SAM
Gritty drama set in Yorkshire which, over three series, followed the fortunes of Sam Wilson from boy to man. After his father set sail to Canada with another woman 10 year old Sam and his mother, Dora (Barbara Ewing), were forced to settle in the small mining community of Skellerton. There young Sam's life revolved around his close relatives, grandfather, aunts and uncles all of whom faced various hardships such as unemployment or poverty. By the age of 14 Sam was forced to earn a living by working down the mines, but eventually he rebelled against his expected fate and ran away to sea. He eventually returned, took a job in an engineering factory, married Sarah Corby and settled down in the town of Golwick, although he never forgot his roots or the hardships he faced through the 1930s and 1940s. The young Sam Wilson was played by Kevin Moreton in series one whilst the grown-up Sam was played by future 'Taggart' star Mark McManus.
39 episodes of 60 minute duration. Granada Television. 1973-1975.
THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL
Based on the book by Baroness Orczy, Marius Goring starred as English nobleman Sir Percy Blakeney (Goring was also one of the producers on the series), whose alter-ego of 'The Scarlet Pimpernel' was an ally to the French aristocracy facing the guillotine. In order to carry out his covert operations, the Pimpernel had to be a master of disguise, which gave Goring the chance to appear in a variety of costumes as either a Parisian flower seller, a Chinese decorator or a court official in the days when George the Third ruled England in heart if not in mind. Goring entered the role with immense enthusiasm, having already played the part in a 1949 radio production. 'I enjoyed playing the Pimpernel,' he said at the time. 'He embodies everyone's idea of a hero; a man who, for no personal gain, risked his life for the innocent. It's a strange thought that his antagonists were the people who shouted, "Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite!"' In contrast to his dashing hero persona, Sir Percy was weak and foppish, always cleverly deflecting suspicion of his true identity, which made the story perfect fodder for a spoof by the 'Carry On' team in 1966. In more serious tone it was revived in the late 1990's by the BBC as an action adventure series starring Richard E. Grant.
39 episodes of 25 minute duration. 1955.
SEA HUNT
Although he is now more famous for his comedy roles in movies such as ’Airplane’, Lloyd Bridges appeared on TV for three years as Mike Nelson, former US Navy frogman and owner of the seagoing vessel Argonaut, in which he travelled the globe as a freelance underwater troubleshooter, employed by salvage companies, insurance firms and, at times, the US Government. Bridges' partner in ’Sea Hunt’ was the glamorous Zale Parry, then holder of the Women's World Record for Diving. The two stars were teamed together after research by producer Ivan Tors (who went on to have another 'wet' hit with ’Flipper’), into the possibility of making TV films with an underwater setting. Tors then went to the US Navy, the Coastguard and various US Law Enforcement agencies all of who were quite happy to supply him with subject material, and in order to make the shows as realistic as possible real divers and marine scientists were employed to act as advisors. Bridges two sons, Beau and Jeff, both of whom went on to successful Hollywood careers, appeared from time to time. The series was revived briefly in 1987 starring former TV ’Tarzan’, Ron Ely.
155 episodes of 30 minute duration. Ziv TV. 1957-60.
THE SENTIMENTAL AGENT
Spin-off from a ’Man of the World’ episode of the same name in which the character of Carlos Varela, the owner of Mercury International, an import/export trading company in London, could often be found on the global trail of any number of criminals. Argentinean born actor Carlos Thompson, who starred as the main character, had already established himself in Hollywood after being 'discovered' by ’Yvonne de Carlo’ (’The Munsters’) and had him cast alongside her in ’Port Algiers’. Based on that picture Thompson landed himself a Hollywood contract, which led to roles alongside Lana Turner and Esther Williams. Starring parts in ’The Flame and the Flesh’, ‘The Valley of the Kings’ and several other films followed before the 6 foot 2 inch Latin heart-throb decided to turn his back on a Hollywood lifestyle and moved to Switzerland from where he became one of the Continent's most sought after leading men as well as concentrating on a writing career. Bert Kwouk aka Cato in the ’Pink Panther’ series of movies starred in ’The Sentimental Agent’ as Varela's valet, Chin.
