First, until today I did not even know of this television series that Joseph Cotton was the host and star of. There were many of these in the 1950s in all countries (George Sanders, Adolphe Menjou, Errol Flynn and Lili Palmer were hosts of such shows). Secondly, while I honestly never saw the dramas, in several cases, I am aware of what the story is based on or retelling - and this makes me wonder if all of the stories were based on actual cases, like the later British series, "The Lady Killers".
This episode / television play was based on the trial (in June 1865) of Dr. Edward William Pritchard in Glasgow, Scotland. It was one of the great Victorian domestic poisoning cases. Pritchard was of Welsh ancestry (several of his relatives rose in the British navy to the rank of Admiral) and had served as a doctor on several British battleships. He later would give lectures about his travels in the Pacific. In fact, he loved to give lectures - but many people felt he lied when giving them. He loved to exaggerate about everything about himself: his background (including a spurious German medical degree he purchased), his travels, his friendships (he claimed he was a friend of the Italian leader Garibaldi). He had served as a physician in Filey, a watering spot in England, and wrote about the then popular "water cure". But his fellow physicians did not think highly of his abilities.
His wife and her family believed in him, and her mother and father helped set him up in an expensive practice in Glasgow. Pritchard was a strikingly handsome man (with a huge beard) who took liberties with female patients. He also apparently played around with the hired help. In 1863 there was a fire in his home, and a maid was found dead in her bed. However, the firemen and police were rather suspicious about the fact that in this fire (in the middle of the night) Pritchard came to the front door dressed as though he had just left his surgery in the middle of the day. A large insurance policy he had was rejected by the insurance company, and Pritchard decided not to pursue the matter.
In the early part of 1865 the Doctor's wife started declining from illness, and Pritchard was treating her. She would get sick, and sick, and then recover a bit. A local doctor named Dr. Paterson was called in, and examined Mrs. Pritchard, and found she was ill from some unnatural cause. He refused to agree to the suggested cause of the illness that Pritchard offered. Privately Paterson felt Mrs. Pritchard was being poisoned. Her mother came suddenly to take care of her. Then suddenly the mother took ill. She died shortly, followed by Mrs. Pritchard. Paterson, called in again, refused to sign the death certificates. Pritchard did.
A letter (possibly sent by Paterson to the authorities) led to both ladies bodies being exhumed, and they turned out full of aconite and other poisons (such as antimony). Pritchard was arrested, protesting his innocence. At the trial, it turned out that he was having an affair with his new maid, Mary McLeod. Yet his defense was that McLeod was the guilty poisoner. But Pritchard had made large purchases of poison for the last year, and nothing was traced to McLeod. Except for never quite figuring out what Pritchard's motive was, he was found guilty, and he was executed in July 1865. It was the last public execution in Scotland. The trial immediately became a leading one in 19th Century Britain, with one poem calling Pritchard, "the Human Crocodile".
I find it hard to believe that Cotton played Pritchard. They were both tall, but Cotton doesn't look like him. However, he did play villains: in "Shadow Of A Doubt" and "Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte". Also interesting in the cast is that Henry Daniell is playing Sir Rutherford Clark, the Scottish barrister who defended Pritchard. One can see him doing the best to get the Doctor off, at the expense of Mary McLeod (Jan Chaney). Pritchard's mother - in - law, Mrs. Taylor, is not listed in the cast, but possibly this information is currently unavailable on the thread. It would be curious to see this if it still exists, to see how close to the actual case (which is one of the trials in "The Notable British Trial Series") it really is.
This episode / television play was based on the trial (in June 1865) of Dr. Edward William Pritchard in Glasgow, Scotland. It was one of the great Victorian domestic poisoning cases. Pritchard was of Welsh ancestry (several of his relatives rose in the British navy to the rank of Admiral) and had served as a doctor on several British battleships. He later would give lectures about his travels in the Pacific. In fact, he loved to give lectures - but many people felt he lied when giving them. He loved to exaggerate about everything about himself: his background (including a spurious German medical degree he purchased), his travels, his friendships (he claimed he was a friend of the Italian leader Garibaldi). He had served as a physician in Filey, a watering spot in England, and wrote about the then popular "water cure". But his fellow physicians did not think highly of his abilities.
His wife and her family believed in him, and her mother and father helped set him up in an expensive practice in Glasgow. Pritchard was a strikingly handsome man (with a huge beard) who took liberties with female patients. He also apparently played around with the hired help. In 1863 there was a fire in his home, and a maid was found dead in her bed. However, the firemen and police were rather suspicious about the fact that in this fire (in the middle of the night) Pritchard came to the front door dressed as though he had just left his surgery in the middle of the day. A large insurance policy he had was rejected by the insurance company, and Pritchard decided not to pursue the matter.
In the early part of 1865 the Doctor's wife started declining from illness, and Pritchard was treating her. She would get sick, and sick, and then recover a bit. A local doctor named Dr. Paterson was called in, and examined Mrs. Pritchard, and found she was ill from some unnatural cause. He refused to agree to the suggested cause of the illness that Pritchard offered. Privately Paterson felt Mrs. Pritchard was being poisoned. Her mother came suddenly to take care of her. Then suddenly the mother took ill. She died shortly, followed by Mrs. Pritchard. Paterson, called in again, refused to sign the death certificates. Pritchard did.
A letter (possibly sent by Paterson to the authorities) led to both ladies bodies being exhumed, and they turned out full of aconite and other poisons (such as antimony). Pritchard was arrested, protesting his innocence. At the trial, it turned out that he was having an affair with his new maid, Mary McLeod. Yet his defense was that McLeod was the guilty poisoner. But Pritchard had made large purchases of poison for the last year, and nothing was traced to McLeod. Except for never quite figuring out what Pritchard's motive was, he was found guilty, and he was executed in July 1865. It was the last public execution in Scotland. The trial immediately became a leading one in 19th Century Britain, with one poem calling Pritchard, "the Human Crocodile".
I find it hard to believe that Cotton played Pritchard. They were both tall, but Cotton doesn't look like him. However, he did play villains: in "Shadow Of A Doubt" and "Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte". Also interesting in the cast is that Henry Daniell is playing Sir Rutherford Clark, the Scottish barrister who defended Pritchard. One can see him doing the best to get the Doctor off, at the expense of Mary McLeod (Jan Chaney). Pritchard's mother - in - law, Mrs. Taylor, is not listed in the cast, but possibly this information is currently unavailable on the thread. It would be curious to see this if it still exists, to see how close to the actual case (which is one of the trials in "The Notable British Trial Series") it really is.