GREAT BRITISH Filmed Series from the 1960's
Click on the series' name for more details and reviews:


ITC / Rank- Ghost Squad

ABC- The Avengers - Patrick MacNee

ITC- The Saint - Roger Moore

ITC- Danger Man - Patrick McGoohan

ITC- Gideon's Way - John Gregson

Other filmed series from the 60's -
Man of the World
The Sentimental Agent
The Human Jungle
Espionage
Court Martial
The Baron
See also the Edgar Wallace page, plus a
Videotaped Crime Section.
This page is largely a tribute to the marvellous ITC (a thin disguise for ATV), who dominated the adventure series genre in the 1960's, starting with Danger Man and continuing with The Saint.
But ironically, it was ABC who came up with the ultimate hit, The Avengers which after three interesting studio-bound series, hit the heights with the filmed series starring Patrick MacNee and Diana Rigg.
Imitations were a-plenty, but never came close to the master. The other ITV companies, Rediffusion and Granada never espoused filmed series and were unable to compete with their rivals in this area. The BBC, too, never seemed to have the budget for hour long filmed series, and the nearest they came to The Avengers, was perhaps in Adam Adamant Lives!
Trivia Question- In which studios was the Man of the World series filmed? Answer
To Main Dinosaur TV Page

.

.

.

.

.

.

Danger Man
starring Patrick McGoohan as John Drake

HALF HOUR SERIES
1.1 View From the Villa
1.2 The Key
1.3 Josetta
1.4 The Blue Veil
1.5 The Lovers
1.6 The Girl In Pink Pyjamas
1.7 Position of Trust
1.8 The Lonely Chair
1.9 The Sanctuary
1.10 An Affair of State
1.11 Time to Kill
1.12 The Sisters
1.13 The Prisoner
1.14 The Traitor
1.15 Colonel Rodriguez
1.16 The Nurse
1.17 The Island
1.18 Find and Return
1.19 The Girl Who Liked GI's
1.20 Name Date Place
1.21 Vacation
1.22 The Conspirators
1.23 The Honeymooners
1.24 The Gallows Tree
1.25 The Relaxed Informer
1.26 The Brothers
1.27 The Journey Ends Halfway
1.28 Bury the Dead
1.29 Sabotage
1.30 The Contessa
1.31 The Leak
1.32 The Trap
1.33 The Actor
1.34 Hired Assassin
1.35 Deputy Coyannis Story
1.36 Find and Destroy
1.37 Under the Lake
1.38 Dead Man Walks
1.39 Deadline
To the hour long Danger Man series.

Series One was the greatest UK half hour filmed drama series. No doubt the artistic licence given to McGoohan partly explains its success. Originally his role was to have been a James Bond type, but as he explained in a 1959 interview- "the new character we have evolved is more of a philosopher who has a respect for people and is not so ready with his fists." Perhaps the biggest disappointment is why, having reached near perfection, ITC dropped this format in favour of the hour long series.
Some comments from the American TV moguls show how highly regarded it became-
"This is the finest production I have seen made in England" (Tom Moore, ABC).
"After seeing these films, I have complete confidence in any series made there" (Walter Scott, NBC).
"I can't believe this was made in England" (Mike Damm, CBS).

After location shooting in Wales, the studio sequences began filming at MGM studios on October 12th 1959.
The working Title for this first Danger Man series was Lone Wolf.

My favourite story (difficult to name just one): 1.21 The Conspirators - beautiful location, Drake rescuing a maiden in distress and her two children
Worst story (there are only a very few): 2.18 The Ubiquitous Mr Lovegrove- TV Times was full of complaints about this dream fantasy

To Crime/Adventure Menu
60's Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.
DANGER MAN
Series 2, 3 and 4.

After a gap, the second series started in 1964, now an hour long, and the terse economy of that first series is largely, regretfully, forsaken. These longer stories have their own charm, not least (except for American viewers), the stunning theme by Edwin Astley, but sadly McGoohan seems increasingly an imitation of a robot.

2.1 Yesterday's Enemies
2.2 The Professionals
2.3 Colony Three
2.4 The Galloping Major
2.5 Fair Exchange
2.6 Fish on the Hook
2.7 The Colonel's Daughter
2.8 Battle of the Cameras
2.9 No Marks for Servility
2.10 A Man to Be Trusted
2.11 Don't Nail Him Yet
2.12 A Date with Doris
2.13 That's Two of Us Sorry
2.14 Such Men are Dangerous
2.15 Whatever Happened to George Foster?
2.16 Room in the Basement
2.17 The Affair at Castelevara
2.18 The Ubiquitous Mr. Lovegrove
2.19 It's Up to the Lady
2.20 Have a Glass of Wine
2.21 The Mirror's New
2.22 Parallel Lines Sometimes Meet
3.1 You're Not in Any Trouble
3.2 The Black Book
3.3 A Very Dangerous Game
3.4 Sting in the Tail
3.5 English Lady Takes Lodgers
3.6 Loyalty Always Pays
3.7 The Mercenaries
3.8 Judgement Day
3.9 The Outcast
3.10 Are You Going to be More Permanent?
3.11 To Our Best Friend
3.12 The Man on the Beach
3.13 Say it with Flowers
3.14 The Man Who Wouldn't Talk
3.15 Someone is Liable to Get Hurt
3.16 Dangerous Secret
3.17 I Can Only Offer You Sherry
3.18 The Hunting Party
3.19 Two Birds with One Bullet
3.20 I'm Afraid You Have the Wrong Number
3.21 The Man with the Foot
3.22 The Paper Chase
3.23 The Not.So.Jolly Roger
in colour:
4.1 Koroshi
4.2 Shinda Shima

To Danger Man, series 1

60's Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

The SAINT with Roger Moore
Robert Baker and Monty Berman were past masters at producing dark little British crime films in the 50's, and their talents moved effortlessly to the small screen with this stylish series featuring Leslie Charteris' hero. Roger Moore added a touch of swagger to Simon Templar, portraying him as a dashing goodie with just enough hint of the devil to make the ladies swoon. Admittedly, this portrayal was nothing like the books, but to my mind most of the stories were an improvement, and made for excellent viewing.

My favourite episode: #72 The Queen's Ransom. Though I prefer the black/white opening sequence, this stylish tale, the first colour one, shows ST at his chauvinistic best
Best moment: #37 in The Gentle Ladies, the producers recapture exactly the atmosphere of their Fifties feature films
Dud episode: #31 Luella; though some of the early b/w stories also show the series took a while to get on its feet, with Roger Moore's American accent not exactly consistent. And some of the last colour ones are a little too self-conscious, and that final theme music is rotten

I am listing my personal ratings for each show (maximum 10*); there are other ratings on other internet sites, but do you agree with mine?
A Question for Saint enthusiasts: Who played the world weary Inspector Claud Eustace Teal in over twenty of the stories?
Answer
60's Menu
Episodes are listed in ITV broadcast order.
1 The Talented Husband (1962) 9*- for a full review
2 The Latin Touch 7*- At the Coliseum in Rome, ST is knocked out, the girl he is showing round kidnapped. She's Sue (Suzan Farmer), daughter of an American governor. A reprieve for "a vicious and ruthless killer," or she dies
3 The Careful Terrorist 6*- "I accuse Nat Grendel," announces Lester on a telecast. He believes the pen is mightier than etc etc, and inevitably soon "he's no longer with us," victim to the old bomb in the typewriter trick. Simon carries on "where Lester Boyd left off," joining the staff of the New York Evening Herald. "You're a parasite and extortionist," ST boldly tells Grendel (Peter Dyneley) to his face. Retorts the gangster, "you're No 1 on my list," so the Saint has to await a call from "an ambassador on a mission of bad will." For Grendel's latest trick is the old radio controlled bomb, and he's gonna press the button personal like
4 The Covetous Headsman 7*- When is a long lost brother not a long lost brother? Answer- when he's murdered. ST helps the man's sister Valerie (Barbara Shelley) catch the killer, though the limelight is rather pinched by Josephine Browne as a crotchety old concierge. After Valerie's St Christopher medal is the killer, a collaborator from the days of the Resistance. The best line is when Esmond Knight reminisces on The Saint's bravery in the Resistance when you were "very young." Very very very young surely!
5 The Loaded Tourist 4*- "The ways of the ungodly are usually predictable," repeats Simon from story 3. Rather akin to this script in which Simon outswindles the swindlers in Geneva who have killed young Alfredo's father in an attempt to snatch a caseful of jewellery. Alfredo believes his wicked stepmother is behind the crime
6 The Pearls of Peace 3*- Simon explains that the story's about "seeing the Kingdom of Heaven in a mustard seed." Was this script left over from The Epilogue? Tis a slightly touching Mexican romance, with but a hint of Saint-like double dealing
7 The Arrow of God 6*- Floyd Vosper's Dirt Column in a Nassau paper ("I enjoy watching people squirm") has won him many enemies. At a weekend party, there's no shortage of suspects who want the pleasure of, as ST puts it, punching Vosper on the nose. Actually an arrow through his heart happily polishes the evil fellow off. John Arnatt as the local inspector investigates with his usual incisive wit, but naturally it's ST who "usurps his authority" to solve this fun whodunnit
8 The Element of Doubt 6* - Carlton Rood is a crooked lawyer who makes ST "sick." After a "torture chamber" of a trial, it's up to ST to be a "catalytic agent" and expose him and his clients
9 The Effete Angler 6*- ST gets friendly wth "glorious" Gloria (Shirley Eaton) whose husband Clinton is in Florida for some unspecified caper that takes ages to ignite
10 The Golden Journey 9* - "Hopelessly spoilt" Belinda (Erica Rogers) is surely asking for an ST-type lesson with her rude manners. In Spain, ST robs her, so penniless, "the ignorant child" has to trek 100 miles with Simon thru dirt tracks. "I'd put you right across my knee," threatens ST if she keeps on moaning. "I think you're a spoiled brat," he tells her as he suits action to word. "If I catch pneumonia..." she complains, adding, "you must have taken a course in how to be nasty... some day I'm going to get my revenge." She does when she makes eyes at him, but by now she's a reformed character. A good old story with a moral
11 The Man Who was Lucky 7* - "Subhuman" Lucky Joe (Eddie Byrne) runs a protection racket and when two turf accountants refuse to pay up, they are duffed up. "There's nothing you can do," Cora warns one of them, O'Connor, but how about phoning ST? This has all the atmosphere of Robert Baker and Monty Berman's 1950 thrillers and it's tightly directed by John Gilling as ST sets a trap to rile Lucky into a confession, and thus to "hand him on a plate" to Insp Teal
12 The Charitable Countess 7*- "An angel of mercy," a countess, gives generously to Father Bellini's home for young orphans in Rome. But she's a con artist and ST makes her "pay the price" even announcing to the press he's going to steal the countess' diamond necklace

13 The Fellow Traveller 8* (1963)- A first brush with Dawn Addams as Magda who "puts bubbles" in ST's blood! In the improbable town of Stevenage he smashes a spy ring
14 Starring the Saint 6*- Simon is offered £1,000 a week to star in his own life story, but before shooting begins, the hated producer (Ronald Radd) is shot and The Saint framed.
15 Judith 7*- The richest guy in Canada has stolen his brother's gas turbine invention. With help from niece Judith (Julie Christie) Simon plans to break into "Uncle Bert"'s mansion and teach him a lesson
16 Teresa 5*- The husband of Teresa (Lana Morris) has tried to kill the Mexican president, and is now presumed dead. With The Fat One (Eric Pohlmann) and ST, chased by The Three Bears, she tracks down The Last of the Dinosaurs. This sounds more like The Avengers, only it's very very bland
17 The Ellusive Ellshaw 5*- Arthur (Philip Latham) doesn't even recognise his own wife. who is then shot dead. Why is Ellshaw hiding in an empty house? The family of ST's latest girl friend Anne provide the answers
18 Marcia 4*- Film star Marcia Landon, "beautiful, strange, tragic," is murdered. Now ST, in a plodding tale, has to protect her replacement Claire (an unimpressive Samantha Eggar) from a similar fate. Frankly I don't think her acting merits such attention
19 The Work of Art 5* - Art dealer Jean (John Bailey) helps himself to 500,000fr to pay off an Algerian major (Martin Benson). When Jean is stabbed, his partner Andre is the main suspect, so ST steps in to prove his innocence and expose the Master Forger of Europe
20 Iris 7*- The Merchants' Protective Association is headed by "thoroughly unscrupulous" Rick Lansing (David Bauer), who's infatuated with his actress wife Iris (Barbara Murray). He's sponsoring "an evening of total pain," a West End play for her, so he's not all bad, specially as "I make it a rule to do my own dirty work." This includes putting the frighteners on a news vendor, who dies in a fire started by Rick. When ST blackmails him, he tries to teach ST a lesson, but in a surprising twist, it's not really Rick who receives ST's "lesson in manners," for it seems the blackmailer isn't actually ST. In an ironic liaison, ST calls in Inspector Teal to trap the imposter
21 King of the Beggars 5*-ST becomes a Rome beggar to uncover a protection racket run by the unlikely mix of Maxine Audley and Oliver Reed
22 The Rough Diamonds 6* - While ST is guarding a valuable cargo of uncut diamonds, they are safe, but as soon as they leave his hands they are stolen. He goes after the "pretty unpleasant" Rice to expose the surprise brains behind the theft
23 The Saint Plays with Fire 7*- A journalist writing an expose on the British Nazi Party dies in a fire. ST regards his death as "fishy" even though the inquest declares it death by misadventure. With the help of "featherbrained" Lady Valerie (Justine Lord) ST gives us a history lesson: "people who forget the past are sometimes condemned to relive it"
24 The Well Meaning Mayor 8*- Sam (Leslie Sands) wins a fair fight for the Mayor of Seatondean, but his defeated rival George (Norman Bird) makes "a complete fool of himself" alleging corruption. His daughter Molly (Mandy Miller) gets ST on the case after her dad is found at the foot of a cliff
25 The Sporting Chance 6*- In Canada, champion fisherman ST prevents a defecting prof from defecting
26 The Bunco Artists 9*- In a charming English village, "where nothing ever happens," the local church falls victim to two con artists, but how fortunate that ST is on hand! He follows them to Nice as Hiram S Tombs, there to relieve them of their money in his own clever scam
27 The Benevolent Burglary 8*- "Kindly Uncle Simon" teaches ten-million-francs Vascoe (John Barrie) a lesson by betting his "burglarproof" art gallery can be broken into
28 The Wonderful War 7* (1964)- An oil strike in Sayeda (allegedly in the east of Iraq) leads to a coup, though Prince Karim survives, fleeing to Kuwait. There he declares war. Question- did Bush watch this and filch the plot, somehow believing it was for real?? With the war waged by a mere army of five including Noel Purcell and Renee Houston it does need all the guile of a J Pierpoint Sykes (alias Simon) to win it.
29 The Noble Sportsman 8*- Golf, tennis, fishing shooting, horse jumping, Lord Yearley (Anthony Quayle) is good at them all. But he has his enemies, and one is threatening his life. He believes he's "indestructible" and ST helps him keep it that way. A weekend house party is chance for him to size up the suspects: "you're so damn smart, Templar!"
30 The Romantic Matron 4*- An Argentinian armoured van is robbed of a million dollars of gold bullion which is cunningly hidden in the car of rich innocent widow Beryl Carrington. The boss Ramon (John Carson) then chats her up, so it's a good job she has the sense to consult ST
31 Luella 1*- An American buddy of ST's gets into a compromising position with Luella (Sue Lloyd). As an attempt at comedy this is pretty abysmal, until ST poses as a millionaire and apparently also falls into her clutches
32 The Lawless Lady 7*- ST starts with a sexist lecture on women drivers, before succumbing to the charms of a stylish countess (Dawn Addams), becoming her partner in crime. On a cruise in the Med, this "thief with flair" is of course "reformed" by ST's own charisma, and Simon is far too much a gentleman to get her arrested, darling. "We will meet again?" she asks him at the end of the cruise. And naturally, Dawn Addams did return, for she proved one of the Saint's best foils
33 Good Medicine 6*- Denise Dumont (Barbara Murray) is a ruthless businesswoman, whom ST needs "to teach a lesson." It's an elaborate con, to sell her an expensive insect repellant
34 The Invisible Millionaire 9*- good story of a millionaire (Basil Dignam) who's badly injured in a car smash. He recuperates looking like The Invisible Man. But his secretary (Eunice Gayson) knows something fishy is going on
35 High Fence 8*- Stryker, ex-of the Yard is after a top London fence, with ST's help, despite Insp Teal and plodding Insp Prior's attentions. When a suspect is poisoned, actually inside a police station, ST also helps the grieving widow, as well as, of course, the beautiful actress whose jewels were being fenced
36 Sophia 6*- Sophia (Imogen Hassall) runs a seedy Greek hotel with her poor dad, when her rich cousin Aristides (Oliver Reed) blows in, on the run from his buddies. ST happens to be there on an archaeological dig (!), and when a golden statue is found, Aristides has designs on it. He's ripe for a lesson from ST, which is a rigged kidnapping in which Aristides pays a reluctant ransom
37 The Gentle Ladies 9*- Location shooting in Bosham where local Good Samaritans Flo (Avice Landon), Violet (Barbara Mullen) and Ida (Renee Houston) are being blackmailed... until ST comes on the scene
38 The Ever Loving Spouse 6* - At the Candymakers' Convention, Otis Q Fenwick is framed with a compromising photo. Behind the blackmail is his own wife, and ST is asked to sort it out, no trouble. A slight complication when the man who'd taken the photo is murdered. Dry eyes for him, but catching his killer is a mite harder
39 The Saint Sees it Through 7*- In Hamburg on the trail of art smugglers, ST helps an old friend who's being brainwashed by a quack psychiatrist

40 The Miracle Tea Party 8*- What's the secret of the packet of tea with £500 inside? ST investigates a security leak at Portland Naval Base. With the aid of lovely nurse Geraldine (Nanette Newman) and her very English Aunt Hattie (Fabia Drake), he rounds up a traitorous doctor (Conrad Phillips)
41 Lida 3* - In the Bahamas, Lida Verity is being blackmailed and her boyfriend Maurice (Peter Bowles) seems the likely culprit. After she commits suicide, with Lida's sister Joan, ST works to proves it to be murder
42 Jeannine 6* - Madam Chen, ruthless oriental diplomat, is in Paris with her pearls, which everyone is trying to steal. One is her publicist Jeannine aka Judith (Sylvia Sims), who teams up with ST, but he of course has more altruistic motives
43 The Scorpion 6*- Long Harry nicks a letter to Mark Deverest on instructions from The Scorpion (Geoffrey Bayldon) who has a Skid Kid, Eddy (Dudley Sutton) who is trying to run over poor Harry. Patsy (Nyree Dawn Porter) at The Birdsnest Club collects the blackmail money so ST pumps her to reveal the identity of the shadowy Scorpion. The showdown is just bound to conclude with a deadly pet scorpion delivering retribution on its doting master
44 The Revolution Racket 4* - Captain Xavier Martinez of the state police (Eric Pohlmann) provides some light relief as he uses ST to catch gunrunners Doris and Sherman. They are being forced to sell their arms to revolutionaries, but they're running a classic swindle right after ST's own heart
45 The Saint Steps In 8* - ST starts by denying his Casanova image, only to be interrupted by Annette Andre, a damsel in distress. Oh dear, ST thinks it's a joke and she is almost kidnapped. ST rectifies his aberration, then helps her sell her professor father's million dollar invention. "It's a rather complicated story," but ST's "remarkably perceptive" in this fast moving and satisfying big business adventure
46 The Loving Brothers
47 The Man Who Liked Toys 5* - Enstone is being blackmailed. "Don't worry about scruples," is his motto. His secretary Claire gets ST to follow him, but all they uncover is a scam to buy George's business on the cheap. ST's the man to sort Enstone out, when he's shot. Inspector Teal investigates this open and shut case, while ST finds the real killer. Note- interesting shots of George's business, actually the Elstree studios
48 The Death Penalty 6* - Laura (Wanda Ventham) tells ST he's the nicest man she's ever met. As if to prove it, he breaks up a Marseilles protection racket which is run by her dad and the slimy Osman (Paul Stassino), whom she says is "the most fascinating man I've ever met"
49 The Imprudent Politician
50 The Hi-Jackers
51 The Unkind Philanthropist 7* - In Puerto Rico, Juan and Delores are being evicted from their farm, who better to prevent injustice than ST? They owe money to a "chiseller" Elmer Quire (Charles Farrell), whom ST happily swindles in his turn to pay off the unworthy debt. On the way he has a bit of fun with Tristan, a lady who gives away money like there's no tomorrow
52 The Damsel in Distress
53 The Contract (1965)
54 The Set-Up
55 The Rhine Maiden
56 The Inescapable Word 7* - Death in an isolated top secret Scottish lab. The victim leaves the letters COP to identify his killer and Simon consults a dictionary to solve the case!
57 The Sign of the Claw
58 The Golden Frog
59 The Frightened Innkeeper 8*- Three "ghastly" engineers at a Cornish pub, up to no good, something underhand and underground. ST foils them as they help a rich prisoner to escape jail
60 Sibao
61 Crime of the Century 8*- Inspector Teal arranges for Simon to take the place of Mr Munster (not Herman), who is to join The Midas Man (Andre Morrell in his element). He is planning a most audacious robbery
62 The Happy Suicide
63 The Chequered Flag
64 The Abductors
65 The Crooked Ring
66 The Smart Detective
67 The Persistent Parasites
68 The Man who could not Die 7*-The "last of the adventurers," obnoxious Miles (Patrick Allen) is being blackmailed by Morton (Richard Wyler), so he decides to bump off his business partner Nigel. Ah, Nigel just happens to be ST's friend, and deep inside the Dragon's Caves in the Welsh mountains, where Miles plans to ditch the inujred Nigel, it's a certain ST to the rescue!
69 The Saint Bids Diamonds 8*- In Teneriffe ST flushes out a diamond stolen from the Louvre by posing as a great American diamond cutter. You long for the egocentric and thoroughly unpleasant thief Abdul Graner (a splendid George Murcell) to get his comeuppance
70 The Spanish Cow 7*- Wife of the ex-president of Santa Cruz has inherited a large collection of jewels from her late husband. As ST is blatently invited by her to steal them, he obliges in an entertaining mix of politics and humour
71 The Old Treasure Story 8*- Landlord Bill has written this book about hidden treasure. When he's shot dead, his map passes to his friend's daughter, who with ST's assistance flies to the Virgin Islands to make her fortune. Unfortunately others are after the treasure in this routine final b/w tale, with underground sets that look suspiciously like those of the Welsh mountains in story #68

To colour stories . . . To Main 60's Menu

.

.

.

