The Saint in the Seventies
chrisno1
LondonPosts: 3,635MI6 Agent
RETURN OF THE SAINT
Following on from my continuing reviews of The Saint in the Sixties — ajb007 this is a brief look at all 24 episodes of Return of the Saint starring Ian Ogilvy.
Many thanks to Great TV [channel 50 in the UK] for these repeats.
Members might be able to use the thread as a sort of instore reference guide.
For other reviews and responses on The Saint:
Recommend "The Saint" or not? — ajb007
ITV's The Avengers, The New Avengers, The Saint, Return Of The Saint — ajb007
Roger Moore and The Saint Series — ajb007
Leslie Charteris's The Saint/Simon Templar Discussion Thread — ajb007
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THE RETURN OF THE SAINT
1978
1: The Judas Game
W: Maris Farhi
D: Jeremy Summers
S: Ian Ogilvy, Judy Geeson, Olga Karlatos, Mona Bruce, Maurice Roeves, Moray Watson
“There's nothing more gruelling, or testing than attacking a savage, unrelenting mountain. To make it to the top without losing your life. Teamwork and trusting your partner is the key. One false step, one foul-up, one betrayal and death waits: the mountain's servant. If there's one thing to be learned, it's choose your partner carefully.”
So narrates Ian Ogilvy at the start of The Judas Game, episode one of the rejuvenated series Return of the Saint. He’s climbing a mountain, skills which he will need on a deadly mission for MI6 – should he choose to participate. This new Simon Templar is a more angry version than the urbane Roger Moore. He doesn’t take to being cajoled into espionage work by such underhand tactics. The fact the tactics make no logical sense seems beyond both his reasoning and that of the MI6 chiefs, who watch his endeavours like a couple of schoolkids at a hockey match. This opening salvo sets a fairly low standard of entertainment.
Templar didn’t even know he was being tested: “What’s so damn important to MI6 that you risk my life in some childish little test, hm? And please, please don't give me some sob story about the fate of the free world hanging in the balance.” They don’t. The British master planner is Dame Edith, inhabited by Mona Bruce, who wears woollens and looks not unlike Brenda Blethyn’s Vera Stanhope. She doesn’t act nearly as sober or succinct. I kept thinking she was dubbed. A jolly madam indeed, offering to end people’s lives with a swish of her fey wrist.
There are some familiarities from the 1960s version of The Saint. The prologue ends with Simon Templar’s name being mentioned, although here it is only “Templar” and the Saint has already been addressed by his surname. The neat white halo appears above Ian Ogilvy’s head. He doesn’t raise his eyebrows though. The episode has a tinge of exotica to it, being set in Albania. A past love of Simon Templar’s is involved. Both villains and heroes seem to be aware of who the Saint is by virtue of some international underworld / overworld grapevine reputation. The Saint drives a white sports car with the number plate ST1; this time it is a Jaguar XJS. The Corgi model toy car sold very well on the back of this show. Jeremy Summers, who frequently helmed on the sixties series, returns as director. Producer Robert S. Baker returns also, ensuring some relative continuity.
In terms of how it differs? Well, the most obvious transformation is in its star. Ian Ogilvy had a solid career up to this point, notable for starring in all three films by the gifted, underrated director Michael Reeves, including Witchfinder General. Most of his work was in the theatre or in guest spots for television shows. He features in the MacNee / Thorson Avengers episode They Keep Killing Steed, for instance, and Upstairs Downstairs. Return of… was a great stepping stone for a middle-of-the-road, noted, but not especially celebrated actor. He brings a certain charm to the proceedings, but occasionally his delivery is bit off. Humour seems to confuse him. Lines like “Will you take your finger off the trigger? Because I'd like to live long enough to tell you my name” don’t trip easily off his tongue. He’s better with the sudden quip: asked what he’s brought to a rendezvous, he mutters “A halo” with consummate disdain. He’s competent enough without being outstanding. This might be a directing issue. I noticed he, and other actors, are sometimes left adrift mid-scene, not even propping up furniture or walls, just standing still, centre screen. The adventure is very static despite being packed full of incident. It doesn’t play to Ogilvy’s strengths, which are in the more placid moments; the fighting and shooting is all very well, but it seems rather cartoonish compared to the original version, which is odd given the obvious step up in production values.
The show was mooted as Son of the Saint, but this title was dropped in favour of Return of… There is no direct recognition of the sixties series and no characters recur from those stories or throughout the adventures here. The episode is filmed entirely on location in Italy. Much of the series was, an arrangement the producers made with the Italian broadcaster AIF in exchange for part-funding the cost. The effort to provide authenticity is welcome. For the opener, the film crew locates to the Tuscan island of Monte Argentario, including its rock built bastion the Forte Ercole.
While the show credits Leslie Charteris, all episodes were completely new stories. The author merely provided his name and the lead character. I suspect this was a legal obligation. Adaptations were written for some of the adventures and included in a series of late seventies Saint novels, also not written by Charteris, but credited to him. He is however responsible for the jingle which introduces each episode. It’s taken from the US radio show and Charteris wrote it. John Scott, the series’ incidental music composer, creates an entirely new score for the episode while the show’s original Edwin Astley theme was junked in favour of a zippy number by Brian Dee and Irving Martin. In fact the credits are distinctly funky, as the white Saint ‘stickman’ performs various stunts, coming to resemble a shadow figure of the ultimate 70s shadow figure, the Milk Tray Man, as he hurtles, swims and fights on trains, power boats and yachts. He enjoys kissing and stripping women too which looks a bit Manga creepy to today’s eyes. Ian Ogilvy’s actual Saint at least shows some decorum. He does get kissed, but also gives heroine Judy Geeson a fist to the chin. Ouch. Poor lass.
So, what is happening in The Judas Game? Simon Templar’s old flame Selma Morell works for the British Secret Service. She’s been kidnapped in Yugoslavia by the Communists and secreted to an Albanian terrorist training camp, where her information could lead to a series of terror related incidents. The Saint is reluctant to join the scheme to spring her from the maximum security castle, but a chat with Moray Watson’s upright Mr Buckingham persuades him otherwise. Mr Buckingham resides in the British consulate to the Vatican, rather nice, and his office is swish and open plan – a secretary sits and types in the background while he discusses matters of extreme secrecy!
Buckingham is not in favour of rescue. He wants to dispatch hitman Algemon to assassinate Selma. You’d think if Algy got that far and close, he may as well rescue her, but Simon Templar won’t take the chance – he just had a run in with Algy on the mountain slopes and considers him too trigger happy. So it’s going to be the Saint to the rescue. Not that it’ll be easy: “If you put a wasp into a beehive, the bees tear it apart. That's what's going to happen to Templar.”
Dame Edith wants Selma out of the castle before she cracks and Templar’s mountaineering skills mark him as the best candidate to affect rescue. He never needs these mountaineering skills. He enters and exits with remarkable ease in a provisions truck. He has more trouble swimming ashore and persuading Vlora [Olga Karlatos’ peasant agent] that he really is the Saint. There are a couple of dodgy military men and a turncoat spy in the MI6 retinue to keep us and the Saint occupied. Judy Geeson is a decent foil for Ogilvy but quite what her character is supposed to be achieving is hopelessly convoluted. At one point she appears to be a defector; later on she refuses rescue, insisting her job isn’t finished in Albania. As in Alistair MacLean’s Where Eagles Dare, the whole cockamamie scheme has been developed purely to out a traitor in the MI6 midst – the Judas of the title.
The Saint doesn’t like being used, or seeing others put in danger for such low stakes, and delivers a veiled threat to Mr Buckingham in the final scene. This rather sour and open ended epilogue is unlike any of those sweet pithy throwaways we saw in the black and white era. The Saint hasn’t saved the girl – she’s still at work, a better operative than him one suspects – she is in danger and he knows it. Unmasking the traitor could surely have been carried out without such risk to life, he assumes. Midway, Judy Geeson’s Selma accuses Ian Ogilvy’s Saint of being sentimental. That Achilles Heel gets him into trouble once too often in this adventure and tacitly rears its head again in that final scene. Ultimately, the whole adventure just feels so unnecessary.
Overall, the opening episode has potential without ever being entirely satisfying. It is a tad old-fashioned, even compared to the sixties version which I am watching concurrently. It is worth remembering that Return of the Saint was the last of a long series of action-adventure titles made by I.T.C. for the Independent Television networks – which included Danger Man, The Avengers, The Protectors, UFO, Man in a Suitcase, The Champions, Jason King, etc – and it feels stuck in an era to which it no longer belongs. Return of… premiered on 10 September 1978. The year before, Clemens and Fennell had launched the iconic 70s rough-houser The Professionals, and the difference in presentation, grittiness and authority of storytelling verges on the embarrassing.
During her hair-brained rescue Selma says of Templar: “You used to be so much more exciting.” I have to agree, but I’ll give the series time.
Ian Ogilvy looking much like a pristine saint...
For other reviews and responses on The Saint:
Recommend "The Saint" or not? — ajb007
ITV's The Avengers, The New Avengers, The Saint, Return Of The Saint — ajb007
Roger Moore and The Saint Series — ajb007
Leslie Charteris's The Saint/Simon Templar Discussion Thread — ajb007
The Saint in the Sixties — ajb007
THE RETURN OF THE SAINT
1978
2: The Nightmare Man
W: John Kruse
D: Peter Sadsy
S: Ian Ogilvy, Katherine Leigh Scott, Joss Ackland, Moira Redmond, Sharon Maughan, John Bennett, Norman Eshley
“The champagne: chilled, the night: warm, the girl: beautiful. Paris at its best. All in all, with a little luck and just a little cooperation, this could be a night to remember.”
