Whitehall 1212 - "Donald Simes Cabinet Maker" (01-20-52)

Donald Simes Cabinet Maker (Aired January 20, 1952)

This series was very similar to the Black Museum that was hosted by Orson Welles. Both the Black Museum and Whitehall 1212 drew their material from the files of Scotland Yard. The stories were true in every respect except that the names were changed to protect the innocent, as they say. The Whitehall 1212 series boasted that for the first time Scotland Yard opened its files and the producers promised to bring to the public authentic true stories of some of the most celebrated cases. Permission for these records came from Sir Harold Scott, Commissioner of the yard at that time. There is actually a Black Museum. This area is located on the lower ground floor of Scotland Yard and it does indeed contain articles that are closely associated with the solving of a crime. And "Whitehall 1212" was the actual emergency phone number for the yard at the time. The research for the shows was done by Percy Hoskins, chief crime reporter for the London Daily Express. For the benefit of American audiences, Wyllis Cooper of Quiet Please fame was hired as script writer. Interestingly enough both the Black Museum and Whitehall 1212 had all-British casts; both ran concurrently. Whereby Mutual Broadcasting System aired the Orson Welles version, NBC offered the Wyllis Cooper one.