Colour Stories:
72 The Queen's Ransom (1966) 9*- One of the best as The Saint escorts an ex-model now a queen (Dawn Addams) with five million dollars of jewels from Monte Carlo to Zurich. En route there's a witty exchange of banter- "don't bother your royal head." They flee from several nasty looking criminals, and a rather nice one (Nora Nicholson) who correctly perceives "there's a certain electricity between you"
73 Interlude in Venice 7*- Some familiar faces like William Sylvester and Lois Maxwell in this story of a spoilt girl who needs "a hairbrush" taken to her. Simon steps in when she's found with a dead prince who'd been involved with a blackmail racket aimed at her rich father who is a judge (Robert Ayres)
74 The Russian Prisoner 5* - In Geneva, Prof Jorovitch (Joseph Furst) wants to defect, except the butch security police (Yootha Joyce) is preventing him. ST comes to the aid of his daughter Emma in rescuing dad from a chateau, though the final twist is OTT
75 The Reluctant Revolution 5* - "Bargain basement" President Alvarez is so corrupt Freedom Fighters are trying to depose him. ST joins their number when Diane (Jennie Linden) tries to shoot the president's right hand man (Barry Morse)
76 The Helpful Pirate 6* - A scientist disappears in Hamburg after saying he'd found a fortune. ST chaperones Eva, a con girl, "through the dens of iniquity," to embark on a treasure hunt which ends with the kidnapped professor
77 The Convenient Monster 6* - Claw marks in the sand aside a dead dog on the shores of Loch Ness- "are you seriously suggesting the monster?" Human deaths follow which seem not to be caused by It, or are they...?
78 The Angel's Eye 4* - ST is in Amsterdam, guarding a valuable diamond from thieving hands. What begins as a simple task, ends with ST proposing to steal said diamond, like "opening a sardine can." But out jump a few surprises which don't quite ring true
79 The Man Who Liked Lions 4* - Tony, yet another friend of ST's, dies in his arms. Investigating, ST uncovers an 80 million lire swindle by The Organisation. ST becomes "an exciting opponent" to the suave boss (a typical Peter Wyngarde role), trying also to "melt the Ice Age Lady's posterior" in his Ben Hur costume!
80 The Better Mousetrap 7* - Lady 'Aversham's jewels are stolen in Cannes. Police chase after chief suspect ST who spends his time wooing the likely thief. Ronnie Barker as the clumsy policeman tailing ST, adds some fun to the chase
81 Little Girl Lost 5* - Irish blarney as ST protects a girl claiming to be Hitler's daughter, from her millionaire father. Private detectives however kidnap her in this jolly romp round the Emerald Isle
83 Locate and Destroy 2* - ST rescues influential gold mine owner Henry Coleman (John Barrie) from an attack in a Peruvian art dealer's shop. But ST ends up trying to prove the evil Coleman owns paintings looted in 1939 by Nazis from a Krakow museum. He also rescues the fair Maria (Francesca Annis) from the war criminal's clutches in a weak amalgam of other stories ending in yet another underground cave punch-up
85 Escape Route 3* - Insp Teal nicks ST at last. Sent to prison for ten years, Dartmoor is where we learn what we'd already guessed, that it's a ploy to catch the gang who are helping prisoners escape. The escape route for ST is the old helicopter in the quarry routine, and ST is taken to the Colonel (John Gregson) the brains behind the operation
86 The Persistent Patriots (1967)
87 The Fast Women 6* - Rich Cynthia Quillen (Jan Holden) is a racing driveress. Her "bauble boy" husband is flirting with her main rival Theresa. Both girls approach ST asking him to kill the other! At the start of the big race at Brands Hatch, Theresa sticks her tongue out at Cynthia, not the sort of thing Stirling Moss used to do
88 The Death Game 6* - Bill Bast psychology lecturer tries to expose his boss Dr Manders who is working for the evil Dr Adolf Vogler. He is silenced so ST takes his place alongside the finest students Vogler can muster, but is ST "twenty years out of date" alongside 23 swinging youngsters playing The Death Game? Course not, though when ST exposes Amiable Adolf he's the 'hunted,' and has to admit, "they'll probably succeed"
89 The Art Collectors 7* - ST is on top form even if the script is a bit lacking. A Prussian "damsel in distress" in Paris is "awfully grateful" for ST's help in protecting her three rare unknown Leonardos from two gangs who are after them
90 To Kill A Saint 9*- Ze question ees- who is trying to kill Paul Verrier (Peter Dyneley)? ST seems ze culprit, but 'e 'as ze alibi, ze best, deux beautiful girlies in bed wiz 'im. "Very dangerous" Verrier in turn attempts to get ST bumped off, but entertainingly selects ST himself to do the killing. All highly enjoyable with lots of pleasing moments
91 The Counterfeit Countess 6* - In Chamonix lives The Countess (Kate O'Mara), boss of a counterfeiting racket, her front the Paris night club Le Chat Enrage. ST breaks into her chateau and kindly escorts her off to prison
92 Simon and Delilah 4* - Old stars in the story are Guy Rolfe playing a film director, and Patrick Holt as husband of a temperamental film star (Suzanne Lloyd). In her role of Delilah she's "consistently nasty," and no better when she is kidnapped. Yes, it's up to ST to rescue her, and indeed "Saints rush in..."
93 Island of Chance 3* - A chemist working for rich Dr Charles Crayford is murdered. "He found it," Charles is informed, but ST with the help of Marla (Sue Lloyd, the only bright spot in the story), also learns the secret hid in Crayford's cellar
94 The Gadget Lovers 8* - Russian agents are being killed by ingenious devices, though ST prevents the latest attempt upon Colonel Smolenko (Mary Peach). ST has the greatest fun taking her place, showing her Paris, before in a Swiss monastery tracking down the gadget makers, masterminded by perennial oriental villain Burt Kwouk
95 A Double in Diamonds 8*- ST on the trail of the necklace of Lord Gillingham (Cecil Parker) which has been switched with a fake during the fashion show of Pierre (Anton Rodgers). Poor Inspector Teal is branded "plain cantankerous" by ST, and "an oaf" by Pierre. But there's a lot more to this case with identical twins, two fakes, plus the kidnap of Gillingham's daughter
96 The Power Artists 4* - ST is framed for the murder of an artist, yet The Pride of Scotland Yard can't prove much without the corpse. ST hides it in order to frame the real killer, old arch-enemy Vogler (see #88)
97 The Best Laid Schemes 5* - Cpt Flemming's body is washed ashore, he's buried but then he phones his wife! Is he still alive (as his photo is of Francis de Wolff, he could be), or is it suicide, or murder, maybe by Ballard his business rival?
98 The Gadic Collection 5*- ST is arrested in Istanbul for the murder of a museum official, so to prove his bona fides, he has to track down a faker of antiquities before coming face to face with "an expert in making people talk" (that's Peter Wyngarde). I specially liked however, the exchanges between Roger Moore and Martin Benson as the Turkish police chief
100 Invitation to Danger 5* - "Iceberg" Reb (Shirley Eaton) lures ST to a deserted mansion and locks him in. He escapes of course, but is caught, escapes, is recaptured, and nearly twice more he escapes. It's a frame-up. Sunley, nasty casino owner (Robert Hutton) accuses ST of stealing £100,000. ST elaborately escapes from him too, and tracks down Reb who claims to be a CIA agent, out to stop Sunley who is trading in state secrets. Naturally ST helps her rob him again, but of course it's not as simple as that...
101 Legacy for the Saint 6* - Lawyer Charlie Lewis puts a bomb in the car of Ed his gangland boss. Kind ST breaks the bad news to Ed's daughter Penny. Ed's will leaves her £100,000 but a million to the one of his four slimy business rivals who can raise a million by stealing a cargo of gold bullion. ST joins the gang and leads poor Inspector Claude Eustace Teal a merry dance. "You're not nice people"

103 The Organisation Man 8* (1968/9) - ST shoots a man- but it's so he can infiltrate a private army organised by the swaggering Roper (Tony Britton). Job: to prise a traitor away from British Intelligence
104 Double Take 6*- A "unique, unrepeatable, over-privileged" Greek tycoon asks for ST's help as he has a double who's out to ruin him. But the double also engages a puzzled ST in a frightfully confusing story. However ST isn't baffled at all of course, and exposes "a big bamboozle" in, using ST's own words, "a load of mularky"
106 The Master Plan 8*- Jean has persuaded ST to trace her brother Tony who has got sucked into drug smuggling run by the nasty Cord. ST saves Tony's life, takes him to hospital where he saves his life again, before brushing with the mastermind of the gang played by Burt Kwouk, with whom Roger Moore enjoys some lively banter
107 The Time to Die 7* - The death is announced of ST. With the help of Mary (Suzanne Lloyd), ST works out which of his enemies is trying to frighten him to death. But naturally ST is never going to be reduced to "a bundle of nerves"
108 The Scales of Justice 7*- Straightforward murder tale. Sir John dies in his Rolls, ST at his side, the fifth death of a director of a business. Neal (John Barron) is next to receive a postcard warning, and he's killed by a needle. Next threat is to the new Lord Mayor of London, and ST saves him as his procession wends its way through London's streets. But his daughter (Jean Marsh) discovers the killer's identity and in a tense finish, ST races to prevent a seventh death
111 The People Importers 5* - ST takes an instant dislike to Charles 'Bulldog' Bonner (Neil Hallett), and with good reason, for he's smuggling Pakistanis into Britain, and has shot an undercover agent. The final showdown in a car scrap yard is a must for enthusiasts of old cars
112 Where the Money Is 6*- ST starts by telling us about Temptation, as a scantily clad female picks him up, "well if you've got to go, it's the only way." She takes him to movie magnate Ben Kersh, who is desperate for ST to save his kidnapped daughter on the Riviera. Rescue easy, but the plot isn't that simple
113/114 Vendetta for the Saint 5*- Dino Cartelli, alias Al, lives in luxury on Capri, a respectable businessman, but also "a deported goon," a mafia boss, vying to take over from Don Pasquale (the ancient Finlay Currie) as the next Godfather. ST is chased all round Sicily in a drawn-out thriller, in which Ian Hendry's sinister character is never quite convincing or chilling
115 The Ex-King of Diamonds 8*- The first episode of The Persuaders owes a lot to this fun story set in the South of France, as ST competes in his car, at the casino and for the fair maiden, with a rich American. However they pool forces, and with the aid of a prof of mathematics beat a corrupt bank at Monte Carlo, rescue the prof's imprisoned daughter, oh, and thwart a rebellion. Most memorable moment however is of Ex King Boris, the enormous Willoughby Goddard, idly sprawling on his bed guzzling grapes
116 The Man Who Gambled with Life 6* - Millionaire scientist Keith Longman (Clifford Evans) with his two voluptuous daughters aims "not to die." He needs ST to volunteer in some unspecified way, or be forced if necessary, but "money can't buy immortality" in a story more like The Avengers than the Saint
117 Portrait of Brenda 7*- Here's a snapshot of Swinging Sixties London, even though, I'm glad to report, ST looks as demure as ever in his grey suit. There are the inevitable pop singers and gurus as ST tracks down the killer of yet another of his friends, this one a bohemian artist in Chelsea, who has unearthed "a gigantic swindle"
118 The World Beaters 3* - this final story returns to motor racing (see also #63 and #87), ST driving The Sentinel for old enemy Kay Collingwood (Patricia Haines) and her client Justin. He's the crooked rival of his cousin George. "Darling" Kay is ST's navigator in a rally, and just has to end up pushing the car out of the mud, and herself in it. ST's cunning ensures Cousin George wins the first prize, yes, Simon," he's the best!"

To 60's Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The Talented Husband -
A sparkling opener to the series, I remember being gripped by this stylish little thriller when it first hit our British screens in the autumn of 1962.
Introduction- In a London theatre, ST props up the bar during the interval of a dud play. Madge (Patricia Roc), the producer’s wife introduces Simon to her husband John (Derek Farr).

His latest play is a flop, and worse follows when Madge is paralysed after he accidentally knocks a flower pot from their balcony on to her head. He engages a housekeeper, Mrs Jafferty, to look after his wife, but won’t let anyone else visit her.
At the riverside Ferry Hotel Cookham, ST is staying with one of his old pals, the landlord (George Roderick). He says he’s looking for a woman 38-24-36, and one Adrienne (Shirley Eaton) seems to meet the bill. She’s a neighbour of John and Madge and like ST she’s suspicious of John. In fact she turns out to be an insurance investigator. We also discover this isn’t John’s first marriage, his other two wives dying in accidents.
John is planning his alibi. He’s going to London to discuss his latest play, so Madge is alone in the house with Mrs Jafferty. Only that housekeeper is his alter ego. A meal with rat poison is prepared for Madge to eat that evening. Then Mrs Jafferty makes her exit from the face of the earth.
ST and Adrienne are keeping watch on the house, and, sensing trouble, the suspicious ST breaks in, but finds nothing apparently wrong……
Later that evening, John returns home to find his wife slumped in bed. Enter ST: ”your wives have a habit of dying.” Of course, he had spotted the empty packet of rat poison and Madge is safe and well, albeit a broken woman: “I love him”

The Saint Start

To 60's Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

THE AVENGERS with Patrick MacNee as John Steed
This ground breaking series went through several successful metamorphoses. The character of Steed was a huge hit. But by the final series of The Avengers proper, there was too much pandering to American tat, with the absurd 'Mother' and the unsatisfactory Linda Thorson. Nevertheless it was almost inevitable that the Avengers would eventually become a parody of itself. With Diana Rigg, Steed's character reached a brilliant perfection, but those earlier studio-limited stories have their own charm.
My favourite episode: 4.8 A Surfeit of H2O. Inventive (but then that's true of most stories), scarey and wildly improbable (ditto), but I think everything comes together in this one. Emma looks stunning and Albert Lieven must be the ultimate black and white villain, why, he's foreign!
Dud story: Ignoring the Linda Thorson series, both the ones where Cathy and later Emma get trapped alone in a mansion.
The Most 'Must See' story: Elizabeth Shepherd's performance in the pilot version of The Town of No Return.
Best moment: 2.22 Man in the Mirror, as Steed finds Venus in the fairground.
My Favourite character: Venus Smith, whom I, maybe alone, think was the best of Steed's partners.

FIRST SERIES
Sadly most of these videotaped stories were wiped, but we live in hope..... The series was a continuation of
Police Surgeon.
1.1 Hot Snow - the beginning only, so until the complete copy surfaces, we will never see how Steed first makes his appearance. What we do see however is a a well drawn out first act with a contrast between Dr David Keel's cuddly engagement to Peggy and a sinister intruder searching for a parcel wrongly delivered to his surgery. In it, £4,000 worth of "snow" and Peggy is the one who can identify the courier: "I'm afraid the girl'll have to go." Outside Vinson's jewellers she's shot, an act leading to Dr Keel vowing to Avenge her death....
1.6 The Girl on the Trapeze - A girl jumps off a bridge. Though Dr Keel rescues her, she later dies. "One wrong move" and there'll be a diplomatic incident" since she's a trapeze artist with a circus visiting from abroad. Keel and Carol stumble on a plot to force an important metallurgist to quit Britain. They are taken prisoner backstage, so surely Steed will ride to their rescue! He must have been on holiday this week, but who needs him, the police do just as well, despite facing seasoned opposition from the villains played by Kenneth J Warren and Edwin Richfield
1.15 The Frighteners - the "real frighteners" is being put on Jeremy de Willoughby, and Frightening is an apt word when it's Willoughby Gray behind the frightening. "Lay off that girl," is the message de Willoughby is given, from "most vicious" rich businessman (Stratford Johns). But in a shock turn around, it's the Hon de Willoughby who ends up in disgrace

On video - With JULIE STEVENS as Venus Smith-
2.6 The Removal Men - What's Steed up to locking the wife of Dragna (Reed de Rouen) in her bathroom?! He steals her jewels in order to infiltrate Dragna's gang who's next job is to shoot a famous French sex symbol. Venus is working in the gang's French club and inadvertently blows Steed's cover. There in the deserted nightclub, Steed and Venus look down the barrel of a gun. Whilst she sings, Steed switches out the lights. Songs include An Occasional Man, whilst the Dave Lee Trio also play one jazz number
2.17 Box of Tricks - The Disappearing Lady magic trick with a difference- the lady reappears shot dead! Venus takes over the role with some trepidation. She also sings It's a Pity to say Goodnight and It's Delightful. Steed prevents a quack faith healer from passing NATO secrets
2.22 Man in the Mirror - Venus' amateur photography at a fairground captures the image of a man "who died last week." So we come to the incongruous sight of Steed in his bowler searching the fair for Trevelyan, a possible defector. This, the best story of this series, contains many striking visual shots in a ghost train, an iconic coffee bar plus trendy music to match. It's inevitable that Venus gets captured, and Steed, leaping to her rescue, also falls into the baddies' clutches after a shootout round the arcade. The pair face being blown to bits before the traitor is rounded up. In a lull, Venus sings I Know Where I'm Going.
2.24 Chorus of Frogs - On holiday is Steed, but not for long. He's ordered to discover what Archipelago Mason (Eric Pohlmann in a fine ambivalent role) is up to on his "not bad" yacht. Coincidentally, Venus happens to be working on board as a singer. She sings, nearly in Play School-style, Hush Little Darling, plus a snatch of The Lips that Touch Mine. Steed is in top form as a stowaway, exploring Mason's laboratory which Venus says is for "delicate fish." Actually it's a testing ground for an advanced midget submarine. John Carson also helps make this a memorable story.

With HONOR BLACKMAN as Cathy Gale (also on tape) -
2.2 Propellant 23- Meyer, a courier with a sample of new rocket fuel, dies at Marseilles Airport. The flask goes missing. With Steed and Cathy, rivals Paul Manning (Geoffrey Palmer) and Siebel are in close pursuit. Lt Leclerc uses some of it as a hair restorer, but the remainder is fought over in the showdown at a baker's
2.13 Death Dispatch - Murder of a courier in Jamaica, though he only carried routine despatches in his bag. The killer is given "a second chance" when Steed takes on the courier role, a dangerous assignment: "you just can't leave dead bodies lying around about the place." Cathy is taken prisoner by Chilean assassins, but Steed outwits them
2.16 Immortal Clay - Murder of a spy in a pottery. Is the killer boss Richard (Paul Eddington), because he was jealous of his wife's lover, or is it Allen (Gary Watson) the brains at the factory who claims to have invented "unbreakable china"? "All that fuss over a little piece of mud!"
3.2 The Undertakers - In a flirtatious mood, Steed bids farewell to Cathy- he's accompanying a professor to the USA. However the prof turns out to have "renounced worldly goods" and gone into "meditation" at Adelphi Park. And he's not the only millionaire residing at this establishment run by Lomax (Lee Patterson). It has to be Cathy who gets the job of assistant matron there and she soon learns of a very useful scheme of dodging death duties. The boss (Patrick Holt) is finally rounded up by Steed and Cathy in an unusually long filmed sequence just down the road from the Studios, in the surreal grounds of York House. This lively story has a strong cast which also includes Jan Holden, Mandy Miller and Lally Bowers
3.5 Death of a Batman - Steed's old batman dies, leaving an extraordinary amount in his will. Whilst Cathy works for the man's batman from the first war, Lord Teal (Andre Morell), Steed flirts with Teal's daughter. They expose his share racket, which seems altruistic, if also dishonest- "I'm a patriot, not a traitor"
3.6 November Five - "That sort of thing doesn't happen in this country." But one and a half seconds after being elected, an MP is shot dead. He was elected on his promise to expose the hushed up theft of a five megaton warhead. Cathy stands for Parliament in a plot to blow up Parliament- on November 5th too!
3.7 The Gilded Cage - Three million in gold bullion is what Steed wants to use to lure crimebroker JP Spagge (a snapping Patrick Magee) back into business. But Spagge and his superior butler Fleming are a cautious pair and take "the necessary action" of shooting Steed and testing Cathy before allowing her to lead them into the subterranean vaults. But Cathy is found out and faces being shot too. "Very smart work, Mr Steed!" as both appear very much alive to face up to the criminals
3.12 Don't look behind you - Cathy is invited to Exmoor for the weekend, where she finds herself alone in a dark mansion, an ultra impressive set in a plot so celebrated it was reused for an Emma Peel version. Yet it's too close to the atmosphere of the pretentious Armchair Theatre to be my favourite
3.16 Little Wonders - An international convocation of 'vicars' are electing a new leader. Nice tongue in cheek story by Eric Paice with Steed as The Vicar of Mbote, alias Johnny the Horse. With a collection plate containing guns, and Cathy paying £20,000 to repair a doll, all is not quite what it seems. Lois Maxwell as Sister Johnson has a machine gun, and some muffed lines
3.17 The Wringer - 6 out of the last 7 agents crossing the Austrian borders have been "lost." Anderson (Peter Sallis) was investigating, but why hasn't he reported back? Steed finds him. Anderson alleges Steed is the traitor and "he's guilty until proved innocent." Will Steed crack under brainwashing from his own side?! Will Cathy rescue him from the real traitors? Note - a most entertaining moment is the fly on the camera lens in Act 2. It makes a return appearance later too!
3.18 Mandrake - "This is an evil business, Mrs Gale-" a nicely sinister story with a stunning set of St Alban's Church in Cornwall, where nine burials of Londoners have occurred in the past three months. "Loaded" Mrs. Turner's husband is next for the poison, whilst Steed chats up a "cracker", that is a salesgirl. A strong cast also includes John le Mesurier, George Benson and Annette Andre
3.21 Build a Better Mousetrap - Whilst Cathy joins a group of swinging bikers, Steed investigates the mysterious machines that suddenly cease functioning. Is the nearby atomic reactor to blame? Or two old ladies casting spells?! These are lovely parts for the two "witches" (Athene Seyler and Nora Nicholson)- their old mill witnesses the climax as quite a crowd gather to try and grab their invention
3.22 Outside-In Man - A traitor is returning to Britain as a general representing his new masters. Steed is in charge of security, and has a problem when the agent Mark (James Maxwell) who had been ordered to kill the traitor, escapes from prison and swears to complete his mission. Rather a tedious story, even when "the balloon goes up," or rather, doesn't
3.23 The Charmers - Alas Poor George, killed by the thrust of a rapier. He's a top man on The Other Side, so Steed cooperates with his opposite number Keller (Warren Mitchell) to expose a common enemy. Or rather Steeds persuades Cathy to work with Them, while Steed is given agent Kim (Fenella Fielding), "from us to you..." MacNee is in sparkling form as the two sides work together in mutual distrust. The enemy is unearthed at the Pimlico Charm School, which turns "mere men into gentlemen." Steed finishes off their principal (Brian Oulton) with a riposte
3.24 Concerto - Stefan, the famous young Russian pianist is protected by Zelenko (Nigel Stock) on a cultural visit to Britain. That help is needed when a girl is found strangled in his hotel room. It's an attempt to frame him, a second try occurs at The Stud Club before the third and final effort by Peterson of the British Arts Council. With a photo of Stefan at the strip club, Peterson forces Stefan to agree to shoot the Trade Minister. Steed and Cathy play a game of one sided roulette, but the bullet is never fired, nor is this story ever really fired into life
3.25 Esprit de Corps - One of those fantastic world-ranging plots that only The Avengers had. Steed asks Cathy to "infiltrate" a Highland regiment led by "crashing bore" Captain Trench (John Thaw). A simulated defence exercise of London proves to be merely an outlandish scheme to reinstate the House of Stuart on to the British throne. The archetypal Avengers villainous boss, in this instance a Scottish crank (Duncan Macrae) is somehow convinced Cathy's "second in line of succession to the Scottish throne"! Steed, meantime, is courtmartialed and is up before a firing squad. Fortunately this is presided over by a corruptible soldier endearingly played by Roy Kinnear, or who knows, Cathy might now have been our 'Queen Anne II'!

