| Boyd Q.C. | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Legal drama |
| Written by | Jack Roffey |
| Starring | Michael Denison Charles Leno |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 80 (66 missing, 5 incomplete) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Caryl Doncaster |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production company | Associated-Rediffusion |
| Original release | |
| Network | ITV |
| Release | 24 December 1956 (1956-12-24) – 23 September 1964 (1964-09-23) |
Boyd Q.C. is a British legal television programme transmitted from December 1956 to September 1964 by the ITV franchise holder Associated-Rediffusion. It focused around a barrister in a London courtroom and the cases in which he was involved. It ran for seven series in total.1
Cast
- Michael Denison – Richard Boyd Q.C.
- Russell Waters – Albert
- Charles Leno – Narrator
Reception
The show was reportedly so accurate that Denison was invited to speak at Law Society of England and Wales dinners.2
Archival status
Most of the series was lost. Of the eighty episodes produced, nine episodes survive as recordings; five others survive incomplete; and four have been rediscovered since 2022.3
In March 2022, "Sunday's Child", a missing episode from the fifth series, turned up on an eBay auction and sold for £310. It is unknown who the successful bidder was, or if the episode is being negotiated for return to the archives.4
On 16 September 2024, it was announced by the Film is Fabulous initiative that three episodes had been found in a private collection:
"The Balance of Her Mind" (Broadcast: 30 April 1958)
"Findings Keepings" (Broadcast: 6 July 1961)
"Sunday's Child" (Broadcast: 20 July 1961)
It is unknown whether the copy of "Sunday's Child" is the one from the aforementioned eBay listing.5 A fourth episode "Messing About In Boats" (Broadcast: 29/06/1961) has since been recovered.6
References
References
- Jeff Evans, The Penguin TV Companion (Penguin Books, 2001)
- Joseph, Michael (1980). 25 Years on ITV (PDF). London: Independent Television Books Ltd. p. 18. ISBN 0 900727 81 0. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
- Conflicting evidence. "thiswaydown.org". Archived from the original on 17 September 2013. is more pessimistic as to the survival rate than lostshows.com
- "Boyd Qc – Sundays Child – 1961 S5 Episode 9 16Mm B/W Sound 800Ft Cine Film Itv".
- "Boyd Q.C. Episodes Recovered!". Film is Fabulous. Retrieved 18 September 2024.
- https://filmisfabulous.org.uk/recapping-the-television-festival/