13 episodes of 30-minute duration. 1963.
SERGEANT PRESTON OF THE YUKON
Originating as a 1947 radio series and created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker, who had previously bought us 'The Lone Ranger' (and would later devise 'The Green Hornet'). Set in the frozen wastes of Canada's Yukon Territory around 1890, Sgt Preston of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police rode alongside and his trusted husky sidekick, Yukon King. Preston could often be heard encouraging his Eskimo dog's through the snow with cries of "On, King. On, you huskies!" Handsome actor Richard Simmons (who bore a striking resemblance to Clark Gable), cut a dashing figure in red uniform and broad brimmed hat as he single handedly tackled the rogues and scoundrels who preyed upon the peace loving settlers and gold miners who had come to make their home in this frozen wilderness, and naturally, like all good Mounties, he always got his man. The series (which was shown in Britain on the new ITV channels) was actually filmed in colour in the mountains of California and Colorado although it was only seen in black and white until 1963 when it was repeated on the NBC Network. There were 78 episodes over a three-year period before Preston finally rode off into the sunset for the last time on his trusty black steed, Rex.
78 episodes of 30 minute duration. 1955-1958.
SEVEN OF ONE
Series of one-off comedies highlighting the inimitable talent of Ronnie Barker, and the ease in which he could slip in and out of such diverse characters as the hard edged prison lag Fletcher, to the ageing northern shopkeeper Arkwright. The idea of the series (originally intended to be called 'Six Of One'...thereby the follow up series could be called 'Half A Dozen Of The Other'), was a tried and trusted format on British Television under the 'Playhouse' format, whether it be drama or comedy. Many long running shows had begun life in this way and in Barker’s case it led to two of the most enduring of television comedies, ’Open All Hours’ (the first in the series), and ’Porridge’ (the second). The other, now forgotten, five shows were 'My Old Man' about a pensioner forced to move from his terraced house into a block of high-rise flats, 'Spanner's Eleven' which told the tale of a football team, 'One Man's Meat', which saw Barker playing a man forced to go on a crash diet, 'Another Fine Mess' teamed the star with Roy Castle as two Laurel and Hardy impersonators, and finally 'I'll Fly You For A Quid', a story about a Welsh family who bet on absolutely everything and anything. 'Seven' was the third series in which Ronnie Barker had appeared as a different character each week, the previous two being ’The Ronnie Barker Playhouse’ in 1968 and ’Six Dates With Barker’ in 1971.
7 shows of 30 minute duration. BBC 1973.
77 SUNSET STRIP
Developed from two television movies ’Anything for Money’ (1957), and ’Girl on the Run’ (1958), 77 Sunset Strip (created by Roy "Maverick, The Rockford Files" Huggins) featured a firm of Hollywood PI's run by Stu Bailey (Efrem Zimbalist Jnr -father of ’Remington Steele's’ Stephanie) and Jeff Spencer (Roger Smith). However, both leads were overshadowed by Edd Byrnes as jive talking parking lot attendant 'Kookie', who worked at the next-door restaurant called Dino's. At the height of his popularity Byrnes' fan mail reached 10,000 letters a week and programme makers Warner Bros. issued a 'Kookie Speak' glossary ('making the long green' -making money, 'piling up the Z's' -sleeping, 'dark seven' -a bad week). When Byrne's walked out after failing to agree a new contract he was replaced for a while by Troy Donohue, however he did return and was promoted to partner in the 77 Sunset Strip agency, although by this time -1963, the series was nearing the end of its sell-by date. Drastic changes were made to save the ailing show with Jack (‘Dragnet’) Webb was brought in as Executive Producer and William Conrad (later to star as ’Cannon’) as Principal Director. For this season Zimbalist's character became a freelance investigator travelling the globe on a no-expenses-spared budget, his offices were no longer on Sunset Strip and he had a new secretary, Hannah (Joan Staley). The new format failed to revive the shows fortunes and it was axed in 1964. Efrem Zimbalist Jnr went on to star in another US hit show, ’F.B.I.’
