The Man in Room 17(1965)

The Man in Room 17 is a British television series that aired for two seasons in the mid-1960s on Granada Television. The show follows Edwin Oldenshaw, a former wartime agent turned criminologist, who solves complex police cases from his office in Room 17 of the Department of Social Research. Rather than venturing into the field, Oldenshaw and his assistants rely on theory, discussion, and games of Go to crack cases, leaving the actual legwork to the police. The series' innovative structure employed separate directors for office and outside scenes, creating a deliberate distance between Oldenshaw's cerebral world and the messy reality beyond. Writer-producer Robin Chapman's involvement proved crucial to the show's success, crafting a detective series built on intellectual puzzle-solving rather than action.