On Film With DIANA RIGG as Emma Peel:
4.1 The Town of No Return - Perhaps as this had to be refilmed, the story doesn't quite come over, even though it's an archetypal Avengers plot about a sinister isolated town. Patrick Newell is bumped off- pity he ever returned to the series
4.2 The Gravediggers - Ronald Fraser plays Sir Horace Winslip, one of those mad Avengers eccentrics, who supports a home for ailing railwaymen, in which undertakers are placing radio jamming devices to render our country's defences defenceless
4.3 The Cybernauts - the immortal story about the age of the pushbutton. It's a reality at United Automation, where the boss (Michael Gough) has made an unfortunate sideline. There's a classic conclusion as Steed's deft handling forces the two robots to bash the hell out of each other
4.4 Death at Bargain Prices -Business at Pinter's department store is poor, mainly because most of the staff know nothing about salesmanship. Emma joins the staff. The store has just been taken over by King Caine (Andre Morell) who, with the aid of a giant bomb, is planning to take over the country
4.5 Castle De'Ath - McSteed in a giant Scottish castle, Mrs Peel, her hair changes colour from scene to scene. Gordon Jackson plays a typically dour Scots role in a storyline that's secondary to the scenery and the fun
4.6 The Master Minds - Ransack is the organisation for superior minds, which are then secretly used to plan top secret subversive crimes. Emma joins, so does Steed, in a plot not quite so superior as one Ransack might have devised
4.7 The Murder Market - An inventive Tony Williamson script with nice roles for Patrick Cargill as the manager of Togetherness Marriage Bureau and Suzanne Lloyd as a seductive assassin. Steed visits the bureau whose motto is "we take the uncertainties out of marriage," but they also remove some of the applicants! According to Emma, Steed would require a mixture of Lucrezia Borgia and Joan of Arc, but Miss Wakefield seems to do just nicely. Emma also signs up but when her cover is blown Steed has to prove himself by killing her
4.8 A Surfeit of H2O -my favourite story. Jonah (shouldn't he have been called Noah? - alias Noel Purcell) is building an Ark because the floods are coming. Sinister experiments in a wine factory by Albert Lieven and Geoffrey Palmer are causing unusually high levels of rainfall. Steed guzzles wine whilst Emma is caught in the winepress
4.10 The Man-Eater of Surrey Green - Plants that "feel, maybe even think" with an "embryonic brain" are, truthfully, when we encounter them, more like two people gyrating under a blanket. Athene Seyler steals the show as an expert charged with destroying the tentacled plant and when Emma falls under Its spell, Steed has to fight even her
4.13 Too Many Christmas Trees - A country house weekend with the traditional guest list of suspicious characters, surrounded by a Dickensian Christmas theme. Steed is having nightmares involving a grotesque Santa Claus, all part of a plot to extract the secrets of his mind. It ends with an impressive fight in a Hall of Mirrors
4.14 Silent Dust - Ten years ago Prendergast invented a dangerous chemical. His formula has now got into blackmailer's hands. As a warning, it's bad luck on the whole of Dorset, which is the first county scheduled for demolition. Steed and Emma ride with the hounds
4.16 Small Game for Big Hunters - Bill Fraser hams it up as an ex-colonialist still living in the jungle, even though he's actually in deepest Hertfordshire. There his evil helpers are preparing a deadly strain of tropical flies. Steed emulates Tarzan whilst it's Me Emma to the rescue
4.17 The Girl from Auntie- Steed is "a small fat man with a grey moustache." Well that's how he describes himself to Emma, who has turned into Liz Fraser, impersonating the kidnapped Emma. Liz proves a fine stand-in, as she follows Steed in his quest for kidnapper Auntie (Alfred Burke) who has a host of elderly professional knitters guarding Emma's hiding place, a giant birdcage. There's plenty more in this entertaining piece of nonsense, Auntie even claiming he has smuggled the real Eiffel Tower out to Texas, before auctioning Emma off- Steed puts in the highest bid of £200,000
4.18 The Thirteenth Hole - Steed plays a round, and with cheating from Emma, he's enabled to thwart a spy ring deep under a bunker. Lots to enjoy with his opponents Patrick Allen and Peter Jones
4.19 The Quick-Quick Slow Death - Emma has her feet "cherished" and trips the light fantastic. Steed dances elegantly with Eunice Gayson in a zany Dancing Knockout. But my favourite cameo, amongst a welter of zany parts, is that of Larry Cross as the inebriated dance band leader
4.20 The Danger Makers - Respectable gentlemen are dicing with death like "irresponsible beatniks." Their Black Rose Society should be revived today as an antidote to too much Health and Safety, which even in those days was apparently overbearing. Steed's a psychiatrist, Emma's in the chair
4.22 What the Butler saw - Butlers are taking over posts at top servicemen's houses, so Steed trains as the perfect gentleman's gentleman ("Brighter More Beautiful Butling"). Nice little parts for Thorley Walters, John le Mesurier, Kynaston Reeves amongst others
4.23 House that Jack built - Uncle Jack's left Emma a mansion, "automation to the ultimate degree," built by Prof Keller in a plot just slightly akin to The Prisoner. Is the machine superior to man, as Keller claims? Or can Emma prove its master? Depending on your viewpoint, this adventure is either very intriguing or very irritating. The house is designed to drive Emma mad, or is it the viewer?
4.24 A Sense of History - One that nearly comes off, but not quite. Steed and Emma "recapture their college days" mixing with some overgrown students led by the "factious" and plain "nasty" Duboys (Patrick Mower at his best, or worst!). At a Rag Night "rave" they plan to start, wait for it, The Downfall of Europe, but there to spoil their plan are Emma dressed as Robin Hood and Steed as The Sheriff of Nottingham. Hamming it up as "live bait," Nigel Stock steals the show
4.25 How to Succeed...at Murder - An "epidemic" of deaths of prominent businessmen, JJ Hooter being the twelfth. Steed's £4m business attracts another "thoroughly efficient secretary," whilst Emma fails to properly penetrate the feminine organisation whose motto is "Ruination to All Men"
4.26 Honey for the Prince - For me, this too over-the-top story marks the series' decline to stories of merely near-excellence. "A happy bee makes bumper honey" declares Mr B Bumble (Ken Parry) before he's bumped off. The same fate awaits Ponsonby Hopkirk (Ron Moody) whose business QQF "satisfies your most repressed desires," including Steed's, which is apparently to become chief eunuch in a harem. But it's Emma who has to join Prince Ali's harem, to prevent him being killed by criminals who 'borrow' Ponsonby's fantasy master plans and use them for real

Colour series:
PROMO - The Strange Case of the Missing Corpse -3 minute, very-mini pilot, shot in about 3 minutes!
5.4 The See-Through Man - Low tech story about an Invisible Man using no trick photography at all. This episode's eccentric is a mad scientist inventor (wonderful Roy Kinnear). It's his formula that a foreign power has purchased. Just over the top is Warren Mitchell as the foreign ambassador. You wait for Steed to become invisible but the story is always just a little, shall we say, too transparent
5.6 The Winged Avenger - The one in which the series really did turn into a cartoon. A "huge obscene bird" is scratching to extinction ruthless businessmen. Is loony Prof Poole (Jack Macgowran), inventor of special climbing boots, the villain? And just who is masquerading as The Winged Avenger who has "a lone fight against evil"?
5.10 Never Never Say Die - Christopher Lee performs his familiar zombie routine in a great story, playing a Jekyll and Hyde who dies twice as well as smashing numerous transistor radios. He's part of a brilliant scheme to create duplicate politicians- as though we haven't enough of them as it is
5.16 Who's Who - A Frankenstein-style experiment sees Basil and Honey Love change psyches with Steed and Emma so they can bump off members of The Network. Daffodil is first to go, then Poppy. Tulip (Peter Reynolds) is sent to save the remainder of his brothers whilst Steed and Mrs Peel face an identity crisis, in a story which is nicely tongue in cheek but perhaps a little too clever
6.17 Return of the Cybernauts - Paul Beresford (Peter Cushing) has inherited the blueprints for his brother's cybernauts. Now he's kidnapped three scientists in order to devise a slow torture for his brother's killers, namely Steed and Emma. And what a torture they make reality: Human Cybernauts!
6.18 Death's Door - Sir Andrew (Clifford Evans) runs "like a frightened rabbit" from an important conference. When he's run over, Lord Melford (Allan Cuthbertson) is his replacement, but he too becomes "panic ridden." Dreams of impending disaster haunt him, whilst Steed and Emma seem very slow in believing him, before they solve the mystery and securing the conference goes ahead for a United Europe
6.19 The 50,000 Breakfast - By Avengers' standards, a rather mundane Roger Marshall story about a most shy phlanthropist, who, it's all to easy to surmise, has died. His memory and his good deeds however linger on. His butler (the marvellous Cecil Parker) is due to inherit eleven million
6.24 Mission .. Highly Improbable - Diana Rigg's last complete story is a brilliantly inventive plot of how Frances Matthews is using his eccentric professor boss' Reduction Machine to reduce anything at will to pocket size. Including the latest top secret tank which he's happy to smuggle to the Other Side (in the shape of the too smart Ronald Radd). It was bound to happen: Steed gets reduced to mini-size but it's Emma to his rescue... if she can spot him!

With LINDA THORSON:
7.21 Stay Tuned - Steed can remember nothing of his 3 week holiday. Just what has he been programmed to do?
7.33 Bizarre - Bagpipes Happychap (Roy Kinnear) is worried: bodies keep disappearing from his graveyard. The last story

To 60's Menu

.

.

.

GIDEON'S WAY with John Gregson
Rather overshadowed by Baker and Berman's other successful series, Gideon's Way was even chucked all round ATV London's own 1960's UK schedules. Maybe it was rather stodgy compared with their other offerings, but thankfully it has received a deserved dvd reissue.
My favourite episode: it has to be #1 The Tin God
Best moment: In #15 there's a touching echo of The Ladykillers.
Best role: That master comic actor Eric Barker makes a sympathetic criminal in #15 How to Retire without really Working
Fairly Dud episode: #5 The White Rat

My grateful thanks to Nigel Preece who pays this fine tribute to the series:
It was in 1965 that "Gideon's Way" first hit our screens.
ATV broadcast the first episode, "State Visit" on Thursday 18th March. The series was the brainchild of producers Monty Berman and Robert S. Baker, and their New World production company. ATV viewers were already familiar with New World productions having already seen their other series "The Saint" on the small screen since October of 1962.
Like with the adventures of Simon Templar, Berman and Baker purchased the rights to another series of books. This time the exploits of Commander George Gideon of "the yard" created by John Creasey, writing under the pen name of J.J.Marric were to be adapted for television.
It would not be the first time that Gideon would appear on screen. Some six years earlier cinema goers were treated to a day in the life of Scotland Yard's finest in "Gideon's Day" with Jack Hawkins in the title role. Now in 1965 the producers were looking for someone who could bring the character to life for the sixties and they had little work to do in that department.
Liverpool born actor John Gregson was a fan of the Gideon books and when offered the part, jumped at the chance to play the title role. While the fifties had seen Gregson among the screens leading men, in the sixties film roles for Gregson became harder to come by and so he found himself turning to television instead. The character of George Gideon seemed tailor made for him: a family man with three children all at home and all at very different ages, together with a loving and at times concerned wife, played by Daphne Anderson.
Playing Gideon's right hand man, DCI David Keen, a character specially written for the series was Alexander Davion. French born Davion had appeared on our screens in episodes of "The Saint" and "The Avengers" before landing the part of Keen. Other roles included the commissioner of the yard played by noted British character actor Basil Dingham, Superintended Bell played by Ian Rossiter, and Bell's replacement after his character left the series half way through, Supt Lemetre, portrayed by another familiar British actor in the sixties and seventies, Reginald Jessup.
"Gideon's Way" ran for only 26 episodes and certainly seems good enough to have run for far more that that number. It was shot in two production blocks of 16 from June to December of 1964 and the remaining 10 from January to May of 1965. It was subsequently broadcast in those two blocks between March and July of 1965 and March to May of 1966. Many well known British and commonwealth actors and actresses guest starred in those 26 programmes. Pilot episode "State Visit" features Alfie Bass as a Jewish war émigré. Other stars to appear include a pre-Minder George Cole (the Firebug), a pre Trouble-shooters Ray Barrett (The Lady-killer), a pre-Hadleigh Gerald Harper (State Visit), a pre-Inspector Wexford George Baker (The Great Plane Robbery), a pre Hollywood stardom Donald Sutherland (The Millionaire's Daughter) a young Anton Rogers (The Nightlifers), an even younger John Hurt (The Tin God), a very old Finlay Currie (The Thin Red Line), and a slightly comedic Eric Barker (How to retire without really working).
A small number of the episodes were new stories written for television, but all of them stuck to the same theme. People commit crime for a reason, and establishing the reason was part of the detection process used by Gideon.
The contrast between the characters of Gideon and Keen is clear. Gideon is old school policing personified. Relying on intuition and having "nose" for solving crime. Whereas Keen, a ladies man opposite married man Gideon, is very much part of the new school of police thinking: scientific analysis. Keen had a few girlfriends during the series run, but never the same lady two shows running. Yet here too we see some familiar faces at a time before they were famous. In "The Nightlifers" Keen had a pre-Upstairs Downstairs Jean Marsh on his arm while in "The White Rat" Keen dates a pre-Crossroads Sue Lloyd, who also played Cordellia Winfield opposite Steve Forrest's John Mannering in another series based on the novels of John Creasey, produced by Monty Berman, "The Baron".
After "Gideon's Way" John Gregson would continue to appear on television fairly regularly. Gideon would not be his last continuing role. In 1971 he appeared alongside Shirley McLaine the short lived "Shirley's World" series. Sadly, just ten years after his portrayal of the Scotland Yard commander, John Gregson suddenly died of a heart attack in the coastal village of Porlock Weir. A series he had just finished filming for the BBC was broadcast posthumously in his honour later that year following permission from his widow.
Alexander Davion went on to star in a number of Hammer Horror pictures in the late sixties before tuning up in two of the BBC Shakespeare adaptations in the early 1980's. Gregson and Davion both put a great deal of effort into their two characters: making them both believable and contrasting. The dialogue between the two is slick and scripts in general paint a realistic picture of London as it swung to the beat of what is still a fascinating decade. The show did not pull its punches either. Some episodes would contain a liberal amount of violence, but not for the sake of it, only to illustrate and develop the character at the centre of that week's story.
Because "Gideon's Way" was filmed in monochrome, it has not enjoyed much air-play over the past decades.
"Gideon's Way" portrays a fascinating picture of life in 1965. A time of different values, too numerous to mention. One example sticks in the mind, where a character goes to buy a newspaper by going to the pile of papers left outside the newsagent, picking up the house brick holding them down, taking a paper, being trusted to leave the one shilling to pay for it next to the aforementioned brick, and being trusted still further not to swipe the other one shilling pieces and sundry loose change left there by other folk beforehand. Such trust simply does not exist anymore, and will never return. It's fascinating also to look at the old motor vehicles seen in the series. Old Commer vans to Zephyrs and the like. I'll often ask my father as were watching an episode, "Is that an old Morris or an Austin", or something like that. Gideon himself drove a police issue Wolsley while Keen drove a Bentley. Most of the series was shot on location, in and around London. I often wonder what it was like being among the folks going about their daily shopping only to discover that your particular high street was the setting for this week's episode. You're standing at the bus stop waiting for the number 73 and suddenly you notice a film crew are in place outside the butchers and then the standard police issue Wolsley pulls up opposite and out jump John and Alex about to do their stuff. Simpler times, yet the villains that Gideon and Keen had to outwit were every bit a complex as any villain seen on television today.
The theme tune for the series was written by noted British TV and film composer Edwin Astley, whose credits include other ITC classics from this golden decade "Department S", "Danger Man", "Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)", and the aforementioned "The Saint" and "The Baron".
All 26 episodes of "Gideon's Way" are available on DVD as a boxed set. It's an example of television made by people who knew their audience. Television done properly.


My own brief reviews of each story
1 The Tin God - Master director John Gilling had worked many times for Baker and Berman, and knew how to get hold of a story. This superb effort begins with two prisoners (Derren Nesbitt and John Hurt) fleeing from Strangeways prison. In a 2.4 Jag (what else?), the vicious Benson heads for his home and the wife who shopped him. But police are guarding his wife, and Benson gets at her through his kid. A role right up Derren Nesbitt's street!
2. The V Men - Roland Culver plays the leader of an extreme political group, "a genius for making a nuisance of himself." With a general election forthcoming Gideon unwisely appoints to protect him Parsons (Allan Cuthbertson), who's "like garlic, a little goes a long way." As contrast to all the unrest, Angela Douglas plays a vulnerable eyewitness to the attempted assassination of the V Men's leader
3. To Catch a Tiger - Egocentric executive John Borgman is accused of murdering his first wife. With a top lawyer to defend him (Raymond Huntley in his familiar guise), why has Gideon put Spt Lee (Norman Bird) on the case, knowing he's terrified of this eminent lawyer?
4. The Rhyme and the Reason - With-it first part about mod Bill's brush with rockers. Gideon has a hunch Bill isn't guilty of killing his girl and tries to get the rest of the Force not to judge by appearances. The final chase is the best part of an unevocative tale
5. The White Rat - In his own words Mickey is a "freak". We see his gang robbing a fur warehouse, killing the security guard. Then they nick some industrial diamonds, and this time they kill an old mate of Commander Gideon. Lots of dark deeds down dark streets
6. State Visit - Bootsie is a terrorist! In a sombre tale Alfie (Bootsie and Snudge) Bass plays the victim of Nazi concentration camps, who attempts to circumvent Gideon's security plans for the visit of a German president. It's quite handy really that he's a chemist and has access to nitro-glycerine. His wife (Catherine Lacey) fails to prevent him wandering round London with this dangerous cargo. Usual interesting London location shots as the killer goes (by double decker bus! -not the mode of transport the modern killer uses, I understand) to kill the hated president.
7. The Firebug - Arthur Daley is an arsonist! Actually it's George Cole who plays a deranged killer who burns down derelict buildings: "if people die something will have to be done." His way of getting attention to the London slums. He writes to the Mail threatening The Third Fire of London. With four sticks of dynamite "he's on the loose." On his scooter he chucks his explosives right and left with Gideon in pursuit
8. The Lady-Killer - Robert Clayton (Ray Barrett) is frustrated to find the wife he has drowned wasn't as rich as he believed. So wealthy Marian (Rosemary Leach) is wooed and becomes his new wife. How will he do her in?
9. The Big Fix - Horse dopers find an easy recruit in trainer Joe (Michael Ripper), who has financial problems. Next to be nobbled- the Derby favourite- but there's a clever switch...
10. Morna - Gripping yarn as Gideon has a day in the country investigating the death of an "exquisite girl" (Angela Douglas) who seemed to have no enemies. Yet had she feet of clay? Here's a lesson in Sixties' morals, though the motive for her murder is actually much more timeless
11. Big Fish Little Fish - Mrs Bridges is a murderer! Well, at least it's Angela Baddeley playing the mother-in-law of Frisky (Maxwell Shaw), "the biggest and dirtiest fence," who's got grandiose plans. But when he's stabbed in the back five times, Gideon starts by questioning a boy who's nicked a banana. However this leads him to "a modern-day Fagin set-up".
12. The Housekeeper - An electrician (Harry Fowler) discovers a corpse in a bath. Money is missing and he has a record... and that's enough to ruin his marriage. Suspicion then turns on the victim's sinister housekeeper (Kay Walsh), but she is now busy conning a new victim, a blind man
13. The Nightlifers- The co-star of Yes Prime Minister is a teenage yob! Well at least the PM's secretary, Derek Fowlds, plays one of a gang of tearaways led by Paul (Anton Rodgers), who attack people just for a "giggle." The tale has a few insights into 60's teenage culture and the rift with adults, but mainly this is the opportunity for Anton Rodgers to bare his teeth as a vicious high-class amoral criminal. Directed by John Moxey who shows his skill at this type of dark thriller
14. Fall High, Fall Hard - Honest and innocent Tony (Donald Houston) learns his business partner, wide boy Charley (a typical Victor Maddern role) has been cheating "expediently" some of their clients. If someone needs fixing, Charley simply calls in hitman (Gordon Gostelow). Poor Tony gets a taste of this in a nice contrast between his posh background and a devious uinderworld.
15. How to Retire without really Working - "I've lost me nerve," Gresham tells his wife. He's decided to end their twenty year life of crime and a visit from Commander Gideon advising him to "retire" merely confirms that resolve. But to start a life of real work proves too hard to face, so he and his wife plan one last big payday, robbing a factory, which of course lands them in Gideon's office. A nice touch as they are taken off to the cells accompanied by the Minuet used in The Ladykillers. Though this hasn't quite the genius of that crime caper, it's a lovely bitter-sweet story with typical touches of humour from Eric Barker
16. The Wall - Sergeant Cork is a killer! An evil landlord (John Barrie) is jealous Michael Penn's £720 win on the pools. Mrs Penn wonders why her devoted husband has suddenly disappeared
17. Subway to Revenge - Why did someone try and push mild mannered Jimmy (Donald Churchill) under a train? Three similar deaths on the underground spur Gideon to investigate, culminating in a race against time after the maniac (Bryan Pringle)
18. Gang War - Jerry (Ronald Lacey) is starting a rival protection racket to Frank Romano's. Lollo Romano has grandiose plans for robbing £416,000 in used banknotes and the two rival gangs stage a fake rumble to put Gideon off the scent
19. The Alibi Man - Bruce Carroway (Jack Hedley) is "the best driver in the world" according to Gideon's son, but he's "no businessman" and his company are in the red. His accountant partner (Geoffrey Palmer) has to be silenced, and in a classic case of murder snowballing, Bruce's girlfriend also has to be bumped off. "Things are going very wrong, Bruce," complains Bruce's mechanic, who sacrificies himself when Gideon can't quite break down Bruce's "too pat" alibi
20. The Prowler - Dark moments as we follow Alan who cuts off girls' hair after his fiancee Wendy killed herself. He knows he's ill, but his oppressive mother only tells him to pull himself together. When he finds out she indirectly caused Wendy's suicide, he goes wild, and the second half of the story is a manhunt through London streets, finishing at Wendy's old flat, where he holds new occupant Marjorie hostage
21. The Thin Red Line - Surely Finlay Currie can't be robbing his own regiment? He's General Hellfire Mac who wants an "unofficial official" investigation into the disappearance of his regiment's Balaclava silver
22. The Great Plane Robbery - Inpsector Wexford is a thief! At least, it's George Baker who plays The Professor, mastermind behind a million quids worth of gold, stolen in a "damn well organised" heist from a plane at the airport. But the best laid schemes etc etc, as the Polish driver (George Murcell) goes beserk, and the Prof's deputy (Edwin Richfield) falls out with a rival and ends up with a face full of molten gold
23. The Reluctant Witness - Randall (but not Hopkirk, deceased) is a "tearaway" car stealer! An informer is beaten up, a girl Rachel witnessing the crime. Her touching romance with the local bobby (Trevor Bannister) lights up this tense drama before the conventional final chase and punch-up
24. The Millionaire's Daughter - A conman kidnaps a millionaire's daughter, in a well worn theme, ransom one million dollars. A twist when her mother gives the crook her expensive jewels, as Gideon closes in, thus leaving "one expensive liability"
25. Boy with Gun - “Mummy’s boy” shoots a teddy boy, but why? He’s not the type. His parents row over their ”effeminate” child whilst he potters round the countryside in his school blazer, carrying his gun. His improbable palling up with a Borstal lad on the run lends the adventure an air of utter unreality, though the final chase round East End streets is well executed
26. The Perfect Crime - Crane is a killer! Patrick Allen plays an uppercrust stockbroker, who doubles as a burglar by night. His accomplice, safecracker Casey is caught and Mrs Casey (Jean Marsh) demands £5,000 to ensure her husband doesn't squeal. She should have listened to our own words "that Todd is dangerous" for the nasty man kills her. Gideon ends up in court accused of assaulting Casey in jail, before he rounds up this smooth killer
Note: Programmes listed in production order. To 60's Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

>

THE HUMAN JUNGLE
ABC stated "No concessions will be made to trans-Atlantic TV market requirements." And for once, this resolve was kept- the series showed, said ABC Managing Director Howard Thomas "British actors playing British parts with the natural home accent required by the locale."
This was a rather different series- the casebook of a Harley Street psychiatrist. It's only occasionally entertaining however, and it's best not to watch it if you are feeling low yourself. Herbert Lom gives the stories a touch of class with his thoughtful yet firm portrayal of the head shrink, yet we rarely glimpse behind his facade to his private life, which must have its own sad secrets.

