Straight Line to Danger – Nostalgia Central

1 9 5 7 (UK)
5 x 30 minute episodes

Broadcast at 5.00 pm on Saturdays, Straight Line to Danger was ATV’s first live thriller series for children.

People were mysteriously disappearing across London in the five-part serial, and the hunt was on to find out where they were hidden.

The primary characters were Inspector Mark Pride (played by ATV announcer Arthur Adair), his wife, Lucy (Pamela Abbott), and their 14-year-old son, Jonathan, played by Colin Gibson, the young star of John and Julie (1955).

The series was filmed at ATV’s Hackney Studios and on location at Hampstead Heath, St James’s Park and Battersea Fun Fair. Episodes were written by Betty Marsden and Richard Morris.

Future comedy star Derek Nimmo – then an unknown young actor – played the monster in the sewer.

Jonathan Pride (Little Guv)
Colin Gibson
Lucy Pride
Pamela Abbott
Inspector Mark Pride
Arthur Adair
Jimmy Martinelli
Malcolm Knight
Snowball
Sandy Allen
Sgt Crown
Geoffrey Denton
Professor Borgmann
Bernard Hunter
Carl
Leonard Frank

Episodes

The Beginning | Fear Below | Terror by Night | Battersea | The House on the Heath