The Expert

A forensic expert can become involved in crime in many ways. Often he will act for the police, but there are times when he can be called in by other interested parties. Dr. John Hardy is no exception and even when he has no particular liking for the people employing him he will always ferret out the facts. When these facts do not prove to be advantageous to his clients he can find himself in a difficult position. Troubles arise when Dr. Hardy discovers the 'unknown factor'. Three bullets, a dead man and £50,000 in insurance – this is the background to this intriguing opening case.

When Penny Goodwin shoots her husband in cold blood, there appears to be no motive. This is the most difficult and at the same time the easiest of murders to deal with. Penny Goodwin has murdered her husband – that is a clear fact. Why she has killed him is far from clear. When Hardy starts an investigation for the defence, he uncovers a most ingenious plot, which even Chief Inspector Fleming will not believe. Guest star David Langton, Robert James and Edward Dentith.

The actual causes of death and even the accurate timing of the death can be essential to a defence in a trial. Dr. Hardy is confronted with just such problems and is convinced that he can get any serious charge against his client thrown out of court. In a tense trial scene Hardy appears as the expert witness for the defence and finds himself opposed by his former professor.

Miss Daley has given up working as a solicitor's secretary because her old boss is leaving. When she finds out that he is still with the firm she becomes very ill. She goes to see Jo Hardy about her collapse and tells Jo that she is convinced she has heart trouble. Unfortunately, Miss Daley trails trouble after her, and Jo soon finds that there is very much more to this case than meets the eye. Guest stars Rachel Kempson, Colin Douglas, Kenneth Farrington, Zohra Sehgal and Edward Kelsey.

A girl is assaulted in a park and the only witness is her young daughter. The police are certain they know who did it, but the girl cannot identify the man in an identity parade. Hardy sees her domineering mother-in-law and her ineffectual husband, but gets no help from either of them. It is only when Inspector Fleming arrives at his laboratory that the pieces begin to fall into place. Guest stars Rebecca Saire, Gary Watson, Mike Lucas and Gary Smith.

Mr. Toller is a man of immense personal ability. A self-made man who has no time for the weak or the idle. A man without humour. A man indeed who creates hatred. Jo Hardy is treating Toller for some inexplicable illness. The patient makes it no easier for Jo by his overbearing arrogance but she patiently tries to diagnose what is causing his illness, which becomes more and more serious. Guest stars Peter Vaughan and Gilbert Wynne.

When a woman is found dead in the early morning by the side of a railway line Hardy is brought in to help the police with their investigations. The woman has been murdered, and as they piece together a picture of the man, the police and Hardy realise that they have a dangerous psychopath loose in their area. Dead women, trains, wedding rings, a lipstick, and a glove are all links in this macabre investigation. Guest star Joby Blanshard, Alethea Charlton and Michael Hawkins.

An old man dies. It is only when his housekeeper returns some unused tablets to the chemist that any sort of suspicion clouds the issue. Hardy is brought in to conduct various tests and he questions the principals in the case. The conclusion he reaches is arrived at only after he has very carefully weighed up all the factors in the case, and even so his decision is a surprise. Guest stars Lewis Fiander, Brian Oulton and Reginald Barratt.

A man falls overboard from a ship arriving in the estuary near Hull. He is washed ashore dead. Because of injuries sustained in the water he is unrecognisable. It's amazing how a single situation like this can lead on to the most complex crimes. The most careful planning can go awry so easily, and only an expert can interpret the facts with which he is presented. Guest stars Barry Creyton, Harold Goodwin, Peter Madden, Michael Brennan, Alan Tilvern, Tony Caunter, Reg Pritchard and Brian Badcoe.

When a safe is blown and the job has all the trademarks of a known criminal it seems reasonable for the police to pull in that man for questioning. Fleming finds himself in this position but in pulling two men in for the crime he seems to forget that he needs concrete information that will pin the crime on them both. With Hardy working for the other side, Fleming gets into deeper and deeper water. Guest stars David Langton, Olaf Pooley, Clive Swift and Jimmy Gardner.

The death of small children is always tragic. The tragedy is increased by unspoken prejudices and the possibility that one of the parents may be to blame. Guest stars Kenneth Colley and Zia Mohyeddin.

The Hardys are enjoying the peace of a perfect English summer evening. Then the quiet is shattered by the noise of a shotgun. Later a man is brought to Dr. Jo Hardy's surgery. He has been peppered with shotgun pellets. The wounds are not fatal but John Hardy decides that this is a case for the police. Could it be attempted murder? Someone is either a dangerous lunatic, or a man with a grudge, or a very twisted sense of humour. It proves a most puzzling case for Fleming and Hardy but one, which has its lighter side. Guest stars Derek Benfield, Iain Anders, Donald Bisset, Edward Evans, Geoffrey Hinsliff, John Rolfe, John Baddeley and Frederick Treves.

A drunken driver is responsible for the death of his brother-in-law and business partner and for the death of the driver of the second car involved in the accident. But when Hardy comes into the investigation, a number of factors emerge which point away from its being the driver's responsibility. Who is guilty of the deaths? Hardy's concern for the facts leads to an exciting conclusion. Guest stars Geoffrey Chater, Tom Chatto, John Nettleton, John Stratton, Del Henney, David Hargreaves and Jim McManus.