''The Man in Room 17'' is a British television series which ran for two series in the mid-1960s, produced by the northern weekday ITV franchise, Granada Television. Key to the series' success was the involvement of writer/producer

Robin Chapman Robin John Chapman (18 January 1933 – 29 July 2020) was an English novelist, playwright and screenwriter. Early life Chapman was born in Croydon, Surrey. He was educated at Selhurst Grammar School (later Selhurst High School) and Christ' ...

Overview

The show was set in Room 17 of the Department of Social Research, where former wartime agent-turned-criminologist Edwin Oldenshaw (

Richard Vernon Richard Evelyn Vernon (7 March 1925 – 4 December 1997) was a British actor. He appeared in many feature films and television programmes, often in aristocratic or supercilious roles. Prematurely balding and greying, Vernon settled into playi ...

) solved difficult police cases through theory and discussions with his assistant (originally Ian Dimmock (

Michael Aldridge Michael William ffolliott Aldridge (9 September 1920 – 10 January 1994) was an English actor. He was known for playing Seymour Utterthwaite in the television series ''Last of the Summer Wine'' from 1986 to 1990 and he had a long career as a ...

), later succeeded by Imlac Defraits (

Denholm Elliott Denholm Mitchell Elliott, (31 May 1922 – 6 October 1992) was an English actor, with more than 125 film and television credits. His well-known roles include the abortionist in '' Alfie'' (1966), Marcus Brody in ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' (19 ...

), owing to Aldridge becoming ill). (The characters of Dimmock and Defraits may have been given the same initials to continue a play on words. Oldenshaw was sometimes identified as Edwin G. Oldenshaw. In the last episode, Oldenshaw and Defraits are in a park, feeding waterfowl, and the camera zooms in on their briefcases, bearing their initials: E.G.O. and I.D.). The novelty of the series was that Oldenshaw and his colleagues never needed to leave their office in order to resolve cases, preferring to spend their time playing the board game of Go. They simply provided their prognosis and left the police to do the cleaning up. Different directors were often appointed to film the Room 17 and outside-world scenes independently, to maintain a sense of distance between the two worlds. The rarefied nature of Oldenshaw's work was amplified in 1967 when he returned, re-united with Dimmock, in a new series, ''The Fellows (Late of Room 17)''. This series saw the pair relocated to All Saints College,

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

, where they were appointed to the Peel Research Fellowship. Their research was (as it is stated in the series) "to investigate the general proposition that, in a period of rapid social change, the nature of crime (and therefore criminals) would change". Their research led them into encounters (though never physical) with gangland boss Alec Spindoe (

Ray McAnally Ray McAnally (30 March 1926 – 15 June 1989) was an Irish actor. He was the recipient of three BAFTA Awards in the late 1980s: two BAFTA Film Awards for Best Supporting Actor (for ''The Mission'' in 1986 and ''My Left Foot'' in 1989), and ...

), who eventually ended up behind bars thanks, unknown to Spindoe, to psychological pressure from Oldenshaw. The Spindoe character was to return in his own series, ''

Spindoe ''Spindoe'' is a British television series shown on ITV in the spring of 1968. It was named after the lead character, Alec Spindoe, a South London gangster; the plot of the series showed how Spindoe re-established his gangland empire after he ha ...

'' in 1968, which charted his attempts to regain his criminal empire after release from prison. An episode of ''The Man in Room 17'' - the series 2 opener 'How to Rob Bank - And Get Away with it' was released on DVD in 2007 as a bonus feature for the complete series box set of

Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) ''Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)'' is a British private detective television series, starring Mike Pratt and Kenneth Cope respectively as the private detectives Jeff Randall and Marty Hopkirk. The series was created by Dennis Spooner and p ...

. The episode featured a guest role for R&H(D) star Mike Pratt. A solitary episode of The Fellows was released on DVD in 2007 as part of a set from Network DVD dedicated to the work of

and featuring ''

'' and his later gangster series '' Big Breadwinner Hog''. The first series of ''The Man in Room 17'' was released on DVD in the United Kingdom on 17 June 2013. The second series was released on 3 March 2014. ''The Fellows (late of Room 17)'' was released on 1 July 2013.