Or a nightmare.
Simon Templar is romancing an American tourist, but his amour is interrupted by the screams of an insomniac woman, who believes her husband will be assassinated by a blonde hitman while parading in a lander carriage through Parliament Square. He thinks she’s having a vivid nightmare, but on his return to London, he discovers there is a new ambassador arriving from Italy and he is due to be escorted to Buckingham Palace by carriage and through Parliament Square. Cue lots of tourist style shots of London streets, including those around Westminster Abbey, Victoria Embankment, Kensington and Chelsea, as well as the rough side life at the Bell public house in Barnet. The Saint’s new apartment is in Eaton Mews North.
Templar attempts to enlist the aid of his sceptical police associate, Inspector George Caulfield, who really ought to be Claude Eustace Teal. Norman Eshley is suitably put upon. Instead, help comes from Gayle, the American tourist the Saint was romancing, who travels from bed to bed from Paris to London. She can’t cook and she’s not a dab hand at undercover investigation either, but Katherine Leigh Scott at least helps save the day as the assassination approaches.
Joss Ackland is the brutal hit man known as Mr Death, Jan Borg or Gunther – take your pick – he also goes by Williamson and several other monikers, has three passports and is a dab hand at disguise. We first meet Gunther reclining in his hacienda in Ecuador, treating his women mean and committing homicides with ease and some psychotic tendency. He receives his instructions by cassette tape and treats the spool with as much ire as he does his women. It is not one of Ackland’s most accomplished performances - recalling his curious turn in The Persuaders - but it’ll do. Far better is Sharon Maughan as a slinky South American artist, who claims to know Simon Templar by reputation alone. “If you know some of the circles where I'm known, you ought to be ashamed of yourself,” spins Ian Ogilvy, again revealing a neat ability at composed dialogue. He still comes awry when being urgent and forceful. He even has a go at poor Gayle and the lass was doing her best to help too. The villains are in cahoots with the wheelchair bound Colonel Ramon de Santo Perez, a deposed president of an unnamed Central or South American dictatorship.
A few points of confusion distract Templar and Gayle from their task, lose the confidence of Caulfield – if the Saint ever had it – and nicely string the story along for its full fifty minutes. The story ends most satisfactorily with a set-to in the bell tower of Westminster, Big Ben striking as the bullets rain on. Rather neat. I don’t think they shot this scene in the actual tower. The staircase used is the one inside the London Monument.
Not bad, not great.
Writer John Kruse had authored several episodes of The Saint in the sixties. Director Peter Sadsy has a string of television credits and a few movies to his name. I noticed the production design – they had some studio sets for this one - was by Jon Stoll who had won an Oscar for Lawrence of Arabia. Bit of a come down, Jon. Ecuador is represented by Spanish locations and I am assuming I’ll see these again when the future episode travels to Spain.
For other reviews and responses on The Saint:
Recommend "The Saint" or not? — ajb007
ITV's The Avengers, The New Avengers, The Saint, Return Of The Saint — ajb007
Roger Moore and The Saint Series — ajb007
Leslie Charteris's The Saint/Simon Templar Discussion Thread — ajb007
The Saint in the Sixties — ajb007
I don’t think saw many of these back in the day, I’m going to have to track them down. Nice reviews, @chrisno1
Ian Ogilvy has had a bit of a renaissance in the past few years starring in some British gangland films like They Still Kill The Old Way, and very smooth he is, too.
THE RETURN OF THE SAINT
1978
3: Duel in Venice
W: Terence Feely
D: Jeremy Summers
S: Ian Ogilvy, Carole Andre, Maurice Colbourne, Cathryn Harrison, Enzo Fiermonte, Armando Bandini
“Venice, queen of the seas, city of romance and mystery, where the great Casanova spent most of his time either in jail or in the arms of another man’s wife. And where one can breakfast with something like that. Now, don’t get any wrong ideas, I’m practically her uncle. Her father’s my closest friend.”
Of many closest friends, no doubt. Ian Ogilvy looks too young to be this woman’s uncle. Cathryn Harrison looks too worldly to be a ‘little girl’ just out of boarding school. As the Italian river taxi pilot scoffs: “Eighteen? She’s a pretty big little girl.” It doesn’t stop the Saint treating Sally [no surname ever mentioned] with excessive condescension. Until, that is, she gets kidnapped by ex-mercenary Jed Blacket, a lunatic out for revenge after Simon Templar left him for dead in Mozambique.
Back story done in less than five minutes, the Saint hurtles from the Hotel Europa’s canal side restaurant and into a deadly game of cat-and-mouse and boobytraps in and around the canals, churches, isles and ruins of the Venice lagoon. He’s aided in his quest by a young, but worldly and capable, female river pilot Claudia, played with some sprite by Carole Andre. Like the Saint, she knows everyone and everywhere, so the two make a proper pair. She even gets to borrow his underpants!
Templar’s navy blue smalls are the least of his dresswear problems. Ian Ogilvy’s incarnation lacks all the sartorial elegance of George Sanders and Roger Moore. While they sometimes dressed a bit overboard for circumstances, they never dressed down. Ogilvy is kitted out for the most part in slacks and sport’s coats and open necked shirts. Not a Windsor knot in sight.
Terence Feeley’s script rattles around Venice with much vigour. Jeremy Summers injects some tension. The supporting players inhabit their roles more than competently. Claudia Andre must take most of the plaudits for her female impersonation of Warren Mitchell’s taxi driver Marco di Ceseri: “If you get killed, who is going to pay for my taxi?” she moans. On a more sinister note, Enzo Fiermonte’s ‘Mafia Don’, Guido, is particularly effective. Armando Bandini’s pickpocket picks Templar’s pocket with ease – although given his wallet is constantly hanging out the top of his trousers it is hardly surprising. It was good to see the Italian characters played by Italians, providing much needed authenticity. Unfortunately all hope of a truly successful story is dashed every time Maurice Colbourne appears on screen. His weird maniacal jackass of a South African / Cockney psychopath has to be seen to be believed. An appalling performance under any circumstances. He meets a suitably horrific end.
The landscapes and interiors are genuine and well photographed. We see more of Venice than we ever do in a James Bond film. Enjoyable, after a fashion.
For other reviews and responses on The Saint:
Recommend "The Saint" or not? — ajb007
ITV's The Avengers, The New Avengers, The Saint, Return Of The Saint — ajb007
Roger Moore and The Saint Series — ajb007
Leslie Charteris's The Saint/Simon Templar Discussion Thread — ajb007
The Saint in the Sixties — ajb007
THE RETURN OF THE SAINT
1978
4: One Black September
W: John Kruse
D: Leslie Norman
S: Ian Ogilvy, Prunella Gee, Emily Bolton, Garrick Hagon, Aubrey Morris
“Twice I’ve started out on this vacation, twice I’ve been called back at the eleventh hour.”
They should have called the episode ‘Lightning Strikes Again’ for the Saint doesn’t make it third time lucky either. This time Mossad agents led by the practical, dedicated Leila Sabin – a sharp turn from Prunella Gee – best known to us as Patricia Fearing in Never Say Never Again – want Simon Templar to help trace a defecting member of the Black September terror organisation. Abdul Hakim has gone to ground in London and Mossad needs the Saint’s knowledge of the urban jungle to root him out. Things are made harder by a trio of Arabs out to steal the defector back and confused by Jasmina, a pretty teacher who is in love with the reformed killer. She’s played by another of our roster, the lovely Emily Bolton, who would grace Moonraker.
It's a decent set up and the episode is pacy and topical, for the time. The Saint more than proves his worth chasing down villains over rooftops and through St Katherine’s Dock, threatening master forger Inky [a suitably shuffling Aubrey Morris] and thwarting a prisoner exchange. Leslie Norman directs with his usual keen eye. Nadim Sawalha is among the baddies. There isn’t much of interest, but the story is snappy and doesn’t dwell on its less salubrious exercises. It ends on a downer, but at least the Saint gets to take his well-earned vacation in the company of the comely Miss Gee.
Surprisingly, this episode was adapted into novella form and published in late 1978 as part of The Saint in Trouble, ghost written by Graham Weaver. For the printed version, the story was retitled The Red Sabbath.
For other reviews and responses on The Saint:
Recommend "The Saint" or not? — ajb007
ITV's The Avengers, The New Avengers, The Saint, Return Of The Saint — ajb007
Roger Moore and The Saint Series — ajb007
Leslie Charteris's The Saint/Simon Templar Discussion Thread — ajb007
The Saint in the Sixties — ajb007
THE RETURN OF THE SAINT
1978
5: The Village That Sold It’s Soul
W: John Goldsmith
D: Leslie Norman
S: Ian Ogilvy, Maurice Denham, Katia Christine, Giancarlo Prete
“There are places in these mountains where life seems to have stopped in the 16th Century, remote valleys where you feel the Medici’s and the Borgia’s still rule.”
So says Simon Templar before witnessing the murder of Dolores Streso, thrown from the cliffs surrounding the hilltop fortress town of Santa Maria. The fictional town is represented by the people and places of Sermoneta, near Monticchio, in Lazio. Very pretty too, if a bit run down. Interestingly, the town’s cathedral is actually dedicated to Santa Maria. Anyway, there are plenty of nooks and crannies to go chasing around, which is exactly what the Saint does as he attempts to uncover who was behind Dolores’ murder. The police are not cooperating, nor is the Mayor. Only the local prince, Lorenzo, shares his concern. The Saint is more interested in a tentative romance with the Prince’s widowed daughter-in-law, Sophia, played by Katia Christine.
