Tag: ITV

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Avengers, The Season 1

Hot Snow

The Avengers

This synopsis is based upon the Big Finish audio adaptation of the original television script. The original episode’s master tape is lost and presumed destroyed. This audio adaptation can be found in Volume 1 of Big Finish’s The Avengers: The Lost Episodes series.

Dr. David Keel, just days away from getting married, has his life thrown into chaos when his bride-to-be is the target of an organized crime hit. Feeling that Scotland Yard isn’t doing enough to solve the murder, Keel decides to take on some amateur sleuthing, but when he discovers that heroin is involved, he realizes this is bigger than him. A mysterious man in a bowler hat is waiting for Keel in his flat when he returns home, but not to kill him. Instead, the man offers to help Keel bring the killer to justice…but he needs Keel to act undercover and become part of the heroin trade. If Dr. Keel can’t bring himself to trust this stranger, he may never identify the murderer.

teleplay by Ray Rigby
story by Patrick Brawn
directed by Don Leaver
music by Johnny Dankworth
Big Finish audio adaptation written by John Dorney
Big Finish audio adaptation directed by Ken Bentley
Big Finish audio adaptation music by Toby Hrycek-Robinson

Original television cast: Ian Hendry (Dr. Keel), Patrick Macnee (John Steed), Philip Stone (Dr. Tredding), Katherine Woodville (Peggy), Alister Williamson (Superintendent Wilson), Godfrey Quigley (Spicer), Charles Wade (Johnson), The Avengers: The Lost EpisodesMurray Melvin (Charlie), Moira Redmond (Stella), June Monkhouse (Mrs. Simpson), Astor Sklair (Sergeant Rogers)

Big Finish audio cast: Anthony Howell (Dr. Keel), Julian Wadham (John Steed), Lucy Briggs-Owen (Carol Wilson), Colin Baker (Dr. Tredding), Camilla Power (Peggy), Tim Bentinck (Superintendent Wilson), Adrian Lukis (Spicer/Johnson), Phil Mulryne (Big Man), Blake Ritson (Charlie), Anjella Mackintosh (Stella/Mrs. Simpson), Kieran Bew (Sergeant Rogers)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Avengers, The Season 1

Brought To Book

The Avengers

This synopsis is based upon the Big Finish audio adaptation of the original television script. The original episode’s master tape is lost and presumed destroyed. This audio adaptation can be found in Volume 1 of Big Finish’s The Avengers: The Lost Episodes series.

Dr. David Keel’s life has become dangerous. Having already helped his mysterious benefactor break up a dangerous drug ring, he has found himself entangled in a new world, trying to bring his fiancee’s killers to justice, even at the cost of the orderly operation of his own practice. But Keel’s mystery man does at least now have a name – John Steed – but everything else about him remains unknown. Steed has another job for Keel, putting Keel’s life in danger as he delves into the world of organized crime once again. But this time, Steed promises the payoff for which Keel has been waiting: the chance to lock up the man who killed his fiancee.

teleplay by Brian Clemens
story by Patrick Brawn
directed by Peter Hammond
music by Johnny Dankworth
Big Finish audio adaptation written by John Dorney
Big Finish audio adaptation directed by Ken Bentley
Big Finish audio adaptation music by Toby Hrycek-Robinson

Original television cast: Ian Hendry (Dr. Keel), Patrick Macnee (John Steed), Ingrid Hafner (Carol Wilson), Philip Stone (Dr. Tredding), Godfrey Quigley (Spicer), Robert James (Vance), Alister Williamson (Superintendent Wilson), Clifford Elkin (Pretty Boy), Charles Morgan (Mason), Lionel Burns (Prentice), Lawrence Archer The Avengers: The Lost Episodes(Johns), Redmond Bailey (Lale), Charlie Bird (Peters), Neil McCarthy (Bart), Anna Shan-Khoo (2nd Chinese Girl), Carol White (Jackie), Joyce Wong Chong (Lila)

Big Finish audio cast: Anthony Howell (Dr. Keel), Julian Wadham (John Steed), Lucy Briggs-Owen (Carol Wilson), Colin Baker (Dr. Tredding), Adrian Lukis (Spicer/Vance), Tim Bentinck (Superintendent Wilson), George Rainsford (Pretty Boy), Alan Cox (Mason), Blake Ritson (Prentice)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Avengers, The Season 1

Square Root Of Evil

The Avengers

This synopsis is based upon the Big Finish audio adaptation of the original television script. The original episode’s master tape is lost and presumed destroyed. This audio adaptation can be found in Volume 1 of Big Finish’s The Avengers: The Lost Episodes series.