Recurring cast

The Man in Room 17

*Edwin Oldenshaw —

*Ian Dimmock —

, series 1 *Imlac Defraits —

, series 2 *Sir Geoffrey Norton —

Willoughby Goddard Willoughby Wittenham Rees Goddard (4 July 1926 – 11 April 2008) was an English actor whose trademark rotund figure was well known on television and in films for more than 40 years. Biography Goddard was born in Bicester, Oxfordshire. He p ...

*Tracey Peverill — Amber Kammer, series 2 *Hatton — Michael Gover, series 2

The Fellows (Late of Room 17)

*Edwin Oldenshaw —

*Ian Dimmock —

*Mrs Hollinczech — Jill Booty *Thomas Anthem —

James Ottaway William Cecil James Ottaway (25 July 1908 – 16 June 1999) was a British film, television and stage actor whose career spanned seven decades.Michael Turner *Det. Sgt Phillips —

Clifford Cocks Clifford Christopher Cocks (born 28 December 1950) is a British mathematician and cryptographer. In 1973, while working at the United Kingdom Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), he invented a public-key cryptography algorithm equiv ...

*Alec Spindoe —

*Fletcher —

Ray Lonnen Raymond Stanley Lonnen (18 May 1940 – 11 July 2014) was an English stage and television actor. His most prominent roles include Willie Caine in the ITV cult classic Cold War-era spy drama series, ''The Sandbaggers'' (1978–80), and also as ...

*Astley —

Allan Cuthbertson Allan Darling Cuthbertson (7 April 1920 – 8 February 1988) was an Australian-born British actor. He was best known for playing stern-faced military officers in British films of the 1950s and 1960s. Early life Cuthbertson was born in Perth, ...

*Gerry —

Edward Atienza Edward Atienza (27 January 1924 – 16 September 2014) was a British stage and film actor. He made his first London theatre appearance in the role of Mole in ''Toad of Toad Hall'' at the Prince's Theatre. Biography Edward Atienza was born in 1 ...

*Sherratt —

Roy Marsden Roy Marsden (born Roy Anthony Mould; 25 June 1941) is an English actor who portrayed Adam Dalgliesh in the Anglia Television dramatisations (1983–1998) of P. D. James's detective novels, and Neil Burnside in the spy drama ''The Sandbagg ...

Episodes

The Man in Room 17

Series 1 *11 Jun 65 — Tell the Truth *18 Jun 65 — Hello, Lazarus *25 Jun 65 — The Years Of Glory *2 Jul 65 — Confidential Report *9 Jul 65 — The Millions Of Mazafariyah *16 Jul 65 — The Seat Of Power *23 Jul 65 — Safe Conduct *30 Jul 65 — A Minor Operation *6 Aug 65 — Find the Lady *13 Aug 65 — The Bequest *20 Aug 65 — Up Against a Brick Wall *27 Aug 65 — Out for a Duck *3 Sep 65 — Black Anniversary Series 2 *8 Apr 66 — How to Rob a Bank - and Get Away with It *15 Apr 66 — Vendetta *22 Apr 66 — The Black Witch *29 Apr 66 — First Steal Six Eggs *6 May 66 — The Catacombs *13 May 66 — Where There's Will *20 May 66 — The Fissile Missile Makers *27 May 66 — The Goddess of Love *3 Jun 66 — Undue Influence *10 Jun 66 — Lady Luck's No Gentleman *17 Jun 66 — The Standard *24 Jun 66 — Saints Are Safer Dead *1 Jul 66 — Never Fall Down

The Fellows (Late of Room 17)

*15 May 67 — Episode 1 *22 May 67 — Episode 2 *30 May 67 — Episode 3 *5 Jun 67 — Episode 4 *12 Jun 67 — Episode 5 *19 Jun 67 — Episode 6 *26 Jun 67 — Episode 7 *7 Jul 67 — Episode 8 *14 Jul 67 — Episode 9 *21 Jul 67 — Episode 10 *28 Jul 67 — Episode 11 *4 Aug 67 — Episode 12 *11 Aug 67 — Episode 13

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Man In Room 17, The 1960s British drama television series ITV television dramas Television shows produced by Granada Television English-language television shows Detective television series