Plenty of intrigue abounds as Templar uncovers a decade old vendetta prevaricated by the death of the feudal heir. The town is verging on bankruptcy and aims for one final pay out once justice has been served. Only whose kind of justice is it – the authorities’, the prince’s or the townsfolk’s? Caught up in the mess is the local priest and a brawny tavern owner. Maurice Denham is good as the deluded old prince, clearly an Alzheimer’s sufferer, who offers occasional wisps of erudition among his senility: “We are all primitives, even the most civilised of us.” He’s more stuck in the 16th Century than anyone.
The heroine’s outfits were designed by Gucci.
For other reviews and responses on The Saint:
Recommend "The Saint" or not? — ajb007
ITV's The Avengers, The New Avengers, The Saint, Return Of The Saint — ajb007
Roger Moore and The Saint Series — ajb007
Leslie Charteris's The Saint/Simon Templar Discussion Thread — ajb007
The Saint in the Sixties — ajb007
THE RETURN OF THE SAINT
1978
6: Assault Force
W: Morris Farhi
D: Peter Sadsy
S: Ian Ogilvy, Katye O’Mara, Carolle Rousseau, Bryan Marshall, Burt Kwouk
Back in London, the Saint arrives at Heathrow Terminal 3 without any luggage, so he decides to intervene and save the life of Kate O’Mara who is being harassed by some Oriental gentlemen; he takes great interest in her luggage.
O’Mara is attempting to save a convent full of nuns, all under house arrest in an unnamed South East Asian country, ruled by the dictator Mattaya. We don’t meet him, but we do meet Colonel Deepa [Carolle Rousseau] and Chula [Burt Kwouk] and together they persuade Simon Templar to kidnap a visiting general, using his life as a bargaining tool to free the nuns. The Saint loves a good piece of boodle, or blackmail as we’d call it. How things have changed since the sixties!
Templar’s flat gets a good look-in during this episode. It’s rather swish, with an open plan lounge-diner lined with bookshelves, cut crystal, indoor plants and an iron spiral staircase. He holds several meetings there, plotting the daring kidnap. He recruits a crack team of five, but things go awry and the Saint learns he’s been double crossed. The duper being duped does not rest easily with the Saint, whose pride is hurt, so he turns investigator for the Foreign Office hoping to clear his name.
An inventive episode which is more fun than it reads.
So far, this is the first episode of which I have any memory – we didn’t watch much ITV in our household in the seventies…
For other reviews and responses on The Saint:
Recommend "The Saint" or not? — ajb007
ITV's The Avengers, The New Avengers, The Saint, Return Of The Saint — ajb007
Roger Moore and The Saint Series — ajb007
Leslie Charteris's The Saint/Simon Templar Discussion Thread — ajb007
The Saint in the Sixties — ajb007
THE RETURN OF THE SAINT
1978
7: Yesterday’s Hero
W: John Kruse
D: Roy Ward Baker
S: Ian Ogilvy, Ian Hendry, Annette Andre, Mathew Ryan, Norman Eshley
“Lovely. Really beautiful. When it comes to prisons, this one’s the top of the list. Devil’s island revisited. Well, at least there’s one consolation: I won’t be here forever.”
Ian Ogilvy’s monologues fail to introduce any kind of theme or subtext to the following episode, they serve more as a reminder that the Saint is the narrator of these tales and that everything is seen from his point of view. Which makes his role in this episode rather abrasive.
Roy Gates is an old colleague of Templar’s. Once of the SAS, he was missing presumed dead following a secret mission gone wrong in Aden, one in which he lost an arm. Simon Templar and Army Sgt Diskett were both present, but upon his release, Gates seems to be more interested in the man who conceived the op., ex-colonel Cleaver. Templar meanwhile thinks Gates will try to spring his son from a dutiful mother’s arms. Plenty of decent scenes, mostly involving Ian Hendry, whose superior performance is notable. Gates suffers from PTSD as well as a disfigurement and is drunkenly raging at the world. I felt rather sorry for him, and his confused young son. Both have been lied to and both develop a chip-on-the-shoulder. Simon Templar barely puts a hair out of place chasing down information about assassinations, kidnappings and military arms deals while driving his sports car across London and the Home Counties in search of people and clues.
I’d been led to believe Return of the Saint had no recurring characters, but I was wrong, as Norman Eshley’s Inspector George Canfield of Special Branch returns to help run a few background checks, although his hands seem as tied as Templar’s, or perhaps as static as Gates’ false arm. Annette Andre, who’d cropped up in the original series, runs a boutique crammed with seventies fashions and no staff. Apparently Ian Ogilvy’s outfits were provided by Francesco of Jermyn Street, so at least we can blame someone for those too tight trousers and figure hugging turtle necks. Ian Ogilvy doesn’t have the figure to wear these kind of clothes. Even the suits hang off him; he’s too slight to be taken seriously as an action man. The more I see of him, the less I like him as a ‘James Bond Who Never Was’. He lacks presence beside a thespian as good as Ian Hendry, something which could never be said about Roger Moore, who deflected and welcomed sparring with his co-stars. Ogilvy seems to be mostly antagonistic, attempting to have his voice make up for a lack of stature. He snaps and grumbles and makes snidey asides. A sartorial toff with a punk’s attitude. Very odd.
A good episode nonetheless for which I would mostly thank Ian Hendry and writer John Kruse.
Rather decent fan art...
For other reviews and responses on The Saint:
Recommend "The Saint" or not? — ajb007
ITV's The Avengers, The New Avengers, The Saint, Return Of The Saint — ajb007
Roger Moore and The Saint Series — ajb007
Leslie Charteris's The Saint/Simon Templar Discussion Thread — ajb007
The Saint in the Sixties — ajb007
I havent seen this show yet so cant comment on the episodes, but I will add this...
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chris said:
[Ogilvy] features in the MacNee / Thorson Avengers episode They Keep Killing Steed
__________________________________________
I have seen this one, Ogilvy plays the young aristocrat Baron von Curt, who is a capable man of action, teaming up with Steed 'n' Tara do solve the mystery and beat up the bad guys. He even swordfights. It would almost seem he was being tested for a possible adventure series of his own.
__________________________________________
chris said:
[Ogilvy] lacks presence beside a thespian as good as Ian Hendry, something which could never be said about Roger Moore, who deflected and welcomed sparring with his co-stars
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and you havent got to it yet in your other Saint thread, but we will see Moore vs Hendry spar in Vendetta for the Saint
THE RETURN OF THE SAINT
1978
8: The Poppy Chain
W: John Kruse
D: Charles Crichton
S: Ian Ogilvy, Laurence Naismith, Gregorie Aslan, Jenny Hanley
A desperate phone call from a dying, drug addled woman sends Simon Templar on the hunt for the narcotic smugglers behind a supply of dirty heroin. His efforts are thwarted by the woman’s father, General Platt, played with some military bearing by Laurence Naismith. His other daughter is the lovely Jenny Hanley.
The basic plot draws comparison to Desmond Bagley’s novel The Spoilers, although Templar doesn’t have to foil such a huge organisation or in such a convoluted manner. All he needs to do is hop over to Marseilles and hand over the stolen half of a playing card. That’s his ‘in’. Prior to that, the Saint spends some time chasing Naismith’s vengeful General all over London. They filmed the street scenes at the Barbican, but at one point the Saint is following a 93 bus, and that runs from Putney through Wimbledon to Cheam, so he got lost somewhere south of the river. Christopher Timothy is the pusher known as ‘The Gent’ for his elegant dress sense.
In France we’re in the beautiful Camargue, including the Nimes amphitheatre for an atmospheric meeting with the drug runners, and later a pretty French farmhouse. We never see any drugs other than a few packets of white stuff crammed into trouser pockets. Templar’s attempts to gain the villain’s trust backfire when the General turns up.
Charles Crichton was really too good a director for this sort of affair, but he gives it everything, helped by a decent script and some above average performances. This is the first time I’ve ‘got’ Ian Ogilvy’s version of the Saint. He seems more settled into the role, not quite so abrasive as earlier on, handling the prerequisite incidents with a more genial smirk to his lean face. At the episode end, Laurence Naismith – who played Judge Fulton in The Persuaders – suggests that the police are failing in their duty to catch the drug barons: “All it would take is a small team, perhaps a couple of men.”
Neat that.
For other reviews and responses on The Saint:
Recommend "The Saint" or not? — ajb007
ITV's The Avengers, The New Avengers, The Saint, Return Of The Saint — ajb007
Roger Moore and The Saint Series — ajb007
Leslie Charteris's The Saint/Simon Templar Discussion Thread — ajb007
The Saint in the Sixties — ajb007
THE RETURN OF THE SAINT
1978
9: The Arrangement
W: Anthony Terpiloff
D: Peter Medak
S: Ian Ogilvy, Carolyn Seymour, Sarah Douglas, Donald Pickering, Michael Medwin
A rehash of Highsmith and Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train, only here it is women planning to commit murder and they meet on a Quantus 747. Sarah Douglas is the reluctant half of the pair, the barrel-scraping sensationalist writer Sheila Northcote. Carolyn Seymour acts the pants off everyone as the cold hearted, bisexual, carefree, manipulative obsessive Lady Greer Stevens. Her husband is Donald Pickering’s government minister, Sir Trevor, and he’s equally obsessed with his scheming, flirtatious and lusciously provocative wife, so much so he’s blind to her affairs, addictions, secrets and lies. While we, as an audience know what is coming, it is fun to see the confusion and apprehension on everybody’s faces as they attempt to unravel the death of Sheila Northcote’s drunken husband – accident, suicide or murder?
