Classic ITV crime saga Gideon’s Way to air on Talking Pictures TV

Gideon’s Way starred John Gregson in the title role as Commander George Gideon of Scotland Yard with the ITC/ATV production running for twenty-six episodes as broadcast on ITV in 1965 and 1966.

The British television crime series was based on the novels by John Creasey – under the pen name of J. J. Marric and was produced at the Elstree Studios in twin production with Roger Moore’s The Saint television series, likewise, it was produced by Robert S. Baker.

Many well-known British actors appear in guest roles, including Keith Baxter, George Cole, Gordon Jackson, Ronald Lacey, Anton Rogers, Rosemary Leach, Richard Carpenter and John Hurt. There was also an early role for Donald Sutherland in the episode “The Millionaire’s Daughter”.

Daphne Anderson starred as Gideon’s wife, Kate and their three children were played by Giles Watling as younger son Malcolm, Richard James as elder son Matthew and Andrea Allan as daughter Pru. Unusually for police stories, Gideon was shown as a family man at home though urgent phone calls from his bosses tend to disrupt family plans too often. However, he did admit in the episode “State Visit,” that his wife had walked out on him for a while when he put the job first and her second.

There was extensive location shooting in mid-sixties London, giving an authentic view of London during that time and with fast-paced strong story lines, the series became very popular in its day. The show was broadcast in the United States under the title Gideon CID. There were different starting titles for the American series, showing incidents of violent crime while the British titles just introduced the main characters.

The theme music was composed by Edwin Astley, who would provide music and themes for many of the other ITC series’s such as Randall & Hopkirk Deceased, The Saint and The Baron.

Gideon’s Way will air weekdays from Monday 2nd April at 8pm on Talking Pictures TV. Sky 343 Freeview 81 Freesat 306 YouView 81 Virgin 445.