Jason King

There are 26 episodes of Jason King, which back in the golden days of the 1960s was a full season in anybody's money. Twelve of the episodes are directed by Cyril Frankel, who also held the position of the show's "creative consultant". A further ten are directed by Jeremy Summers, three by veteran director Roy Ward Baker and the odd one by Paul Dickson.

The writers contributing to the series included some of the top men in the field who had written for The Avengers, Randall and Hopkirk, The Saint and a number of other shows of the era. Eight scripts were contributed by Philip Broadley who had scripted shows including Man In A Suitcase.

Six scripts came from regular Randall and Hopkirk, Avengers and Adam Adamant scribe Tony Williamson. Series co-creator Dennis Spooner wrote the first episode and a subsequent two more, while veteran telewriter Donald James did four.

3 stories are by Dennis Spooner, 6 by Tony Williamson, 8 by Philip Broadley, 4 by Donald James, 3 by Harry H Junkin and one each by Gerald Kelsey and Robert Banks Stewart.

The basic premise of the show was simply the globe-trotting lifestyle of bon-vivant and author Jason King, the writer of a highly successful series of neo-Bond adventure novels about Mark Caine. No longer working for Department S, Jason was more of a free spirit, although Whitehall was not above using his tax returns to ensure his co-operation when they needed him.

Of the stories, my particular favourites are two of the Tony Williamson episodes, As Easy As ABC and To Russia With Panache. In the former, Nigel Green and Michael Bates play a Charters-and-Caldicot pair of gentleman villains using Jason's Mark Caine novels as the blueprints for a series of audacious robberies. Unfortunately Nigel is the less scrupulous of the two and what start out as bloodless capers take a turn for the worse when a security guard gets in their way. Decorating this episode is former Golden Shot hostess and Hammer vampire Yutte Stensgaarde who wipes the floor with Michael Bates when she is kidnapped as leverage against Jason.

To Russia With Panache sees Jason shanghaied to Moscow (if that is not too geographically convoluted a sentence). Colonel Kolkov (John Malcolm) has Jason bundled in a crate and shipped to the Kremlin to investigate the apparent immolation of three delegates in a Kremlin lift. Jason is given an interpreter Alexandra Lanova (Pamela Salem - Never Say Never Again's Moneypenny) and a set of three stooges who include Russian choreographer and character actor Tutte Lemkow. Also crossing his path is Elisabeth Counsell as an enemy agent fascinated by his "schmell".

Also in my favourite episodes group is Williamson's If It's Got To Go, It's Got To Go which sees Jason (thin as a rake) King sent to a German health farm for the cure. Guest-starring John LeMesurier and Yootha Joyce, it's weird to see that nice Mr Wilson from the bank and Mrs Roper as experts in brainwashing techniques. They use the clinic as a front for breaking Western agents and hypnotising them. Supporting the fun are Father Dear Father's Natasha Pyne as one of the fellow inmates (Williamson riffing on an On Her Majesty's Secret Service set-up) and Jennifer Hilary as the German police officer who ropes King into the scheme. Grand old character actor Felix Aylmer features as the legitimate (and thoroughly bemused) founder of the clinic.

Rather ironically, given the technical obstacle to a US network sale making the series in 16mm, Dennis Spooner's opening episode Wanna Buy A Television Series? sees Jason battling to pitch a Mark Caine tv series to network chief Harry Carmel (played by Diamonds Are Forever undertaker David Bauer). Played for straight comedy, King becomes increasingly frustrated as his pilot script gets further and further from his concept to pander to the network chief's expectations of a successful US network tv show.

Harry H Junkin's The Constance Missal sees Peter Wyngarde indulging his penchant for over-the-top disguises. Forced into a larcenous scheme by two beautiful experts in hypnotism who have stolen the manuscript to his newly completed Mark Caine novel, King takes the place of an expert in ancient manuscripts. He is to authenticate the Constance Missal for Lord Barnes (Clive Revill) on behalf of the British Museum, but Lord Barnes has a scheme of his own to double-cross the museum.

Of all the stories, the real odd-one-out is the Harry H Junkin penned It's Too Bad About Auntie, which given the light-hearted nature of the other episodes in the series is quite startling nasty. This is a tale about a girl accused of murder, a young thug, an old lady and a stolen vacuum cleaner.

A Page Before Dying by Tony Williamson is one of the early-format episodes where Whitehall uses Jason's tax returns to force him to do jobs for HM Government. Ronald Lacey guests as Ryland, a Whitehall mandarin who gets Jason involved in smuggling a man from behind the Iron Curtain in a safe - a plot device from one of his books.

Buried In The Cold Cold Ground by Philip Broadley shows the risks of picking up hitchhikers when Jason gives a lift to Felicity (Michelle Dotrice). A second hitchhiker Lanz (Lewis Fiander) proves more of a problem when the men following him kill him for the Bible he is carrying in a tin box.

A Deadly Line In Digits by Tony Williamson gives Jason the opportunity to play with a disguise and a silly accent as he infiltrates computerised, computer-age crime syndicate Crime-Con. One of the better stories again, this episode boasts a cast list including Donald Houston, Freddie Jones and Philip Stone.

