The Human Jungle (TV series)

The Human Jungle
Genre	Drama
Created by	Ronald J. Kahn
Starring	Herbert Lom
Theme music composer	Bernard Ebbinghhouse Played by John Barry and his orchestra
Composer(s)	Bernard Ebbinghhouse
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	26 (list of episodes)
Production
Producer(s)	Julian Wintle Leslie Parkyn
Cinematography	Bert Mason
Running time	49-51 minutes
Production company(s)	Independent Artists for ABC Television
Release
Original network	ITV
Picture format	Film 35mm 4:3 Black and white
Audio format	Monaural
Original release	30 March 1963 (1963-03-30) – 13 May 1965 (1965-05-13)[1]

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) focused on a specific patient, whose psychological ailment Dr Corder would treat and, invariably, cure, using an idiosyncratic approach which mixed Freudian psychoanalysis with more contemporary methods associated with the then fashionable theories of R. D. Laing.^[1]

Cast and characters

• Herbert Lom as Dr Roger Corder M.D., D.P.M, who saw patients in his own Harley Street practice and at the local (fictional) St Damian's hospital.
• Michael Johnson as Dr Jimmy Davis, junior colleague
• Sally Smith as his 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.^[2]

The theme music was composed by Bernard Ebbinghouse, arranged and recorded by John Barry and his Orchestra.^[3]

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, causing the second series to be undertaken at Elstree Studios owned by parent company Associated British Picture Corporation.

The script editor was John Kruse and the advisor on psychiatric content was Dr Hugh L. Freeman on behalf of the National Association for Mental Health.

Episode list

Series one

Airdate is for ABC Weekend Television.^[4] ITV regions varied date and order. Order as the Network DVD.

Series two

Airdate is for Associated-Rediffusion.^[5] ITV regions varied date and order. ABC Weekend Television was broadcast two days later. Order as the Network DVD.

DVD

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

References

External links

• The Human Jungle at the BFI's Screenonline
• The Human Jungle at the Internet Movie Database