The Expert

The first episode in a three-part story. A series of murders in the area involves Dr. Hardy deeply. Each crime is similar to the last. One person must have committed them; but who? With the few indefinite clues available, Dr. Hardy tries to build up a picture of this paranoiac killer to give the police some indication of the type of person to look for. One more attack takes place, but this time the victim survives. A suspect is arrested, but the surviving victim has amnesia, through shock. She is the only person who can make a positive identification. Guest stars Harry Beety, Louise Pajo, Geoffrey Palmer and Neil McCallum.

The second part of this three-part story. The suspect has been detained for questioning. Dr. Hardy is working in his laboratory trying to piece together the burnt fragments of a scrap of paper found in the man's room. Jo Hardy has been asked to try to break the surviving victim's amnesia by hypnosis. Witnesses are being interrogated by the police. The suspect is being questioned at length. The case builds up around him. He is held on a minor charge. The evidence collected strengthens the case against him. But nothing can be certain until the verdict is given at the conclusion of the trial. Next week's concluding episode deals with the trial of the suspect. Guest stars Harry Beety, Geoffrey Palmer, Arnold Peters and Neil McCallum.

Martin Ingram, who has been arrested for assaulting Vivien, stands trial for his alleged crime. He is defended by a brilliant woman Q.C. The main action in this episode takes place in the court and the result of the trial remains in doubt until almost the last moment. Guest stars Harry Beety, Geoffrey Palmer, Fulton Mackay, Alan MacNaughtan and Neil McCallum.

A smashed lock, a bloodstained jacket, a drifting boat...and a takeover bid. Dr. Hardy accepts a case, which takes him out of his own exact world of scientific evidence and into the speculative world of finance. And yet, even in strange waters, with the aid of a few bright feathers and silk thread he solves the mystery of a disappearing man. Guest stars Peter Barkworth, Jean Marsh, Basil Henson, Eric Dodson, Timothy Bateson and Glyn Owen.

When violent death strikes down a pretty farm girl, Dr. Hardy and Inspector Fleming come up against a wall of reserve. Overshadowing everything is the domineering father. Persistence at last brings Dr. Hardy to a 'not inconsiderable suspicion' of the killer's identity. But proof... Guest stars Ray Brooks, Margaret Courtenay, Peter Welch, Brian Cant, John Tate, Michael Forrest and Paul Grist.

Illegitimate babies present problems. Bringing one up in an atmosphere of disapproval can be harder than the alternative. To some, the decision is easy; a matter of practical common sense. To others it's life and death. Guest stars Leon Eagles, Reg Lye and Angela Pleasence.

A man is found guilty of murdering his wife and sentenced to life imprisonment – could he be innocent? Unquestionably, the facts prove him guilty. Or do they? Guest stars Bernard Kay, Colette O'Neil, Christopher Robbie, Dominic Allan, John Levene, Bernard G. High, Philip Ryan, David Simeon and Dave Carter.

Estate Duties – a curse to be avoided? When a businessman is found drowned it could mean ruin for his family. Guest stars Geoffrey Chater, Gabrielle Daye, Peter Howell, Catherine Lacey and Hildegard Neil.

That little Lucille died a violent death was certain; how she died was more obscure. Dr. Hardy's painstaking research and insistence on accuracy finally establishes the truth but sometimes emotions are stronger than scientific evidence the unreasoning heart of man overrules his head. Guest stars Gillian Bailey, Michael Gwynn, Glyn Houston, Graham Weston, Frederick Hall and Mark Heath.

Protection: you can refuse to pay, you can go to the police for their protection – or you can stand the risk yourself. Guest stars Sam Kydd, George Sewell, Anthony Valentine and Reg Lever.

A grocer, Harry Kirby, lies dead – poisoned, electrocuted, and gassed. If suicide can be established, surely this is gilding the lily. Why was a large sum of money found laid out neatly beside the body? And if it wasn't suicide, how did he die? Guest stars Bernard Lee, Lee Montague and Wanda Ventham.

An old man relies upon his daughter to look after him during convalescence but she has her own life to lead. Guest stars Sandra Bryant, James Laurenson, Ralph Michael, Alethea Charlton, Nicholas Evans and Patrick Tull.

