A Case for Dr. Morelle was a 13-episode series which ran weekly in 1957 on the BBC Light Programme from April 23 to July 16. According to the author Ernest Dudley, the character of Dr. Morelle began life in 1940 during the World War Two air raids, as he was trying to think up a different kind of detective while also providing a comic role for the actress Jane Grahame, who was also his wife.
The result, originally heard on the radio show Monday Night at Eight, involved the acerbic criminal psychologist Dr. Morelle and his eager but less than helpful secretary Miss Frayle. In the 1957 series, Dr. Morelle was played by the English comic actor Cecil Parker and Sheila Sim played the long-suffering and devoted Miss Frayle. In addition to radio plays, Dudley wrote a stage play as well as a number of novels and short stories featuring these characters.
Audiences loved the opinionated and eccentric Morelle, whose disdain for his loyal secretary was an extension of his general lack of regard for humanity. Unlike Sherlock Holmes, who based his analysis on physical clues left at the scene of the crime, Morelle generally conducted his investigations via a series of interviews, although he sometimes included physical evidence in his analysis. He used his knowledge of criminal psychology to determine which of the suspects fit the psychological profile of the criminal. Often during the story, Miss Frayle would irritate the doctor by interrupting him as he was conducting an experiment or testing some scientific theory. His solutions to the crimes - whether murder, blackmail, larceny or some other crime - were always based on psychology.
Valentine Dyall as Doctor Morelle
Peter Drury as Peter Lorrimer
Hugh Griffith as Bensall, the butler
Julia Lang as Miss Frayle
Jean Lodge as Cynthia Mason
Philip Leaver as Samuel Kimber
Sidney Vivian as Inspector
James Raglan
Bruce Walker
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