Variations On A Theme by Philip Broadley is another convoluted story set against the Cold War. This time Vienna is the backdrop for defecting double-agent Keeble (Ralph Bates). Hammer beauty Magda Konopka and former Champion Alexandra Bastedo (much more at ease than she was on that show) provide distractions for Jason. Julian Glover sports a very dodgy long wig as British agent "John". Keep an eye out for the bellboy - it's Adrian Hall, one of the kids from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

A Red Red Rose Forever by Donald James guest stars Mike Pratt from Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) as an ailing hired assassin. Jason is mistaken for the killer thanks to a bunch of red roses.

All That Glisters by Philip Broadley is the only two-parter in the series' run. A complicated story about gold antiques and eccentric collectors, it's most notable for the introduction of rival adventurer John Mallen (played by Clinton Greyn). One wonders if the production team were considering a second series as a two-hander with King and Mallen as friendly rivals or partners.

Flamingoes Only Fly On Tuesdays by Tony Williamson is another mistaken identity story. This time Jason is mistaken for a gun runner while on holiday in the Caribbean. This is the one where Space 1999-er to be Clifton Jones and two mates give Jason the vapours by slashing his holiday wardrobe.

Toki by Philip Broadley is one of the less entertaining stories of the series, but was naturally the episode repeated by BBC television when they did a season of ITC shows. The reason? The eponymous heroine in the episode is none other than Felicity Kendall, pre-Good Life as a gangster's moll whom Jason attempts to rescue.

Uneasy Lies The Head by Donald James sets Jason up with the ever-popular doppelganger storyline. In this story, his double is Lance Percival. Adam Adamant's Juliet Harmer and semi-regular Ronnie Lacey guest star.

Nadine by Philip Broadley pits Jason against Hammer ubervamp Ingrid Pitt as the eponymous femme fatale hired by Alfred Marks and Patrick Mower as part of their smuggling caper which requires a high profile patsy. Enter Jason…

A Kiss For A Beautiful Killer by Gerald Kelsey features Kate O'Mara as the leader of a band of revolutionaries who rope Jason into a plot against dictator Cordobier (Clifford Evans). As with many 1960s-70s television villains, while not as violent as modern tv villains, Evans' Cordobier is a much nastier piece of work.

A Thin Band Of Air by American import Harry H Junkin is a fun story about kidnap and a stashed ransom. John Hallam, TP McKenna and Edina Ronay provide problems for Jason as he tries to come to the bottom of a mystery involving a Thin Band Of Air.

The Stones Of Venice by Donald James has Jason arriving in Venice for a holiday and being informed he has won a literary prize for a Mark Caine book he hasn't written. Roger Delgado offers support as the bemused Chief of Police Capitano Garrozzo.

A Royal Flush by Philip Broadley has Jason coming to the rescue of a princess (Penelope Horner), who proves not to be all she seems.

Every Picture Tells A Story by Robert Banks Stewart is about an unauthorised Chinese comic strip based on the adventures of Mark Caine. Jason is naturally more than interested as he is not seeing a penny in royalties, but the strip hides a secret. Clifford Evans, fresh from his turn as the villain of A Kiss For A Beautiful Killer returns in conservative oriental makeup as Tsung.

Chapter One: The Company I Keep by Donald James has Jason finding that everything he writes starts coming true. Toby Robins and Stephanie Beacham provide the glamour, and support comes from Avengers regular Ronald Radd, Paul Whitsun-Jones and Thunderball's Paul Stassino.

Zenia by Philip Broadley has Jason rescuing the kidnapped daughter of a foreign president using the plot of one of his Mark Caine novels. The Zenia of the title is Space-1999er to be Zienia Merton, and keep an eye out for one of the revolutionaries, it's Raiders of the Lost Ark villain Paul Freeman in a very early role.

An Author In Search Of Two Characters by Dennis Spooner indulges Peter Wyngarde's talents for comedy disguises and silly voices as he is hired to rewrite a movie script. Liz Fraser, Roy Kinnear, Dudley Foster, Neil McCarthy, Sue Lloyd and Ivor Dean lend sterling support.

That Isn't Me, It's Somebody Else by Dennis Spooner is another doppelganger story. This time, Jason's double is hired assassin Bennett (Patrick Troughton). George Murcell and Simon Oates complicate matters for Jason while Toby Robins returns as a different, but no less glamorous glamourpuss.

As with any tv show, there are duff episodes as well as good ones, but in my opinion these are in the minority.

Video
There will be an awful lot of uninformed chat about the technical state of the episodes, and undoubtedly unfavourable comparisons with the versions available in other territories. The episodes are undoubtedly in a rather sorry state - grainy, a fair amount of print dirt and damage, but the fault lies in the master tapes provided to Network by Granada Ventures. I've studied episodes closely on a frame-by-frame basis between the Network and Australian Umbrella sets, and the picture quality is identical - to the extent I am certain the same transfers were used for both releases. Having said that, I doubt that the episodes could be cleaned up to any great extent, as they suffer from the technical problems inherent in shooting in 16mm as well as from the passage of time. The shows are presented in their original 4:3.

Audio
Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono reproduction of the original mono soundtrack.

Extras
Network have done an excellent job of rounding up extras for the release - there is a forty-minute documentary featuring contributions from many of the actors and technicians involved in the series. Peter Wyngarde makes an appearance as an Easter Egg attached to the documentary. There are extensive stills galleries, a stills gallery with a suite of music from the series, a Russell Harty interview and textless titles and the suchlike for foreign territories.

All in all a wonderful package of a marvellous and much-underrated series.