,000 Hands' was
the 16th episode of the series, and was first broadcast on 13 December
1958. The story
involves the hunt for two
armed robbers who hold up a factory. Jeff Richards (William Hartnell) is
shot during the robbery, and
his partner Jack Bingham
(Bill Fraser) calls an ambulance when it becomes clear that Richards cannot
be moved without
assistance. Bingham steals
the ambulance and the two escape into the countryside, where they are seen
by a tramp (who
is played by Patrick Troughton
in an uncredited role. Maguire finds the tramp stealing blankets from the
ambulance, and takes
him to the police station
for further questioning. However, the tramp is released without charge,
but the police put a tail on him
in case he knows more about
the robbers than he is telling (the tramp character is not seen after this).
Meanwhile, Bingham
and the wounded Richards
hole up in a small country town called Lexford. The police have one of
the perpetrators' fingerprints,
so DI Maguire proposes to
take the fingerprints of all 25,000 residents of the town (hence the episode
title). Under British law
people are not obliged to
give their fingerprints, although Maguire correctly surmises that most
will be willing to co-operate in
order to clear their name.
Bingham gets his wife to pretend that Richards is her husband, so the police
will take his fingerprints
rather than Bingham's. However, Bingham had forgotten that he took his
gloves off at a hospital where he stole some morphine
for Richards (strangling
a nurse in the process), and the police quickly close in.
Video clip:
The tramp 8.1mb |
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