Superintendent/Commander George Gideon of

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

is a fictional policeman who appeared in 26 police procedural novels, 21 of which were written by

John Creasey John Creasey (17 September 1908 – 9 June 1973) was an English crime writer, also writing science fiction, romance and western novels, who wrote more than six hundred novels using twenty-eight different pseudonyms. He created several charac ...

under the pseudonym J.J. Marric, and published between 1955 and 1976. Portraying Gideon as a master balancing the management of cases and the workings of law enforcement, it has been considered his "most famous police procedural series". After Creasey's death, the series was continued in five further novels by William Vivian Butler.

Anthony Boucher William Anthony Parker White (August 21, 1911 – April 29, 1968), better known by his pen name Anthony Boucher (), was an American author, critic, and editor who wrote several classic mystery novels, short stories, science fiction, and radio d ...

of the '' New York Times Book Review'' considered the first of the books, ''Gideon's Day'' (1955), to be author's best book. H. R. F. Keating, reviewer for the ''

London Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (f ...

'' picked ''Gideon's Week'' (1956) as one of the "100 Best Crime and Mystery Books" (1845-1986). ''Gideon's Fire'' (1962) won the

Edgar Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

from the

Mystery Writers of America Mystery Writers of America (MWA) is an organization of mystery and crime writers, based in New York City. The organization was founded in 1945 by Clayton Rawson, Anthony Boucher, Lawrence Treat, and Brett Halliday. It presents the Edgar Award ...

The character

George Gideon ("G.G." or "Gee-Gee" to coppers and crooks alike) is powerfully built but has a gentle voice. He has pale-blue eyes. He is famed for his prodigious feats of memory and his ability to handle a bewildering work-load of cases simultaneously. Despite his seniority in rank, Gideon often takes a hands-on approach and on occasions physically engages with criminals. He is respected and liked by his staff - but they know to keep their heads down when his temper is aroused. In the first novel, ''

Gideon's Day ''Gideon's Day'' is the first in a series of police procedural novels by John Creasey writing as J.J. Marric. Published in 1955, it features a day in the professional life of Detective Superintendent George Gideon of the C.I.D., Scotland ...

'' he holds the rank of Detective

Superintendent Superintendent may refer to: *Superintendent (police), Superintendent of Police (SP), or Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), a police rank *Prison warden or Superintendent, a prison administrator *Superintendent (ecclesiastical), a church exec ...

, but in the second ''Gideon's Week'', he has been promoted to

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

, and is the operational head of the Yard's entire

CID CID may refer to: Film * ''C.I.D.'' (1955 film), an Indian Malayalam film * ''C.I.D.'' (1956 film), an Indian Hindi film * ''C. I. D.'' (1965 film), an Indian Telugu film * ''C.I.D.'' (1990 film), an Indian Hindi film Television * ''CID'' ( ...

, a position he holds for the rest of the series. One of Creasey's technical advisers for the series was Commander George Hatherill, who had organized the British Army's

Special Investigation Branch Special Investigation Branch (SIB) was the name given to the detective branches of all three British military police arms: the Royal Navy Police, Royal Military Police and Royal Air Force Police. It was most closely associated with the Royal M ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and was the operational head of the Yard's CID from 1954 until 1964 (the same position Gideon held in fiction) during which time he was awarded the OBE. Hatherill is generally believed to have been Creasey's model for Gideon.

Family

Throughout the series, Marric emphasizes the pressure experienced by police families due to the demands of police work, and the impact of distress in the family on the ability to work. Gideon is married to Kate, and has six surviving children. Their relationship has been strained by the loss of a seventh child while Gideon was on the

Flying Squad The Flying Squad is a branch of the Serious and Organised Crime Command within London's Metropolitan Police Service. It is also known as the Robbery Squad, Specialist Crime Directorate 7, SC&O7 and SO7. It is nicknamed The Sweeney, an abbreviat ...

(prior to the start of the series). In ''Gideon's Day '', the first book in the series, the children are described as Tom (age 26); Prudence (18+), Priscilla (15+), Matthew (14), Penelope (12), and Malcolm (8). The oldest children are self-supporting; the younger ones in school. As the series progresses, the children train for careers, move out, and marry. Family relationships are usually mentioned only briefly, to establish a time frame or as they relate to or affect Gideon's work. Penny, the Gideons' youngest daughter, is mentioned most frequently, in part because of her on-and-off relationship with an older police officer, Alec Hobbs. In ''Gideon's Wrath'' (1967) Alec Hobbs' first wife Helen dies, around the time that Hobbs becomes Gideon's deputy. In ''Gideon's River'' (1968) Hobbs escorts Penelope to the river gala, accompanying Gideon and Kate. In ''Gideon's Way'', written by William Vivian Butler and published in 1983, Alec and Penny are married and have a son, George. The number of children was trimmed in the TV series.

