''Cribb'' (''Sergeant Cribb'' in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
) is a television
police drama
The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the protagonist(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on eithe ...
, which debuted in 1979 as a 90-minute TV film from
Granada Television
ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...
in the United Kingdom. Later, thirteen 50-minute episodes were produced, which ran from 1980 to 1981.
Adapted from
Peter Lovesey
Peter (Harmer) Lovesey (born 1936), also known by his pen name Peter Lear, is a British writer of historical and contemporary detective novels and short stories. His best-known series characters are Sergeant Cribb, a Victorian-era police detec ...
's Sergeant Cribb
historical mystery
The historical mystery or historical whodunit is a subgenre of two literary genres, historical fiction and mystery fiction. These works are set in a time period considered historical from the author's perspective, and the central plot involves t ...
novels and set in
Victorian London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
around the time of the
Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer wa ...
murders in 1888,
Alan Dobie
Alan Russell Dobie (born 2 June 1932) is an English stage, television and film actor and a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Early life and career
Dobie was born in Wombwell, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, to George Russe ...
starred as the tough
Detective Sergeant
Sergeant (abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other uni ...
who worked for the newly formed
Criminal Investigation Department
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is the branch of a police force to which most plainclothes detectives belong in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth nations. A force's CID is distinct from its Special Branch (though officers of b ...
(CID), determined to remove crime from the streets of London using the latest detection methods.
The series portrayed life in Victorian England, and the programmes included many real historical events such as the publication of
Jerome K. Jerome
Jerome Klapka Jerome (2 May 1859 – 14 June 1927) was an English writer and humourist, best known for the comic travelogue ''Three Men in a Boat'' (1889). Other works include the essay collections '' Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow'' (1886) an ...
's ''
Three Men in a Boat
''Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog)'',The Penguin edition punctuates the title differently: ''Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog!'' published in 1889, is a humorous account by English writer Jerome K. Jerome of a tw ...
'' and the sale of
London Zoo
London Zoo, also known as ZSL London Zoo or London Zoological Gardens is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a collection for science, scientific study. In 1831 o ...
's famous elephant,
Jumbo
Jumbo (about December 25, 1860 – September 15, 1885), also known as Jumbo the Elephant and Jumbo the Circus Elephant, was a 19th-century male African bush elephant born in Sudan. Jumbo was exported to Jardin des Plantes, a zoo in Paris, and t ...
, to
Barnum and Bailey's Circus
The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (also known as the Ringling Bros. Circus, Ringling Bros., the Barnum & Bailey Circus, Barnum & Bailey, or simply Ringling) is an American traveling circus company billed as The Greatest Show on Ear ...
. The stories included issues such as bare-knuckle
prize fighting
Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...
,
spiritualism
Spiritualism is the metaphysical school of thought opposing physicalism and also is the category of all spiritual beliefs/views (in monism and dualism) from ancient to modern. In the long nineteenth century, Spiritualism (when not lowercase) ...
and
Irish terrorism. Assisting Cribb was
Detective Constable
A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal Police, law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Ot ...
Thackery, played by
William Simons
Clifford William Cumberbatch Simons (17 November 1940 – 21 June 2019) was a Welsh-born actor best known for his role as PC Alf Ventress in '' Heartbeat'', a role he played for 18 years, from 1992 to 2010.
Early life
Simons was born on 17 Novem ...
.
The 1979 pilot episode was entitled "Waxwork" and featured
Carol Royle
Carol Buchanan Royle (born 10 February 1954) is an English actress. She is best known for playing Jenny Russell in the BBC sitcom ''Life Without George'' (1987—1989) and Lady Patricia Brewster in '' Heartbeat'' (1997—2003).
Early life
Born ...
and
Susie Blake
Susie Blake (born 19 April 1950) is an English television, radio and stage actress.
She is best known for her portrayal of the snobbish TV announcer in '' Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV'' and Bev Unwin in ''Coronation Street'', which she played ...
and was produced and directed by
June Wyndham-Davies
June Wyndham Davies (born 27 June 1929) is a British television producer and director. For her work as Co-Producer (with Pippa Cross) of the film ''August'' starring, and directed by Sir Anthony Hopkins, she won the BAFTA Wales award for Best Dram ...
.
Main cast
*
Alan Dobie
Alan Russell Dobie (born 2 June 1932) is an English stage, television and film actor and a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Early life and career
Dobie was born in Wombwell, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, to George Russe ...
as Sergeant Daniel Cribb
*
William Simons
Clifford William Cumberbatch Simons (17 November 1940 – 21 June 2019) was a Welsh-born actor best known for his role as PC Alf Ventress in '' Heartbeat'', a role he played for 18 years, from 1992 to 2010.
Early life
Simons was born on 17 Novem ...
as Constable Edward Thackeray
*
David Waller
David Waller (27 November 1920 – 23 January 1997) was an English actor best known for his role as Inspector Jowett in the British television series ''Cribb''. He also appeared as Stanley Baldwin in ITV's ''Edward & Mrs Simpson'' (1978), and in ...
as Inspector Jowett
Episodes
Series 1
Series 2
DVD
''Cribb'' is available on
Region 2 DVD as a box set, distributed by
Acorn Media UK
RLJE International Ltd, d/b/a Acorn DVD, a British company that publishes and distributes DVDs, as well as selling home-video products and streaming videos with a particular focus on British television.
History
Launched in 1997, Acorn Media U. ...
. The series has been released in
Region 1 by BFS Video.
Radio dramatizations
Six of the stories from Series 1 have also been dramatized for radio by Geoffrey M Matthews as part of the
BBC ''Saturday Night Theatre'' strand.
References
External links
* {{IMDb title, 0080208
''Cribb'' on DVD Verdict
1970s British crime television series
1970s British drama television series
1970s British mystery television series
1979 British television series debuts
1980s British crime television series
1980s British drama television series
1980s British mystery television series
1981 British television series endings
English-language television shows
ITV television dramas
Television shows produced by Granada Television
Television series set in the 1880s
Television shows set in London