I enjoyed this, although it lacks some originality. Ian Ogilvy is given a couple of prime scenes, the best of which is at a Thameside boatyard where he plays ‘murderer’ and enlightens Sir Trevor on the wiles of his disreputable wife. Beautiful Sarah Douglas is always watchable and gives a little vim to her anxious victim in waiting. Seymour is simply marvellous, a wonderfully crafty imagining of the femme fatale as an almost schizophrenic murderess, cold-hearted, scheming, cunning, yet sensual and intriguing. Shouldn’t all black widow women be played as such nasty pieces of delicious work? The neat supporting cast of Vikki Richards, Gregory Munroe and Jane Hayden give a little extra bite to proceedings as Sheila’s sister is drugged and used a bait. The Saint has all the contacts to foil the plot – but will he arrive on time to save Sir Trevor?
A very good episode, which balances excitement, character and humour. Director Peter Medak injects enough tension and deception to make the whole thing believable.
For other reviews and responses on The Saint:
Recommend "The Saint" or not? — ajb007
ITV's The Avengers, The New Avengers, The Saint, Return Of The Saint — ajb007
Roger Moore and The Saint Series — ajb007
Leslie Charteris's The Saint/Simon Templar Discussion Thread — ajb007
The Saint in the Sixties — ajb007
Thanks for these reviews Chris.
One of my favourite all time TV series. It wasn't flawless, is cheesy and error strewn in places but I absolutely love everything about The Return of the Saint.
Oops, a but embarrassing, I missed out episode 9 earlier - all duly corrected...
THE RETURN OF THE SAINT
1978
10: The Armageddon Alternative
W: Terence Feeley
D: Leslie Norman
S: Ian Ogilvy, George Cole, Anoushka Hempel, Donald Houston
During the late 1970s, with the Cold war raging and Britain in the grip of a spate of terrorist bombings – both in Northern Ireland and on the Mainland – the fear of massive explosions and possible nuclear catastrophe was decidedly real. This episode taps into that fear and augments it with news footage from the aftermath of IRA outrages. That’s a little upsetting and feels far too real for this kind of escapist entertainment.
Simon Templar is kidnapped and shown a ‘dirty bomb’ containing high grade plutonium, enough to destroy London should the weapon ignite. The demands for clemency are a bit silly and the bomber’s scheme feels nonsensical – there is no grand scale here, it is a distinctly low-grade case of a bruised ego and a confused mind. Donald Houston crops up to offer a good cameo as a timewasting suspect. Director Leslie Norman builds the tension quite nicely, but it lacks significant depth for such a robust storyline. Anoushka Hempel as a sculptor who becomes a sacrificial lamb looks lovely, but she’s been badly dubbed. The Saint’s ability to solve the crisis is a given; his First Class Physics degree feels unlikely.
Overall, a good episode with a chuckle at the end to relieve all that rasping suspense.
For other reviews and responses on The Saint:
Recommend "The Saint" or not? — ajb007
ITV's The Avengers, The New Avengers, The Saint, Return Of The Saint — ajb007
Roger Moore and The Saint Series — ajb007
Leslie Charteris's The Saint/Simon Templar Discussion Thread — ajb007
The Saint in the Sixties — ajb007
THE RETURN OF THE SAINT
1978
11: The Imprudent Professor
W: Terence Feeley
D: Kevin Connor
S: Ian Ogilvy, Susan Penhaligon, Anthony Steel, Catherine Schell, Bill Simpson
A worried daughter employs the Saint to watch over her errant father, a scientist who is about to launch his miracle synthetic fuel on the corporate world.
Simon Templar’s moniker Sebastian Tombs makes a comeback, which shows some consistency both from this series, the sixties series and Charteris’ original novels, but this is the first time Ian Ogilvy uses a dodgy accent a la Roger Moore. He impersonates a Scotsman attempting to barrack Professor Edmund Bartlett into reneging on his million-dollar deal. It doesn’t last, although he does continue to wear an outrageously large pair of glasses which fool nobody. Curiously, while Bill Simpson’s Professor does have a pronounced Scottish accent, his daughter, played by the beautiful Susan Penhaligon with a delicious smile and permanently erect nipples, sounds like she’s just dropped in from Oxford. I like Miss Penhaligon. Her list of credits is enormous. Here, her Emma Bartlett is a spunky little thing who tries to talk sense to her father while also attempting to stop the Saint being snared by the arms of the delectable Catherine Schell. He’s not over enthusiastic about either option.
Miss Schell certainly turns up the heat almost to turbo charge, smouldering sensually in a series of slinky outfits as a head-hunter for a worldwide scientific research conglomerate who wants the Professor’s formula for themselves. She’s equipped with henchmen, a luxury yacht and an enormous expense account; you rather feel seducing the Saint is a mere pastime to ‘Samantha’ – no surname given – and he’s equally easily distracted from his task. Throw into the bubbling mix Maxie Boothroyd, the Head of Station D.I.6 [whatever that is] who is smoking cigars and lounging by a pool at a sedate French villa surrounded by bikini clad babes. Cue fantasy bound locations along the Cote d’Azur, speedboat chases, helicopter pursuits, racing cars, fights, kisses, gunplay and a whole lotta mayhem to boot.
Thoroughly enjoyable. The episode looks great, despite the Mediterranean weather changing dramatically from the wet and windy to the sunny and spoilt. It also utilises more indoor sets than simply the Saint’s apartment, courtesy of Elstree Studios. The plot is a reworking of one we saw in The Saint Series 3 Episode 6 The Saint Steps In. It was also used in an episode of The Persuaders, I seem to recall, but unless you’re doing regular watching and reviewing like I am, you probably wouldn’t notice.
Kevin Connor had good directorial form and made a series of action-adventures for Amicus Productions in the seventies including The Land That Time Forgot. He pitches this one about right, making the scenes vivid and active. Occasionally, you want the adventure to slow down, but it was a nice change to have a proper action fest. The episode barely pauses for breath, even the quietest moments have a hint of danger, tension or anguish to them. Connor makes sure there is always something to watch: I loved the restaurant scene where Templar and Samantha keep sampling each other’s food, or when she discovers him knocked out in a hotel bedroom. Penhaligon realising she’s suddenly in the vicinity of the villains was a great understated moment. So too the extended sequence where Templar is kidnapped, turns the tables on the hoods and then meets the D.I.6 head, only to become distinctly untactful, parading around the assorted nubile ladies and badgering Maxie Boothroyd [a growling Anthony Steel] on what he’s doing, why and how. Boothroyd naturally wants the Saint out of town. So too the French police, but an inquisitive taxi driver is on hand to keep him at liberty; John Moreno is another interpretation of Warren Mitchell’s Mario, and this French version constantly eats and drinks, even while driving.
Much better than the usual Return of the Saint.
Along with One Black September (Episode 4) (a.k.a. The Red Sabbath) The Imprudent Professor was novelised by Graham Weaver and released under the Leslie Charteris title The Saint in Trouble.
For other reviews and responses on The Saint:
Recommend "The Saint" or not? — ajb007
ITV's The Avengers, The New Avengers, The Saint, Return Of The Saint — ajb007
Roger Moore and The Saint Series — ajb007
Leslie Charteris's The Saint/Simon Templar Discussion Thread — ajb007
The Saint in the Sixties — ajb007
Thanks for the thumbs up 👍️
THE RETURN OF THE SAINT
1978
12: Signal Stop
W: John Kruse
D: Ray Austin
S: Ian Ogilvy, Ciaran Madden, Frederick Jaeger, Ian Cullen, Brian Glover
A nasty little number that starts off like a forerunner of The Girl on a Train and ends up at a breaker’s yard like a stunt gone wrong from Goldfinger.
A gang of rapists are recording their antics using Instamatic Cameras and newspaper clippings and sticking them into a scrap book, the kind you used to buy from Woolworths. The beautiful ex-inmate of a psychiatric hospital witnesses a revenge murder from a train, but can she make Simon Templar believe her? The police seem unconcerned, but everything isn’t quite as it appears.
Much old fashioned detective investigation and a couple of twists that I didn’t see coming keep this adventure moving swiftly, glossing over the distasteful subject matter and the fact the Saint loses his halo a little bit here: he abandons poor Janie Lennox three times, leaving her frightened, menaced and confused at each turn. She doesn’t seem too bothered. By the end of the episode she’s back on a train out of London Victoria sharing kisses with the Saint on a weekend trip to forget all the near-death experiences she’s just had. Lucky girl, some might say.
For other reviews and responses on The Saint:
Recommend "The Saint" or not? — ajb007
ITV's The Avengers, The New Avengers, The Saint, Return Of The Saint — ajb007
Roger Moore and The Saint Series — ajb007
Leslie Charteris's The Saint/Simon Templar Discussion Thread — ajb007
The Saint in the Sixties — ajb007
THE RETURN OF THE SAINT
1978
13: The Roman Touch
W: John Goldsmith
D: Jeremy Summers
S: Ian Ogilvy, Laurence Luckinbill, Linda Thorson, Daniele Vargas, Kim Goody
The Saint is back in Rome and has a date with precocious pop songstress Michelle, that is until her manager’s assistant turns up to spoil the party. Michelle has sprung quickly up the ladder of fame, but she’s got little life or wealth to show for it, as she explains, following a nervous breakdown on stage. Her manager Bruno Walters gives her a wage and pockets the rest of her royalties, paying all other expenses from her earnings. This has the trappings of the relationship between Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis Presley. Considering the episode was written a bare few months after The King’s death, that’s mighty quick to put out a sour take on the rock n roll industry. Elvis even gets a name check.
