The Mind of Mr. J.G. Reeder

This light-hearted series from Thames Television, based on the short stories by Edgar Wallace, relates the adventures of an investigator in the Public Prosecutor's Office in the 1920s. Mr JG Reeder is the diametric opposite of Sam Spade, Philip Marlow and Mike Hammer. He is a shabbily dressed, diffident civil servant who prefers a cup of tea and a slice of seed cake to a shot of something stronger. Despite his outward appearance - of course - Reeder is a master detective with a razor sharp brain. In fact his mind gives him great cause for sorrow. He has, he claims, a criminal mind which allows him insight into motive and method denied to other men. These stories were well-presented (sadly in black and white) and Hugh Burden had the part of a life-time as Reeder, well supported by Willoughby Goddard as his expansive (in more ways than one) chief, Jason Toovey.