Steed’s superiors assign him to infiltrate a counterfeiting ring, impersonating a skilled counterfeiter who’s just been sprung from prison. He succeeds in getting inside the operation, but finds himself at the mercy of a vicious thug nicknamed “the Cardinal” (real name: Bishop). Desperately needing help from the outside world, Steed can only call on Dr. Keel and hope that he can provide an escape route…or at least a timely, if unwitting, distraction.

written by Richard Harris
directed by Don Leaver
music by Johnny Dankworth
Big Finish audio adaptation written by John Dorney
Big Finish audio adaptation directed by Ken Bentley
Big Finish audio adaptation music by Toby Hrycek-Robinson

Original television cast: Ian Hendry (Dr. Keel), Patrick Macnee (John Steed), Ingrid Hafner (Carol Wilson), Alex Scott (The Cardinal), Heron Carvic (Five), Cynthia Bizeray (Secretary), George Murcell (Hooper), John Woodvine (Bloom), The Avengers: The Lost EpisodesDelphi Lawrence (Lisa), Vic Wise (Warren)

Big Finish audio cast: Anthony Howell (Dr. Keel), Julian Wadham (John Steed), Lucy Briggs-Owen (Carol Wilson), Tim Bentinck (The Cardinal), Phil Mulryne (Five), Beth Chalmers (Secretary), Alan Cox (Hooper), George Rainsford (Warren), Kieran Bew (Steve), Blake Ritson (Tobert), Sophie Aldred (Lila)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Avengers, The Season 1

One For The Mortuary

The Avengers

This synopsis is based upon the Big Finish audio adaptation of the original television script. The original episode’s master tape is lost and presumed destroyed. This audio adaptation can be found in Volume 1 of Big Finish’s The Avengers: The Lost Episodes series.

Steed is involved in an operation to keep a major medical secret out of the wrong hands. A drug that temporarily presents the appearance of a cure (but allows a disease to continue doing damage to its victim) could be a powerful weapon in the hands of an assassin, and Steed and his superiors mean to keep it from being misused. Steed enlists the help of Dr. Keel, who already has an invitation to the World Health Organization in Geneva, to deliver the drug’s chemical formula to an ally within the WHO. But almost immediately, things go wrong: Keel is targeted and followed before he even leaves British soil. Steed must follow Keel to Geneva in order to keep his friend and ally from coming to a grim end (and to ensure the safety of the free world into the bargain).

written by Brian Clemens
directed by Peter Hammond
music by Johnny Dankworth
Big Finish audio adaptation written by John Dorney
Big Finish audio adaptation directed by Ken Bentley
Big Finish audio adaptation music by Toby Hrycek-Robinson

Original television cast: Ian Hendry (Dr. Keel), Patrick Macnee (John Steed), Ingrid Hafner (Carol Wilson), Ronald Wilson (Scott), Malou Pantera (Yvette), The Avengers: The Lost EpisodesDennis Edwards (Pallaine), Peter Madden (Benson), Irene Bradshaw (Maid), Frank Gatliff (Dubois), Steven Scott (Hotel Concierge), Toke Townley (Bernard Bourg)

Big Finish audio cast: Anthony Howell (Dr. Keel), Julian Wadham (John Steed), Lucy Briggs-Owen (Carol Wilson), Sam Clemens (Wilson), Francesca Hunt (Yvette), Nigel Carrington (Pallaine), Nicholas Briggs (Benson), Terry Molloy (Henry)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Fireball XL5

Planet 46

Fireball XL5At World Space Patrol Headquarters in Space City, the alert is sounded when Colonel Zero’s long-range radar spots a massive atomic missile hurtling toward Earth. The ship closest to the missile’s course, Fireball XL5, is diverted from returning to Earth after a long exploratory mission to intercept the missile. Commander Steve Zodiac and his crew, Dr. Venus, Professor Matthew Matic, and trusty Robert the Robot, destroy the missile and trace its origins to Planet 46, discovering a secret lair and a stash of stolen diamonds. When Steve is captured trying to enter the hideout, Dr. Venus tries to return to Fireball, only to be captured herself. The alien creatures inhabiting Planet 46 have a backup missile with Earth’s name on it – and a diabolical plan to use Fireball XL5’s crew to deliver it…over Steve Zodiac’s dead body if necessary.