Luckinbill is particularly horrid as Bruno. Ex-Avenger Linda Thorson crops up as the assistant who turns on her boss. Kim Goody plays the disturbed teenager and she gets to sing “Am I Doing the Right Thing?” at a concert at the Caracalla Baths – a location later made famous by the Three Tenors. It’s a non-entity of a number written by David and Irving Martin. It’s hard to gauge how good or bad newcomer Miss Goody is because her voice is badly rerecorded. The whole episode was filmed the Italian way and re-recorded in the studio, which makes for some ropey dubbing. Linda Thorson’s voice isn’t even used.
Best of the action comes when Simon Templar confronts the Mafioso Capo, played by Daniele Vargas with some authority and a little sympathy. The musings on Roman history and family ties was convincing and for once Ian Ogilvy looks suitable chastised. His car-kidnap had the hallmarks of OHMSS, done at the point of a newspaper hidden revolver. There’s some exotic location footage and the Saint engages in a spot of ‘boodle’ like the good old days. This time, however, the fake kidnap plan goes wrong and he's ‘double-boodled’ [is that a word?]. The Capo offers an ultimatum to the Saint which he can’t refuse, less he lose his life and a race against time to find and rescue Michelle begins.
Plenty of fun, nicely tied up, good-looking and a riveting climax for a change.
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Recommend "The Saint" or not? — ajb007
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Leslie Charteris's The Saint/Simon Templar Discussion Thread — ajb007
The Saint in the Sixties — ajb007
THE RETURN OF THE SAINT
1978
14: Tower Bridge is Falling Down
W: Leon Griffiths
D: Roy Ward Baker
S: Ian Ogilvy, John Woodvine, Alfie Bass, Fiona Curzon, Paul Maxwell, Stanley Meadows
The Saint pulls a confidence trick on a London gangster.
A series of decent performances from the supporting cast out-sways a dodgy storyline that doesn’t hold water but makes for a worthwhile fifty minutes, combining as it does some of the sixties’ Saint’s most notable narratives: a death to avenge, a dodgy businessman, a foul-up of an inquest, a con artist, some gambling, a ‘boodle’. John Woodvine shines as the head of a demolition firm prone to violent outbursts which land him close to trouble with the police. He murders his partner, having already swindled Charlie Stewart out of £100k. The Saint thinks there is more to the tale than meets the eye and so does Charlie’s daughter, Jenny, fetchingly played by Fiona Curzon.
Templar employs an old friend and con man Sammy Jacobs, impersonated with much fun by Alfie Bass. He’s conning the public anew as a wrestling promoter. The Saint wants an ‘in’ with Ray Dennis – and Sammy can get it. The old man has talent and a sense of humour:
“I sold a non-existent hotel in Spain to four different people in six days,” he says proudly.
“How much did you get for it?”
“Five years. But I sold the prison guv’nor a few shares in an Australian silver mine while I was in there.”
A good memory too – the Saint saved an Australian silver mine back in Season 3: E7 [The Loving Brothers]. Pity that hasn’t stretched to Templar’s gambling habits, in S2:E15 [The Benevolent Burglary] he specifically says he’s terrible at measuring the odds, but Sammy labels him an ace of the cards. Ian Ogilvy spars well with that old stager Alfie Bass and for once the twinkle in his eye hits the right note; Bass too seems to appreciate the lightness of touch. This is probably Ogilvy’s best outing yet as he schemes and wheels and deals his way around the streets, social clubs and civic offices of London.
The Saint also enrols an American, Buzz Wepner, a man cut from the same cloth as Sammy. All three attempt to outwit Ray Dennis with a daft scheme about selling Tower Bridge to a Nevada casino which will net the gangster a cool two million, should he bribe a government civil servant for £100k. The Saint, of course, impersonates the civil servant. Everything goes swimmingly, until the real Sir Malcom Street puts in an appearance.
This kind of second and third guessing went on a-plenty in the sixties series and it felt cosy and cheesy to see it return. It’s worth remembering too that as this sort of adventure was Leslie Charteris’ stock-in-trade for most of those short story collections he cobbled together. Here, the slight narrative is aided by the better than average performances. Roy Ward Baker offers solid, unpretentious direction. Stanley Meadows – always worth a look – drops in as a bent copper.
One point worth making, which has been bothering me almost since the start of Return of the Saint, is the lack of physical violence in this series. We’ve had a few car chases and a few gunfights, nothing too heavy, but the energetic, 1-2-1 combat so often incorporated into the original series is virtually non-existent here. When Templar finally confronts Ray Dennis on a building site, the confrontation lasts for exactly one punch. Roger Moore would have had to endure at least thirty seconds of jaw crunching action before the villain was subdued. I’m not missing the fights, but I am wondering where they’ve gone to. Is this the effect of the National Viewers and Listeners Association, who by 1978 were extremely vocal in their condemnation of anything likely to upset an audience, ensuring a toned down Saint for the seventies? Possibly. It’s an odd creative decision, especially as a fist fight would have been less disturbing than the scene where Dennis carefully pulls on black leather gloves and threatens to smash a girl’s face so badly to pulp she’ll need plastic surgery. Even Stanley Meadows looks perturbed by that.
A good episode, worth catching to understand the type of edgy yet family friendly product Return of the Saint was.
For other reviews and responses on The Saint:
Recommend "The Saint" or not? — ajb007
ITV's The Avengers, The New Avengers, The Saint, Return Of The Saint — ajb007
Roger Moore and The Saint Series — ajb007
Leslie Charteris's The Saint/Simon Templar Discussion Thread — ajb007
The Saint in the Sixties — ajb007
THE RETURN OF THE SAINT
1978
15: The Debt Collectors
W: George Markstein
D: Leslie Norman
S: Ian Ogilvy, Anton Rodgers, Mary Tamm, Diane Keen, Geoffrey Keen, Esmond Knight
Simon Templar comes under the observations of MI5 when he saves beautiful Gerri Hanson on her runaway horse during a morning canter in Hyde Park. As Gerri is played by the wonderful and wonderful looking Mary Tamm, I am in full agreement and understand entirely the Saint’s wish to ask her to lunch.
Gerri’s hiding a family humiliation, both from Templar and from her blind and disabled father. Her sister, Christine, has just broken gaol following a prison sentence for treason. The wonderful and wonderful looking Diane Keen keeps the chase interesting. It was good to have two really decent actresses giving everything in support roles and the rest of the cast is bolstered by their efforts. Ian Ogilvy seems almost overawed by their competence. Perhaps only Esmond Knight’s old man Hanson strikes a duff note.
Apparently Christine Hanson sold government secrets to a foreign power, but the close contact of MI5 makes the Saint believe there is more to the story than simple espionage. The evasiveness of Anton Rodgers’ Geoffrey Connaught and the attentions of Sir Charles Meadley [Geoffrey Keen, showing us again how much of a good Sir Miles Meservey he would have been – note they even give his character the M initial] suggest otherwise.
The story has its pitfalls, but generally it’s a well-thought and engaging tale of spies and family rivalry bundled up in the leafy London streets and cemeteries or the not so leafy hollows of an east London gasworks. There’s plenty of trenchcoated strangers, rough men in smart suits and girls caught up in spy rings they don’t really understand. We are kept guessing right to the end who is good and who is bad and there’s even a sting in the tongue from Simon Templar at the episode’s climax.
Very good.
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Recommend "The Saint" or not? — ajb007
ITV's The Avengers, The New Avengers, The Saint, Return Of The Saint — ajb007
Roger Moore and The Saint Series — ajb007
Leslie Charteris's The Saint/Simon Templar Discussion Thread — ajb007
The Saint in the Sixties — ajb007
THE RETURN OF THE SAINT
1979
15: Collision Course – Part 1: The Brave Goose
W: John Kruse
D: Cyril Frankel
S: Ian Ogilvy, Gayle Hunnicutt, Stratford Johns, Derren Nesbitt, Joe Lynch, John Hallam, Leon Lissek, Edward Brayshaw
After a brief break over Christmas 1978, the Saint returned for a final nine episodes. Audiences might have thought it was a completely different season – a similar scheduling hiccup happened with The New Avengers – but it isn’t. The whole 23 episodes were filmed as one season and I assume the repetitive locations [particularly the South of France and Italy] suggest the film crew camped out for a number of weeks while actors were flown in and out to record separate episodes, hence why this story features locations we’ve seen in other episodes, notably the French farmhouse from E8 The Poppy Chain. Many of the scenes for the opening credit montage come from this story too.
Simon Templar has an interest in power boat racing. Who knew that? He’s taking part in the Isle of Wight to Torquay Sea Race, where an old rival, Oscar West, taunts him. When the race commences, the Saint spies an incident on Oscar’s boat seconds before it bursts into flames. The inquest into Oscar and his co-pilot’s deaths reports an open verdict, but Templar is certain there is more to the story than meets the eye. The co-pilot is Maurice Napoleon, a hoodlum recently released from a French Moroccan jail, and a man whom Templar recalls from his own time spent in the country, a time when he first fell out with Oscar West.
