The Human Jungle (TV series)

This article is about the British TV series. For the 1954 film of the same name, see The Human Jungle (film).

The Human Jungle
Genre	Drama
Created by	Ronald J. Kahn
Starring	Herbert Lom
Theme music composer	Bernard Ebbinghouse; played by John Barry and his Orchestra
Composer	Bernard Ebbinghouse
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	26 (list of episodes)
Production
Producers	Julian Wintle Leslie Parkyn
Cinematography	Bert Mason
Running time	49-51 minutes
Production company	Independent Artists for ABC Television
Original release
Network	ITV
Release	30 March 1963 (1963-03-30) – 13 May 1965 (1965-05-13)

The Human Jungle is a British TV series about a psychiatrist, made for ABC Television by the small production company Independent Artists, for transmission on ITV. Starring Herbert Lom, it ran for two series, which were first transmitted during 1963 and 1965.

Outline

The majority of the episodes (26 x 50mins) each focused on one patient, whose psychological ailment Dr Corder would treat using a humane yet idiosyncratic approach that mixed Freudian psychoanalysis with the contemporary methods associated with the then-fashionable theories of R. D. Laing. Several psychiatric techniques, such as word association, group work, role-play and hypnotherapy, were featured in the series. Because of the demands of the 50-minute television episode, it was often suggested that Corder would continue to see his patient after the denouement. Frequently, Corder's initial patient in a story would turn out not to be the character with the pressing mental health issue.

Cast and characters

• Herbert Lom as Dr Roger Corder M.D., D.P.M, who sees patients in his consulting room at 162 Harley Street and at the local (fictional) St Damian's Hospital
• Michael Johnson as Dr Jimmy Davis, junior colleague
• Sally Smith as Corder's headstrong teenage daughter Jennifer, whose mother, we are told, was killed in a car accident
• Mary Yeomans as his secretary, Nancy Hamilton
• Mary Steele as his personal assistant, Jane Harris

Production notes

The series was created by Ronald J. Kahn, credited on screen as 'assistant to the producers', and produced by Julian Wintle and Leslie Parkyn.

The theme music was composed by Bernard Ebbinghouse, and arranged and recorded by John Barry and his Orchestra.

A number of high-profile guest stars appeared in his surgery or as hospital patients, including Joan Collins, Margaret Lockwood, Flora Robson, Roger Livesey, Rita Tushingham and André Morell.

The first series was filmed at Beaconsfield Studios, which closed down shortly after production ended; the second series was undertaken at Elstree Studios, owned by ABC Television's parent company Associated British Picture Corporation.

The script editor was John Kruse. The advisor on psychiatric content was Dr Hugh L. Freeman, on behalf of the National Association for Mental Health (now Mind).

Episode list

Series one

Airdate is for ABC Weekend Television. ITV regions varied date and order. Episode order is given as per Network DVD.

Episode No.		Title	Directed by	Written by	Original airdate
1	TBA	"The Vacant Chair"	James Hill	Bill MacIlwraith	30 March 1963 (1963-03-30)
Stars Ronald Leigh-Hunt, Lloyd Lamble, Keith Pyott, Geoffrey Palmer, Edward Evans, Hamilton Dyce and Jonathan Burn
2	TBA	"The Flip Side Man"	Sydney A. Hayers	Robert Stewart	6 April 1963 (1963-04-06)
Stars Jess Conrad and Michael Ripper
3	TBA	"Run with the Devil"	Vernon Sewell	David T Chantler, John Kruse (story)	13 April 1963 (1963-04-13)
Stars Derek Farr, Jenny Laird, Andree Melly, Walter Hudd and Harry Fowler
4	TBA	"Thin Ice"	John Ainsworth	Bill MacIlwraith, Robert Stewart (story)	20 April 1963 (1963-04-20)
Guest stars Janina Faye, George A. Cooper and Cyril Chamberlain
5	TBA	"The Lost Hours"	John Ainsworth	John Kruse	27 April 1963 (1963-04-27)
Stars Leonard Sachs, Ursula Howells, Frank Jarvis, Larry Martyn, Stacy Davies and June Murphy
6	TBA	"A Friend of the Sergeant Major"	Don Sharp	Lewis Davidson	4 May 1963 (1963-05-04)
Stars Alfred Burke, Richard Leech, Cavan Kendall, John Harvey and Steven Scott
7	TBA	"14 Ghosts"	Sydney A. Hayers	Leo Leiberman	11 May 1963 (1963-05-11)
Stars Avice Landon, André Morell, Justine Lord, William Marlowe, Peter Bathurst and Bernard Davies
8	TBA	"Fine Feathers"	Vernon Sewell	Robert Stewart	18 May 1963 (1963-05-18)
Stars Jane Merrow and Philip Gilbert
9	TBA	"The Wall"	James Hill	John Kruse	25 May 1963 (1963-05-25)
Stars Jeremy Spenser, Catherine Feller, Blake Butler, Arnold Diamond, Rosamund Greenwood and Hana Maria Pravda
10	TBA	"A Woman with Scars"	James Hill	Robert Stewart	1 June 1963 (1963-06-01)
Stars Jeanne Moody, Frank Lawton, John Glyn-Jones, Rosalie Crutchley and Robin Hughes
11	TBA	"Time-Check"	Alan Cooke	Lewis Davidson	8 June 1963 (1963-06-08)
Stars Melvyn Hayes, Gerald James, Fabia Drake, Warren Mitchell, John Arnatt, Douglas Blackwell and Mitzi Rogers
12	TBA	"The Two Edged Sword"	Vernon Sewell	Bill MacIlwraith	15 June 1963 (1963-06-15)
Stars Susan Burnet, Pauline Yates, Frederick Piper, Beatrice Varley, William Kendall, Roger Delgado and Glynn Edwards
13	TBA	"Over and Out"	Vernon Sewell	John Kruse, Lewis Davidson (story)	22 June 1963 (1963-06-22)
Stars Ian Bannen, Eddie Byrne, Zena Marshall, June Barry, John Boxer, Simon Lack and Gerald Andersen

