Cribb is a television police drama which debuted in 1979 as a 90-minute TV film from Granada Television

Granada Television

Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....

 in the UK. Later, thirteen 50-minute episodes were produced, which ran from 1980-81.

Adapted from Peter Lovesey's

Peter Lovesey

Peter Lovesey is a British writer of historical and contemporary crime novels and short stories. His best-known series characters are Sergeant Cribb, a Victorian-era police detective based in London, and Peter Diamond, a modern-day police detective in Bath...

 Sergeant Cribb novels and set in Victorian

Victorian era

The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

 London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 around the time of the Jack the Ripper

Jack the Ripper

"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...

 murders in 1888, Alan Dobie

Alan Dobie

Alan Russell Dobie , is a British actor.Dobie was born in Wombwell, Yorkshire, England, to George Russell and Sarah Kate Dobie. His father was a mining engineer and his mother's family were farmers. He was married to actress Rachel Roberts from 1955-61 then married Maureen Scott in 1963...

 starred as the tough Detective Sergeant who worked for the newly formed Criminal Investigation Department

Criminal Investigation Department

The Crime Investigation Department is the branch of all Territorial police forces within the British Police and many other Commonwealth police forces, to which plain clothes detectives belong. It is thus distinct from the Uniformed Branch and the Special Branch.The Metropolitan Police Service CID,...

 (CID), determined to remove crime from the streets of London using the latest detection methods.

The series portrayed life in Victorian England, and the programmes included many real historical events such as the publication of Jerome K. Jerome's

Jerome K. Jerome

Jerome Klapka Jerome was an English writer and humorist, best known for the humorous travelogue Three Men in a Boat.Jerome was born in Caldmore, Walsall, England, and was brought up in poverty in London...

 Three Men in a Boat

Three Men in a Boat

Three Men in a Boat ,The Penguin edition punctuates the title differently: Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog! published in 1889, is a humorous account by Jerome K...

and the sale of London Zoo's

London Zoo

London Zoo is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a collection for scientific study. It was eventually opened to the public in 1847...

 famous elephant, Jumbo

Jumbo

Jumbo was a large African Bush Elephant, born 1861 in the French Sudan – present-day Mali – imported to a Paris zoo, transferred to the London Zoo in 1865, and sold in 1882 to P. T...

, to Barnum and Bailey's Circus. The stories included issues such as bare-knuckle prize fighting, spiritualism

Spiritualism

Spiritualism is a belief system or religion, postulating the belief that spirits of the dead residing in the spirit world have both the ability and the inclination to communicate with the living...

 and Irish terrorism

Fenian

The Fenians , both the Fenian Brotherhood and Irish Republican Brotherhood , were fraternal organisations dedicated to the establishment of an independent Irish Republic in the 19th and early 20th century. The name "Fenians" was first applied by John O'Mahony to the members of the Irish republican...

. Assisting Cribb was Detective Constable

Constable

A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions.-Etymology:...

 Thackery, played by William Simons

William Simons

William Simons is a Welsh actor, born in Swansea on 17 November 1940.He started acting as a child. But, he is best known for his role as Yorkshireman PC Alf Ventress in Heartbeat, a part he played for its entire 18-year run....

.

The 1979 pilot episode was entitled Waxwork and featured Carol Royle

Carol Royle

Carol Royle is an English television actress.Royle was born in Blackpool and studied drama at the Central School of Speech and Drama. She is probably best known for her leading role as Jenny Russell alongside Simon Cadell in the BBC sitcom Life Without George which ran for three series from 1987...

 and Susie Blake

Susie Blake

Susie Blake is a British actress.-Personal life:Blake trained at the Arts Educational School and LAMDA in London. She is the granddaughter of the actress Annette Mills and a great - niece of the actor Sir John Mills...

 and was produced and directed by June Wyndham-Davies

June Wyndham-Davies

June Wyndham-Davies is a British television producer and director.-Selected filmography:Producer* Send in the Girls* The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes* CribbDirector* Crown Court* Heidi* Pollyanna-References:...

.

Main cast

• Alan Dobie
  Alan Dobie
  Alan Russell Dobie , is a British actor.Dobie was born in Wombwell, Yorkshire, England, to George Russell and Sarah Kate Dobie. His father was a mining engineer and his mother's family were farmers. He was married to actress Rachel Roberts from 1955-61 then married Maureen Scott in 1963...
  
   - Sergeant Cribb
• William Simons
  William Simons
  William Simons is a Welsh actor, born in Swansea on 17 November 1940.He started acting as a child. But, he is best known for his role as Yorkshireman PC Alf Ventress in Heartbeat, a part he played for its entire 18-year run....
  
   - Constable Thackeray
• David Waller
  David Waller
  David Waller was an English actor best known for his role as Inspector Jowett in the British television series Cribb...
  
   - Inspector Jowett

Series 1

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Episode #	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original airdate

Series 2

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Episode #	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original airdate

DVD

Cribb is available on Region 2 DVD as a box set, distributed by Acorn Media UK

Acorn Media UK

Acorn Media UK is a DVD publisher which distributes and sells home video products with a particular focus on British television.- Company history :The company was founded in 1997 when Lesley Fromant set up a branch of parent company Acorn Media in the UK....

. The series has been released in Region 1 by BFS Video.