1 9 6 8 (UK)
25 x 60 minute episodes
An ITV spin-off from It’s Dark Outside (1964), which was itself a spin-off from The Odd Man (1962).
Scotland Yard’s Chief Inspector Rose, portrayed by the charismatic William Mervyn (All Gas and Gaiters), emerges from a restless retirement to take on a further series of cases.
Retirement has given Mr Rose the time not only to cultivate a cottage garden in Eastbourne but also to write his memoirs.
And it’s the impending publication of those memoirs that brings a number of figures crawling out of the woodwork and back into his life: criminals and former colleagues alike, who know that his vast personal library of case files holds a wealth of incriminating detail.
Time may have mellowed Rose, but he’s as sharp as ever as he sets about a succession of new investigations with customary aplomb and evident relish.
Gillian Lewis plays Rose’s beautiful secretary, Drusilla Lamb, and Donald Webster his enigmatic manservant, former detective John Halifax.
Drusilla was later replaced by Jessica Dalton (Jennifer Clulow), and Robert Trent (Eric Woolfe) became Rose’s sidekick in the last series.
Guest stars include Terence Alexander, Allan Cuthbertson, John Le Mesurier and Barrie Ingham.
Rose
William Mervyn
Drusilla Lamb
Gillian Lewis
John Halifax
Donald Webster
Jessica Dalton
Jennifer Clulow
Robert Trent
Eric Woolfe