Series two

Airdate is for Associated-Rediffusion. ITV regions varied date and order. ABC Weekend Television was broadcast two days later. Order as the Network DVD.

Episode No.		Title	Directed by	Written by	Original airdate
1	TBA	"Struggle for a Mind"	Sydney A. Hayers	John Kruse	18 February 1965 (1965-02-18)
Stars Joan Collins, Clifford Evans, Derek Godfrey and Margaret Whiting
2	TBA	"Success Machine"	Sydney A. Hayers	John Kruse	25 February 1965 (1965-02-25)
Stars Edward Judd, Sylvia Syms, Harold Goldblatt, Jack Smethurst, Philip Latham, Ruth Trouncer and Wanda Ventham
3	TBA	"The 24-Hour Man"	Robert Day	Robert Stewart	4 March 1965 (1965-03-04)
Stars Johnny Sekka, Dolores Mantez, Inigo Jackson, Donald Morley, Frank Coda and Mark Lester
4	TBA	"Solo Performance"	Roy Baker	Bill MacIlwraith	11 March 1965 (1965-03-11)
Stars Margaret Lockwood, James Villiers, Rona Anderson, Terence Brook and Malcolm Tierney
5	TBA	"Ring of Hate"	Charles Crichton	John Kruse, Leo Lieberman (story)	18 March 1965 (1965-03-18)
Stars Dudley Sutton Bernard Lee, Francis Matthews, Walter Gotell, Jimmy Gardner, Peter Diamond
6	TBA	"Conscience on a Rack"	Roy Baker	Bill MacIlwraith	25 March 1965 (1965-03-25)
Stars Flora Robson, Megs Jenkins, Ronald Hines and Adrienne Posta
7	TBA	"The Quick and the Dead"	Roy Baker	John Kruse	1 April 1965 (1965-04-01)
Stars Richard Johnson, Robert Beatty, Andrew Keir, David McAlister and Moray Watson
8	TBA	"The Man Who Fell Apart"	Roy Baker	John Kruse	8 April 1965 (1965-04-08)
Stars Rita Tushingham, Barbara Shelley, Alan Dobie, Patrick O'Connell, Griffith Davies
9	TBA	"Dual Control"	Roy Baker	Anne Francis	15 April 1965 (1965-04-15)
Stars Peggy Cummins, Dennis Price, Annette Andre, Rona Anderson and Yvonne Antrobus
10	TBA	"Skeleton in the Cupboard"	Roy Baker	Bill MacIlwraith	22 April 1965 (1965-04-22)
Stars Roger Livesey, Ann Firbank, Allan Cuthbertson, Russell Waters and Donald Pickering
11	TBA	"Wild Goose Chase"	Vernon Sewell	Marc Brandel	29 April 1965 (1965-04-29)
Stars Francesca Annis, Vladek Sheybal, Faith Brook, Gary Watson, Aimée Delamain and Tony Steedman
12	TBA	"Enemy Outside"	Roy Baker	Bill MacIlwraith	6 May 1965 (1965-05-06)
Guest star Avis Bunnage, Barbara Ferris and Rona Anderson
13	TBA	"Heartbeats in a Tin Box"	Roy Baker	Robert Stewart	13 May 1965 (1965-05-13)
Stars Susan George, Gerald Harper, Ray McAnally, John Junkin, Donald Eccles, Tenniel Evans and Arnold Ridley

DVD

The complete series was released during November 2012 as a 7 DVD (Region 2) boxset with accompanying series guide by Andrew Pixley.

External links

• The Human Jungle at the BFI's Screenonline
• The Human Jungle at IMDb