Film and TV

In ''

'' (1958, directed by

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...

, USA title: ''Gideon Of Scotland Yard''), Gideon is played by

Jack Hawkins John Edward Hawkins, CBE (14 September 1910 – 18 July 1973) was an English actor who worked on stage and in film from the 1930s until the 1970s. One of the most popular British film stars of the 1950s, he was known for his portrayal of mil ...

. The co-stars were

Anna Lee Anna Lee, MBE (born Joan Boniface Winnifrith; 2 January 1913 – 14 May 2004) was a British actress, labelled by studios "The British Bombshell". Early life Anna Lee was born Joan Boniface Winnifrith in Ightham, (pronounced 'Item'), Kent, th ...

(Kate Gideon), Dianne Foster (Joanna Delafield), Ronald Howard (Paul Delafield),

Cyril Cusack Cyril James Cusack (26 November 1910 – 7 October 1993) was an Irish stage and screen actor with a career that spanned more than 70 years. During his lifetime, he was considered one of Ireland’s finest thespians, and was renowned for his in ...

(Birdy Sparrow), and

Andrew Ray Andrew Ray (31 May 193920 August 2003) was an English actor who was best known as a child star. Biography He was born Andrew Olden (Ray was his father's stage name) in Southgate, Middlesex, the son of the radio comic Ted Ray and his wife, sh ...

(PC Simon Farnaby-Green). The film was released by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

and is only loosely based on the book of the same title. Ford treats it as a comedy-melodrama, whereas the book is a more serious and straightforward procedural. A 26-part TV series ''

Gideon's Way ''Gideon's Way'' is a British television crime series made by ITC Entertainment and broadcast by ITV in 1964–1966, based on novels by John Creasey (writing as 'J. J. Marric'). The series was made at Elstree Studios in twin production with ' ...

'' (USA title: ''Gideon C.I.D.'') was made in 1964, starring

John Gregson Harold Thomas Gregson (15 March 1919 – 8 January 1975), known professionally as John Gregson, was an English actor of stage, television and film, with 40 credited film roles. He was best known for his crime drama and comedy roles. He was cr ...

, which ran until 1966 in the UK, produced by

ITC Entertainment The Incorporated Television Company (ITC), or ITC Entertainment as it was referred to in the United States, was a British company involved in production and distribution of television programmes. History Incorporated Television Programme Compan ...

Bibliography

# ''

'' (1955) # ''Gideon's Week'' (1956) # ''Gideon's Night'' (1957) # ''Gideon's Month'' (1958) # ''Gideon's Staff'' (1959) # ''Gideon's Risk'' (1960) # ''Gideon's Fire'' (1961) # ''Gideon's March'' (1962) # ''Gideon's Ride'' (1963) # ''Gideon's Vote'' (1964) # ''Gideon's Lot'' (1965) # ''Gideon's Badge'' (1966) # '' Gideon's Wrath'' (1967) # ''Gideon's River'' (1968) # ''Gideon's Power'' (1969) # ''Gideon's Sport'' (1970) # ''Gideon's Art'' (1971) # ''Gideon's Men'' (1972) # ''Gideon's Press'' (1973) # ''Gideon's Fog'' (1975) # ''Gideon's Drive'' (1976) ''Gideon at Work'' (1957) Three Volumes in one, ''Gideon's Day'', ''Gideon's Week'', ''Gideon's Night'' The series was continued after Creasey's death by William Vivian Butler: * ''Gideon's Force'' (1978) * ''Gideon's Law'' (1981) * ''Gideon's Way'' (1983) * ''Gideon's Raid'' (1986) * ''Gideon's Fear'' (1990)

Gideon's staff and family

References

External links

John Creasey presentation by copyright owner Owatonna Media
Retrieved 2012-06-13 * {{Authority control Fictional British police detectives Crime novel series John Creasey characters Fictional English people Literary characters introduced in 1955 Characters in British novels of the 20th century