1 The Vacant Chair - Dr Corder has to decide who will be the next boss of a huge multinational company, George (Ronald Leigh-Hunt) or Basil (Lloyd Lamble). After listening to "a lot of inane drivel" like a "squabble of mice among cheese," he's to choose between a democrat and an autocrat. Verdict is fairly obvious, though I guessed wrong!
2 The Flipside Man - "Too jumpy" is pop star Danny (Jess Conrad). He finally cracks up on stage- "Pop Goes The King of Pops," when he thinks he sees his double. No Dr Corder is really needed to unravel this one, but despite the confusing mix of Victorian Melodrama and the Swinging Sixties, this proves an absorbing showbiz tale
3 Run with the Devil - Brother Hewitt (Derek Farr) has a nasty secret, sadly he's a stereotyped religious fanatic, who amazingly has married a prostitute. Too daft for words
4 Thin Ice - Junior ice skating champ (Janina Faye) has a fall and won't ever skate again- she feels. Dr Corder probes her family problems, it's just like any old soap
5 The Lost Hours - Portrait of Julia (Ursula Howells), who attempts suicide. She believes husband Henry (Leonard Sachs) is having an affair. He denies it, but disappears some nights- where? Apparently he's the oldest teenager in town, gone off the rails rather like this script which started so well
7 Friend of the Sergeant Major - Cocksure Sgt Major Bennett (Alfred Burke) is being court martialled and Dr Corder has to report on him, but is it his commander Lt Gray who's the paranoid one? Corder unravels a plot and two enemy agents are exposed
9 The Wall - Anyone could diagnose the probs of Jan (Jeremy Spenser), living with his wife and both sets of parents in one house. He chucks bottles through the window before Corder sorts him out
10 A Woman with Scars - After an MP (Frank Lawton) marries his secretary, she cracks up, putting all the glasses in their washing machine. Is it the age gap that leads her to accuse Dr Corder of rape and sue him? Discreet inquiries uncover her "excessive promiscuity" including an affair with Sir Francis Leigh Brooke, "a megalomaniac maestro" conductor. Corder had treated him, and she blames Corder for causing their affair to end. A dramatic scene outside the courtroom ends the case, but doesn't quite match the excellence of what has gone before
11 Two Edged Sword - "The least thing, and something happens to my husband," Mrs Bridges tells Dr Corder. Hypnosis is the root of her troubles, which years ago she'd undergone at the hands of a quack. The proper use of this two edged sword enables Corder to help a mother who has rejected her baby. The rather laboured point about hypnotism is made in two quite absorbing little tales
12 Time Check - Burglar Bert (Melvyn Hayes) is a compulsive thief obsessed with breaking into gabled houses in order to wind up clocks. The police know he's "bonkers," though Dr Corder proves it's The War that's to blame
15 Conscience on a Rack - "I must be punished." So says Flora Robson who plays a neurotic headmistress who attempts suicide, The reason seems all too obvious but in fact her problems go deeper- she's lied about her age- for the inexplicable reason that she wants to stay in harness even though she ought to have retired! But a still darker secret is waiting to be revealed
17 Solo Performance - Margaret Lockwood plays a suicidal actress, now "a has-been," whose stage comeback hangs on Dr Corder. "I'm a natural for self-destruction." This is a parable of ageing and a fine illustration of that show-biz tradition The Show Must Go On. I wonder what, further-down-the-cast Rona Anderson, once a star herself, made of the story?
20 Heartbeats in a Tin Box - An absorbing story of secondary modern teacher Christine Box who severely beats a pupil during a lesson. Found guilty, she's amazingly allowed back into the classroom, where she gets into another "dreadful state." Dr Corder delves her past to find the reason behind her sudden viciousness
23 Ring of Hate - Boxer Leigh Garner (Dudley Sutton) is a "dead duck" in the ring. Probing his childhood, Corder loses him the overlong fight, but as a person now "he's all right"
24 Skeleton in the Cupboard - Dr Corder is asked to investigate the sanity of a dead financier (Roger Livesey) who drew up his will 20 years ago. A picture is built up of "a giant among pygmies," but it's a conflicting one, and Dr Corder has to determine whether he was "tyrant" or "paragon." The key lies with his late wife and her domineering sister-in-law, nicely portrayed by two fine actresses, Nora Nicholson and Sonia Dresdel
25 The Quick and The Dead - Richard Johnson is Jimbo Harris ace Formula One driver. Ace he must be as he's 3 laps ahead and instead of taking his foot off the pedal he breaks the lap record and crashes. Dr Corder has to find out what's bugging him before the Monaco Grand Prix. If this was The Saint I could finish the plot off myself - against the doc's orders he leaves his bed of pain to drive the race of his life... As this is Human Jungle the problem must lie in his past. Is it his repressed childhood, or that old chesnut The War (Korean, this time)?
60's Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

ESPIONAGE (1963/4)
American backed British series that had promise, but never really delivered, for me. Reviews of selected stories:
1 A Covenant with Death - Two wartime resistance men are on trial for murdering two old Jews- the question is did they have to steal from them and kill them? It's a depressing tale of Jews on the run from Gestapo brutality and finally either facing it or being killed by the Allies to avoid betraying vital secrets
2 The Weakling
3 The Incurable One
4 The Gentle Spies - Old Lord Kemble leads the CND protest group which leaks details of a government bunker in the event of nuclear war. Young Gerry Paynter (Barry Foster) of the Secret Service infiltrates the group by making up to Sheila (Angela Douglas), who sings a couple of protest ditties in an American accent. Paynter's task is to expose the traitor passing secret information to Kemble, but quite expectedly, Paynter begins to sympathise with the protest group, and more particularly with Sheila. Serious issues are touched upon, though without taking sides
8 The Whistling Shrimp - 0 out of 10 for this New York made bunkum. Are the Americans trying to instal a new regime in volatile Mattai? Journalist Ed (Arthur Kennedy- "it always worked for James Cagney") sniffs out the unexciting truth from politican Owen Rutledge (Larry Gates). A verbose story with a paucity of action despite a near commie takeover. But it's all "six thousand miles away," as political integrity is pretentiously examined, "is there such a thing as qualified truth?" It's all summed up in this ghastly line- "Owen, you're a practical visionary, something like a purple giraffe"
13 Never Turn Your Back on a Friend - With Michael Powell as director, you expect something a little special. Well, there was this Englishman, an American and a Russian, joined in the war on a raid on a power plant. The action focuses on the aftermath when this daft Englishman (Mark Eden) drags back this German scientist. Ja, he has discovered this "staggering" new explosive. So what should the trio do mit him? "His mother should have drowned him," is the anti-nuclear line, but which superpower should now "get the bomb"? The story makes its point about "the implications of power" too ponderously to make the drama absorbing. As in real life, the three fall out, correction the two fall out, Britain is eliminated. Then there was one, or even none, and midst the arguments, the secret is scattered to the four winds... for the time being
18 The Frantick Rebel - this appears to be a cross between Carry On and the eighteenth Century Blackadder. The rich fruity tones of Roger Livesey as Samuel Johnson blend with those of the blackadderish Stanley Baxter overacting as Boswell, pursuing an object of idolatry on the London stage. "The lemon, sir," or how the Americans won the War of Independence could be the plot which is truly awful. I believe Michael Powell was highly regarded as a director, but this is indulgent Cinema Absurde at its bonhommic pitz
19 Castles in Spain - After 25 years "beloved enemy" Professor Kemp (Chester Morris) returns home to Spain. Bill (Neil McCallum) meets him at Madrid Airport and takes him to his house. But on the way they befriend a man wounded, he says, in a fight over a girl. However he proves to be a student terrorist. With the help of an English doctor (Roland Culver) they try to outwit the police. Interesting questions over morality in Spanish politics are raised, and even the Gibraltar question gets a mention
21 Once a Spy - M'bala (Earl Cameron) is on trial in an African dictatorship and needs British help to flee the country. The task, "the full cloak and dagger bit," is assigned to Sue (Millicent Martin), whose boyfriend Phil Mason (William Lucas) has just been dismissed from the service as "dangerously unreliable" by his scheming boss (Peter Vaughan). The main focus of the story is Sue and Phil's relationship and only ten minutes is left for the simple rescue, which is only marred by volunteer Phil's old "weakness for self-dramatisation"
24 A Free Agent (final story) - A newly married couple throw their presents into a lake. Both are ex-spies, and from opposite sides, but "you can't contract out," that's the theme of this story as both sides try to drag them away from "a normal life." Had the characters been more sympathetic, the story might have been more absorbing, but as it is, the ending always keeps you guessing
60's Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

COURT MARTIAL (1966)
Generally rather dull, in my view, only enlivened by the integrity of Peter Graves' acting.

15 Operation Makeshift - with Robert Beatty and Errol John. Summary from The Viewer: "The case of one desperate, dedicated Army Sergeant who seems willing to sacrifice his freedom, his honour and his career. Captain David Young takes on his defence but receives no assistance from the Sergeant." Our more prosaic summary: Five army trucks are stolen. The dramatic trial includes the subpoena of a general. The story is set in politically sensitive Persia, not much different there today, sadly.
17 All is a Dream to Me - "A real loser" (Donald Sutherland) steals an army jeep crashing it outside the Anchor pub, killing an army lieutenant. The episode title is a quote from Goethe, found in a book under the crashed vehicle, which leads Capt Young to the village spinster Laura (Gwen Watford) and an old man who's lost his memory. In the end, it all goes back to Dachau concentration camp

60's Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Ghost Squad

Ghost Squad is
available on
Network's dvds.
The follow-up
series GS5 is
wiped. But the
dvd does contain
mute footage
from GS5.
List in ATV
transmission order.

* with Nick Craig
# with Tony Miller
1* TICKET FOR BLACKMAIL
2* BULLET WITH MY NAME ON IT
3* HONG KONG STORY
4* HIGH WIRE
5* THE BROKEN DOLL
6* EYES OF THE BAT
7* STILL WATERS
8* ASSASSIN
9 DEATH FROM A DISTANCE
10* MILLION DOLLAR RANSOM
11* THE GREEN SHOES
12* CATSPAW
13* PRINCESS
14* INTERRUPTED REQUIEM
15# EAST OF MANDALAY
16* SENTENCES OF DEATH
17# THE GRAND DUCHESS
18* THE DESPERATE DIPLOMAT
19# THE GOLDEN SILENCE
* THE BIG TIME
21* A FIRST CLASS WAY TO DIE
22# LOST IN TRANSIT
23* QUARANTINE AT KAVAR
24* RETIREMENT OF THE GENTLE DOVE
THE THIRTEENTH GIRL
# DEATH OF A SPORTSMAN
* HOT MONEY
# THE MAN WITH THE DELICATE HANDS
# THE LAST JUMP
* THE MAGIC BULLET
31# POLSKY
32* THE HEIR APPARENT
* ESCAPE ROUTE
34# THE MENACING MAZURKA
35# MR. FIVE PER CENT
36* GERTRUDE
37# SABOTAGE
* PG7
39# THE MISSING PEOPLE
ITC's first hour long filmed series. A pilot was made by Rank eventually titled 'Death from a Distance', featuring Hazel Court as Jackie, an undercover agent and William Sylvester as police officer Brett. A TV Mirror reporter describes his visit to Walton studios as they were completing the pilot in September 1960. (It had been intended to make it at Pinewood.) The story editor for this pilot was Lewis Greifer. Leslie Harris of ATV had planned the series be partly filmed in Hong Kong, but changed his mind, saying "when I surveyed the possibilities in Hong Kong I was appalled. There is only one ramshackle studio there." With sales guaranteed to America, the pilot was reworked and 12 more stories were filmed at Beaconsfield. Michael Quinn starred as agent Nick Craig with Donald Wolfit as Sir Andrew Wilson. A long 1962 Equity dispute caused production to move to video. Somehow the magic of the filmed stories was gone! New agent Tony Miller (Neil Hallett) was introduced alongside Nick Craig with Anthony Marlowe as new boss Geoffrey Stock.
When the series returned in 1964, now oddly renamed G.S.5, there was a surprise, agent Nick Craig was dead, agent Tony Miller was joined by agent Peter Clarke (Ray Barrett). Episode 1 showed Nick's murderers being tracked down. Publicity for GS5 stated- "The death of his old colleague Nick Craig has made Tony Miller bitter and tougher than ever. A shrewd operator is he, quick witted and a man to fear." Hallett said of his role: "It's an all-action part and really something I can get my teeth into." As for Peter Clarke, he "looks and acts the city gentleman, is always cool and self-assured and uses his own charm and subtle humour to get him out of tight spots." Barrett said of his role: "I thoroughly enjoy the role of Clarke. He is a man who does not like to use violence, a man after my own heart." In fact Barrett is only in a few of the 13 episodes, another agent appearing in the starring role in one story, Sally Lomax, played by Patricia Mort. She also has bit parts in two other stories, having made her debut in the Ghost Squad story The Thirteenth Girl, and it's possible ATV were considering building a future series around her.
Best story: I do like #13 Princess. Dud episode: #15 East of Mandalay
60's Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Ticket for Blackmail
Millionaire David Masters has committed suicide, even though he had "not a worry in the world," according to Sir Andrew.
Nick Craig learns from his secretary that, unusually for him, he'd been having an affair with young Suzanne Kent whom he had met on a luxury coach tour by Tobias Tours. Two brothers run this business, Joe Tobias (Ronald Leigh-Hunt) and Graham (Alex Scott).
Craig poses as a wealthy Texan sheep farmer and books on a tour, where he befriends "richest mug" Karolides (Paul Stassino) who is the brothers' latest target.
In Paris, Karolides is shown the sights by Suzanne, and he is introduced to Caspar who collects diamonds like Karolides. A useful contact might be at 34 Rue des Eglises in Marseilles.
So when the tour reaches that city, Karolides goes to this place, a jeweller's shop run by Scapin, who is actually Graham Tobias. How about an uncut diamond at "a bargain price," only $100,000?
Later, Karolides shows it to Craig, "worth twice that."
In Nice he is introduced to a Dutch diamond cutter, actually Joe Tobias, who offers him $175,000 for the stone, as is. But then the police pounce with questions about the diamond. Of course it's not really a policeman. Karolides takes the cop to 34 Rue des Eglises which has become a tailor's, no sign of any jeweller. However the Dutchman can be contacted. To clear himself, Karolides has to agree to repay the money paid to the Dutchman, well $225,000 actually, to cover his loss of profit.
But is Karolides on to the swindle, or is Craig? A classic case of the criminal getting cold feet. Joe Tobias orders coach driver George to finish them off. Karolides' corpse is dumped in Craig's room. Time for Sir Andrew to step in and vouch for Craig. But "we can't break security," so no help there. So Craig is put in jail, though by now the real French police have accepted his story, and are working with him.
The Tobias brothers are taken to where Scapin's shop had been. Craig produces a watch he had bought there which has incriminating fingerprints on it. That is enough to cause a gun to be drawn, but a deft movement from Craig results in the brothers and George being placed under lock and key

Ghost Squad Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Hong Kong Story
"You'll like Hong Kong. It's a great place." (Though if you read the introduction to the series, you'll notice the producers of Ghost Squad must have put this into the script tongue-in-cheek.)
This was one of the first of the filmed series, as evidenced by Ghost Squad secretary Miss Winters having to learn some basic GS rules. Sir Andrew tells her she might make an agent in ten years time.

At Karachi Airport an airline steward is shot dead. In his vest is hidden gold. Was he the intended victim, or was the VIP doctor flying from Hong Kong the real target?
Agent Nick Craig is sent to find out. On the flight he meets stewardess Suzie who introduces him to pilot Wacker Dawson (Bill Kerr). Craig, aka Williams, asks if Wacker is interested in buying some industrial diamonds. This gets Craig an invitation to a "high class affair" where he meets that VIP, Dr Siligi. An introduction to Wang of the China and Kowloon Toy Company produces a good offer for the diamonds, and a promise of future smuggling assignments.
On Williams' first job he "passes the test with honours." That leads to a proper job, smuggling gold in a body belt. But at Karachi Airport a customs official orders a search. In private he identifies himself and the gold is handed over to this corrupt official. But in an apparently routine check, the man is arrested.
Wang is furious, Wacker scared. "we must make sure this doesn't happen again." So special suitcases are manufactured to carry future gold consignments. But on the next trip, Wacker is increasingly nervous, and in Karachi he is silenced for good by Wang's men.
Now the jobs for Nick dry up, as the smugglers take precauations. A frustrated Sir Andrew back in London, says he could be doing a better job of it himself!
Nick finds that Wang is now hiding the gold in toy soldiers. With Suzie, who turns out to be an agent of the Hong Kong police, he wangles his way on to Flight 201 and catches the boss red handed, in a rather manufactured ending.
The gang successfully rounded up, Nick enjoys a drink with Suzie.
"Not a bad job... took a long time about it," is Sir Andrew's brusque verdict

Ghost Squad Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

HIGH WIRE -

Agent Nick Craig: "If I am a cop, I'm a lousy one. I started taking a personal interest in this case- I feel sorry for you."

There's an atmospheric opening in the dark and the rain, as a French policeman patrols the streets, quite missing the thieves who break into a bank. One of the gang is safecracker Fred Rice (William Hartnell in a fine ambivalent role), who, it turns out, is disillusioned with his life of crime, having spent his life since the war on the run.
This is the latest in a series of bank raids across Europe. Agent Nick Craig's task is to bring war criminal Fred Rice back to Britain for trial. He joins the circus where Fred is co-owner, as a wall of death rider. He gets the job after rescuing Fred ("greater than Houdini") from his underwater escape act, which has been sabotaged by Moker, one of his troupe, who is the leader of the thieves. It had been a warning to Fred not to betray the gang.
Nick overhears Fred and his daughter Rita discussing their predicament: "I don't like having these men around our necks." It's evident Fred is being blackmailed on account of his shady past, to take part in the robberies. Yet he seems to enjoy the thrill of the job, as Nick observes when he trails the villains on another raid. The crooks realise Nick is on to them and nobble his wall of death, Nick ending up with a broken leg. Fred is ordered to get rid of Nick, but can he go through with it?
It's the gang's last raid. Nick hobbles to the lion's cage to decommission their guns. He tries to dissuade Fred from taking part, but to no avail. The robbery goes terribly wrong, but Nick, observing from close by, rescues Fred from the police and is able to take him back to Britain.
Happily the case that he's a traitor, which Fred has strongly denied, is not proven, and thus the Sword of Damocles is removed from his life, even though he still has to pay for his safecracking.

Ghost Squad Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Eyes of the Bat

Nick Craig: "Maybe it would pay me to take up crime."
He is being trained to crack safes, so he can infiltrate a gang of blackmailers, who hold businesses and even whole countries to ransom. Ambrose Jerome (William Lucas) runs the outfit, with his girl Simone.
Todd is a partially sighted safecracker nicknamed The Bat; Nick Craig takes his place and books in to the Latin Palace Hotel in Salvatore, Italy. He has a Ghost Squad agent Joe Kenton (Donald Churchill) to act as his contact.
After observing Jerome on his luxury yacht, the Santa Bella, Nick climbs stealthily on board to crack the safe, and then allows himself to be caught by Jerome. Nick's credentials impress, and he is put through his paces on a job in Milan, stealing the plans from the Voltro car factory.
This is simple, and the next job is The Big One, Unitel, a textile company in Trieste. There is a slight hitch when Vic Diamond, Jerome's old safecracker shows up, and he sees through Nick. But Simone helps silence Diamond. Why? "I had my reasons." Kissing Nick seems to be at the bottom of it. So Nick tries to pump her on what Jerome is up to exactly on this Unitel job, which he says is to be his last.
Both sides indulge in bluff, as a result of which Nick is ordered to dispose of the source of the leak on Jerome's gang.... Simone. She is of course later safe and sound with Joe Kenton. But she hasn't got any additional information on the Trieste job.
Part of the bluff had been the fact that the real job is not in Trieste, but Venice. Jerome is wily enough to avoid police surveillance as his gang start The Big One. Luckily, back in London, Sir Andrew has worked out the job must be at the headquarters of the Five Power Naval Command.
Inevitably Nick's cover is blown, as the gang all too easily enter the building, "the creep" then forced to blow the safe. Now he's of no more use he can be shot. But not quite

Ghost Squad Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Still Waters
"I like you. I think we can trust each other."

Nick Craig poses as a diamond cutter, deported to Holland, on the track of an international gang whose robberies have netted over four million dollars. The suspected boss is Arny Long (John Carson) and he's looking for another person who can cut stones "discreetly." Craig is his man, given a genuine job as a front, cutting hot stones on the side. He's appointed a clerk at Brau and Hoffmeyer, diamond merchants.
"The case is as good as closed," Criag confidently informs the Amsterdam police, for he's about to get his first consignment of diamonds to break up. With plain clothes detectives on the watch, Craig waits in a park for the drop. A delivery boy hands him the jewels- as it's clearly a test, no arrest is made. instead Craig comes through by doing "good reliable work" breaking up the diamonds.
"The main event" must be to follow. Craig waits in an art gallery and Arny brings him the stones. There's a shootout but the wounded Arny gets away. He flees to the Seven Thunders, the ship used in the racket, in charge Captain Henry Starr (Stratford Johns).
A study of Long's paperwork leads Craig to this vessel. Currently it's in the North Sea, and actually it's picking up another lot of loot. When it docks in Amsterdam, Sir Andrew Wilson arranges for the ship to be searched, though nothing is discovered. "They must have dumped the stuff."
Craig obtains a job as steward on this ship. He spots fish being loaded aboard, and hidden in them are stolen diamonds. Later he sees them being dumped overboard, clearly at a pre-arranged place.
Sir Andrew is watching at this spot, ready for the next consignment. However as it's outside territorial waters, Craig points his gun at Cpt Starr, "alter course," he orders. But Arny Long, who has been conspicuous only by his absence in hiding, nearly thwarts the arrests, but Sir Andrew steps in and the gang is captured.
"Very satisfactory," Sir Andrew is so pleased he even offers Craig some well deserved leave

Ghost Squad Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

ASSASSIN-
"I'm only interested in clearing my brother. If you can't get the truth out of these witnesses, I can."