written by Gerry & Sylvia Anderson
directed by Gerry Anderson
music by Barry Gray / theme vocal by Don Spencer

Fireball XL5Cast: David Graham (Professor Matthew Matic / Lt. 90 / Subterrain 1 / Canaveral voice / Jodrell Bank voice), Sylvia Anderson (Doctor Venus), Paul Maxwell (Colonel Steve Zodiac / Okinawa Station voice), John Bluthal (Commander Zero / Subterrain Leader / Subterrain 2), Gerry Anderson (Robert the Robot)

Notes: This is the first episode of the last black & white Supermarionation series, introducing a new cast of puppet characters as well as concepts that would carry forward through many episodes of the series, including Fireball XL5“oxygen pills” that would enable un-space-suited life forms to breathe in the vacuum of space (and, amazingly, not succumb to the extreme cold and pressure loss of the void – amazing stuff, those oxygen pills). Gerry Anderson performed an uncredited function in every episode of the series, providing the buzzy voice of Robert the Robot using an electrical palate device that – ironically – fellow voice actor David Graham would utilize in later years to voice the early versions of the Cybermen in Doctor Who.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Undermind

Instance One

PrimevalDrew Heriot returns from a trip outside of England to discover his older brother, a police inspector, embroiled in a scandal after arresting a cabinet minister over minor charges. Despite being urged by his superiors to drop the matter, Frank Heriot instead pushes the charge through to a conviction, resulting in a three-pound fine and a very public end to the cabinet minister’s political career – followed shortly thereafter by his apparent suicide. Frank is unapologetic for his actions. Frank’s wife, Anne, tells Drew that Frank’s behavior has changed radically; he shows almost no emotion and has grown distant and cold. Drew enlists the help of his psychologist co-worker to try to find out what’s happened to Frank, and in the process discovers disturbing things about Frank’s mental state and even the electrical workings of his brain: Frank is not guiding his own actions. When Frank is assassinated, Drew and Anne decide to join forces to discover who was controlling Frank’s actions – and to find out who else they’re controlling.

written by Robert Banks Stewart
directed by Bill Bain
music by Paul Lewis

UndermindCast: Jeremy Wilkin (Drew Heriot), Rosemary Nichols (Anne Heriot), Jeremy Kemp (Frank Heriot), Frank Mills (Inspector), Hugh Latimer (Paget), Tony Steedman (Hugh Bishop), Moya O’Sullivan (Edith Bishop), Paul Maxwell (Dr. Polson), Ernest Hare (Landlord), John Edmunds (Newscaster), Jill Cary (Secretary), Georgine Anderson (Receptionist), Peter Willson Holmes (Executive), Helen Ford (Clerk), David Swift (Macridos)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Classic Series Prisoner, The

Arrival

The PrisonerAn agent of the British Foreign Office unexpectedly submits his resignation, setting into motion a chain of events that will forever change his life. A black car trails him to his home, and he is gassed. When he awakens, he is in the Village, a gaily-colored, self-contained community whose residents seem to know nothing beyond its boundaries, and seem to be unwilling to question that oddity. No one seems to know who he is, and no one knows his name. A man identifying himself as Number Two invites him to lunch, and it is a most revealing meal. The reason for the abduction and enforced exile of the newly-christened “Number Six” is revealed – certain unnamed parties are stopping at nothing to prevent his classified knowledge from falling into the wrong hands…or perhaps from reaching the right hands. Number Two makes it clear that no one leaves the Village – and Number Six suspects that the penalty for doing so would be death, especially when Number Two demonstrates a deadly security device called Rover. Despite the danger and the vaguely implied threats, Number Six mounts a valiant escape attempt, but he is captured by the Rover and taken to the Village’s hospital. When he awakens, he is sharing a hospital ward with a fellow agent named Cobb, who also doesn’t remember how he came to be in the Village. Not long afterward, Cobb is reported to have committed suicide, though Number Six immediately suspects something far more sinister. But even most macabre speculation is nowhere near the truth of what happened to his colleague…or what is happening to him now.