A hospital ward is destroyed by fire. Could it be deliberate – and if so, who would want to burn down a hospital and why? Guest stars Geoffrey Bayldon, Clifford Mollison, Tim Preece, Nicolette Pendrell and Barbara Leake.

A tightening of the chest, a sudden convulsion. Only the heels and head touching the floor. Like a bow. Face muscles tightening, eyes staring, teeth clenched, lips pulled back into a sardonic smile. The classic symptoms of strychnine poisoning. When a wealthy landowner dies after eating a trout, freshly caught, the question is who poisoned him? And how? Guest stars Brian Oulton, Amanda Walker, Robert Hartley and Bill McGuirk.

When Jo Hardy's car is run off the road by a lorry it may be that the driver is guilty of dangerous driving. But when Dr. John Hardy receives a letter threatening his wife's life and demanding that he changes his evidence in an important murder trial, it can be seen as a technique of persuasion. Hardy refuses to be suborned but it is at the risk of his wife's life. Guest stars John Bailey, Kenneth Farrington and Anthony Valentine.

Dr. Hardy is involved in tracing a ruthless psychotic killer who is employed by the accused in an attempt to suborn witnesses. He is determined to give his evidence, but the police issue firearms to protect his life. Guest stars John Bailey, Kenneth Farrington and Anthony Valentine.

A doctor may reasonably diagnose a brain tumour as the cause of death of his first wife. But when his second wife dies in similar circumstances and both are known to have been wealthy women, questions are asked. Guest stars Leo Genn, Michael Sheard, Roy Spencer, Brian Peck, Edward Kelsey and John Livesey.

A woman lies dead in a country road, apparently the victim of a hit-and-run driver. But something doesn't quite fit. She lived in the town. Why would she be in the country at that time – in those shoes? And what about the tyre marks? Guest stars Meg Wynn Owen, Michael Sheard, Brian Peck, Alan Bennion, Clifford Cox and Jon Croft.

A man is shot three times in front of witnesses. When the police arrive there is no body. Has he been shot? Is he really dead? Guest stars Lyndon Brook, Sylvia Kay, Beatrix Lehmann, John Nettles, Roddy McMillan and Edward Brayshaw.

Eddie, a pensioner, spends much of his time in a betting shop working out his half-crown accumulators. After a win of forty pounds he is found strangled in his own home. His grandson, who lived with him, is missing. Would the boy murder his own grandfather? Why is he trying to leave the country with forty pounds in his pocket? Guest stars Kenneth Colley, Glyn Jones, Daphne Heard, Paddy Joyce and Jay Neill.

While its owner is on holiday an abandoned dog wanders the streets and becomes savage, causing the death of a derelict meths-drinker. Could there be some similarity in the lives of man and dog? Have they both experienced a loss they cannot understand? Guest stars Raymond Adamson, John Bryans, Derrick O'Connor, Jimmy Gardner, Norman Henry, Peter Ducrow and Gordon Richardson.

A clear straight road; a dry morning; a good car. Why should a businessman crash into a bridge support at 80 mph? Why are there no skid marks? When the post-mortem reveals him to have died as a result of the impact, and not from physical causes, and the car is found to be mechanically sound – what other reason could there be for the accident? Or was it an accident? Guest stars Petra Markham and Simon Oates.

Drug addiction is an increasing problem in our society. In the first episode of a two-part story, the hopelessness of the addict is matched against the efforts of doctors to control the terrible effect of the drug. Guest stars Tom Chadbon, Moray Watson, David Hargreaves and Edward Kelsey.

It is said that drug addicts make poor parents. How do a young couple, both of whom are addicts, cope with attending to the needs of their small baby? How does one begin to take drugs in the first place? Should a drug addict marry? The harsh realism of these two episodes owes a great deal to the painstaking, and often painful, research done by the producer, director, and scriptwriter in the twilight world of London's drug addicts – a world where people are middle-aged at 20 and dead by 30. Guest stars Tom Chadbon, Moray Watson, Frances White, David Hargreaves and Edward Kelsey.

Once a man suspects that his 10-year-old son is not in fact his, he cannot rest until he has discovered the truth. Guest stars William Lucas, Ann Lynn and Dudley Foster.

Threatening suicide is often a cry for help, sometimes that cry is heeded, sometimes assistance is too late. Guest stars James Bree, Mary Merrall and Jay Neill.