Nick Craig is posing as Harry, the brother of American Frank Main who has been arrested in a mid-European country, charged with shooting the president. In fact we know he's innocent, as we have seen the victim shot in the back by his girl friend Anna (Jill Ireland).
This is a straightforward detective story, Nick striving to find out whodunnit, in order to prevent an outbreak of anti-American feeling in the country, which would lurch it into Commie hands.
Frank claims he had been with the Minister of Trade, Koster (Joseph Furst) when the shooting occurred, but Koster, who won't be interviewed, does not confirm Frank's alibi. So Craig starts his investigation with the gunsmith who is alleged to have sold Frank the murder weapon. Bribery opens his tongue and he admits his story is untrue, only to be shot himself, inevitably.
Posing as a tractor salesman, Nick Craig is able to obtain an invitation to dinner with Koster. It's there he meets famous actress and society beauty Anna. She later tries to bump him off, but our agent is too wily to fall for the same trick the president had succumbed to, and she confesses, privately at least, she was the killer.
Local lad Ricky (Christopher Witty) is able to tell Craig that Frank Main never left Koster's home until after the killing, despite Koster's assertion to the contrary. The only fly in the ointment is that the prosecution are leaked the information about Ricky, and the remainder of this story is about Craig's efforts to protect the boy. The 'police' arrest Ricky, but Craig guesses he's been hidden in Koster's home and rescues him, hiding him in a hotel. But Koster's henchmen track the pair down, only to accidentally shoot each other, enabling Nick and his charge to escape, taking refuge in a lonely hut. Again, they are tracked down, and Koster himself asks Craig "who are you?" But her never finds out, for they again elude him.
At Frank's trial, Anna's evidence ("a convincing liar") seems conclusive. But then what Ricky says is decisive. The final scene is of Frank and Nick thanking the lad, and as they bid him farewell, the camera closes in on Ricky's face

Ghost Squad Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Death from a Distance
This was a slight reworking of the pilot story, Nick Craig being only introduced to establish he is being given a fortnight's leave. The opening statement introduces the characters- "The head of the Ghost Squad is Sir Andrew Wilson. From a quiet office in the heart of London, he keeps in touch with the FBI in Washington, the Surete Generale in Paris and the police forces of five continents."

"If I get shot, what crisis would result? A world war, do you think?"
Thus Volgu, dictator of a Balkan state who is attending a London conference. Stephen Brett (William Sylvester) is assigned to protect him, by leading several known enemies of Volgu on a wild goose chase. The men include research chemist Router (Anton Diffring), lawyer Kartalis (Douglas Wilmer) and Pavelich (John Crawford). These terrorists are lured to a lonely Hebridean island where their plane develops engine trouble. They realise they've been left "high and dry" in a remote hotel, away from Volgu's presence in London.
The barman who has been detailed to listen in to their conversation is killed, but Brett, posing as author Campbell Macdonald, is also assisted by the airline hostess Jackie (Hazel Court). Whilst Kartalis keeps Brett occupied, the others go fishing in rough seas, and are picked up by the island lighthousemen. There Router cunningly sabotages the light, which brings out an emergency vessel from the mainland, and the terrorists are thus able to get off the island.
In London, Router and Pavelich are hidden by Susan (Moira Redmond) whilst Brett vainly keeps watch on the Lavengro Club and Jackie on Router's laboratory.
But Router is shrewd enough to elude them both. His plan is to make use of his own young niece Sonia, who is due to present Volgu with a bouquet when he visits his country's embassy. In the flowers is a deadly frozen chemical. He's got his niece to promise not to sniff the flowers.
At the reception at the enormous embassy, Brett and Jackie watch as guest of honour Volgu arrives. The presentation ceremony is unceremoniously interrupted by Brett: "this man's behaving like an idiot," apologises Sir Andrew. But the action ultimately proves to have saved Volgu's life.
Router is rounded up at the airport, and Brett is thanked by Sir Andrew.
The ending suggests there might be another job for William Sylvester in the series again, but it was not to be

Ghost Squad Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Princess
Sir Andrew Wilson to agent Nick Craig: "I wouldn't mind escorting a beautiful girl from Switzerland to Omar, and I'm twice your age."

A marksman shoots a debutante at a Swiss finishing school, but he's made an error, his intended target was a princess who is shortly to be married. As this wedding will unite two oil empires, the other side want to prevent the union, and thus Craig is assigned to ensure her long journey to join her fiance in the Middle East is a safe one.
Unfortunately it's hate at first sight between Nick and the royal, for she is cold and unapproachable. Besides, her fiance has sent his own escort, one Laura Payne (Honor Blackman). However she proves part of the assassination plot and is later arrested.
Next morning at dawn there's a police escort for "the little ray of sunshine" that is Princess Nadia, to take her to Lorbonne airfield. Having received a tip off from Laura, the marksman lies in waiting, "they won't know what hit them." But in another blunder, the police chief is shot and the aloof Princess Nadia becomes more contrite as she at last appreciates the danger she is facing.
But surely her plane will be OK, for it has been under police guard. But having admitted his blunder, the marksman phones mechanic Hans who tampers with the plane, which is thus forced to make a forced landing in a lonely desert east of Damascus.
Back in London, Sir Andrew and his assistant Helen Winters fear the worst, with no radio contact from the missing aircraft. Needle in a haystack search of the wide area, where the pair have been lucky enough to survive. Nick does get a weak SOS through on the radio, and that helps Sir Andrew's men to narrow where to look. While Nadia and Nick philosophise a bit, her aloofness quite wears off as she explains about her arranged marriage.
Of course it all ends happily, they have even kissed, and perhaps it's as well that Helen Winters back in London hasn't seen that, for there are more than a few hints of her entertaining romance with Nick. However as she now disappears from the series, as it moves away from the filmed stories, we'll never know how this love might have developed.

Note: at one point we see a newspaper which carries the date November 30th 1960, so that gives a clue as to the approximate date of filming

Ghost Squad Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Interrupted Requiem
The first of the non-filmed stories: ”Now that Sir Andrew Wilson had been shanghaied by the Foreign Office, it was now my job to report to my new boss, Geoffrey Stock.”

Buried in a French cemetry after a plane crash is Kristyna Brisac (1938-1959), but her father, Prof Brisac thinks he has seen her there. He works at an RAF station where the Zebra One rocket project has just been sabotaged. Nick Craig arrests him.
Why had he sabotaged his own project? He’s been told his daughter (Ellen McIntosh), supposedly dead, is in “their” hands. He had to do what he had to do or she would “suffer.”
Craig goes to France to find out the truth. The somewhat deaf coroner explains Kristyna had been identified after her plane crashed from her general height and age. The only other passenger of her age was one Tanya, and she had survived. After some treatment she had been taken back behind the Iron Curtain by a fellow countryman, Jan Kupra.
So Craig flies there, ostensibly to attend a trade fair selling Winky Dinky Dinkums, accompanied by a genuine rep, Mr Bowness. His Ghost Squad contact in the country, is the effeminate Gerald Prior- “I grow on people.” There at the fair, he meets Kupra and gets himself invited to dinner with Kupra’s wife, who is either Kristyna or her double. Craig obtains a set of her fingerprints and London later confirms they are the missing girl’s.
Craig faces her with the facts: “I know your father quite well.” But she denies it. It’s clear she remembers little of her past, which only dates back to the time of the air accident. “My name is Tanya,” she insists. Craig offers her and her husband two one-way tickets, and leaves them to decide their loyalties. Some pressure from the police help them decide. They have a heart to heart about Jan's duplicity, though he claims to love her. “Do you think I’ll ever believe that?”
A desperate bid to catch the Wednesdays Only 10.45pm Flight 302 to Vienna. Craig shakes off his shadower, with a little help from Bowness who spouts double dutch to his secret police followers, and the rest seems very easy- was it really so simple to get out from behind the Iron Curtain? The police zoom up to the airport (which looks awfully like the studio foyer), just too late to delay the plane.
But there’s a final problem. A minor technical fault means the plane will have to return to base! But it starts rocking. Crash! Fortunately on the right side of the border.
And so this tense adventure ends happily, with Kristyna recovering her memory. The drama is nicely offset by some light relief from Frederick Peisley as Bowness and Derek Nimmo as Prior.

Ghost Squad Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

East of Mandalay

“I knew from his face that he hadn’t expected to see me alive again."
Thus Tony Miller on his first assignment in the Far Eastern country of Silon, a land riven with civil war. Sir Charles (Ian Fleming), chairman of British Eastern Minerals, had approached Geoffrey Stock at the Ghost Squad, concerned one of his employees named Burton might be a spy. Miller, under the cover of an executive of the company, travels to Silon to assess Burton (Brian Haines). This jaded man fails to meet Miller at the airport, and seems reluctant to even escort him to the mines which are deep in guerilla country. And when they do reach there, Miller has to insist he is shown the underground mine workings. In Shaft No3 the “contemptible” Burton abandons Miller, just before an explosion. Miller barely gets out.
Safe, and recovering in his hotel, Miller is arrested for the murder of Burton. Luckily, he is given an alibi by an interpreter Sara (Jacqui Chan), and the charge doesn’t stick. Sara, with a dagger hidden next her thigh, is clearly no interpreter. She is an agent of rebels who are planning to overthrow the government. She assumes Miller is another arms agent like Burton, so naturally Miller plays along in a “delicate business” of arms smuggling.
To negotiate the next arms delivery, Miller is taken to U Tope (Denis Shaw) the rebel leader. He needs mortars and such like urgently.
Back in London, Geffrey Stock is trying to trace the origins of earlier consignments. Apparently the arms are not, as originally thought, being smuggled in from Japan, they must already be hidden somewhere in Silon. They are only ancient weapons left over from Japanese stocks at the end of the war.
U Tope has been sold a lot of dud weaponry! Stored for years in the mines. The swindle exposed, it is Miller who is to face death at the hands of the rebels. Sara just about helps save the day as the mine is blown up. I think U Tope and his men were all inside, but to be honest, this script and dialogue was so wooden, you never really get involved with the characters or the plot. The Far Eastern sets look like the ATV studios, as indeed they are.

Ghost Squad Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Sentences of Death
We are again reminded that Sir Andrew Wilson from the first series, has left: "Sir Andrew Wilson has been reclaimed by the Foreign Office."

Agent Nick Craig: "Caravans don't normally have frosted glass."
But Nick is carried unconscious to one! He had popped into his local, after his latest assignment, to have a drink (4/-), but it had been spiked. A doctor (Ronald Leigh-Hunt) had treated him, and taken him to his nearby surgery, this caravan.
When Nick had properly regained consciousness, he was sitting in a roadside hut. "I don't like this afternoon's business," his boss Geoffrey Stock observes later that evening. Craig is ordered to retrace his steps that day.
But Craig has already spilled secrets about the job agent Tony Miller is now on: "they think he's Karl Schroeder." That's what Craig has blurted out under the influence of the truth drug adminstered by the 'doctor', Paul and his assistant Philippa (Ann Lynn).
Craig returns to the pub and gets some sort of description of the doctor. But he can only vaguely recall being carried to this caravan.
Stock receives a demand for £40,000 for the tape of Craig made whilst under the truth drug- pay up or it will be sent to Schroeder. A container with instructions for throwing the cash out of a train window is also received: "this method is as near watertight as could be." However Craig suggests a new R50 Homer is put in the handle of the case with the cash.
Then he gets a break when a Mr Beavis tells him he was the person who had fitted this caravan recently with frosted glass. Owner: a well-spoken man. Craig locates it and hides inside, just as Philippa starts the drive north where she is to rendezvous with Paul after he has grabbed the money.
The steam train puffs northwards, and near Doncaster the case is thrown out. Paul grabs it and is reunited with Philippa, near Sherburn-in-Elmet. Craig has been keeping watch by the nearby getaway plane, but is caught and tied up: "you've been very stupid Mr Craig." Butane gas will blow the caravan up, Craig still inside.
But the crooks can't make their escape as Craig has nobbled the plane. Paul attempts to learn what Craig has done by administering some more truth drug. But Stock's men come to his rescue, and agent Miller's cover is thus preserved

Ghost Squad Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The Grand Duchess
"Without trust, there can be no co-operation."
A foreign diplomat cements relations with England, with the loan of the "priceless" Goya of The Grand Duchess Sophie, to be exhibited in a London gallery. At a reception to mark the occasion, owner of the gallery Sir George (John Barron) toasts Truloff, the country's cultural attache. However the wine waiter is taking an unusual interest in the portrait....
The party over, when all is quiet, thieves break in through the ceiling, the painting whisked away, and a fake left in its place.
Sir George contacts Geoffrey Stock as a matter of urgency. The latter however seems quite calm, for he has already assigned Tony Miller to the case, indeed he is, Stock tells Sir George, one of the thieves! "I think you're taking this very light heartedly," complains Sir George. Stock explains Ghost Squad have been after a gang who have committed a series of art robberies, the paintings destined for an unknown private collector. Miller had to succeed in this theft in order to catch this master crook.
At this moment, Miller is speeding with his accomplice in a car to Little Gidding. There he comes face to face with his boss, working class millionaire Henry Barron (Colin Douglas). "I've got a Goya all to myself," he smiles.
His happiness is short lived for the picture proves to be a fake. "Someone got there before us!" Maybe it was expert forger Bert, who had made one copy for the crooks? The gang rush off to find out.
At Bert's there's evidence that the waiter, Alexis Oregin, 24 Hillview Road, had been another client, and Miller knocks out his mate to get to Oregin first. Barron is left to wait.
Close behind them is Geoffrey Stock, but he also has to avert a diplomatic incident, when Truloff announces himself at the gallery to check on security. The hole in the ceiling is rather hard to cover up!
Alexis is at home and shows Miller his original Goya. He is a descendant of the Duchess, and once owned this painting, before the Revolution. "It is mine." As a boy he had loved that picture. Patiently Miller listens, sympathetically. Alexis had paid all he had to get a copy made, before he swapped paintings during the reception.
Miller has been listening for too long. In walks Barron to grab the Goya. Alexis strikes him down for touching it, just as Stock steps in to take the Goya safely back to the gallery. Truloff is convinced his treasure is safe and a tiny smile crosses Stock's face

Ghost Squad Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The Desperate Diplomat
"Don't worry, I won't let you down," says Derrick de Marney, in a nice echo of the catchphrase of his best role, Slim Callaghan.

He plays a senior diplomat, Clive Errington, who is married to Margaret (Barbara Shelley), a hopeless drug addict. Source of her supply is Neville Shand (Ferdy Mayne) at the Black Orchid.
When Clive finds out, he threatens to kill Shand and the pair fight, not a wise move just before an important conference in Oslo.
Geoffrey Stock is asked to make sure Clive's part in this meeting isn't jeopardised. So Nick Craig is sent to meet "rich smarmy womaniser" Shand. Posing as a telephone engineer, he searches Shand's flat.
Margaret is desperate for more heroin. Shand will only give to her, if she persuades her husband to apologise for punching him.
"You've got to break away from him," Clive advises his wife. She threatens to leave him unless he does what she asks. Clive also asks Ghost Squad to stop interfering. He also resigns his post.
His wife is so desperate she is on her way to Madame Rienzi (Naomi Chance) when Nick questions her. "It's her all right," Nick confirms to his boss.
Stock goes with Nick to Madame Rienzi's flat, only to find she has been silenced.
So they have "a few words" with Margaret. "Some straight talking" in fact. She is persuaded to summon Shand to her room. While Shand is out, Nick examines the safe and finds the evidence he needs to break the ring. But when Shand meets Margaret there's a struggle and Shand shoots her.
The final surprise truth is revealed.

Here's a powerful performance from Barbara Shelley as the sad addict, and from Derrick de Marney as her "idiot" husband, who somehow still loves her

Ghost Squad Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The Golden Silence
As the chief is away, Mike Ferrers (Gordon Jackson) is in charge.
Agent Tony Miller: "Whatever Dave was after, may be on that boat tonight."

Agent Dave had been investigating a warehouse. "Evening sweetheart, looking for something?" asks Max (David Lodge) before he shoots him.
Only possible clue to what Dave had discovered in his smuggling investigation, was a ticket for the Hook to Harwich ferry. So Tony Miller takes over the case and scrutinises all the passengers on the boat, but spots nothing out of the ordinary. Except one car YCR618, owned by a Thomas Didcot, unusually blows a tyre during the voyage. With the pressure set as high as 50, it does look a little odd. But customs find nothing unusual in the car, or anywhere for that matter.
Miller arranges for the car to be "borrowed" later that day. An engineer surmises that possibly the oil pan, which has just been changed, might have been made of gold. But there's no proof. Also a map issued by the Four Corners Travel Agency might be a lead.
Behind the gold smuggling is an official from the Treasury, Blakeson, who delegates to Max the job of hiding the gold in ingenious spots. Courier is Didcot and Midge Carberry from the travel agents completes the gang. Didcot however is getting jittery over his stolen vehicle and has to be eliminated.
This is an opportunity for Tony Miller. He goes to the Four Corners Agency pretending he's a friend of Didcot, and gets offered a job as a courier, with "an awful lot riding on this deal." He's to take KLM Flight 451 from Rotterdam, but Blakeson recognises Miller as being on the Harwich boat and knows he never talked to Didcot at all. So how can he be a friend? "You picked up a bogey," Max informs Midge, and Tony is tied up. Tony tries to convince- "if you do believe me?" he asks Max. "You'll be lovely," answers Max. Miller: "if you don't?" Max; "you won't!"
With Ferrers at Ghost Squad hq looking for the missing Miller, Blakeson decides to get out, and cover his tracks. Midge Carberry is shot, Max is next. However Tony has got the upper hand of this likeable rogue and found enough evidence to convict the gang. The boss draws up in his car. "No nonsense darling," Tony warns Max, in a parody of the crook's matey style. But Max is shot and Blakeson speeds away in his car. But the story ends where it had begun, on the ferry. Tony Miller arrests Blakeson, for which Mike Ferrers duly congratulates him.
Ghost Squad Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The Big Time
"I want that bloke, Craig, I want those diamonds, I want them back where they belong, in the handbag of that young lady."

Nick Craig had been tailing a blonde, when her handbag had been snatched. It contained £70,000 worth of uncut diamonds. She is Jane, a courier for diamond smugglers, and all she can do is offer her apologies to her immediate boss, Peter. He arranges for a search to be made for the thief.
Nick has a similar task, on the orders of an irate Geoffrey Stock, who had been almost ready to round up this gang, with the evidence on them.
From files, Nick identifies the thief as Dan Rooney, a homeless tramp. Dan is rather mystified when he opens the bag: "maybe they are jewels," his mate John Slattery suggests. Dealer Weedon gives some good advice: "they're worth about twelve years in Dartmoor," as he bustles Dan away.
First to catch up with Rooney - the smugglers. Peter offers £60 on account plus £100 on delivery. Dan Rooney can't believe his good luck.
Nick finds Rooney has now disappeared. He's joyfully explaining to John that "we're in the big time now all right." When Nick at last catches up with them both, he explains he's a police officer, and Dan agrees to take the diamonds back to Peter, as he was going to do all along.
But maybe Nick should have anticipated the gang's treachery, for Nick next sees Dan dead, lying in his hovel of a hideout. The diamonds are gone.
An upset John Slattery is at the East End Mercy Mission. He has got the diamonds, which he had naively hidden so his friend wouldn't desert him. Craig persuades him to return the diamonds to the thieves, and in a rather emotional scene, Slattery does just that. So all is now ready for the gang to be arrested, Slattery handing out a few well deserved punches on the way.
This is hardly a case worthy of the Ghost Squad, even if the character study of the two tramps is well defined
To menu for
Ghost Squad

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Death of a Sportsman
"Spencer Deedes, but he's dead."

Agent Tony Miller notices a man in Cairo called Morton (John Longden), who looks like a man named Spencer Deedes who had died the previous week.
Miller is here to track down diamond smugglers with the aid of Major Mahmoud (Warren Mitchell) and agent Sally Lomax. The leader of the gang is named Stone, and Miller starts his quest to meet him at a Turkish baths, where a wrestler promises to put feelers out.
While they wait, Sally and Tony investigate Deedes' death, "he died, Tony, that's in black and white." Prof Crichton at the British Embassy (Noel Howlett) had been a friend of Deedes. He explains that Dr Malik, a man of the highest medical reputation had attended Deedes in his last hours. Drugs had been administered by Deedes' own South African nurse, Mrs Mason.
When Miller talks to her, she seems very nervous. But to settle matters, Caroline Deedes (Patricia Haines), daughter of the dead man tells Miller she had been with her father when he died.
"No chance of a relapse," admits Tony, his hunch must have been wrong. So he resumes the smuggling case and an interview with Stone's representative, Zervas Kouyoumojian (Martin Benson), a Greek lawyer. Now he just happens to have Caroline Deedes as a client.
While Zervas checks Miller's credentials, Sally tries to talk to the frightened Mrs Mason, but too late, she's dead. "Mrs Mason was killed to stop her from talking," Miller states the obvious to Caroline. That forces her to admit that her father is still alive, it was Mr Mason who was buried. Her father was being blackmailed, but by whom?
Meeting with Stone, arranged by Zervas. "My name is Stone," says Morton alias Deeds, introducing himself. He produces some diamonds for sale. Nervously fingering them, Miller agrees on a deal, but Sally has fallen for "the oldest trick in the book" and has been grabbed by Zervas' men. Both agents are tied up, and are to be silenced when Deedes and Zervas fall out over the death of Mrs Mason. Mahmoud bursts in to arrest them all anyway.
Back in London, Sir Andrew Wilson, unseen of course, hushes up the story of Deedes' bad deeds. That at least makes Caroline grateful

To Ghost Squad menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

A First Class Way to Die
"I'm damned if I know what to think. According to her, Craig is a thief."

Nick Craig is undercover on the SS Orrillia, enjoying a Mediterranean cruise. His brief is to "keep an eye on" a holidaying professor, "Britain's electronic brain" (Laurence Hardy). His other eye seems reserved for a French film star.
But Craig had better watch some of the others around the prof. His niece Anya (Jennifer Daniel) is very protective of him, though he doesn't appreciate her efforts. Her boyfriend Scaccia (Peter Halliday) is definitely "a phoney," he's in communication with some stowaway. However he's seems to be under the thumb of a mere steward Clavik (Jerry Stovin). Finally, there's "ageing adventurer" Arnell (Peter Dyneley), very pally with the prof.
At the start of the story there was a cry of Man Overboard. Though no-one has been found missing, the captain (Charles Morgan) works out that a stowaway had indeed been washed away. Evidence shows he was called Levy. Nick radios London and this gets Geoffrey Stock out on the next flight to the ship's next port of call, Dubrovnik. For Levy is a known kidnapper, who had previously been convicted of kidnapping an American nuclear scientist. He works for the mysterious Condor, whom "we don't know what he looks like."
Back on ship, Craig forces Scaccia to admit he had smuggled the stowaway on board for money. Before Craig can learn who had paid him, he's shot dead in his cabin.
Carelessly, Anya had left her earring there, so did she kill him? She finds Nick in the cabin and orders Clavik to take him to the captain. Instead Nick is tied up. When Anya goes to show the captain Scaccia's corpse, it has been removed and Clavik denies everything. It appears she is talking nonsense, and she gets very worked up. While this has been going on, Arnell has persuaded the prof to go ashore with him at Dubronvnik.
Craig manages to wriggle out of his bonds, overcome Clavik, and find Anya has now disappeared. It's evident she has been taken by The Condor. That humble barman is their man! Thankfully, they prevent him from taking her ashore.
The prof returns with Arnell from their innocent night on the town. Stock and Tony Miller come on board to pick up the pieces.