written by George Markstein and David Tomblin
directed by Don Chaffey
music by Ron Grainer and Albert Elms

Cast: Patrick McGoohan (Number Six), Virginia Maskell (The Woman), Guy Doleman (Number Two), Paul Eddington (Cobb), George Baker (The New Number Two), Angelo Muscat (The Butler), Barbara Yu Ling (Taxi Driver), Stephanie Randall (Maid), Jack Allen (Doctor), Fabia Drake (Welfare worker), Denis Shaw (Shopkeeper), Oliver MacGreevy (Gardener/Electrician), Frederick Piper (Ex-Admiral), Patsy Smart (Waitress), Christopher Benjamin (Labour Exchange Manager), Peter Swanwick (Supervisor), David Garfield (Hospital attendant), Peter Brace (1st Guardian), Keith Peacock (2nd Guardian)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Classic Series Prisoner, The

The Chimes of Big Ben

The PrisonerNumber Six watches with curiosity and suspicion as the Village welcomes a new resident whose background is almost too conveniently similar to his own. But Number Six finally admits to compassion when he steps forward to cooperate with Number Two to put a stop to his new neighbor’s torturous interrogation. When the two prisoners begin hatching an escape plan, can either of them truly trust the other – or are each of them testing the other?

written by Vincent Tilsley
directed by Don Chaffey
music by Ron Grainer and Albert Elms

Cast: Patrick McGoohan (Number Six), Leo McKern (Number Two), Nadia Gray (Nadia), Finlay Currie (General), Richard Wattis (Fotheringay), Kevin Stoney (Colonel J), Peter Swanwick (Supervisor), Christopher Benjamin (Number Two’s assistant), David Arlen (Karel), Hilda Barry (Number 38), Jack Le-White (Judge), John Maxim (Judge), Lucy Griffiths (Judge)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Classic Series Prisoner, The

A, B, and C

The PrisonerNumber Two and his interrogators embark on a new project to pry into Number Six’s dreams, hoping to find the events behind his resignation in his subconscious. Three individuals figure prominently in Number Six’s thoughts about his resignation, but before Number Two can discover their involvement, something unexpected will interrupt his attempt to eavesdrop on his prisoner’s dreams.

written by Anthony Skene
directed by Pat Jackson
music by Ron Grainer and Albert Elms

Cast: Patrick McGoohan (Number Six), Colin Gordon (Number Two), Katherine Kath (Engladine), Sheila Allen (Number 14), Peter Bowles (A), Georgina Cookson (Blonde), Annette Carrell (B), Lucille Soong (Flower Girl), Bettine Le Beau (Maid), Terry Yorke (Thug), Peter Brayham (Thug), Bill Cummings (Henchman)

Original title: Play In Three Acts

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Classic Series Prisoner, The

Free For All

The PrisonerNumber Six jumps at the opportunity to run for the office of Number Two, making individual freedom his campaign platform. The incumbent Number Two declares this approach to be against the laws of the Village, and Number Six is forced to endure a test for his suitability as a candidate. The test makes it possible for Number Six to win the election, but not in a way that he could imagine.

written by Paddy Fritz (a.k.a. Patrick McGoohan)
directed by Patrick McGoohan
music by Ron Grainer and Albert Elms

Cast: Patrick McGoohan (Number Six), Eric Portman (Number Two), Rachel Herbert (Number 58), George Benson (Labour exchange manager), Harold Berens (Reporter), John Cazabon (Man in cave), Dene Cooper (Photographer), Kenneth Benda (Supervisor), Holly Doone (Waitress), Peter Brace (Mechanic), Alf Joint (Mechanic)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Classic Series Prisoner, The

The Schizoid Man

The PrisonerVillage officials enter Number Six’s residence in the dead of night, drugging him and taking him away. He is experimented on, injected with drugs, and awakens with a new face – or at least a new hairdo. Number Two tries to convince him that he is, in fact, Number Twelve – a deep cover agent assigned to break the will of the difficult Number Six. Number Six is unimpressed with this latest attempt to break him…until he returns to his residence and finds a man there with the number and the face that were once his own.

written by Terence Feely
directed by Pat Jackson
music by Ron Grainer and Albert Elms