Meanwhile the gorgeous widow Anabelle West has discovered her husband was bankrupt. According to her solicitor, Oscar would miraculously pay all his bills just twice a year. The only asset he owned outright was a luxury fishing yacht moored in Marseilles. Poor Ms West decides to cut her losses and sell the yacht, making the pilgrimage to Marseilles by car. Stopping in the beautiful Camargue, she is entertained by a jovial, portly French bon viveur called Duchamp. He turns out to want more than just a game of backgammon. Before she realises it, Anabelle is in the thick of Duchamp’s extortion ruse, something to do with £15m of gold bullion. Completely unaware of her husband’s devious past, she teams up with the Saint and discovers a nest of hornets residing along the frothy climes of the Cote D’Azur. The local police chief, Inspector Lebec [Derren Nesbitt], is equally interested in why the Saint should be searching for The Brave Goose yacht.
This opening episode of a two-part adventure spins along at a fair lick. If the power boat race suffers from some obvious backscreen projection, the rest of the episode, with its beautiful French locations and sense of dirt-among-exotic has genuine pace, intrigue and excitement, aided by a zippy incidental score which owes something to Charlie’s Angels. Ian Ogilvy’s on top form, sparring well with Gayle Hunnicutt, who is presented with a series of beautiful outfits, cropped, hooped, tight, backless and virtually frontless, all designed to show off her divine always braless figure, an antidote to any ideas that the seventies was the era fashion forgot – if women looked this attractive today, well, goodness me…
Ms West is a dab hand at flirtation and seduction. Only her fidgety Yorkshire Terrier dog seems to give her trouble. She joins Stratford John’s insouciant Duchamp for board games and port in a low cut top, sporting a flashing, fickle smile and big, inquisitive eyes. Mr Johns sports by far the biggest knot on a necktie I think I’ve ever seen, but he’s a sly bugger and even his lack of sartorial elegance doesn’t hide the ominousness of his behaviour. Duchamp and his colleagues, Pancho, a deaf knifeman, and Bernadotti, all Keith Richards’ piratical menace, have vicious designs on poor Ms West. She determines to escape their clutches by seducing Bernadotti, only to find herself threatened by an equally vicious charging vaches bull, who has intentions of an even more deadly kind. This scene is exceptionally well-crafted and for a few minutes, we can’t see a way out for deluded, delightful Miss Hunnicutt – except of course for the fact she can’t be killed, or any secrets would die with her. Not that she has any. Anabelle West is as far in the dark as a coal miner.
Luckily, the Saint has a better inkling and has followed her to France, arriving in time to perfect one of the daftest rescues in Saint history. While I applaud the thrilling action across the marshlands, on foot, on horseback and in a motorboat, I did constantly ask myself: where did the Saint leave his car? Still, minor plot hole aside, the adventure is tipping up into something quite special.
Parked in Marseilles and washing off the grime of the wetlands in five star luxury, Anabelle openly welcomes Simon Templar into her bathroom, a scene reminiscent of several our dear friend James Bond would be familiar with. John Kruse’s dialogue isn’t bad either:
Anabelle (scrubbing gently at a mucky, half erect arm): You’re a very attractive man.
Saint: And you’re very dirty.
Anabelle: Dirty or not, I still think you’re attractive.
Saint: Why don’t you step out of there and say that?
Goodness! Anabelle started toying with his affections even earlier: “I would look rather good draped in gold bullion.” Their coupling seems inevitable.
Investigations in Marseille come to little. A funky disco full of animal-masked party goers, go-go dancers, trippy lights, bumpy cameras and Miss Hunnicutt’s nipples leads to murder. Also like OO7, the Saint is quite happy giving chase in a Citroen C5. Almost by luck, the pair discover The Brave Goose sitting in a dry dock.
The episode is tremendous fun, although it ends on a tame cliff-hanger. There is much to be enjoyed both in scripting, incident and narrative. For once, the cast consummately seems to hit just the right note of idle, wink-inducing cod-seriousness. You can tell too that they improvised: the Saint mentions sunny Marseilles, and in the next scene it’s tipping with rain and the twosome are snuggling beneath an umbrella, making up weather quips on the hoof.
One question: why Collison Course?
Point of interest: Saint creator and author Leslie Charteris makes a cameo appearance in The Brave Goose. He’s walking along the seafront behind Gayle Hunnicutt while she’s being questioned by Derren Nesbitt.
For other reviews and responses on The Saint:
Recommend "The Saint" or not? — ajb007
ITV's The Avengers, The New Avengers, The Saint, Return Of The Saint — ajb007
Roger Moore and The Saint Series — ajb007
Leslie Charteris's The Saint/Simon Templar Discussion Thread — ajb007
The Saint in the Sixties — ajb007
THE RETURN OF THE SAINT
1979
17: Collision Course – Part 2: The Sixth Man
W: John Kruse
D: Cyril Frankel
S: Ian Ogilvy, Gayle Hunnicutt, Stratford Johns, Derren Nesbitt, Joe Lynch, John Hallam, Leon Lissek, Edward Brayshaw
Underwater antics off the coast of Corsica as the Saint and Anabelle West investigate the mystery of her late husband’s yacht The Brave Goose and its drunken captain, Finnegan [Joe Lynch]. Their efforts are thwarted by Duchamp and his accomplices and observed at distance by the police chief Lebec, played with some authority by Derren Nesbitt.
This episode isn’t quite as much fun as the previous instalment, failing to actively involve everyone in the cast and being a little simplistic. The murders are barely given a thought, which seems unlikely. The drunken Irish sea captain is a caricature whose motives are never fully explained.
The sneaking about on the boat had a touch of the old spy game to it, and it was good to see Templar’s efforts not paying off for a change. The moments of humour don’t work quite so well; there’s a scene set in the galley kitchen that is genuinely embarrassing. Despite these pitfalls, the cast maintain their characterisations and Miss Hunnicutt just about retains her decency in another series of near the knuckle outfits. The good underwater camera work allows us to wallow in something more than pretty overcast coastlines and underdressed heroines. The reveal of the sunken vessel and the gold bullion was well orchestrated. Eventually, as the adventure reaches its final quarter, things pick up and the action quota, as opposed to the suspense, rises. The climax is energetic and nasty. The final twist was well-disguised.
I still can’t figure out why they over-named these two episodes Collision Course. Still, a very efficient, tension wracked and, eventually, exciting episode.
Collison Course Parts 1 & 2 were edited into a television feature film with the unendearingly unsophisticated title The Saint and The Brave Goose, hence at the end of this episode the whole cast list is printed on the credits, not just the support players. The other Return of the Saint episodes never listed the guest stars, a decision I personally find odd and slightly annoying as I like to know who played whom. I don’t know the market the film was intended for, but I assume it was mostly intended for European broadcasters as the Italian network RAI partly funded the whole series. According to producer Robert S. Baker, the script was originally intended as a two-part adventure and movie adaptation for the final Roger Moore season of The Saint. It was dusted off and tarted up for the seventies.
The Saint and the Brave Goose trailer - YouTube
The syndicated connection might also explain the ugly, more adult antics of the villains [including a beating up Michelle Newell’s pretty hotel maid in the first episode] as well as Miss Hunnicutt’s very revealing costumes. I wondered if the TV movie featured any material different to the British broadcast versions, but I couldn’t find a copy to watch online, so it’s more The Saint and the Mystery of the Brave Goose for me.
Well, here it is, but I haven't watched it. The run time is exactly that of the two episodes stitched together.
youtube.com/watch?v=COedcx2ijDg
The fiftieth and final ‘Leslie Charteris’ Saint novel was called Salvage for the Saint and was an adaptation of Collison Course. Released belatedly in 1983, it was one of the novels Charteris only put his name to, preferring a more editorial role; it was written by Peter Bloxsom. The title is a much better effort than anything be see here!
For other reviews and responses on The Saint:
Recommend "The Saint" or not? — ajb007
ITV's The Avengers, The New Avengers, The Saint, Return Of The Saint — ajb007
Roger Moore and The Saint Series — ajb007
Leslie Charteris's The Saint/Simon Templar Discussion Thread — ajb007
The Saint in the Sixties — ajb007
THE RETURN OF THE SAINT
1979
18: Hot Run
W: Tony Williamson
D: Peter Sasdy
S: Ian Ogilvy, Rula Lenska, John Nolan, Lorraine De Sello, Nikki Gentile
The Saint foils a bullion robbery in the snowy peaks of Cortina D’Ampezzo.
We Bond fans know the location well from For Your Eyes Only and while the ski chases may not have the same level of stunt work and excitement, the little game of infiltrate and ingratiate that Simon Templar plays with Diana Lang’s crew of crack ski-robbers has much to enjoy. It has some nice Rafflesian touches, a sense of the debonair, the feeling of the wintery exotic, a serious caper movie, a small-scale Bondian exercise and three delicious women. To cap it all there’s Tony Williamson’s splendid sparkling dialogue:
Sample 1:
“Rule No.1, instructor – student relationships will be kept to a professional level at all times,” says Maria.
“Rule No.2, students will receive expert guidance in a whole variety of areas,” replies Templar as he dives in for a kiss.
This just before Maria’s brother is shot on the ski slopes by a mysterious assassin. Maria doesn’t grieve for long. She goes hunting for clues. So does the Saint. Together the two learn her brother was planning to open a ski-school with $50,000. Except he didn’t have $50,000. The beautiful ski-expert Diana Lang was going to loan it to him, but the Saint wants to know why.
He makes a direct line for Miss Lang’s flaming red hair. As played by Rula Lenska, Diana Lang is a delicious villain, swapping barbs with Ian Ogilvy almost as soon as they meet.
Sample 2:
“I’ve heard all about you, Templar.”
“From my friends or my enemies?” he asks.
“You don’t have any friends.”