SEX AND THE CITY
Not for the faint-hearted or easily shocked, ’Sex and the City’ was an adult, in your face and often hilarious look at the relationships of single men and women in turn-of-the-millennium America, as seen through the eyes of fictitious magazine columnist Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker). Bradshaw writes about sex for her trendy New York magazine using her relationship with three of her closest (single) friends as her main inspiration. Cynthia Nixon plays smart, yet cynical lawyer Miranda (a role that has seen her nominated for a Golden Globe Award), whilst Kristin Davis, already a veteran of such shows as ’Seinfield,’ ‘ER,’ and ’Melrose Place’ is art gallery owner Charlotte Yorke, an elegant woman with impeccable taste. Completing the series female foursome is British born actress Kim Catrall as sultry, self confident, done-it-and-seen-it-all, (and continuing to do so) PR executive Samantha Jones. The main male interest in the show was Mr Big, played by Chris North (formerly Paul Sovino's partner in the smash hit legal drama, ’Law and Order’), the object of our heroine's infatuation who, after telling Carrie that he was not ready for marriage yet, promptly turned around and married someone else. With 'Big' off the scene now the producers are trying to tempt Sarah Jessica Parker's true-life husband, Matthew Broderick, to play her new love interest. ’Sex and the City’ continued to pull out all the punches with its openness in both subject matter and language that making it a bold and witty series but one strictly for the adults.
H.B.O. USA
SHERLOCK HOLMES
One of the lesser known televisual incarnations of Arthur Conan Doyle's quintessential master detective aired its thirty-nine black and white episodes between October 1954 and October 1955, and starred Ronald Howard (son of legendary British big screen idol, Leslie Howard) as Holmes and experienced British character actor H. Marion Crawford as the ever reliable Dr. John Watson with Archie Duncan as Inspector Lestrade. Produced on a low budget by Sheldon Reynolds, who also directed a majority of the episodes, the series mixed vastly truncated and simplified adaptations of a number of Conan Doyle's celebrated stories with newly created adventures, which succeeded in the main in capturing the spirit of the originals. Another interesting aspect of the series was the fact that it was filmed entirely in Paris, France, giving it the distinction of being one of the earliest examples of multi-national TV co-productions. As for the all-important central casting, both Howard and Crawford respectively fill the roles of Holmes and Watson pleasingly, in terms of both character and expected physical aspects.
Although by no means an important addition to the televisual Holmes cannon, Sherlock Holmes remains a solid, watchable, albeit clearly impoverished, early example of the small screen's continuing love affair with the character.
39 stories of 60 minute duration. B&W. 1954-55.
THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN
When astronaut Steve Austin (Lee Majors) is involved in a near fatal crash during a test flight, he is rebuilt by cybernetics scientist Rudy Wells (Alan Oppenheimer). Now equipped with two bionic legs that allow him to run at speeds of up to 60m.p.h. -given a bionic arm to give him extra strength, and a bionic eye to see greater distances (at a cost of six million dollars), Austin is put to work as a sort of secret agent working under the command of Oscar Goldman's (Richard Anderson) Office of Strategic Studies. The storylines themselves were hardly original usually involving the theft of secret documents, or some plot against the national security of the US, and special effects were fairly limited with slow-motion being used for almost every 'bionic' action from tearing open a cast iron door to running at speed. However, this didn't stop the series from being a runaway success on both sides of the Atlantic and a spin-off series ’The Bionic Woman’ starring Lindsay Wagner was created in 1976, enjoying equal fortunes. There was a mini-revival in the late eighties when a number of TV Movies were made. The original story was based on a novel, ’Cyborg’, by Martin Caidin and developed for TV by Harve Bennett.