Ghost Squad Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Lost in Transit

"Still pedalling the same old poison- must be lunatics.... but dangerous."

In London, Tony Miller is awaiting the arrival of a flight from Amsterdam, on which is a propaganda chief Karl Eppler (John Woodvine), a representative of the Nazi New Link. But in the cloakroom Eppler is shot dead.
"An abject piece of bungling," Miller is slagged off by his boss Geoffrey Stock. In fact Eppler had been playing a double game, for he is actually a Ghost Squad agent.
Frau Eppler (Delphi Lawrence) hadn't approved of her husband's political cronies, led by Van Tempel (Anthony Jacobs). But when she comes to identify the corpse, she claims it is not that of her husband. He must have foreseen the plot on his life and swapped identities. Miller is assigned to find Eppler and he flies to Berlin with Mrs Eppler.
"The time has come," Van Tempel is announcing at a meeting of The New Link. They plan to kill a large number of statesman. Though Eppler is at the meeting, his duplicity has been exposed, and he is beaten up. Luckily, he has left a clue behind, a tape recording of the Nazis discussing their plot. The bomb is set for 9pm tonight. But where?
Miller works out that it must be at the Opera House, where a gala night is taking place. In what promises to be a tense finale, the saboteur takes an age to place his bomb, and all the tension is dissipated. Miller persuades the manager of the opera house that he's speaking the truth, for the bomb "has enough punch to split the place wide open." The manager's response- "Gott in Himmel," highly unoriginal. After much sweating, the bomb is diffused by Tony Miller and tragedy averted in yet another ticking bomb drama, not one of the better ones.
We end with Miller bidding farewell to the Epplers, who are off on a well deserved holiday

Ghost Squad Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Quarantine at Kavar
No Geoffrey Stock in a story in which the studio-bound limitations are painfully obvious, with no sense of a middle eastern location, and cars that never move!

"Send the films, they'll know."
The dying ravings of a man killed in a crash. Tim Casey his companion has also survived, and is laid up at Kavar, in a middle east state where there could well be a "modern day gold rush" if reports of the existence of thorium are true.
Agent Nick Craig is sent to find Casey, who has disappeared, find the location of the thorium, and prevent anyone else finding it- "I don't think I'm going to enjoy this trip." But at least he has the pleasure of being accompanied by Ghost Squad's Jean Carter, as she knows a bit about archaeology.
Miss Sazi Keller had been the secretary to Casey's expedition. She's clearly scared, and is keen to get out of Kavar. Jean chats with an American journalist staying at their hotel, Dwight Sherman, and he warns about the power of the local emir. Nick meets this local chief- he knows where Casey is all right, though he's saying nothing. The emir is clearly keen to buy whatever information Miss Keller knows, as he sends her jewels, the offer to join his harem!
There's no way anyone can leave the town because it's under quarantine, following an alleged outbreak of the plague. "As long as the quarantine lasts, the emir is in charge of the situation."
Nick circumvents security to get into the emir's palace, and there he finds Casey, certainly not a prisoner. He's living in the lap of luxury. "You're wasting your time Mr Craig." Then he adds "there is no thorium." Which rather mucks up the whole expedition. It also sums up this pointless plot.
Nick tries to leave with Miss Carter and Miss Keller. She has the photographs everyone wants- they had been entrusted to her by her dying boss. Both the local doctor and Sherman unsuccessfully attempt to snatch them.
"A fool's errand," Nick reports when they arrive safely in England. Except for the photographs, which they still have, and which show the expedition had discovered some rare cave paintings.

Ghost Squad Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Retirement of the Gentle Dove
"It takes little courage to become a traitor."
A Mr C Brownlow has been staying at the Green Bay House (alias Edgwarebury Hotel), but he is really the recently retired head of British Intelligence. For years, he has been obsessed with tracking down the traitor known as the Gentle Dove, partly because Brownlow's own son had been betrayed to his death during the war.
But Brownlow's glass of milk has been nobbled...

"I'd like you to meet George Pearson, widower." He's in reality Geoffrey Stock out to trace Brownlow's killer. "Whoever it is, I'm going to find him or her," he has vowed.
He's given Brownlow's old room at Green Bay House. The sets help create rather well the stifling atmosphere of a home where nothing much seems to happen. Inhabitants there are predictably stuffy, and several seem suspicious, including:
Ex concert pianist Lieber (Ballard Berkeley) who has an assignation with someone each afternoon, and though Stock follows him, he loses him.
Another foreigner is Anna Klein the cook, who has had a shadowy past during the war. Her 'daughter,' who works at the home, seems not to be related to her at all.
Then there's the owner Tresilian, who doesn't welcome the new arrival.
And not forgetting a blind lady who doesn't seem to be blind!
In his sports car JF216, Nick Craig arrives to liaise with his 'uncle.' The car proves useful in trailing Lieber to his afternoon rendezvous. It is all very innocent.
Craig and Stock hatch a plan to flush out the traitor. Stock 'finds' a letter addressed to Brownlow's sister. He posts it in the letter box at the home, and a watch is kept: who will try and retrieve it?

"You may find this hard to believe," says the housekeeper at one point, and although the story by Philip Levene is a really good whodunnit, there are too many suspects to get to know them all properly, and besides, the storyline is never quite full of Ghost Squad-like danger.

Ghost Squad Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The Thirteeenth Girl
"There's something about this girl."

Introducing Sally Lomax, a judo trainee (Patricia Mort). Could she be a Cathy Gale clone- even to the extent of her leather coat? Geoffrey Stock puts her on the Schwarz Case, an au pair who had been brutally murdered. Inspector Franz Hartmann (John Carson) of the Swiss police has approached Ghost Squad for their help, for she is the twelfth in a long line of au pair murders.
Sally poses as Marianne Dubois, working for a Mrs Henderson (Molly Weir). She obtains her post via the Connie Amhurst Agency, the owner proving to be really one Muriel Davies, a convicted brothel owner. She now runs what is called the International Friendship Club, managed by old Mr Whitehead.
That night Sally breaks in to the agency and happens to overhear Connie discussing with her helper Johnny an au pair named Bodil Anderson- she's to be the next.
So Marianne gets friendly with this Bodil, and is invited to her 21st birthday party. "Ladykiller" Raymond (John Ronane) is Bodil's boyfriend and he gives Sally a doctored drink. Thus she misses Bodil being tricked into thinking she has killed the lecherous Whitehead, and Mrs Amhurst very kindlily helping her to evade justice.
Ray puts her on the Birmingham train, but our Ghost Squad agent has managed to follow Bodil on to the train. However Ray spots her.
The 2.10 arrival at Birmingham steams in, Sally swapping places with Bodil. She meets Johnny who takes her to a face to face meeting with the boss, Mr Amhurst, alias Whitehead. Sally Lomax, alias Marianne Dubois, is required to explain her presence.
"Well Marianne, what are we going to do with you?" And with Bodil, for she has been rounded up too. However Bodil had obeyed instructions and phoned Ghost Squad, and Inspector Hartmann immediately pounces on Connie Amhurst, unearthing proof of her guilt. And just in time in Birmingham, the police arrive, even though Sally Lomax has put her judo to good use and polished off most of the villains anyway.
The final scene is at Ghost Squad hq as Inspector Hartmann and Sally Lomax leave on a date. Sally appeared also in a few other Ghost Squad /GS5 stories, including the main part in Hideout.

This story was repeated in 1964, billed as part of the GS5 series

Ghost Squad Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Hot Money
"A counterfeit like this might fool a bartender, but it'd never get past a bank clerk."

But this forged note is handed in to a bank. The odd thing is that it bears the number of one of a large bundle of notes that had been stolen, but were then believed to have been destroyed in a fire.
Art dealer Giuseppe had passed it. and Nick Craig is assigned to trace where he had obtained it. His granddaughter Mina (Samantha Eggar) is dating Penumbra Club owner Max (Michael Coles), but "he's no good for her," Giuseppe informs Nick. Nick pays for a drink at this club with the forged note, and this brings about "a private little chat" between him and Granger (Lloyd Lamble), Max's partner.
Nick admits it had come from "nice inoffensive little Giuseppe," with the result that Granger orders "the bum" Max to finish the art dealer off. Having chatted Mina up, Nick drops her home to find Giuseppe dead.
Geoffrey Stock delves into the man's past, and finds he had arrived in England after the war on a forged passport. He was an expert forger, and Max and Granger had forced him to make banknote forgeries which were the ones destroyed in the fire. Now Granger and Max are about to spend the money they had stolen, safe in the knowledge that police are not looking for this loot.
Nick is tied up in the cellar of the club, but of course he breaks free. "What about the girl- how much does she know?" Granger is asking Max. They decide to dispose of her, but it's all over, Nick arrests them.
In the postscript, Nick is told Giuseppe had deliberately passed a few poorly made forged notes to get the police to investigate. He'd been being blackmailed into the scheme for fear his beloved Mina would get hurt.
This is a rather slow moving story
Ghost Squad Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

The Man With Delicate Hands
Dickinson (Basil Dignam) is in charge at the GS headquarters today. No explanation for Mr Stock's absence.
"This was the name of the man I wanted to see. But why was she so interested in him?"

'She' is Helen Lambert, whose brother Paul has been found in a burnt out car in Holland. 'He' is Delarge, a tattooist.
Helen had earlier surprised everyone by claiming the dead man is not her brother. even though the dead man's clothes and possessions are Paul's, the hands are unlike his. And Dckinson of the Ghost Squad is inclined to believe her, when he checks to find the tattoo on the corpse's arm had been put there recently.
Tony Miller is sent to Holland as the investigator for the motor insurance company. He books into a hotel reception, that looks not unlike the set used in East of Mandalay. Helen Lambert happens to be staying in the adjacent room.
Miller follows her to the tattooist, and after she leaves, the nervy man dashes straight to a large home, which Miller learns is the home of a wealthy art dealer Peter Brenner (Derek Francis). Next, Helen calls upon Dr Lisa Arne who had identified the corpse. She hands Helen Paul's watch by way of additional proof. "It couldn't be," protests a dispirited Helen. As she leaves the doctor's clinic, she hears screaming, not realising that it's her brother, who is being forced to reveal the currency secrets he knows.
Miller asks the art dealer to sell him a painting. But "if he knew where Lambert was, he let nothing slip."
When Helen shows Tony the watch, it confirms Paul could still be alive. Helen is so upset she has to be sedated by the doctor. Miller noses round the clinic and finds Lambert, but is caught himself.
"Every man has a breaking point- we must reach his," Brenner is ordering the doctor. They must unlock the privileged secret Lambert holds, to make a killing on the currency markets. They use Helen's "fragility" to persuade him to open up. However Tony manages to loose his bonds and suddenly it's all over. The gang are arrested.
Helen Lambert thanks Tony. In time, Paul will recover from his ordeal.

The condition of this tape is not A1, and it may be that a couple of poor editorial joins are the result of this, rather than the work of the editor.

Ghost Squad Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The Last Jump
Agent Miller: "I wasn't sure what my bigger problem was- finding the leak, or making a parachute jump."

Lt Fielding's parachute has failed to open and he is killed in Germany. But someone steals part of his equipment, top secret too.
Geoffrey Stock of Ghost Squad proves to Col Trent (Thomas Heathcote) of RAF Enington that Fielding had been a traitor, and moreover he had an accomplice. To discover who, Fielding's replacement is agent Tony Miller who identifies Lt Blandford, the colonel's adjutant, and Cpt Horstead, acting liaison officer, as the two most likely suspects.
There are a lot of uppercrust types at the base. Roly Horstead (Jack Watling) is rather less jolly, despite being engaged to Sarah. He had endured being a POW in Korea, which brings on "these spells. If he was discharged, I don't know what he'd do." The doctor on the base, Major Jack Naismith, is kindly covering up for Roly, as they were buddies in the Far East.
Blandford (John Bonney) takes an immediate dislike to the newcomer. Nuremburg 53250 is a phone number found in his room by Miller- is it significant?
Next op, you chaps. Dr Naismith gives Roly an injection to help him take part, but it's a tranquilizer that puts him out for 12 hours, because Roly's "jumping days are over."
The drop. 1945 hours. Grid ref 7O0936, and already intelligence in Germany has been told of that location. Miller guesses it's Blandford who's the source of the leak. "Prepare for action." Blandford's parachute fails to open. It all happens abruptly. But Miller was evidently wrong.
"Somewhere there is a traitor... and we've got to find him." The only person must be Horstead who's furious with Naismith for preventing him from flying.
'Brigadier Charles' alias Geoffrey Stock joins the base to assist Miller. However the identity of the traitor seems all to obvious to the discerning viewer. Whilst the Brigadier chats to Naismith, Miller searches his surgery.
Chocks away. The next op. Miller has already found a nobbled parachute. The drop- both Miller and the Brigadier, Horstead and Naismith are on this run.
"My nerve's gone," cries Roly. But he jumps. His chute works because Miller had swapped his parachute with Naismith's, who is arrested. Rather a dramatic if unneccesary finish.
Back home, we see Tony Miller, his leg bandaged up.

Ghost Squad Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Polsky
Geoffrey Stock to agent Tony Miller: "Somewhere in that garage there's a link- all you've got to do is find it."
This story is a little unusual in that though about Tony Miller, Nick Craig also appears in one scene, as he smiles over his assignment in Bermuda, until he learns he's going there as a stoker.
One further entertaining topical quote: "They rather jumped the gun on the Common Market."

Elijah Jones is a small time crook, who is caught after a safe robbery. It's one of many similar robberies for which expendable petty crooks are recruited by an international gang.
The gang seems to collect new members from a court, and thus a naturalised Pole, Nyziac, alias Tony Miller, is placed on probation. Leaving the court and enjoying a cuppa in a nearby cafe, Miller is offered a job by a garage owner called Hicks (Ray Barrett).
One night, Miller, who has been nicknamed Polsky, is asked to work late. Too late he realises it is to break into a factory. His role is to knock out the nightwatchman and grab the keys to the premises.
That earns Polsky £200, but he acts aggrieved at this paltry sum and demands to see the boss. For this he is given a working over, though he gives as good as he gets and demands double pay as a result.
A worried Hicks consults his boss, Edward Minto (Gerald Cross). Solution- "get rid of him." Polsky is first paid off, and he then demands more money. They can't kill him, he explains, because he has written this letter about the gang, kept in a safe place...
Miller's cover is finally blown as he comes face to face with Minto, at last. A tense struggle, Miller is shot in the arm before the police pounce.
There are two muted, rather touching final scenes. Stock gives his thoughts on crime and criminals

To Ghost Squad

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The Heir Apparent
Nick Craig: "I've never played rugby." At one point, with Geoffrey Stock ranting at him, he declares, "oh for the good old days of Sir Andrew." Amen.

This is a very bitty script by Julian Bond, that introduces too many characters without satisfactorily developing many. There is a paucity of action and the attempts at comedy fall flat. The opening tag about GS agents working "in danger" etc seems peculiarly inappropriate here.

Agent Miller phones from Beirut and is amused to hear that Nick's next job is as a games master. Nick is sent to The Moorings, run along naval lines by the ineffective Commander (Frank Middlemass), and the other members of staff seems equally suspicious, Roger Belcher and Gavin Reardon. Craig is charged with watching over new boy Prince Karim, son of an oil sheik. I say 'boy,' though in fact most of the pupils look well over 20 years old.
As Mr Hope, Craig proves not too competent a teacher. The first evening his 'boys' disappear down to the boathouse for a rock n roll session, Craig finds them there and chats with them, and it is a little unfortunate that The Commander, in his pyjamas, carries out a raid and reprimands everyone, including Craig, though luckily his bark is worse than his bite.
The weekend sees Prince Karim and his pals at The Blue Lagoon where their tutor again joins them. It's all most inocuous, unexciting even, but the group seems to be being watched by Sheik Ben Ai (Roger Delgado), who slips Craig a doped drink.
So Craig loses his man, and is on the carpet before Geoffrey Stock. Karim's dad is in England to see his son, so Craig had better find him quick!
Nick speeds to Reading where the prince is either being held by an oil magnate to secure an oil concession, or by some students, or maybe bad uncle Ben Ali who tries to shoot the heir. However he is prevented by an unlikely ally in the final muddled denouement

Ghost Squad Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Escape Route
"The next step," declares end-of-his-tether Nick Craig, "is down. And after you get all my money, the next step is to turn me out penniless and broke into the wide world."

A deadbeat has been run over in Sydney, odd, but a year earlier he'd been a prosperous millionaire in England. It's not the first case of a rich man the police have been wanting to question, disappearing.
Thus Nick Craig dons the new identity of David Stamp, "the deb's delight," but also a real estate swindler. In a posh London club, he encounters Chapman (Terence Alexander) who helps him abscond with the aid of his right hand woman Julia, for the sum of £5,000. "You'll have to trust me," she warns him, in a masterpiece of understatement.
Another new identity for Stamp, this time a more ordinary one, that of a tourist named Williams with less expensive clothes, fitted out for him in a nice little scene with Bill Shine and John Junkin. He hands Julia the £5,000, which the Ghost Squad have supplied, for they are shadowing his every move.
Stage 1: the coach from Victoria station to Rome. In a "second class hotel" Julia gives him another passport and yet another name, Grayson, a seaman. £1,000 is sent to his 'wife' back home.
Stage 2 now: as a deckhand - not so good. Ghost Squad have lost his trail. He's made "to sweat" his passage, and worse, his passport is confiscated. The only production problem is that the ship looks too much like a studio, there's no movement of the sea.
Then Stage 3: broke in Singapore. 24 Yangoon Street is "not altogether prepossessing," and Craig is at his lowest ebb. It's like a prison. Indeed, he's not going on the final stage of his journey to Australia until he hands over the key of his safety box in London, where are stashed the proceeds of his criminal activity. The "gone to seed" ex-pat owner of the dump Rockworth (well portrayed by Hugh Burden) echoes earlier advice to Craig, to "trust us." No choice.
But Craig's case proves different for the crooks, in one respect. That security box contains very little cash, so Chapman flies to Singapore to deal persoanlly with the business. It's a contrast between Craig's first meeting with him in the London club, and the second in a Singapore hovel "I'm not fool enough to believe you'll still keep your promises," Craig tells him. It's a tough scene, this, Chapman concluding with his warning "they pick corpses out of the harbour every day."
The engmatic Rockworth is the weak link, and Craig decides to break his cover and confides to Rockworth that he's a policeman. So, when Chapman orders the weakling to kill Craig, he meets with a refusal. An argument and a shot is fired. Unfortunately Hugh Burden's gun isn't pointing at anyone, but somehow Chapman is on the receiving end. Perhaps it was a ricochet!
Thus ends Craig's "galivanting," as he returns to England, the escape route smashed. This is a fine script by Peter Yeldham, only the studio-bound nature of it mars an otherwise very enjoyable story.

Ghost Squad Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The Menacing Mazurka

Jean Carter: "what will you do?" Tony Miller: "for once, absolutely nothing."

Flying from Kallakra airport are a troupe of Bassran dancers, agent Tony Miller is to act as their publicity agent. He sets up a press reception, though his hands are rather tied by the communists who are overseeing carefully the whole tour.
Comrade Ilse Veroni (Jacqueline Ellis) is their interpreter, Miller likes her looks. Another of the all female group, Linka, secretly hands Miller a note requesting asylum, later she asks him personally, but Miller daren't break his cover, and besides she could be a plant, a Commie spy.
Laslo Radiv (George Pravda) is the ex-colonel of the Bassrai army who has already gained asylum in Britain. The worry is he might be lured back, as his daughter Nicola has not been seen for years, she's presumed dead.
Ilse phones Radiv with a mysterious one word message. It's the name Nicola used to call herself. This is the first of several contacts, designed to persuade him to return to Bassrai to be reunited with his allegedly alive daughter.
At a performance by the troupe, Geoffrey Stock accompanying the ex-colonel, sees there's a plot afoot to kidnap Radiv, so Stock bundles him away. A second try is planned at a private function held at the home of Mrs Marquand-Forster. A chauffeur collects Radiv to drive him to the dance but they are attacked and robbed, and after questions at the police station Radiv has to be taken home, as he's missed the performance. It was another ruse by Geoffrey Stock to thwart the kidnappers, and he apologises. "It was a trap," Stock insists, but in his heart of hearts, Radiv only wants to see Nicola gain.
A farewell party for the dancers offers one last ditch attempt. Ilse however confides in Tony Miller that she really is Nicola, but can she prove it? She claims she has helped Linka defect already. In fact the Bassrans have found her out and there's a chase round the theatre with Geoffrey Stock enjoying himself switching the lights to keep Radiv and his daughter out of Bassran clutches.
Thus father and daughter are both safe, and together again

Ghost Squad Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Mr Five Per Cent
"To me, you still smell like a policeman, Mr Greenslade."

Mr Stock is "away" once again, so Tony Miller is given his orders from Dept Supt Owen (Ross Hutchinson). He's to work as a Philip Greenslade using Anton Durkovic (Guy Deghy) a known swindler, to act as an agent to buy the latest Canadian rifles for the revolution in Kwalum. Guy Deghy gives a strong performance as the weak portly agent- "there is only one thing that matters to Anton Durkovic - that's himself!" Anton's contact is Tonio Esposito (Edwin Richfield)- "all our ironmongery is listed and priced." Greenslade offers payment in gold for the rifles he wants. At a way-out party run by Tonio's wife (Naomi Chance), the deal is brokered
Greenslade calls in the police to complete the case and round up the gun runners, but noone materialises at the rendezvous. So Greenslade joins the party to ask Tonio what went wrong. Though Tonio isn't there, he sees drugs are freely available and chats with Yvette, who has been supplied with marijuana by the hated Anton, who apparently is besotted with her. It's she who tells where Anton and Tonio are doing the deal. "I always thought you a dirty snivelling coward, taking your 5 per cent," Tonio is shouting at Anton. It's curtains for Anton as Yvette finds his corpse- his epitaph "he was never quite ruthless anough."
Tony Miller finishes with "a chat about life" with Yvette.
This is a muddled story that introduces too many unneccessary characters and gets sidetracked into a story of dope pedalling, as though the writer wished, for no very cogent reason, to show viewers a surreal drugs scene.
Ghost Squad Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Gertrude
"She's poison. She'd shoot you if she thought that your corpse was worth more."
The story starts in the Middle East, but to the surprising sight of a Scotsman out there, playing his bagpipes. Not so surprising is that he's played by Archie Duncan, reliable as ever, with his fine knack for comic timing. He plays Henry Cameron, a shopkeeper who is asked by the wily double agent Gertrude (Mary Mackenzie) to help get her secret microfilm to England. Despite his incompetence, Henry gets the request through to London, where Sir Thomas Glanville (Richard Caldicott) commissions Nick Craig to escort her from Belcana (apparently boss Geoffrey Stock is away on "holiday").
The job starts none too well, as the blithering Henry doesn't recognise Craig's password. Further he has no bullets for his revolver. And more humiliation when Gertrude laughs when she sees "the boy" who has been sent to do a Man's Job. "I'm already dead," she sighs. Though she does rather go for the idea that she is to pose as Nick's wife.
A stray bullet stops her complaints. The police inspector (Douglas Wilmer) raids their hotel room, but she sneaks away.
Poor Henry thought he'd seen the last of them. But they have to hide out in his shop. Then Gertrude remembers she'd left the microfilm at the hotel. Brave Henry volunteers to retrieve it, "at least with a nightmare you can wake up!" In fact the unscrupulous Gertrude has invented this story so she can be alone with Nick. However she only uses the opportunity to tell him her life story of how she became an agent. Time to turn in and get down to business. "When shall I see you, my darling?" Firmly Nick responds, "tomorrow morning."
Chatting with Henry, Nick gets a rather different version of "Calamity Jane's" life history. Now it's time to make for the airport, but they never make it. Enemy agents hold them at gunpoint. Rebel fighters overpower their captors, but Gertrude is too free with the bullets, and their only refuge is back with poor Henry. The inspector swoops again, to thank Nick for fighting off the rebels.
A new exit mode is by train, but again they are stopped. Chaos reigns at police headquarters, where Gertrude is accused of stealing jewels. Her real husband also turns up. The over complex twists in the plot are unneccesary with the result that the promising story misses the mark quite badly, disappointing after the fine beginning. Gertrude kisses the inspector and shares her jewels with him. There never was any film, just a ruse to get her out of the country.
Amid the ruins of his shop, the result of rebel action, griefstricken Henry sits surrounded by twisted bagpipes. "Forget her," Henry advises Nick, "we save her, we risk global war!"
Finally the pair return to England, along with Gertrude whom Nick has made return the jewels so she can start a new life, but not as Mrs Craig...
Ghost Squad Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Sabotage
Tony Miller: "I'd met both my bosses. From where I stood, there wasn't much to choose between them."

