The Fellows (1967)

Richard Vernon and Michael Aldridge star as Home Office-appointed criminologists in this clever, humorous and highly original Granada series. Devised and co-written by the award-winning Robin Chapman – the creator of the series’ famous prequel The Man in Room 17 – The Fellows charts the continuing work and often strained relationship of Room 17’s former occupants Oldenshaw and Dimmock. Now appointed to the Peel Research Fellowship at All Saints’ College, Cambridge, they no longer simply solve crimes, trap spies and hunt traitors; their new brief is to investigate the changing nature of crime, ultimately advising the police, legislature and government. But the familiar cat-and-mouse game with the criminal fraternity isn’t over yet, and and their ingeniously unorthodox tactics help to ensnare several lynchpins of organised crime – including infamous gangland boss Spindoe.