He seems to have one at the Hotel de la Poste, picking up a bored blonde at the bar and getting invited to a late night party. This turns out to be Karen, an old flame who has agreed to assist in Templar’s ruse. He leaves the swinging seventies disco scene – very Sound of Philadelphia – and robs by arrangement Karen’s safe, knowing full-well he’s being watched by Miss Lang’s goons, who steal the necklace from him in return for joining the heist team.
Sample 3:
“Your back is itching?” asks the Saint at the point of a gun.
“And you can scratch it for me,” Miss Lang enthuses.
Later on, the Saint seduces the red siren in an attempt to evade his mindless minders. I think this is the first time we see Ian Ogilvy’s version of the Saint in bed. He’s clearly had relations before, but I am not certain they’ve been so suggestively ‘adult’. Meanwhile, Maria is waiting dutifully in the hotel car park. Very James Bond that, and so was this:
Sample 4:
“I thought you’d never come.”
“Yes, it’s been one of those nights,” replies the Saint.
So did he – or didn’t he?
Later on, he gets rumbled by a tetchy Miss Lang, so maybe he didn’t.
Sample 5:
“We are edgy this morning.”
“I had a very restless night,” replies Miss Lang, “I’m a light sleeper.”
“So is Templar,” says Corvis, “He loves wandering around parking lots in the middle of the night meeting girls.”
If the heist, escape and resolution seem a touch rudimentary and somewhat improbable, that doesn’t really hurt a very enjoyable episode that pulls all the right strings and doesn’t try to disguise the fact it’s a slice of harmless fluff. Ian Ogilvy and Rula Lenska make a good sparring couple, a little more of her sophisticated style of villainy would have done this series a big favour.
A successful light-hearted endeavour.
For other reviews and responses on The Saint:
Recommend "The Saint" or not? — ajb007
ITV's The Avengers, The New Avengers, The Saint, Return Of The Saint — ajb007
Roger Moore and The Saint Series — ajb007
Leslie Charteris's The Saint/Simon Templar Discussion Thread — ajb007
The Saint in the Sixties — ajb007
THE RETURN OF THE SAINT
1979
19: Murder Cartel
W: John Goldsmith
D: Tom Clegg
S: Ian Ogilvy, Britt Ekland, Helmut Berger, Don Powell
The Saint recruits his way into the CIA after his pal Jim Hendricks is assassinated. Hendricks was investigating a mysterious organisation known as the Murder Cartel, who are sweeping the political world with a series of high profile murders. Their next target is the OPEC Oil chief Sheikh Kamal.
“The crack of an assassin’s gun,” muses Simon Templar as he watches a play back of a foiled attempt on the Sheikh’s life, “the panic, the confusion, it’s all there, stark and real on the television screen and for a moment you feel involved, but only for a moment – only this time, I am involved.”
The Saint chases after Hendricks’ killer, which is a good excuse for some shots of the pretty back streets of Rome and raises his eyebrows in minor astonishment when the gunman’s car garage explodes in a timed explosion. The murder cartel appears to be wiping out its own operatives.
With the reluctant agreement of Lomax, the CIA’s new man in Rome, Templar impersonates Mr Brown, alias of a South American race horse breeder who doubles as the world’s best assassin, and infiltrates this strange brood of killers. First he’s approached by a beautiful blonde in the hotel bar, then by two gun wielding thugs. Lastly he meets Vidal, who asks questions of his career and life history, lest he not be the real Mr Brown. The Saint has all his aces covered, naturally, but attempts to get closer to the power behind the purse strings by demanding more money. Templar’s budding taxi driver friend Valerio easily follows Vidal to a beautiful mansion where the blonde pick-up turns out to be the top lady, known only as Laura – there’s a lot of one-name terms in this episode. Laura happens to be played by Britt Ekland, so she’s worth a look, probably two.
The Saint renegotiates his fee, then reappears at Laura’s swish estate uninvited to her cocktail soiree, where he opens the secret safe and discovers a computer installation which matches one of only three in the world. The others are all owned by the CIA in Washington, London and Rome – but which is communicating and betraying the agency’s secrets, allowing the Murder Cartel to remain one step ahead of its pursuers and its targets? The Saint doesn’t get a moment to find out before Laura turns the tables on him. Can Templar escape in time to prevent the certain assassination of Sheikh Kamal?
A decent effort, enlivened by some good action sequences and some tense pieces of old-fashioned espionage on the Saint’s part. And it’s always nice to see Miss Ekland. She also has the best line: “I marked you out, Mr Brown, as soon as you entered the hotel bar. You are too predictable. A mineral water with a slice of orange? Nobody drinks that. It’s a stupid drink! It is time you changed your drink, Mr Brown!”
James Bond and his Vesper vodka martini, take note.
Looking smooth, Saint...
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The Saint in the Sixties — ajb007
THE RETURN OF THE SAINT
1979
20: The Obono Affair
W: Michael Pertwee
D: Peter Sasdy
S: Ian Ogilvy, Jack Hedley, Thomas Baptiste, Muriel Odunton, Paul Medford
An unfortunate performance by Thomas Baptiste as an insufferable dictator completely overshadows this kidnap episode. “The President of Boulander is an egotist and devotee of murder, torture and brutality,” says the Saint. He’s also a playground bully, an inept tactician and a dying man. He likes to shout a lot. The character is obviously based on despots like Idi Amin, but this is a caricature to outdo all others. We’re not supposed to like him, and we don’t, but even a ruler as despicable as President Obomo needs to display some finesse, Baptiste’s interpretation is devoid of any grace and subtlety, thus our sympathies, when they ought to change, don’t.
Obono’s son has been kidnapped and a ransom must be paid, but the President prefers to hunt the kidnappers and employs a reluctant Simon Templar to do his dirty work. The story is fairly elementary and isn’t helped by the bizarre monarchist aspirations of the dying Obono. It was fun to see Templar roaming the London streets and mixing it with the riff-raff again. Ogilvy’s superior manner comes across better when he’s out of step with the ruffians around him.
As a point of incidental interest, the Saint survives his own assassination in the same manner he evaded death in S3: E15 The Set Up.
A disappointing adventure.
A Saint definitely in trouble...
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THE RETURN OF THE SAINT
1979
21: Vicious Circle
W: John Goldsmith
D: Sam Wanamaker
S: Ian Ogilvy, Elsa Martinelli, Tessa Wyatt, Mel Ferrer, Gianrico Tondinelli, Luciano Pigozzi
“A few miles outside Rome you can still find the sort of countryside where, in the ancient Imperial days, rich senators would go to escape the heat and the noise of the city and maybe have a quiet drink with an old friend. Sometimes it was their last drink. Assassination was just as much a way of life then as now.”
So begins a nightmare few days for Simon Templar as his old friend, ex-racing driver Roberto Lucci, is murdered on his way to a lunch appointment in the mountains surrounding Rome. The Saint launches his own personal investigation and meets a wall of the most aggravating silence, broken only when he starts to get mean and nasty and thoroughly devilish. Roberto is no angel either, a drunk, a gambler, womaniser, adulterer and bad husband material all-round. As one suspect remarks: “You’re just protecting the memory of a friend.” Roberto has driven his wife to the end of her tethers. Renata Lucci is on an unhealthy diet of alcohol and pills, fighting neurosis while struggling to maintain her burgeoning fashion business. Meanwhile Anna, the company P.A., is fighting to control her boss. Templar is considered an outsider to this group, so trying to help them is unusually difficult.
There was a lot of high powered talent delivered for this episode. Sam Wanamaker directs with a keen eye on the landscapes – the whole episode was shot on location in the streets, offices and mansions of Rome – and a fast grasp of action. Aside from the comely parade of models who strut their stuff in bikinis, the adventure is manifestly brutal, bleached in blasting sunshine and lurching from one moment of violent incident, conduct or dialogue to another. The Saint is distinctly uncivilised, using several versions of malicious blackmail to extract information from his underworld contacts. Ian Ogilvy doesn’t hold back the verbal punches. The best encounter occurs at Antonio Farga’s arty apartment, decked out as it is in posters of the revolution. Confronted by a man pointing a gun at his head, the Saint visually checks the poster he’s standing by, which mirrors the scene: “Life imitating art?” he says before launching an uppercut.
The three main support players acquit themselves well. Tessa Wyatt in particular is tremendous as the over dutiful secretary, whose love life is complicated by psycho ex-husbands, pill-popping bosses and medically suspect doctors. The scene where she’s suffering an enforced drug overdose was distressing in its intensity and frightful agonies. Hats off to all concerned for that scene. Mel Ferrer is the sly Dr Brogli. Elsa Martinelli graces the screen with her Latin flair as Renata, a widow unfazed by the death of her husband, unrepentant about her attitudes, unforgiving about his physical and financial infidelities. The water is running deep for this trio of lost and losing souls.
There are some neat small supporting roles, none better than Luciano Pigozzi’s snivelling ex-chauffeur Rotti, who knows everybody’s confidences. The lure of a lesbian love affair is nicely underplayed. It would have been glorious to see the photograph Templar discovers of Renata and Anna getting it on, but that’s probably a fantasy for another day. Like several Return of the Saint adventures, this one feels twenty minutes too short and could have done with a little more exposition; too many of the explanations come on the grapevine. The final shot of Tessa Wyatt attempting to flee through a wheat field as the police swoop to conquer has a cinematic touch not often provided by the series.
A very good episode indeed.
