Public Eye (partially found ITV drama series; 1965-1968)

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Pelogo.png

Title logo used in the first series.

Status: Partially Found


Public Eye was a drama series produced by ABC Television and later Thames Television for ITV that ran for 7 consecutive series between January 23rd, 1965 and April 7th, 1975 starring Alfred Burke as down-at-heel inquiry agent Frank Marker, with the show depicting the numerous cases he would undertake.

Availability

While the latter 4 series produced by Thames Television between 1969 and 1975 remain intact in the archives with all episodes from these surviving, the first 3 series produced by ABC Television between 1965 and 1968 have been badly affected by wiping, with only 5 of the 41 episodes produced by ABC surviving in full.

In 1989, a 16mm film copy of the Series 2 episode "Don't Forget You're Mine" was discovered at Pinewood Studios by Chris Perry of the TV preservation group Kaleidoscope when investigating the holdings of Weintraub Entertainment Group, the then-owners of the ABC archive. [1]

In addition to the 5 episodes that exist in full, a 5-minute clip from the otherwise missing Series 3 episode "It Must Be the Architecture - Can't Be the Climate" was discovered on an ABC promotional tape recovered during the 1990s. [2] This clip along with the 5 surviving ABC episodes was released on the "Public Eye: The ABC Years" DVD in 2012.

4 episodes from Series 2 also exist as complete audio recordings along with a short audio extract from the episode "Tell Me About the Crab". Of these only a restored version of the audio recording of "Twenty Pounds of Heart and Muscle" has been made publicly available as of 2024, being included as a bonus feature on the "Public Eye: The Complete 1971 Series" DVD in 2005. [3]

The final missing episode, the 3rd series finale "Cross That Palm When We Come To It", notable as the episode where Frank Marker is wrongly imprisoned on a charge of handling stolen property, was adapted as a novelization in 1974 by Audley Southcott, whose book also adapts the events of the surviving fourth series. [4]

Episode List

Series 1

Episode Title Airdate Status
1 “All For A Couple Of Ponies” 23 January 1965 Lost
2 “Nobody Kills Santa Claus” 30 January 1965 Found
3 “They Go Off In The End - Like Fruit” 6 February 1965 Lost
4 “Dig You Later” 13 February 1965 Lost
5 “I Went To Borrow A Pencil And Look What I Found” 20 February 1965 Lost
6 “But The Joneses Never Get Letters” 27 February 1965 Lost
7 “A Harsh World For Zealots” 6 March 1965 Lost
8 “And A Very Fine Fiddle Has He” 13 March 1965 Lost
9 “My Life, That's A Marriage” 20 March 1965 Lost
10 “You Think It’ll Be Marvellous – But It’s Always A Rabbit” 27 March 1965 Lost
11 “Protection Is A Man's Best Friend” 3 April 1965 Lost
12 “The Morning Wasn't So Hot” 10 April 1965 Found
13 “You Should Hear Me Eat Soup” 17 April 1965 Lost
14 “You Have To Draw The Line Somewhere” 24 April 1965 Lost
15 “Have It On The House” 1 May 1965 Lost

Series 2

Episode Title Airdate Status
1 “All The Black Dresses She Wants” 27 June 1966 Lost
2 “Don't Forget You're Mine” 4 July 1966 Found
3 “I Could Set It To Music” 11 July 1966 Lost
4 “It's A Terrible Way To Be” 18 July 1966 Lost
5 “You Can Keep The Medal” 25 July 1966 Lost
6 “You're Not Cinderella, Are You?” 5 August 1966 Lost
7 “Works With Chess, Not With Life” 12 August 1966 Found
8 “It Had To Be A Mouse” 19 August 1966 Lost
9 “Tell Me About The Crab” 26 August 1966 Partially Found
10 “No, No, Nothing Like That” 2 September 1966 Partially Found
11 “There Are More Things In Heaven And Earth” 9 September 1966 Partially Found
12 “Twenty Pounds Of Heart And Muscle” 16 September 1966 Partially Found
13 “What's The Matter? Can't You Take A Sick Joke?” 23 September 1966 Partially Found

Series 3

Episode Title Airdate Status
1 “If This Is Lucky, I'd Rather Be Jonah” 20 January 1968 Lost
2 “But What Good Will The Truth Do?” 27 January 1968 Lost
3 “Memories Of Meg” 3 February 1968 Lost
4 “Have Mud, Will Throw” 10 February 1968 Lost
5 “But They Always Come Back For Tea” 17 February 1968 Lost
6 “Mercury In An Off-White Mac” 24 February 1968 Lost
7 “Strictly Private And Confidential” 2 March 1968 Lost
8 “Honesty Is The Best Policy - But Who Can Afford The Premiums” 9 March 1968 Lost
9 “The Bromsgrove Venus” 16 March 1968 Found
10 “It Must Be The Architecture - Can't Be The Climate” 23 March 1968 Partially Found
11 “It's Learning About The Lies That Hurts” 30 March 1968 Lost
12 “There's No Future In Monkey Business” 6 April 1968 Lost
13 “Cross That Palm When We Come To It” 13 April 1968 Lost

External Links

References