Pilot 85 minutes followed by 102 episodes of 60 minute duration. Universal TV. ABC 1973-78.
SKIPPY
Set in Waratah National Park, this Australian series told the adventures of a smart kangaroo that was saved from near death by Sonny (Garry Parkhurst), the son of Chief Ranger Matt Hammond (Ed Devereaux). In return, Skippy remained a loyal and trusted friend of the youngster and would warn him of impending danger with a distinctive 'Tut Tutting' sound. Filmed in the outdoors with stunning colourful scenery as its backdrop, the series became a massive hit in the UK and featured a young Lisa Goddard in her first television role as Clarissa 'Clancy' Merrick, friend to the Hammond family. More than twenty years after the show finished a new series ’The New Adventures of Skippy’ was made with a grown up Sonny (Andrew Clark), following in his fathers rangering footsteps.
91 episodes of 25 minute duration. Norfolk International (Australia). 1967-69.
SMUGGLER
Set during the Napoleonic wars of the early 1800s, Oliver Tobias ('Arthur of the Britons') stars as Jack Vincent, a swashbuckling ex-British naval captain turned smuggler. A strong-willed, independent man who lives by both his wits and the sword, Vincent is ably assisted by petty thief Honesty Evans (Hywel Williams Ellis), Sarah Morton (Lesley Dunlop - 'May To December') and Sarah's grandfather, Captain Konig (Peter Capell), in his struggle to stay one step ahead of the Excise Men and other rebels such as the infamous Kemble gang. A fondly remembered series, 'Smuggler' was a hit with both children and adults alike on its original transmission in 1981. With taut, adventurous plots from Richard Carpenter, Bob Baker and John Kane, the series was directed by Dennis Abey, Jim Goddard and Charles Crichton. This thirteen-part series was originally shown in 1981 and is now available from Network DVD
SPACE PATROL
Often overlooked and neglected, the only possible explanation that this superior children's puppet series from the early sixties is not held in higher esteem, is that it reached the screen at the same time as Gerry Anderson's futuristic adventures were beginning to take off, with ’Supercar’ and ’Fireball XL5’ overshadowing it. The series, scripted by former Anderson colleague Robert Leigh, was set in the year 2100 and concerned the adventures of the United Galactic Organization, a peace keeping force formed by the natives of Venus, Mars and Earth. The crew of Galasphere 347 was comprised of human captain Larry Dart, Martian Husky and Venusian Slim. Colonel Raeburn gave the orders, assisted by Venusian secretary Marla and Professor Haggerty was the unit’s scientific advisor, himself assisted by his daughter Cassiopea. The series was made available again, quite recently, on DVD.
39 episodes of 30 minute duration. B&W. Wonderama Productions. 1963-64.
STAR TREK THE ANIMATED SERIES
Filling the long gap between the end of the original 'Star Trek' series and the first of the wildly successful movies, this animated version from the prolific Filmation Studio, chronicled the further voyages of the intrepid Starship Enterprise and its legendary crew, as they boldly continued seeking out new life and new civilisations. Adhering strictly to Gene Roddenberry's original vision for the series, the animated version succeeded in reuniting almost the entire original cast to lend their voices to their character's animated counterparts, with the notable exception of Walter Koenig's Chekov. (Budgetary limitations being cited as the reason for his exclusion, although the actor did notch up a credit as one of the show's scriptwriters). In Chekov's place however, two brand new alien characters were added to the bridge crew to showcase the diversity of races that made up Starfleet. In fact many of the live series' writers contributed to the new venture, including David "Trouble With Tribbles" Gerrold, D.C. Fontana and Margaret Armen. Although crudely executed animation wise, the show nevertheless exhibited a pleasing sense of intelligence towards both its audience, and respect for the established Trek ethos. In Britain, The BBC showed the 16 first series episodes in 1974, with the second smaller batch of just six stories following in 1976. Although now officially deemed not to be a part of the Trek saga, the animated adventures of Captain James T. Kirk and his crew helped to satisfy the insatiable need of the fans at a time when a live action return for their heroes was far from assured.
