Portrait of Alison was a 1955 British television series featuring Patrick Barr

Patrick Barr

Patrick David Barr was a British film and television actor.Born in Akola, India, Patrick Barr went from stage to screen with The Merry Men of Sherwood . He spent the 1930s playing various beneficent authority figures and "reliable friend" types...

, Lockwood West

Lockwood West

Lockwood West was a British actor. He is the father of actor Timothy West and the grandfather of actor Samuel West....

, Anthony Nicholls

Anthony Nicholls (actor)

Anthony Nicholls was an English film, television, and stage actor.-Life and career:Nicholls was born Sydney Horace Nicholls on 16 October 1902 in Windsor, Berkshire, England, the son of Florence and photojournalist Horace Nicholls. He served in the Royal Artillery...

 and Brian Wilde

Brian Wilde

Brian George Wilde was an English actor, best known for his roles in television comedy, including Mr Barrowclough in Porridge and "Foggy" Dewhurst in Last of the Summer Wine...

. A crime-based thriller written by Francis Durbridge

Francis Durbridge

Francis Henry Durbridge was an English playwright and author. He was educated at Bradford Grammar School in Yorkshire where he was encouraged to write by his English teacher. He continued to do so whilst studying English at Birmingham University...

 it aired in six half-hour episodes between February and March 1955.

Film version

The same year as it's BBC airing, a feature film Portrait of Alison

Portrait of Alison

Portrait of Alison is a 1955 British crime film directed by Guy Green and starring Robert Beatty, Terry Moore, William Sylvester, Geoffrey Keen, Henry Oscar and Terence Alexander. An artist and actress join forces to solve a murder and confront a deadly diamond-smuggling ring. It was based on a BBC...

based on the series was released in cinemas starring Robert Beatty

Robert Beatty

Robert Beatty was a Canadian actor who worked in film, television and radio for most of his career and was especially known in the UK.-Career:Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Beatty began his acting career in Britain in 1939....

 and Terry Moore

Terry Moore (actress)

Helen Luella Koford , better known as Terry Moore, is an American actress. Terry Moore made her film debut at age 11 and grew up with all the icons of the Hollywood era that made Hollywood what it is today, also known as "The Golden Age of Hollywood". Moore is an Academy Award nominated actress...

. A similar cinematic release had followed a previous Durbridge serial A Broken Horseshoe in 1952.