(Syndicated, 1953)
[For once the character actor who was master of the horror
film genre got a chance to play the pursuer rather than the
pursued in this series produced in Great Britain by ITV (known
as Independent Television) and Panda Productions, and
distributed by Official Films in the United States.
The series was based upon a mystery novel by the American
writer John Dickson Carr -- who wrote stories under the pen
names "Carter Dickson", "Carr Dickson" and "Roger Fairbaim"
during the 1930s through the 1970s.
His lead character, Colonel March, played by Boris Karloff
wore a distinctive eye-patch, and was in charge of the
Scotland Yard "Department of Queer Complaints" -- which
in those innocent times meant merely "unusual" complaints.
Dickson's source novel "Department of Queer Complaints"
which introduced Colonel March was published in 1940. A
motion picture starring Karloff had been produced in 1952
called "Colonel March Investigates" scored by John Lanchbery,
and the TV series was a natural spin-off the following year.]
[This is one of the few TV THEMEs heard on U.S. television
written by British film composer William Alwyn; many of the
episode scores for the series were written by Edwin Astley,
who later created themes for "The Saint", "The Baron",
"Buccaneer", "Seaway" and "Mark Saber of London"]
Composer: William Alwyn (ASCAP)
1978 Publisher: [listed without publisher in the 1978
ASCAP Index of Performed Compositions]
2001 Publisher: [listed without publisher in the 2001
ASCAP ACE database]
US Copyright Date:
US Renewal Date:
Recording: