Gideon of Scotland Yard
Encyclopedia
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
is a fictional policeman created by John Creasey
John Creasey
John Creasey MBE was an English crime and science fiction writer. The author of more than 600 novels, he published them using 28 different pseudonyms, including Anthony Morton, Michael Halliday, Kyle Hunt, J.J. Marric, Jeremy York, Richard Martin, Peter Manton, Norman Deane, Gordon Ashe, Henry St...
under the pseudonym J.J. Marric. He appeared in the first of 26 police procedural
Police procedural
The police procedural is a subgenre of detective fiction which attempts to convincingly depict the activities of a police force as they investigate crimes. While traditional detective novels usually concentrate on a single crime, police procedurals frequently depict investigations into several...
novels by Creasey, Gideon's Day, in 1955.
The character
Gideon, G.G. or Gee-Gee to coppers and crooks alike, is powerfully built but has a gentle voice. He has pale-blue eyes. He is famed for his prodigious feats of memory and his ability to handle a bewildering work-load of cases simultaneously. Despite his seniority in rank, Gideon often takes a hands-on approach and on occasions physically engages with criminals. He is universally loved and respected by his staff - but they know to avoid him when his temper is aroused.Family
He is married to Kate. When we first meet Gideon, this relationship is strained by the relatively recent loss of a child - but the Gideons' marriage survives. George and Kate have six surviving children (in the books - the number being trimmed in the TV series). Penny, their youngest, marries Alec Hobbs, Gideon's deputy and a widower. By the time Gideon's Way was published (1983), Alec and Penny have a son, George.Film and TV
In Gideon's DayGideon's Day (film)
Gideon's Day is a 1958 British crime film directed by John Ford and starring Jack Hawkins, Dianne Foster and Cyril Cusack. An adaptation of John Creasey's novel of the same name it is the first film to feature the character George Gideon of Scotland Yard, here played by Jack Hawkins. A police...
(1958, directed by John Ford
John Ford
John Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
, USA title: Gideon Of Scotland Yard), Gideon is played by Jack Hawkins
Jack Hawkins
Colonel John Edward "Jack" Hawkins CBE was an English actor of the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s.-Career:Hawkins was born at Lyndhurst Road, Wood Green, Middlesex, the son of master builder Thomas George Hawkins and his wife, Phoebe née Goodman. The youngest of four children in a close-knit family,...
. The co-stars were Dianne Foster,
Cyril Cusack, and Andrew Ray
Andrew Ray
Andrew Ray was an English actor who was best known as a child star.He was born Andrew Olden , in North London, the son of the famous radio comic Ted Ray and his wife, showgirl Dorothy...
. The film was released by Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
.
A 26-part TV series Gideon's Way
Gideon's Way
Gideon's Way is a British television crime series made by ITC Entertainment in 1964/65, based on the novels by John Creasey . The series was made at Elstree in twin production with The Saint TV series...
(USA title: Gideon C.I.D.) was made in 1964, starring John Gregson
John Gregson
John Gregson was an English actor.He was born Harold Thomas Gregson, of Irish descent, and grew up in Wavertree, Liverpool, where he was educated at Greenbank Road primary school, later St Francis Xavier School...
, which ran until 1966 in the UK, produced by ITC Entertainment
ITC Entertainment
The Incorporated Television Company was a British television company largely involved in production and distribution. It was founded by Lew Grade.-History:...
.
External links
FIT TO BE TIED by Graham Andrews (CLOSE-UP ON:GIDEON'S DAY/GIDEON OF SCOTLAND YARD, by J.J. Marric (John Creasey)) http://www.shotsmag.co.uk/SHOTS%2016/MARRIC/marric.htm