#i'm trying not to make the obvious joke that the marine biologist teamed up with a salmon to write this

[thisbluespirit]

The Hidden Truth 1.8 Twelve Good Man (3rd September 1964).  Written by Eric Corner & Ross Salmon; dir. Don Gale.  Featuring regulars Alexander Knox, James Maxwell, Elizabeth Weaver, George Moon, Ruth Meyers & Jacqueline Chan.  Guest starring Tenniel Evans, Maureen Pryor, Terence Alexander & Frances Cuka.

The invalid wife (Anne Woodward) of an analytical chemist living in Cornwall is found dead, apparently poisoned.  The chemist, Collins (Tenniel Evans), is charged with murder [by Det. Inspector Thwaite (Barry Linehan) and Det. Sergeant Holland (Edward Cast)].  Dr Fox (James Maxwell) is asked to provide scientific evidence to prove Collins innocent.  Assisted by Tua Ling (Jacqui Chan), his findings make him the key witness in the case for the defence.  But “will the jury be swayed by emotion or by scientific fact?”

Terence Alexander reprised his role as Roger Blake QC, so Dr Fox had to face him again, after 1.3 “Cross Examination” where the QC gave Fox “the most unpleasant half hour [he] could remember” in the witness stand.   

Also featuring Frances Cuka as Rachel Pascoe and Maureen Pryor as Belle Atkinson, with Peter Bathurst as the judge.

The TV pages showed some interest in the unusual angle regarding the poisoning plus noting Terence Alexander’s return - and, of course, the first appearance of new regular character, lab assistant, Tua Ling, as played by Jacqui Chan.

The Mirror took up the story, as she’d previously dated Anthony Armstrong-Jones & was therefore News.  Tua Ling, the Mirror reporter claimed, “my Chinese secretary tells me means “dignified elegance.””  Producer Stella Richman intended to build up Chan’s role, and had booked her for two further episodes (one of which was 1.10 “One For the Road,” which, happily, exists).  (Chan’s brief affair with Armstrong-Jones means that she also appears, somewhat controversially, as a fictional character herself in S2 of The Crown, played by Alice Hewkin.) 

The episode was written by prize-winning playwright and marine biologist Eric Corner, who lived in Plymouth, and wrote as a hobby. He scripted the dialogue while his collaborator, broadcaster Ross Salmon, provided the storyline and characters.