Paradise Walk

1 9 6 1 (UK)
4 x 30 minute episodes

This Sunday children’s serial from the BBC featured West Indian boy Sammy (Dudley Hunt) who came to live with his Uncle Josh (Errol John) – who worked for a garage and ran a youth club – and Aunt Jubilee (Gladys Taylor) in a large English city.

Sammy’s naive excitement at having arrived in this country meant he all too easily got involved with the unscrupulous Joe Cartwright (James Sharkey) who worked alongside his uncle in the garage.

Meanwhile, the garage owner’s stepson Ted Collis (Murray Melvin) was caught up in vandalism. Events escalated until Joe was shot and killed at the story’s close.

Set in the poorer parts of a city (with a lot of location filming) the story would have been very hard-hitting in its day, with the drama unfolding as if it were on most viewers’ doorsteps.

Aired in January and February 1961, Paradise Walk looked set to take BBC children’s drama into a new era, being very different from most output up to that time. But its realism was not really followed through until the 1970s.

Sammy
Dudley Hunt
Joshua Brown
Errol John
Aunt Jubilee
Gladys Taylor
Joe Cartwright
James Sharkey
Ted Collis
Murray Melvin
Old Hornpipe
Nigel Arkwright
Mr Collis
George A. Cooper
Jerry Collis
Stephen Portch
Tips
Neil Hunter
Smithy
Geremy Phillips