Quiz question. What was the first TV series to be turned into a feature-length movie? You'd have to go back to the 1950s and a hit detective series for the answer.
Dragnet had started on the radio in the US, became essential TV viewing, and, in 1954, moved onto the big screen. A classic multimedia franchise. Small-screen shows have continued to inspire movies ever since, from The Untouchables (on TV from 1959 to 1963, with the film released in 1989) to the more recent Downton Abbey, which draws to an elegant close this year with The Grand Finale. But it’s not just big shows that make the transition. Tucked away on Netflix is The Unforgivable (2021), a film that started life in 2009 on British television as a mini-series, The Unforgiven.