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The Saint in the Sixties — ajb007
THE RETURN OF THE SAINT
1979
22: Dragon Seed
W: John Kruse
D: Leslie Norman
S: Ian Ogilvy, Sam Wanamaker, Annamaria Macchi, Shane Rimmer, Barbara Pilavin, Greta Vayan
Still in Italy and still with the services of Sam Wanamaker, who this time appears as an actor playing the reclusive but fantastically wealthy self-styled World’s Number One Capitalist Domenico Cavalcanti. We’re back on Monte Argentario, where things first kicked off for Return of the Saint, only this time it doesn’t have to pretend to be Albania. Scenery is very pretty.
Cavalcanti’s son is killed in a helicopter crash, but the Saint suspects foul play. Uncertain who to trust, the suspects come at him thick and fast in a family riven by rivalry and bitter interpersonal relationships, ruled by a domineering father and watched over by a retired CIA operative of low scruples. While Simon Templar attempts to unravel the petty squabbles, a mysterious sunglasses wearing stranger follows his every move. The lack of police involvement in the murder / crash investigation would be my main criticism. They don’t appear at all. No evidence gathering. No inquest. No questions. This seems unlikely. The suspicious skeletons fall out of everyone’s closet and the final reveal doesn’t hold water.
Our own Shane Rimmer plays the security chief Falcao and the very beautiful Annamaria Macchi – whoever she may be – is a grieving, angry daughter. No one comes out of this one scented with roses. A bitter taste in the mouth all-round, I’m afraid.
Sub-standard Saint.
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The Saint in the Sixties — ajb007
THE RETURN OF THE SAINT
1979
23: Appointment in Florence
W: Philip Broadley
D: Peter Sasdy
S: Ian Ogilvy, Carla Romanelli, James Aubrey, Stuart Wilson
Still in Italy but no Sam Wanamaker to boost the cast or the crew.
The Saint is on holiday, skiing in Italy, and witnesses his friend being kidnapped. The man’s body later turns up in a cable car with a bullet through his head and a note reading: ‘Delay Kills, Monopoly Capitalism Delays’. I’m not even sure that message makes any sense. Simon Templar is particularly aggrieved as he organised the $100,000 payoff to the Red Brigade kidnappers. The police chief, who for some reason is referred to a Herr Scheffner and has a map of Venice on the wall of his office, wants Templar to leave the investigation to the professionals, but that’s not good enough for the Saint who believes he is more of a pro than the pros.
Turns out he is probably right, chasing the four suspects all over the Alps and into sunny Florence, where one of the quartet has gone rogue and stolen the cash. Templar tracks him to his lover’s apartment, but she won’t talk either, not even when threatened by a Red Brigade heavy. It becomes achingly apparent that the Saint’s fabulous and famous charm is not going to work on Lea Bartoni. That might be because, for all his efforts, Ian Ogilvy has never quite attained the level of charisma afforded by Sir Roger Moore’s fabulous and famous charm. For instance, when rescuing a female hotel receptionist from an interrogation, this modern Saint doesn’t even bother to untie her from the bed, preferring to make a telephone call. Maybe he was disturbed by her very stylish unshaved armpits. Very 1970s.
Splendid shots around the streets and palazzos of Florence can’t hide the creaky plot, which is basically an extended series of chase scenes, on ski, on foot, on Vespa, in a taxi, etc. There are a couple of great cinematic moments: the Saint suddenly realising he’s open to an assassin’s bullet; the climax by Neptune’s Fountain, with the police ranged at the top of the stairway. Otherwise, a humdrum effort most notable for the overgenerous dubbing in the respected Italian style.
Not a great Saint.
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THE RETURN OF THE SAINT
1979
24: The Diplomat’s Daughter
W: Michael Pertwee
D: Charles Crichton
S: Ian Ogilvy, Lynne Dalby, Murray Head, Karl Held, Arto Morris, Weston Gavin
By early March 1979 it was time for Return of the Saint to take a holy bow and exit the television screen stage left. The season hasn’t been a disappointment. In many ways it has recaptured some of the innocence and simplicity of the 1960s and Leslie Charteris’ short stories. Unfortunately, that has meant the attempts to modernise the character and the plotlines have often felt out of step with what we have come to know. The Diplomat’s Daughter is a good example of modern thinking let down by a reliance on Templar [or Charteris] employing a deceptive ‘boodle’ coupled with remarkable unseen foresight and a revealing a sense of ‘fair play’.
First things first, the story looks great, filmed in France for the most part, and there is some super scenes and dialogue that wouldn’t have gone amiss in the Roger Moore era. Asked why he’s dining alone, Templar spies the lone attractive woman on another table: “I think I’ve just spotted my maiden aunt,” he says. The patron, Emile, follows his gaze: “”And you always had an excellent taste in maiden aunts.” Later, while Templar grapples with a heavy in a hotel room, the porter hearing the shrieks assumes it is the Saint and his female companion making love. Lynn Dalby – whoever she is – pretty by the way – sports a horrendous French accent. The smuggling ruse is easily foiled, but there is a twist in the tail which the Saint has foreseen. There are two of the most hilarious fight scenes in Saint history: one involving spinning tyres, the other featuring the destruction of a Napoleonic four-poster bed, the latter all the more strange as the room is repaired within a day.
The episode evolves like OHMSS, with the Saint being overtaken by a fast speeding red sports car. I couldn’t catch the make, but the top is down and the female driver’s hair is flailing in the wind. He’s intrigued, gives chase, only to be knocked off the road by another speeding car, this one occupied by two hoods. Arriving at his favourite restaurant, Templar observes the red sports car and notices the beautiful woman driver. He dislikes, but isn’t repulsed by, her cussed behaviour as he introduces himself. Even odder, she disappears when the two hoods arrive. Later, apres déjeuner, the Saint witnesses the hoods attempting to push the red sports over a cliff. He saves the girl and – eventually – gets Marie de la Garde to tell her story. Their relationship is uneasy and the Saint’s usual seduction patter is both failing and being constantly interrupted. Templar’s not on good form though: he’s raving about Veuve Clicquot champagne, but you can and could always buy that in Sainsburys. I notice he also chose the rose.
Marie is trying to clear her brother’s $50000 gambling debt, but he’s embroiled in a smuggling game that will net him even more and release him from the overbearing Shriber. Murray Head is the doomed youth. Things are complicated by the Le Garde’s being the offspring of the new Ambassador to the UK. The smugglers plan to sneak heroin through the Calais – Dover ferry route using secret compartments constructed into the floor of the Ambassador’s Rolls Royce. [A bit literary Goldfinger that.] The story proceeds amiably enough and there is a particularly good scene where the Saint infiltrates the Le Guard family chateau, tames a growling patrol dog and swaps edgy sentences with Pierre and his unwelcome accomplices. Very well done; director Charles Crichton shows his worth as a top hand of the trade in clever scenes like these.
The unexpected twist caught me a little by surprise and its all resolved with a smirk and a line of pithy dialogue. The Saint exits on a midnight blue BMW R100 RS motorcycle, number plate ST2, which if nothing else is original, although it feels distinctly ‘unsaintly’, a bit like those two daft fight scenes.
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The Saint in the Sixties — ajb007
RETURN OF THE SAINT
Summary
I am not entirely sure why Return of the Saint didn’t get a second series, but I assume the show was very expensive and, being partly funded by Italian TV networks, if they pulled out I expect the money did too. There was a similar issue with The New Avengers and Canadian TV, I recall. Time was also moving on.
By the late seventies British telly had already seen The Sweeny and Van Der Valk, two cynical, nasty cop shows, and now had The Professionals, an all action, guns, grime and glitter experience. The world was also a smaller place and the exotica of foreign travel that was hinted at in the sixties was more easily accessible to audiences. Some of the mystery of foreign locations was eroded. It is fair to say producer Robert S. Baker attempted at times to inject more than the usual anodyne ingredients, and full marks must be given for the insistence on location shooting, but the Saint’s brand of debonair adventure, globetrotting plots, gentle humour and fey wisdom just didn’t quite fit into this version of modern times.
The series needed more cynicism, I feel; a sense that Simon Templar was a crook who became a gentleman, not a gentleman who happens to be an occasional crook. His reputation is often referred to, but other than his myriad of contacts and the occasional break in, we don’t really understand what it is. The writers instead draw in a mercenary / military background, and links to the British Secret Service, neither of which are dwelt on at length, but all of which seem to annoy the world’s police. So, while trying to retain some of the Saint’s mystery, the producers and writers have made him less believable. Where has he found the time to do all this? The sixties version of Simon Templar had a French Resistance background, which makes sense given the timeline of the show, and allows us to believe he would have formed a network of contacts through Europe and, as his less salubrious activities took off after the war, eventually the world.
Roger Moore was perfect casting for this, bringing some of that era’s flair and devil-may-care attitudes, that he could succeed given even a tough background and the unfortunate circumstances of conflict. Ian Ogilvy by contrast feels a little marooned. He isn’t terrible as a hero, but it’s difficult to take him seriously as an ex-military adventurer who has [somehow] made his fortune. Ogilvy lacks a certain panache. He can’t handle the humour and he struggles with the serious stuff. He’s best doing what is ordinary and that doesn’t lend itself to a show which is preaching an extraordinary hero.
Still, as a slice of 1970s nostalgia, Return of the Saint slots in quite easily with many of the other shows of its type – the last of its type – the Jason King and Protectors of this world and by waving a farewell to that era of television, it also perhaps beckons in and surrenders to the bold, acerbic new, like aforementioned The Professionals, The Chinese Detective and eventually carefully constructed crime drama like Inspector Morse. It is fair to say, I think, that we'll never see its like again...
RETURN OF THE SAINT Gallery - Bing video
A fun fan video featuring a host of still, production photos, magazine covers, publicity shots, etc
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The Saint in the Sixties — ajb007