Charlie Chan

The New Adventures of Charlie Chan

1957 - United Kingdom

Earl DerrBiggers' character, Charlie Chan, was allegedly based on true-life detective Chang Apana, and had for many years appeared in numerous cinema versions. However, he'd been away from our screens for fourteen years when this series of 39 half-hour TV episodes were made (the first five of which were filmed in the USA). 

In this series J. Carrol Naish starred as the Chinese proverb-quoting detective, father to many children, although aided here by 'Number-One Son', Barry Chan (James Hong). Charlie, now retired, had moved to London and, now slimmer and more advanced in years, was hoping to retire from a life of crime solving. No luck there, then. 

In this series he was helped further by two British detectives, Inspector Marlowe (Hugh Williams) and Inspector Duff (Rupert Davies, who would later star in the title role of another famous fictional detective series, Maigret). Also making early TV appearances as guest cast were Honor Blackman, Francis Matthews, Raymond Francis, William Franklyn, Leonard Sachs and Patrick Troughton.

Published on January 11th, 2019. Written by Noel Onely for Television Heaven.

Read Next...

The Black and White Minstrel Show

A firm Saturday night favourite for many years The Black and White Minstrel Show, a mixture of American deep South music previously popularised by internationally famous vaudeville stars such as the great Al Jolson.

Also released in 1957

Sherlock Holmes

Baker Street's famous detective starring Douglas Wilmer was slightly inclined towards the comedic...

Also tagged Detective Series

The Adventures of Long John Silver

Australian series filmed in colour but only available to the UK viewing public of 1957 in black and white, The Adventures of Long John Silver was based very loosely on Robert Louis Stevenson's 1883 novel Treasure Island.

Also released in 1957

Redcap

John Thaw starred as a Military Police Officer who investigated troops accused of crimes ranging from murder to desertion.

Also tagged Detective Series

Lord Peter Wimsey

A British 'Toff' uses his appearance as an upper-class twit to outwit his adversaries.

Also tagged Detective Series

Judge Dee TV series

Ancient Chinese detective stories written in English by a modern Dutch diplomat.

Also tagged Detective Series

Casey Jones

Popular Western series for kids that was made along similar lines to The Lone Ranger, The Cisco Kid and other successfully syndicated US shows of the late 1950's.

Also released in 1957