Miller is sent to some islands off the East African coast, where Independence Day is looming as the doddery old representative of the British Empire (Maurice Colbourne) prepares to hand over power. But Someone is trying to create ferment, and Tony has to find out Who, donning the cover of Michael Landers an international saboteur.
His first task, however, on checking in to his seedy hotel is to rescue a girl in the foyer from a stabbing. She's Nancy (Jill Melford), daughter of the governor of the island and it's she who introduces Tony to her daddy.
Now Tony also meets Wilson (John Paul) for whom he is to work as the saboteur. He also encounters his 'real' boss John Mallory, his Ghost Squad contact, a jaundiced soul, who fills Miller in on the corrupt state of government here.
The sabotage operation to blow up the island harbour is prepared. Miller may have to go through with it, in order not to blow his cover. But then Mallory is found badly injured in Tony's hotel room, and he finds himself under arrest. The Chief of Police, also owner of the hotel, is clearly for sale to the highest bidder- this is the best role in the story, played with a smattering of humour by Eric Pohlmann.
On orders from Someone, Miller is released. He tries to contact Mallory in hospital to find out his orders, but he's not allowed to see him. In desperation he consults the decrepit governor, breaking his cover, and he does obtain his permission to visit Mallory. Too late, however, Mallory has been stabbed to death.
Miller takes a chance and tries to persuade the Chief of Police to help. His persuasion is helped by the fact that he's locked the policeman in his own jail! Appealing to his decency, Tony tells him "you know what to do." Then he discusses with the governor, a counter offensive.
So will Miller's broken reeds come good? And will he learn who stabbed Mallory and is backing Wilson's attempted sabotage? Someone betrays Miller, and Wilson draws his gun: "what do we do now?" The answer is have a fight. Thus the sabotage is foiled and the leader exposed. Not an entirely convincing finish in this very disjointed story which doesn't flow at all smoothly.
Note- this was the last of the videotaped stories that were partially networked

Ghost Squad Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

P.G.7
"There's a difference between revolution and extermination."

From a safe in a laboratory, papers are stolen, chemical formulae and samples, classified material, including PG7 a new airborne inhalant war gas, lethal.
Dr Geoffrey Haydon has been developing it. Don Sargeant, alias Nick Craig, is a Canadian executive brought in to investigate. Haydon introduces his team, including Diane Healy (Pauline Yates), his confidential secretary. However personal assistant Rogers is on holiday in Spain. And recently Prof Sebastian Boon has left the project, after a disagreement when he revealed he was a pacifist. Craig also meets an old acquaintaince Ginger Todd, the company's security chief.
Craig follows Diane to a meeting she has arranged with her friend Prof Boon. "Was it you?" she asks him. He seems jittery, and is whisked away by Tim Sullivan (Gordon Tanner) to a chicken farm. There they are replicating Haydon's lab, Operation PG7 Boon calls it.
Craig learns this Sullivan is a gun runner. he is using Boon who believes, rather naively perhaps, that PG7 is harmless. Haydon's latest experiments on monkeys prove the gas is highly dangerous.
Brunswick Hotel Kensington is where Sullivan is meeting agent Faria to arrange a sale of PG7. Jean Carter of Ghost Squad is following this known spy. He goes to a Hungarian restuarant where she is taken prisoner. She refuses to talk.
Todd has got cold feet now he realises the potential of this weapon. He warns Boon, but too late, for Boon gives him a dose of PG7 to prove to him it is, as he thinks, safe.
Dead end for Craig, so he tries his various Soho contacts. Latin layabout Charlie sends Craig to the restaurant and there Craig finds Jean. He offers Faria an unorthodox deal. To avert a crime against humanity is the lynchpin of their deal.
With Jean kept as security, Faria agrees to take Craig to the still ignorant Boon. It happens that Todd briefly awakes from his coma before collapsing. Boon thus sees the light and destroys the formula, for which the ruthless Sullivan shoots him.
So Jean is safe. Boon is reunited with Diane, but he delivers the chilling prophecy that one day PG8 will be discovered, "and it will work"

Ghost Squad Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The Missing People
Agent Tony Miller: "I've rubbed shoulders with some tough operators in my time, but that one scares the living daylights out of me."

Miller has gone undercover to work for this crooked boss Victor Cresswell (Nigel Green). He's replaced murdered agent Jenny Williams who'd been working as Josie Wallis, befriending a Polish pilot Wolkovsky. The only clue she had managed to leave before being killed is the name 'Lomax,' pencilled in a Polish newspaper next to an advertisement. This ad, when translated was placed in the paper by a Mrs Weisnevsky, and read "Michael- please write at once, very worried." When this woman had been questioned, she explained that Michael is her son and she hasn't heard from him, ever since he had paid £500 to come illegally to Britain from Poland. It's a very familiar theme in programmes of this era, and not done that excitingly here. "The problem is, where do they disappear to, after they arrive?"
This Lomax is an ex RAF pilot, and Miller impersonates him, just as he's at the end of a long prison sentence. He emerges from the Scrubs with this nice line: "the things you do for the Service- you go to the prison and serve time, you come out and kiss a wife you've never met before, who takes you to a home you've never seen before. It has its compensations."
The incongruously named Slim (Willoughby Goddard) follows 'Lomax' and promises to introduce him to his boss, Cresswell. He offers £500 to fly cargo for him. The cargo is collected at Prague Airport, but Lomax and his assistant Smith do not fly back directly to London, they detour via Poland to pick up their human cargo. "Next stop England." However Miller soon understands that the passengers are to exit via the bomb bay, into the North Sea!
Miller faces Smith with his planned cold blooded murder. "It wasn't my fault," is his feeble defence. But Miller prevents the tragedy and flies to a deserted airfield to be met by "Cresswell and his cronies." Unfortunately, Miller's cover has been blown, and they are holding the agent posing as Mrs Lomax. There's a stand-off, but police arrive to corner the gang. In a shootout Cresswell gets his just desserts.
We finish with Tony asking his boss Geoffrey Stock for a date with his lovely 'wife,' but of course Ghost Squad rules cannot permit that (even though this appears to have been forgotten in the story The Man with the Delicate Hands).

Note- The last story of the Ghost Squad series to be shown on ATV London
Ghost Squad Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The Sentimental Agent (1963)
Carlos Thompson was the star of this short lived series.

Only 13 were ever made, a spin-off from the Man of the World story #6 in which Carlos Thompson first appeared:

9 A Very Desirable Plot

"Retire to a tropical paradise" is the slogan that lures the colonel (William Mervyn) to buy a building plot in the Bahamas. But he's been sold a swamp by an associate of Carlos Varela, even though Carlos himself is apparently innocent of any wrong doing.
However he tries to set matters right by getting Chin (Burt Kwouk) to pose as an eager buyer for the remaining plots, as part of a plot to persuade the crooked seller Lamont (Paul Maxwell) to buy back all his worthless land.
The plan nearly fails when Francy, the colonel's daughter (Diana Rigg in her maiden tv part) misunderstands Varela's good intentions. But Lamont finally gets "his comeuppance," hoisted by his own petard.

A miserably thin storyline from Brian Clemens who had not at this stage grasped the complexities of the fifty minute episode- frankly the story would only just have fitted into a 25 minute slot.

60's Menu .

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Man of the World (1962)

The star was Craig Stevens who played Mike Strait, international photographer. Stevens was from that American school of acting where you only move from the neck upwards, and even in a crisis betray little emotion.

26 episodes were planned but due to an actors' strike only 20 were completed. They are listed below in ATV transmission order

Best story: #5 The Frontier has a fine climax
Worst story: too many of the others!


1 DEATH OF A CONFERENCE
2 MASQUERADE IN SPAIN
3 BLAZE OF GLORY
4 THE RUNAWAYS
5 THE FRONTIER
6 THE SENTIMENTAL AGENT
7 THE HIGHLAND STORY
8 THE NATURE OF JUSTICE
9 THE MINDREADER
10 PORTRAIT OF A GIRL
11 SPECIALIST FOR THE KILL
12 A FAMILY AFFAIR
13 SHADOW OF THE WALL
14 THE BANDIT
15 THE ENEMY
16 DOUBLE EXPOSURE
17 JUNGLE MISSION
18 IN THE PICTURE
19 THE BULLFIGHTER
20 THE PRINCE
Trivia Question- Who played Hank, who appears in the pilot story? Answer
60's Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

Death of a Conference
A Peace Conference to settle the French withdrawal from Algeria is at risk after the Algerian minister is assasinated.
With some help from Alex (Warren Mitchell) Mike Strait tours the country and interviews French General Montreux (John Phillips) and the new Algerian minister, Joseph a weak old man who seems under the thumb of his security officer Sayed (John Carson). Mike's brief, under cover of his newspaper reporting, is to find out who killed the minister.
Thiboeuf, a wanted criminal on the run, appears to be the hired assassin. His wife, tired of living the life of the hunted, arranges an introduction to him, for a fee. Through back streets, strangely quiet, Mike is taken, and into the refuge of 'The Madman' (Patrick Troughton), at point of a machine gun. Freely Thiboeuf admits to the killing. However he's an embittered revolutionary and Mike is sceptical, "nothing he says adds up to what Sayed told me."
So Mike examines photos he had secretly taken of the room where the assassination occurred. Wise old Mike notices that the bullet hole in the window is no bullet hole, "I just can't figure it out." Well Mike isn't too bright, we all guess who the villain is.
Mike somehow gets the conference slightly delayed so he can get incontrovertible proof as to this killer. Despite the tight security round him, he gets to Joseph and proves to him that the killing must have been an inside job. "A post mortem will confirm everything I've said."
So Joseph, suddenly reinvigorated, attends that conference, just in time to prevent its collapse. Thus there was no Death of a Conference, only Death of a Feeble story.
Note- the elusive Hank gets one mention, but is not seen
To
Man of the World Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

2 Masquerade in Spain
It's interesting to see this pilot in colour. It certainly makes good use of the colourful Spanish coastline scenery, but location isn't the only ingredient needed in a successful recipe.

Kidnappers are planning their job down to the final second. As it turns out, this never appears relevant later.
In Spain, ace photographer Mike Strait is offered the chance of shooting "the richest girl in the world," surrounded by bodyguards. Denzo her daddy (Clifford Evans) treats Cleo almost as a prisoner, but now she's growing up she is starting to rebel.
A long tiring week of posing ends, you've guessed it, with her ogling Mike and persuading him to give her guards the slip. The idiot goes along with her and off they speed in his sports car to a really awful club where singers don't sing, they just wail. Midnight, and home time, but on the way it's the well worn Man Lying in the Road trick. Mike steps out. Cleo is whisked away.
The idiot is questioned by distraught daddy, and the police. "She doesn't make any sense," muses Mike, rather too late seeing that he's been made a sap. It didn't need a lot of help.
An explosion out at sea suggests Cleo is no more. But the idiot knows a thing or two, and though daddy cannot believe his dear daughter would stage her own kidnapping, it was so. For "the very neat set up" is exposed by our clever idiot, who finds Cleo safe and well, lazing in a luxury ship.
A final twist hardly justifies the storyline. You need a plot a good deal more exciting than this, not merely lovely location, though at least the main characters are here quite adequately introduced
To
Man of the World Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The Runaways

Michael Pertwee's script tries to play it for laughs, but the punchlines are all too easy to anticipate in this plodding bit of fun that is played with far too heavy a hand. For that fine director Charles Crichton never comes at all near to emulating his best cinema comedy films.

On the Riviera, young American millionairess Joanna Kempson (Erica Rogers) is attacked. Her boyfriend Lord John Allwood doesn't cover himself in glory protecting her, and instead a stranger rescues her, one Martin King, a penniless scoundrel. So utterly grateful is Joanna, she elopes with her hero who has contacted The Daily Globe in Paris for exclusive photos of the happy couple.
Mike Strait is assigned to the case, "I've never been so happy," etc etc Joanna tells him. But clever old Mike can spot a put up job and doesn't have to delve too deep to prove it. Martin's explanation is that he didn't want to sponge off his fiancee, and the exclusive was his way to earn his own money and pay his own way.
Martin's Plan B is to blackmail Joanna's father for $100,000 but he seems strangely unsympathetic, so Martin's next ruse is to suggest to his beloved they purchase a boat to elope on. Kind Mike offers them the use of his, "that's darling of you Mike," exclaims Joanna, though Martin isn't so pleased.
On Mike's boat, Mike gets a shock when Martin and Joanne request him, as ship's captain, to marry them. Hwoever Fate intervenes in the shape of a storm at sea, which Joanna finds thrilling, but it only makes poor Martin seasick, scared, and in his panic he pushes her overboard. He can't swin, so a new hero emerges, yes old Mike. Martin is in disgrace.
All her new knight in shining armour can do, to escape her admiring clutches, is find her another hero. He provides one with another attack in which he signally fails to come to her assistance. But to the rescue comes Lord Allwood, yes her first hero is back in favour again

To Man of the World Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The Sentimental Agent
Something of a relief, for Mike Strait photos a Havana villa and is arrested and is not seen again until the end. His loyal secretary over in Panama persuades likeable rogue Carlos Barello to rescue her boss... for $5,000. Carlos warranted his own spin-off series, proving himself an adept hero.
In Cuba he knows a high up minister (Peter Jones) who can open a few doors. But not enough to get Strait released. Carlos breaks into Strait's hotel room to find it has been ransacked in the quest to uncover the elusive photo. Carlos, of course, soon locates it, in the waste pipe of the basin.
Lee (Shirley Eaton) is something of a pleasant distraction, a photography expert and she helps doctor Strait's photos, one of which rather needs altering as it shows in the house that has been photographed one Arturo, an Argentinian scientist long thought to have been dead. Lee airbrushes Arturo out. The minister is most eager to get these photos, and Carlos offers him a deal, the photos for Mike Strait. Despite bribery, Carlos won't budge from this deal, and although he is meticulously searched, and his room, the film is not found... the photos are in his pipe holder!
Carlos creates a diversion with Lee, kissing her interminably in full view of the watching police, but in fact leaving her fondling a dummy while he sneaks off to rescue Arturo.
Over a wall he climbs, past one guard, and straight into the scientist's room. Arturo is a tired old man, not too bothered about escape, so Carlos carries him, having chloroformed him, back to Lee where another diversion enables her to drive him away. Arturo is transferred to a crate being loaded on Carlos' ship, while Strait is exchanged for the film. "You will be back next week?" the minister asks Carlos. Well, he was, if not next week, next year.
Strait thanks his saviour and gets quite a surprise when he is introduced to the escaped scientist

Man of the World Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

12 A Family Affair
At Delmaine's in Paris there's an explosion aimed at killing a French official. Michael Strait is on hand to snap some pretty "hot" photos but Inspector Jacques Duval (Richard Leech) confiscates his role of film for security reasons. Mike gets rather riled when he learns there's no such policeman!
The real police warn him not to get involved in French political intrigue, but Mike isn't taking any of that! He recognises the man with Duval as an old wartime buddy Corbet (Eugene Deckers), but this cannot be, as he was supposed to have died in a car smash with his wife two months ago.
Mike does a tour of Corbet's friends starting with his sister who admits she wasn't "particularly fond" of Corbet's right wing tendencies. "Is he dead?" asks the unsubtle Mike. "Of course."
Next stop is Corbet's father-in-law who had identified the corpse. Corbet was "scum" as he'd been having an affair with another woman. So it's off to the mistress, Madamoiselle Simone, a nightclub singer, who helpfully plugs the series' theme song. Then follows a political speech blaming the old war for everything. All very corny. "Did you love him?" asks Mike. "Yes, and I will." Mike, ever quick on the uptake, spots that faux pas.
Up the top of the Eiffel Tower, Mark finally comes face to face with the elusive Corbet. It's very high up there! There's a philosophical discussion between the old mates on the lines of "what happened to you," lost idealism etc, until we reach the nitty gritty: "if I go over that rail...." Mark doesn't of course, and his micro-camera secretly snaps a telling shot of the very much alive Corbet.
That leads to a bomb attack on poor old Mike before Corbet and his gang are copped by the cops.
Man of the World Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

The Baron
with Steve Forrest as John Mannering, the one they call The Baron. Also with Sue Lloyd as Cordelia (in stories 4, 7, 9-26, 28-30).

This ITC series marked the decline of the adventure genre. The mediocrity of The Baron in comparison with the high point of the suspiciously similar sounding The Saint can perhaps be put down to the desire to have an American star, and one who clearly didn't win much respect from his English colleagues. Then also the longstanding partnership of Baker and Berman had split up, and maybe the rehashing of some old Saint scripts, thinly disguised, was a recipe for failure. As you can gather, I am not a fan. If you are, my apologies, and tell me what I'm missing! Perhaps it was significant that the old satellite channel Granada Plus showed six episodes, but then didn't screen any more. Further, ITV3 and ITV4 have repeated numerous colour ITC series, but never The Baron. However if you want to see it, the whole series is available on the Network dvd reissue.

1 SAMURAI WEST

2 RED HORSE, RED RIDER

3 THE LEGIONS OF AMMAK

4 DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY

5 PORTRAIT OF LOUISA

6 FAREWELL TO YESTERDAY

7 EPITAPH FOR A HERO

8 THE PERSUADERS

9 SOMETHING FOR A RAINY DAY

10 ENEMY OF THE STATE

11 THERE'S SOMEONE CLOSE BEHIND YOU

12 AND SUDDENLY YOU'RE DEAD

13 A MEMORY OF EVIL

14 MASQUERADE

15 THE KILLING (continuation of 14)

16 LONG AGO AND FAR AWAY

17 YOU CAN'T WIN THEM ALL

18 THE SEVEN EYES OF NIGHT

19 THE LONG, LONG DAY

20 THE EDGE OF FEAR

21 TIME TO KILL

22 SO DARK THE NIGHT

23 THE MAZE

24 NIGHT OF THE HUNTER

25 STORM WARNING

26 THE ISLAND (continuation of 25)

27 ROUNDABOUT

28 THE HIGH TERRACE

29 THE MAN OUTSIDE

30 COUNTDOWN

Programmes are listed in production order, with grateful acknowledgement to the Network booklet
60's Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Samurai West
A depressing and confused first story. No wonder the producers realised the need for change after this badly written script, summed up by the comment, "I don't think I shall ever understand."
John Mannering has bought a Samurai sword, a family heirloom for £10,000. The vendor is Asano, apparently Japanese, though Lee Montague who plays him is far from convincing. His faithful servant is Yasugi. His daughter Samantha lives with him. Col Sterling (the reliable Raymond Huntley) takes exception to Asano, accusing him of atrocities at a prison camp. Maybe in that era the attitude was to forgive, and Sterling is somehow seen as a villain in wanting revenge for what the Japs did to the pathetic Tom, who is a physical wreck and not very rational. "Do you still say the war is over?"
But Asano's attitude is naturally more on the lines of forgetting it all. "Am I to be held eternally responsible?" He has his own tale of tragedy, for Samantha's mother died at Hiroshima.
Why Asano has never faced a war crimes trial, I didn't hear, and it's hard to imagine Lee Montague as a Jap anyway, indeed at one point it is remarked "The man was as Western as you are!"
Sterling takes the law into his own hands and after a face to face confrontation with Asano, there's a fight and Asano dies.
Yasugi swears revenge, even though police believe Asano has committed suicide. But John Mannering knows different too. Yasugi steals back his master's sword and takes it to kill Col Sterling. Mannering arrives to find Sterling determined to bump off another "Japanese murderer." Mannering stops the combat, but finishes up fighting with Yasugi himself. Yasugi retreats to take his own life.
Fortunately the series did improve.

The Baron Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

Red Horse Red Rider
In the Khakanian Embassy, one of the attaches refuses to reveal to boss Salan (John Bennett) the contents of a message to John Mannering. It actually reads:
Must sell Four Horsemen- contact the Baron.
Mannering is explaining to some blonde why they call him The Baron, when the attache, who has escaped his embassy, delivers the message.
Civil war is raging in Khakania, everyone trying to leave, but our brave Baron is coming in. At the airport he is met by Savannah (Jane Merrow), granddaughter of one of the main supporters of the rebels, a rich, old, tired but determined man. The Father of the Country they call him.
He is the one selling The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse to John Mannering, to raise funds for the rebel cause, but how can this statuette be got out of the country? "It's going to be a pretty rough trip."
Dressed as a farmer, Savannah accompanies the Baron as his wife, showing him the back roads. But Salan's men are watching and the couple are captured at a checkpoint. The statuette is confiscated. Fortunately also on the watch are the rebels, lead by the irritating Miros, and it is recaptured. Miros shows them the way, but their truck breaks down. "We walk." They jump a freight train, but Salan knows their every move, and the train is halted. By a stroke of luck, they get away and get to the border- but it's not safe to cross until dark. (Miros' men seem to have all gone AWOL.)
At a farmhouse they wait for nightfall. Again Salan tracks them down: "at last we meet face to face." Miros saves them again, though Mannering's arm - don't cry- gets a graze.
As night falls, Miros tries to walk off with the Horsemen statuette. Greed has got the better of him. The Baron stops him, despite his arm, and the issue is settled with a fair fight. Well, not so fair as Mannering has one arm. But sportingly Miros fights one handed also.
After this time filler, the border is crossed, and The Baron delivers the Four Horsemen. For a fat profit.