Cast: Patrick McGoohan (Number Six), Anton Rodgers (Number Two), Jane Merrow (Alison), Earl Cameron (Supervisor), Gay Cameron (Number 36), David Nettheim (Doctor), Pat Keen (Nurse), Gerry Crampton (Guardian), Dinney Powell (Guardian)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Classic Series Prisoner, The

The General

The PrisonerWhen a new speed-learning lecture series takes the Village by storm, Number Six is immediately suspicious, and finds a like-minded ally in Number 12. Their skepticism is quickly proven to be correct when they learn that the speed-learning device uses subliminal messages – and that the hidden masterminds of the Village, not the Professor, control what information is subliminally fed to the population. Number Six discovers that the enigmatic General is behind the whole endeavour…but it may cost him dearly to find out any more than that.

written by Joshua Adam
directed by Peter Graham Scott
music by Ron Grainer and Albert Elms

Cast: Patrick McGoohan (Number Six), Colin Gordon (Number Two), John Castle (Number 12), Betty McDowall (Professor’s wife), Peter Swanwick (Supervisor), Conrad Phillips (Doctor), Michael Miller (Man in buggy), Keith Pyott (Waiter), Ian Fleming (Man at cafe), Normal Mitchell (Mechanic), Peter Bourne (Projection operator), George Leech (Guard), Jackie Cooper (Guard)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Classic Series Prisoner, The

Many Happy Returns

The PrisonerNumber Six sees an opportunity to escape when he finds that the entire population of the Village has disappeared without a trace. He hitches a boat ride back to London, but finds himself in even worse trouble among a boatful of gun smugglers. Upon arriving in London, Number Six returns to his former employers and briefs them on the Village…only to discover that no one believes his story. He offers to find the Village for them to prove its existence, not suspecting that his return to his prison will be a one-way trip.

written by Anthony Skene
directed by Joseph Serf
music by Ron Grainer and Albert Elms

Cast: Patrick McGoohan (Number Six), Donald Sinden (The Colonel), Patrick Cargill (Thorpe), Georgina Cookson (Mrs. Butterworth), Brian Worth (Group Captain), Richard Caldicott (Commander), Dennis Chinnery (Gunther), Jon Laurimore (Ernst), Nike Arrighi (Gypsy girl), Grace Arnold (Maid), Larry Taylor (Gypsy man)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Classic Series Prisoner, The

Dance of the Dead

The PrisonerNumber Six spots a former co-worker trapped in the Village, only to find that the man is being tortured for information about him. Worse yet, Number Two informs Number Six that the man’s ordeal can be ended if only Six will reveal everything he knows. The new prisoner is broken quickly, while Number Six finds a possible means of summoning help – and finds himself on trial as well…

written by Anthony Skene
directed by Don Chaffey
music by Ron Grainer and Albert Elms

Cast: Patrick McGoohan (Number Six), Mary Morris (Number Two), Duncan MacRae (Doctor), Norma West (The Observer), Bee Duffell (Psychiatrist), Alan White (Dutton), Aubrey Morris (Town crier), Camilla Hasse (Day supervisor), Michael Nightingale (Night supervisor), Patsy Smart (Night maid), Denise Buckley (Maid), George Merritt (Postman), John Frawley (Flower man), Lucy Griffiths (Lady in corridor), William Lyon Brown (Doctor)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Classic Series Prisoner, The

Checkmate

The PrisonerNumber Six participates in a bizarre, life-size game of chess where people are the pieces – and Number Two is one of the players. Number Six believes he has found allies among the other pawns in the game, but one by one, they are gradually taken away from him – either literally, or through mind control. Number Six is left with only one co-conspirator – and when he escapes on his own, Number Six remains imprisoned in the Village.

written by Gerald Kelsey
directed by Don Chaffey
music by Ron Grainer and Albert Elms

Cast: Patrick McGoohan (Number Six), Peter Wyngarde (Number Two), Ronald Radd (Rook), George Coulouris (Man with stick), Rosalie Crutchley (Queen), Patricia Jessel (Psychiatrist), Bee Duffell (Psychiatrist), Basil Dignam (Supervisor), Danvers Walker (Painter), Denis Shaw (Shopkeeper), Victor Platt (Assistant supervisor), Shivaun O’Casey (Nurse), Geoffrey Reed (Skipper), Terence Donovan (Sailor), Joe Dunne (Guard), Romo Gorrara (Guard)

Original title: The Queen’s Pawn

LogBook entry by Earl Green