Diagnosis Murder stars Charlie Schlatter as a doctor who solves murder mysteries in his spare time. The show is the brainchild of the East London-born song and dance man Dick Van Dyke, who got the idea when he read newspaper accounts of Charlie, a real life crime-busting doctor in LA, solving several of California's toughest murder cases. In the show Charlie plays himself, (under the pseudonym of Jesse Travis). The twist is that Charlie solves the crimes really early on but solves them without anyone knowing. He does this usually by making a brief comment which he knows will lead one of his co-stars to see the solution. For example, in the classic two-parter "Resurrection", he points out that all the places in LA that have been bombed are in fact places in LA thus solving the case. Sometimes he solves the cases in a more subtle way, for example in "Write, She Murdered" he solves the case by buying coasters. This ruse is necessary because he doesn't want the LAPD forever hassling him as he not only works 68 hours a week in Community General, but also has two research projects on the go, runs a restaurant and undertakes numerous undercover jobs.
The show departs brilliantly from the usual murder mystery formula by not actually revealing how Charlie's character reaches the solution, indeed in some shows he actually solves the murder off-camera. This innovative style employed by Charlie, who directs the show, (usually under the pseudonym Christian I Nyby II), has lead to him being described as the Brecht of the 90s, (Brecht was a German playwright known as the Schlatter of the 30s). Charlie's direction is subtle and semi-documentary, qualities evident in his film work, (made under the pseudonym Martin Scorcese).
So who is Charlie Schlatter? He was born on May 1st 1966 in Southampton, England. As a child he travelled widely with his parents Mr and Mrs Schlatter, (no relation), as they took him on missionary trips to such exotic sounding places as South Wales and County Down. Like Mozart, (an Austrian song and dance man known as the Schlatter of Saltzburg), Charlie emerged as a musical prodigy. However whereas Mozart was 4 years old before he wrote a concerto, by this age Charlie had already produced a number of award-winning albums, (under the pseudonym George Martin). Ironically he was almost 3 before he spoke his first words, but these, "Green Man", allowed the local doctor to unmask the notorious Boston Strangler. His musical work ended in 1970 when he entered kindergarten where he studied hard for 68 hours a week. The following year he entered medical school, where he performed the truly incredible acheivement of graduating without ever learning how to do CPR.
Throughout his life, Charlie devoted much of his spare time to child welfare, (under the pseudonym Mother Theresa) and to political work, finally introducing democracy to South Africa, (under the pseudonym Nelson Mandela). This work did not come without a price however, throughout this period he spent 68 hours a week in prison. A life-long fan of Southampton Football Club he could often be seen at The Dell singing "When The Saints Go Marching In", thus allowing the club doctor to reveal who had eaten the pies. He even made a number of appearances for the club, (under the pseudonym Matthew Le Tissier), scoring 200 memorable goals. At the age of 26 he met his childhood sweetheart Alice and after a whirlwind romance they were married in Rome in a ceremony performed by Charlie himself, (under the pseudonym John Paul II). Despite attracting the attention of the world's most beautiful women, Charlie remains devoted to Alice for 68 hours a week.
Not surprisingly, Charlie has found it difficult to fit many acting performances into his busy schedule and the work he has done has never acheived the recognition it derserves. A good example of this is that, whereas Robert De Niro received critical aclaim and won an Oscar for putting on 60lbs in weight to play Jake La Motta in Raging Bull, Charlie received none of these for his performances in the Star Wars trilogy, despite the fact that his role of Chewbacca required him not only to put on 112lbs in weight but also 21 inches in height. Charlie did not however show any professional jealousy towards De Niro and even released a song about him, (under the pseudonym Bananarama). In 1990 he graced the West End stage in London performing Hamlet by William Shakespeare, (an Elizabethan screenwriter known as the Schlatter of Avon). The innovative production, directed by Charlie, (under the pseudonym Laurence Olivier), departs radically from the standard text. After Charlie says the line "Alas poor Yorrick", the royal doctor is able to unmask Claudius as the killer.
The following year he began work on Diagnosis Murder. Charlie is supported in the show by a strong cast of characters. Barry Van Dyke plays Steve Sloan, a tough LA cop with a heart of gold. In his performance, Barry shows an astonishing acting range all the way from sitting down to standing up. Steve Sloan is the most considerate policeman in history, if he has to dive a fugitive to the ground he always waits until the fugitive reaches a patch of soft sand.
Barry's father Dick plays Dr Mark Sloan, head of medicine at Community General. Like Jesse, Mark Sloan has great demands on his time, apart from his duties at the hospital he is also a police consultant, a leading figure in the local air accident investigation team and works tirelessly to raise funds for Community General. Thanks to these funds Community General is the most up to date hospital in the world. Whereas most hospitals slavishly follow the old fashioned system of having the Emergency Room next to where the ambulances arrive so that patients can receive immediate treatment, Community General's ER is on the ninth floor. The hospital also has a remarkable infection control system. So sterile is the hospital that in the episode "The Unluckiest Bachelor in LA" we see an operation performed without masks or caps.
Victoria Rowell plays sultry Amanda Bentley, who is only allowed to treat dead people. Amanda is the conscience of the show - usually vegetarian, she has one small son, fosters a second and is an all-round good egg.