To The Baron Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

The Legions of Ammak

Cossackian, an eccentric, demands to withdraw three million dollars from his bank account. "The last of the big non-spenders" is suddenly splashing out, on the Legions of Ammak, but why as he is such a spendthrift?
John Mannering is selling the valuable jewellery on behalf of a client, the king of Ammak (Peter Wyngarde). Authentic, pronounces the expert, and thus the transaction is concluded happily. It's nice to see Peter Wyngarde for once upstaged, by George Murcell as the miserly millionaire.
Champagne flows as the deal is celebrated, but later the deal seems less secure when we watch the king taking off his make-up, he's nothing but an actor, called Noyes.
However he has made a small slip, the wrong old school tie. John Mannering asks the royal representative, Colonel Ahmed Bey what it means. Mannering's assistant David finds Noyes enjoying himself in a club with his girlfriend Sirocco. After Noyes has left, she is asked about Noyes, whose photo is in her dressing room.
Noyes has got greedy and having a photo of the deal being sealed, tries to blackmail Col Bey for £10,000. Bey himself had been planning to use these pictures as a way of discrediting the king, so that he can gain political control in Ammak. Bey's solution to his dilemma is the simple one, shoot Noyes ad recover the photos. David arrives at the flat of the late Noyes only to be knocked out. Mannering is third to reach Noyes, and he consoles the distraught Sirroco before calling the police. But the police can't enter the Ammak embassy, though The Baron can! He creeps in, and explains the plot to the king and the order goes out to arrest Bey. but Bey gets the upper hand and holds Mannering a prisoner. The king is also guarded: "I was a fool ever to have trusted that man."
Sirocco is out for revenge and wants to shoot the evil Bey. The Baron has got free, naturally, and stops her shooting the colonel, but Bey's plot is foiled and Cossackian does return the Legions of Ammak to its rightful owner.
The elements of a good story were there, but the character of Cossackian is wasted, and Mannering's assistant David looks as though he knows his role in the series is doomed. Only Wyngarde, as ever, seems to be enjoying himself, with his dual role.

Baron Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

Diplomatic Immunity

This story introduces Cordelia, firstly (half-) seen in a bath in The Baron's hotel room.

The Baron has gone behind the Iron Curtain on the trail of Eva who has stolen a Faberge sedan chair on exhibition in John Mannering's London antique shop. It had been easy for her to take it out of Britain in a diplomatic pouch.
The Baron has been co-opted by Templeton Green of British Intelligence to recover the stolen goods, as well as other rarities Eva has stolen. He's given the latest in spy gadgetry.
Cordelia and The Baron are nearly framed for Eva's murder, when her corpse is found in his bedroom, but there's "no particular difficulty" in accomplishing the mission, and having seen him safely to the border and the waiting Templeton Green, she returns to Britain with him.

Menu for The Baron

.

.

.

.

.

.

PORTRAIT OF LOUISA
In a spooky churchyard, at night of course, Mrs Louisa Trenton (Delphi Lawrence) pleads with her sneering blackmailer for more time to pay.
To raise that cash, she offers her old boyfriend John Mannering some rare jewellery. He obliges, but wants to know why she needs the money. She won't say.
Louisa's sister Jane (Jo Rowbottom) is worried about her. So is her lover Peter, for different reasons.
The crowd at The Voodoo Club are all likely villains, including the manager Nigel (Terence Alexander) and Smiler Sutton the photographer (Brian Wilde). Louisa Trenton waits there, to meet her blackmailer. But she is found dead- is it suicide, or murder?
The police incline to the former, but the Baron is certain she was murdered.
Peter has jibbed at her death and Sutton has to silence him. The Baron is questioning Peter about blackmailing Louisa. Who killed her? Peter wants to do a deal but before he can talk, of course he is shot in the back. The Baron has to be silenced also, except the police have now concurred with the great Baron's viewpoint and gone to talk to Peter, thereby causing Sutton to run off. They save John Mannering, but he is nearly arrested for Peter's murder!
Jane has been kidnapped. Sutton demands he is given the blackmail money that Louisa was bringing him. Otherwise Jane will end up "as dead as Mrs Trenton."
27 Stone Street is where Sutton lives. A fight destroys much of his photographic equipment, as the Baron rescues Jane. The blackmail pictures are retrieved and burnt. But then Sutton himself is shot. This corny tale ends with the showdown as John Mannering traps the organiser of the blackmail operation
To
The Baron Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Farewell to Yesterday
Driving along an empty motorway, a pilot suddenly crashes his car, now in a crowded street!
Templeton-Green asks The Baron to go to Rome to see an old flame, another old flame, of his, Cathy Dawn (Sylvia Sims). For in this pilot's wallet was proof he was working for a smuggling ring which had nicked from The Vatican no less, a set of eight rare medallions.
Local agent Cavendish informs Mannering that Cathy sings at Nick's. Cavendish has infiltrated the gang and got his first assignment, to smuggle one of the medallions to London, orders of the boss Nick (William Sylvester), "the rottenest man I ever met."
He's Cathy's boy friend, and even John Mannering can't quite persuade her to leave Nick... for him. Nick has some hold over her.
"I don't like you," Nick tells The Baron, and orders his right hand man Dino to finish off Mannering. Of course that fails, though Cavendish is not so lucky, winding up with a knife in his back.
Cathy is used to trick Mannering to go to Dino's where he believes the medallions are concealed. It's a trap. Nick has already shot Dino, who had wanted out, and when The Baron enters the room, he is knocked out and framed for Dino's death.
Then Nick hides the medallions in his suitcase and hurriedly leaves Rome by train. The Baron eludes arrest and also joins the eight o'clock Geneva express. For some reason he brings Cathy along, and as they separately search the train for Nick, she is imprisoned in Nick's compartment. As they reach a bridge, Nick prepares to throw her out the window, but who's this climbing in through the same window? Why, The Baron of course! A punch up and it's the end of the line for Nick.
To
The Baron Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

Epitaph for a Hero
The Baron is attending the funeral of "a world champion redfink" for the good reason this Jim (Paul Maxwell) had saved Mannering's life in the war. But it's evident Jim was not greatly loved.
At a steam baths the Baron encounters this dead man, who offers a million dollars if the Baron will fence some stolen property. Mannering refuses but Jim politely reminds him, "you owe me a favour."
Templeton Green orders Mannering to join the crooks, and with Cordelia as his contact, things are perking up!
The Baron travels by train to Edinburgh, with Cordelia briefing him en route. Jim's henchman Charlie (Nosher Powell) is also aboard, and he pulls the communication cord and makes the Baron alight in the middle of nowhere. From there it's back to London, and a hideout in Battersea Funfair.
The boss of the gang is introduced as Helge (Patricia Haynes). This shift of focus from Jim has the effect of making what has gone before seem rather unimportant and although Helge is a cunning leader, the story never really has any tension. The gang practise the caper which is to steal eight million's worth of jewels from an exhibition: "makes the Crown Jewels look like trinkets!"
Luckily Cordelia tracks down the gang's headquarters, but is caught, and the Baron is forced to help in the robbery, even though his cover has been blown.
We see the ingenious plan, Mission Impossible-like, to steal the jewels, which is never very engrossing and it proceeds like clockwork. Afterwards it's time for Jim to bump off Mannering and Cordelia. He can't resist a final jest to the Baron, admitting it was not he who saved Mannering's life but a Cpl Moxey (in joke there on director John Moxey). Thus riled, single-handedly, incredibly, the Baron stops the villains
Menu: The Baron

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Something for a Rainy Day
Outside the Scrubs waits Ann (Ann Lynn), out after seven years is her father Seldon (Michael Gwynn), an art robber, now a broken man.
A jazzed up Cordelia has now joined John Mannering, who has received an Aztec mask from Seldon, a sample of the stolen Davion collection that Seldon wants the Baron to sell on his behalf. Insurance agent Charlie (Lois Maxwell) is prepared to buy it from Mannering becuase she's ruthless: "you have got a computer for a heart,"Mannering tells her blandly.
Then he flies with Cordelia to Paris tosee "tired frightened old man" Seldon. In an isolated farmhouse, it's Ann who meets The Baron, though they are both shadowed by two villains who had been part of Seldon's gang, Max Holder (Patrick Allen) and Lucas. They snatch Ann as a hostage to force Seldon to give them the art treasures: "you're out of your class, Mannering."
But he drives with Cordelia to a dingy caravan site, where Seldon is hiding. It has all been "a pipe dream," for Seldon must get his daughter back. Mannering goes to the Chateau Celestine, where Seldon guesses Holder might be hanging out. Ann is indeed held captive there, but a vicious guard dog ensures the Baron "doesn't do a very good job of it." However he turns the tables and now it's a race to get to the Davion treasure first. Seldon is there accompanied by Charlie, who's hoping to get the loot back for free. In a cave, she grabs it. But Holder and Lucas stop her getting away and then Mannering drives up, a car chase follows. The Baron's Citroen keeps up with the crooks' Jag, which in true crime drama tradition ends up over a cliff in pieces. Pulling out the case with the loot they've grabbed, it turns out to be full of rocks. Charlie has switched, though of course the Baron catches up with her and Cordelia switches Charlie's case and sad Seldon winds up with the fortune
Menu: The Baron

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.
.

Enemy of the State

In an East European state, agent Bell cracks under extreme torture and reveals that John Mannering will be delivering him money at the Koblinz Bar.
In fact, it is Cordelia who brings the cash, and she is soon surrounded, and taken prisoner by the evil Szoblik (Anton Diffring). Colonel Bucholz (Joseph Furst) seems a little more sympathetic, but "she will confess," insists Szoblik.
Templeton Green orders Mannering back to London, but naturally the order is ignored and Mannering manages to get to see Cordelia- "I'll get you out of this," he promises. But his visa is withdrawn, and he is deported.
On the way to the border, Mannering causes the car to crash, and handcuffed to his guard, but pointing a gun at the guard's head, Mannering gets to British agent Colin, and a hacksaw sets him free. The daring plan is formulated to kidnap "Comrade Szoblik."
At an isolated country railway station, Szoblik's state Mercedes has to wait at the level crossing. A potato strategically placed on the exhaust, and the car breaks down, and Szoblik winds up "in the exchange business."
Col Bucholz leads the hunt for his comrade, though secretly he finds it rather amusing. However he's not so happy about having to exchange Cordelia.
He has one ace, Colin's wife Claire is a double agent. She's the one who had betrayed Bell. But Mannering spots her treachery, and he takes Szoblik to the rendezvous near the border.
But more duplicity from the colonel- he has prepared an ambush en route, outside the Kafina. Cordelia snaps defiantly at him, "you'll need a lot more than a road block to stop John Mannering." And of course the trap is eluded, "Mannering was too smart for you."
At the frontier, prisoners meet face to face in the twilight. Mannering exchanges for Cordelia and the pair run for it. "Kill them!" screams Szbolik as they swim across a river. Incredibly a volley of bullets misses them. "You did it, John."

The Baron Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.
.

Masquerade
Mannering has been driven to The Gables, an isolated place in the country. Noone seems to be at home. Then a girl's cry for help. He looks in a small room, where he is locked in. "He's not going to die until Saturday," the girl says.
Cordelia calls in Special Branch, but is frustrated by the plodding approach of Fox Stuart (Kenneth Warren). He's pessimistic about finding her boss.
The Baron's found a way out of his room via a concealed shaft, and elsewhere in the mansion he sees a bandaged man, Eddy, who has been having plastic surgery. He overhears Dr Revell (John Carson) utter joyfully, "your face is our fortune." For this Eddy is now Mannering's double!
Mannering returns to his cell, having doctored the bolt so he can enter and exit at will. Eddy is sent to talk to Mannering through the barred door, to learn his mannerisms, but it works both ways, Mannering learns Eddy's too. At the right moment The Baron knocks out his double and changes places, thus masquerading as his own double. Just in time really, as The Chief (Bernard Lee) has no further use for his prisoner, and has him shot.
Mannering manages to phone a message to Cordelia, and she leaves the news for Fox Stuart, but it never reaches him. She goes to explore The Gables.
There, The Baron is watching a film so he can learn his own speech patterns and gestures. Not too difficult. Cordelia find's Eddy's corpse, screams, and is taken prisoner. What's the job? "The world's biggest robbery," the Crown Jewels. "The Great Train Robbery'll look like pennypinching!"
(end of part one -
to part 2)

The Baron Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The Killing (the conclusion of 'Masquerade')
That stormy night, Mannering tells the imprisoned Cordelia he is still alive. Revell finds him out of his room and is suspicious, "all of a sudden you've changed." But what exactly is different? He finally spots that Mannering Mark 2 has not got the tattoo that Eddie had. The Baron chases Revell round the grounds and ties him up. The chief decides Revell must have run off, scared, so the gang move their base to London, where Eddie will be able to meet his old pal Frank Martin, who is also to be part of the heist.
Fox Stuart moves into The Grange too late, but finds Revell who is closely questioned without revealing the gang's plans.
Mannering is being shown what that job is by The Chief. They are at the Tower of London watching "The British Crown Jewels" (!) being transported by armed guard to the Crown Treasury, the Bank of England security vaults, to be cleaned and polished. Now John Mannering is one of the very few men to have unquestioned access in there.
Cordelia almost escapes from the luxury London flat where the the gang is hiding out, but is stopped in her tracks when The Chief returns. Mannering is introduced to Frank. "You ain't Eddie." No, the plastic surgery has worked well. Reminiscing with Frank is a trifle hard when Mannering doesn't know the crowd Frank knows.
The Chief goes through his plan with the gang down to the last detail. But Frank overhears The Baron explaining to Cordelia what to do, "you fooled us all along the line."
John Mannering is forced to go through with the robbery with Cordelia kept as a hostage.
He enters the bank with The Chief. Mr Castle, in charge of security, welcomes them. But in the vault, Mannering unexpectedly faints. Summon a doctor, he mustn't be moved. However he is moved by two ambulance men, who suddenly drop their disguise and draw their guns. Ignominiously, the Crown Jewels are dropped into a sack. (I'm not sure whether they are to be melted down, horror of horrors, or what.) But a diversion locks the gang in the vault. But remember that threat of The Chief killing Cordelia? Since she must be more important than the Crown Jewels, The Chief is allowed to leave. But he doesn't get far and the the biggest robbery ever is also the biggest failure ever!

The Baron Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Edge of Fear
The most interesting thing about this story is the relevance of the title. It's a competent enough thriller, though Steve Forrest's lack of charisma is painfully obvious.

It starts well enough, on a flight from Paris to London. One passenger develops typhoid. On landing, he is rushed to an ambulance, but en route to the hospital, the doctor treating him overpowers and kills the driver. As his reward, he in turn is shot dead by the patient!
It has been a devious way of sneaking into Britain. He is called Kent Jordan (William Franklyn), and he reports to his boss Colbert (Willoughby Goddard). His trick has enabled him to smuggle in a painting stolen from The Louvre ("very well known"), which Colbert is hoping to sell to Lord Mountford (Alan Wheatley, who completes this enviable trio of villains).
The Baron's phone is being tapped. When he finds the bug, John Mannering goes to the Foreign Office to complain. Foster warns him not to pursue his complaint. The bugger, as it were, then explains to Mannering that he is working for the French government, and is hoping to hear news of the stolen painting, which so far has been kept out of the headlines. Indeed, The Baron is soon approached, asked to authenticate the painting, which is now revealed, in case there had been any doubt, as The Mona Lisa. Some tests soon confirm the painting's genuineness.
"You fool!" cries Colbert, as The Baron makes a sudden movement, grabs the picture, and runs. Jordan goes in hot pursuit. The Baron wins that battle of wits and subsequent fight, but then Lord Mountford steps up, gun in hand. He demands his picture. Oh dear, Mannering chucks it in the fire, to Mountford's horror. Lord Mountford is suitably distracted. The police arrive, as always too late for the action, for Colbert is now being rounded up by The Baron. "I burnt the painting," Mannering calmly informs the horrified Colbert. But of course, now the villains are under lock and key, The Baron can dig out the real Mona Lisa from its hiding place, still safe... thanks to the wonderful John Mannering.

The Baron Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

So Dark The Night

"The Warrior"- these are the dying words of an old man, found lying in his stately mansion by his daughter Joyce (Gillian Lewis).
Staying at a local inn are The Baron and Cordelia, in the area to make a purchase off Mr Grant, the dead man. According to the local doctor, he had died of a heart attack.
Enjoying the night air out on a short walk, The Baron happens to bump into a screaming Joyce in her nightie. She's scared.
The Baron kindly takes her home where the doctor tucks her up in bed. She's too scared to explain. But next morning she relates how she had heard these footsteps, and then heavy breathing on the phone had made her panic.
Joyce's home has been vandalised. John Mannering speculates that Grant had some secret to hide. He learns that The Warrior is a copy of a Rennaisance bronze- what has it to do with Grant's death?
He travels to London to discover from a Fleet Street newspaper who exactly Grant was. Cordelia stops with Joyce.
More dirty tricks that dark night. Inexplicably Cordelia and Joyce are actually wandering the countryside when they stumble over old Ben the poacher, dead. He'd been killed by Frank Ashton (George Baker) who is in league with none other than the local doctor, on a quest for missing bullion that Grant had stolen years ago. The doctor lures the gullible Cordelia into a trap at Ben's cottage, leaving Ashton free to get Joyce to reveal where the bullion is hidden, not that she knows, "my father told me nothing," she protests. Ashton searches the house and finds what he wants in The Warrior, information as to the secret bank vault where Grant had stashed the stolen bullion.
About to dispose of the unfortunate Joyce, Ashton is interrupted by Cordelia, who has very deviously managed to get herself free, and by The Baron, back from London. The mansion has been set alight to kill off Joyce, and amid the ever rising flames, John Mannering disposes of Ashton and just about rescues Joyce. The final picture of the house wildly alight seems to bear little relation to the earlier fight scene

The Baron Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

The Maze
Stop me if 'Tony O'Grady's' script seems familiar...
In fact this is a mish-mash of several familiar themes from the pen of Brian Clemens, this one starting with some panache, but then getting lost in its own cleverness and opting for a dull too conventional explanation.

A prisoner breaks loose of her bonds and gets away from the mansion where she's been held captive. Through a forest and straight into the path of The Baron's flash car. Picking her up, he zooms off, but gunmen halt their progress and the car crashes.
After a weird nightmare, John Mannering awakes in hospital to relate his experience to the disbelieving police. They can find no trace of the girl when they locate his vehicle. But it's not found at the site of the crash, claims The Baron. Cordelia: "John, you must be mistaken." She puts it down to his concussion. Then the bombshell- it's a day later than John Mannering thinks. What happened to him during the missing 24 hours?
Setting out to prove his story to Cordelia, The Baron does find the place where he is sure he crashed. They make for the village in the direction from where the girl had been running. At the Ancient Golfer pub, there's a photo of the very girl on the wall.
Prize corny line follows: "there's something going on round here."
Her name is Jill. She lives at Crestfield, a large Victorian mansion.
Her father listens to Mannering's story. He then fetches Jill who denies the whole thing ever happened. "You're mistaken."
In the grounds of Crestfield is a maze which recalls to The Baron part of his nightmare. In the centre of the maze is a pavilion, the place Mannering is sure he was held prisoner. A man attacks them, but is beaten off. He claims he is a policeman.
The plot now changes direction as we hear the cop was here to check security for a visiting NATO general, who has come for a quiet round of golf. Killers are readying themselves to shoot him from one of the high windows in Crestfield. John Mannering plays cat and mouse with the killers round the maze, then to the house to prevent an assassination. To the turret room, just as the trigger is being pressed. The general never knows what a close shave he has had!

The Baron Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Storm Warning

At the docks, one box is missing from a consignment for John Mannering. Cordelia searches for it on a ship about to sail and just happens to witness a murder.
The Baron has traced the missing crate, but now has to look for Cordelia. She is telling Captain Brenner (Reginald Marsh) what she has seen. She shows him the cabin, belonging to Carlton (Dudley Sutton) where she witnessed the killing. As she knows too much, she is tied up.
John Mannering stows away on "the very bad ship," but his hiding place is not the best. It's the refrigerator room, and by chance he is locked inside. The corpse also happens to be stored there, rather unhygienically. By blowing a fuse, The Baron gets someone to look in, and he promptly exits.
Far out to sea, Cordelia is free to roam the ship. She bumps into John- "do you know what's going on here?" No.
The pair are soon caught, but by a stroke of luck it's by a CIA agent, Garvey, who was spying on the ship with the dead man. But Garvey's cover is now blown, and John Mannering rescues him from interrogation, the pair hiding in the hold where there's a pitched gun battle, Garvey killed. As Mannering has found a machine gun, Cpt Brenner offers a parley, which The Baron rather takes advantage of, to force Brenner to the radio room, so he can send an SOS. But foiled again! Gas is piped into the room and John and Cordelia are tied up.
Sportingly, Brenner explains to Mannering what he's up to. It's all about this rocket being launched now from Cape Kennedy. With his equipment, Brenner is able to divert the returning capsule, capture it himself.

This adventure continues with The Island

The Baron Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

The Island
(conclusion of the story Storm Warning)

Air and sea search for The missing Baron, "an awful lot of ocean."
"Nobody's going to find us," believes the confident Captain Brenner, so confident he permits Mannering to radio the Hong Kong authorities to confirm he is safe and well... at gunpoint. Luckily Inspector Willis spots a flaw and intensifies his search for The Baron.
Time for Mannering to make his move. He overpowers the guard and dons that man's uniform. The ship is nearing its destination, so he and Cordelia grab a dinghy and paddle ashore. Get them! orders Brenner, when their escape is noticed. The dinghy is hit and capsizes but The Baron and Cordelia manage to swim the last bit to the shore.
The old twisted ankle trick traps one of their pursuers, another is so slow he is machine gunned down by Mannering. His plan is to go "from the frying pan into the fire," the cave , that is, where Brenner and his team have set up an operations room. Ready to bring down that capsule....
The cave is naturally heavily guarded, but a cleverly worked diversion by Cordelia draws the incompetent defenders, enabling John to sneak in. The US cavalry (yes, really) come to Cordelia's aid but don't need to assist The Baron, who has already put paid to the fiendish plot, "get away from those controls!"

All the usual British-based Americans are in this, ie David Healy and an uncredited Alan Gifford, though their English counterparts sometimes struggle to maintain their Yankee accents

The Baron Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

MR JERICHO (1969)

ITC snapped up Patrick MacNee after The Avengers ended, with this one-off adventure directed by Sidney Hayers. The awful title song by Lulu is best forgotten. This is a sort of proto-Persuaders in its setting, and displays the usual ITC flair for excitement.

Patrick MacNee plays confidence trickster Dudley Jericho. "He could be a millionaire by now, but he has scruples."
On the Riviera, he has had made a replacement for the Gemini diamond, only two of which are known to exist, one being in the hands of the wealthy Rosso (Herbert Lom). Jericho plans to elude all Rosso's security devices, which appear to make his mansion impregnable, steal the gem, replacing it with his fake, and then selling the original back to the unsuspecting Rosso for half a million.
The plan seems to work childlishly easily as Jericho steals the real Gemini avoiding all the costly security devices, but just as the plot is starting to tail away, a rival Gemini seller, Claudine, materialises. Jericho finds out he somehow never stole the original after all and has to commit burglary number two. Once again he somehow ends up with a fake Gemini.
There's a lot more conning the conmen, and conwomen before the final showdown at Rosso's villa, which is followed by a car chase along the cliff tops. Some good twists keep up our interest, as Jericho finally ends up happy, if no richer.

60's Menu

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.


Shepperton Studios
Back .

.

.

.

.

.

.


Ivor Dean
Return to
The Saint

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.


Graham Stark- he's in the pilot, Masquerade in Spain, and gets a few other mentions.
Back .

.

.

.

.

.

.