22 episodes of 25 minute duration. A Filmation Production 1973-75.
THE STRANGE REPORT
Anthony Quayle starred as retired Scotland Yard Commissioner turned private pathologist Adam Strange who was called into action whenever the authorities were baffled. Strange employed the latest techniques in forensic investigation, which he undertook in his own laboratory in his Paddington flat. The series was a little too strange for critics at the time who found many of the off-beat plots just a little too baffling. The Sunday Times described it as "pretty well incomprehensible and wholly barmy." The show was produced by London born Norman Felton who had produced long running US series' 'Dr Kildare' and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. The series starred the obligatory US actor Kaz Garas and also former ’Doctor Who’ girl Anneke Wills. Quayle was more likely to be seen at the theatre than on television and although he starred in numerous TV movies (such as ’Moses the Lawgiver’, this was his only leading role in a series of any length.
13 episodes of 50-minute duration. 1968-69.
THE STRANGE WORLD OF GURNEY SLADE
The Strange World of Gurney Slade was a strange show indeed. The brainchild of East London child prodigy Anthony Newley, the idea for the show was developed in partnership with Morecambe and Wise scriptwriters Sid Hill and Dick Green, and took place in a surreal atmosphere in which the hero would trip in and out of reality whilst interacting with inanimate objects, animals, or people who stepped out of advertising posters. Whether the series was meant to be a comedy or merely a sideways glance at life in general is difficult to fathom, although interviewed in 1960, Newley stated, "There is no rhyme or reason for what I do, I merely take life and turn it upside down. We hope to achieve humour without setting out to be deliberately funny." Allegedly, David Bowie, along with a number of other rock musicians, cite it as an important influence on their early work. (In fact Bowie states that he drew on his memories of it as the basis for his role in the sci-fi movie 'The Man Who Fell to Earth'). It's possible that Gurney Slade (named by Newley after a Somerset Village of the same name) was years ahead of its time, but it definitely proved to be too strange for the audience of 1960 and four shows into its planned six show run, it was removed from its primetime slot to a late night one. Only one other regular performer appeared alongside the star and that was comedian Bernie Winters.
6 episodes of 30 minute duration. b&w. 1960
SUGARFOOT
Western series starring Will Hutchins that had its roots as a one-off story in an anthology series called ’Conflict’ shown between September 1956 and September 1957 on ABC television and one that itself rotated on alternate weeks with ’Cheyenne’. As Western's go this one was a little different in as much as the hero, Tom Brewster, preferred to talk himself rather than shoot himself out of trouble and shunned away from any form of physical violence. The series was devised for Hutchins after the young actor was put under contract to Warner Bros. and ran on an alternate week basis with ’Cheyenne’ (after ’Conflict’ was cancelled) from 1957-1959, with ’Bronco’ from 1959-1960 and finally became one of three rotating shows for its last season (1960-61). ’Conflict’ spawned one other successful series, ’77 Sunset Strip’.
SWORD OF FREEDOM
Edmund Purdom starred as Marco del Monte, a 15th century painter, also a master swordsman, living in Florence where he leads a fight against the oppressive ruling family, the Medici's, and their political henchman, Machiavelli (Kenneth Hyde). ITC's Italian version of their own immensely successful ’Robin Hood’ who was both aided and opposed by very similar characters. For help there was a Maid Marian in the form of Angelica (Adrienne Corre), a former pick-pocket turned model, gentle-giant Little John type Sandro (the wonderfully named Rowland Bartrop), and evil Prince John was Duke de Medici (Martin Benson). The series included scripts from blacklisted American writer Ring Lardner Jnr.
