Enter Victorian London to get on the case with Cork and Marriott

Sue Wilkinson investigates rediscovered gem

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When Talking Pictures TV trumpeted the channel was reshowing Sergeant Cork - a series 'unseen for decades' - I thought, unsually for someone who loves vintage television, "Never heard of it.

I got on the case, looking through my television, annuals, books and encyclopaedia. Why use 'Google' when you can mooch around pages, getting distracted, looking at pictures and wandering down memory lane?

Sergeant Cork was a British detective television series which aired between 1963 and 1968 on ITV.

It was a police procedural show that followed the efforts of two police officers and their battle against crime in Victorian London.

In all, 66 hour-long episodes were aired during the five-year run, although the last episode was not broadcast until January 1968, 16 months after the others.

It was created by the late, great detective genre expert Ted Willis who also masterminded Dixon of Dock Green.

I needed no more incentive - I watched the first episode, invested in a DVD collection which is on its way. Until they arrive, there has been YouTube.