Review of Persuaders The: Complete Series (Special Edition)

Introduction

Imagine a television series about two daredevil playboys - one American, one British - having spectacular adventures in some of the most glamorous locations in Europe. Imagine those daredevil playboys being played by a pre-Bond Roger Moore, fresh from playing The Saint, and Hollywood star Tony Curtis.

A recipe for success?

The Americans didn`t think so. Trashed after just twenty-four episodes (out of a projected five series of twenty-six episodes), the show had been killed off by televisual giant-killer Mission Impossible on rival network CBS.

The show had been a roaring success in other territories - topping the ratings in Australia and holding its own here on ITV, but without the crucial North American market - which just wasn`t ready for tongue-in-cheek British humour, the show didn`t have a chance. Surprisingly, and contrary to previous understanding, Lew Grade was ready to finance a second series of the show but by that time Roger Moore had been offered the role of James Bond in Live and Let Die. They considered recasting the show with former Girl From UNCLE co-star Noel Harrison (son of Rex), but consensus on the production team was Curtis would have eaten him alive.

So a story of disaster, then?

Not a bit of it. In my opinion, The Persuaders! was one of the finest light-hearted adventure series produced by British television and is one of the finest examples of the ITC series machine. Building on the light touch of The Saint and the ensemble-playing of Department S, the series was one of (if not the) first "buddy" shows on television and paved the way for shows like The Professionals and Starsky and Hutch.

The series stemmed from an idea bounced between Roger Moore and his producing partner Robert S Baker while producing the final two colour series of The Saint. It boils down to two wealthy but likeable idiots having adventures solving crime and rescuing damsels mostly by accident rather than design. A pilot show of the idea was put together as part of the last series of The Saint, partnering Roger Moore`s Simon Templar with Texas millionaire Rod Houston (The Champions` Stuart Damon) in an episode called "The Ex-King Of Diamonds", which can be found on the extras disc. Although the first episode of The Persuaders! (Overture) had a distinctly different storyline by Brian Clemens to John Kruse`s "Ex-King", many incidents including an impromptu drag race and a punch-up between the two leads popped up in both scripts.

Lew Grade sold the series to ABC in America as starring Roger Moore without signing any contract with the actor. Summoning Moore to his office for an early morning meeting, Grade offered him a fait accompli (and a sizeable fee). Initially reluctant to sign to another five-year television contract after The Saint, Moore found himself being cajoled by the tv mogul that ITC had just won the Queen`s Award to Industry and that making the show would be good for Britain.

ABC, who would be networking the show in the US stipulated an equally well-known American star as Moore`s co-star. Unfortunately that placed Stuart Damon out of the running immediately. The production team had its sights set on first Rock Hudson, then Glenn Ford. When both actors turned them down, a list of possible candidates was provided, the top of the list being Tony Curtis.

Ultimately, Curtis proved a challenging actor for the production team to work with, but none of that is exhibited in his performance as Danny Wilde, the impulsive self-made-millionaire from the Bronx. His bi-play with the ever affable Roger Moore is one of the things that sets this show apart from many of its contemporaries. Slickly made, with a lot more location filming than any earlier ITC shows, The Persuaders! was easily the glossiest show on the box in 1971.

As a point of interest, the show it was up against in the States, Mission Impossible, was even more studio-bound than older ITC shows like The Saint and Department S. In its sixth and penultimate year of production, M:I had undergone its third major personnel change and a sea-change in its storylines from international intrigue to domestic American affairs. In spite of this, it still held a 35% share of the audience for the slot (Saturday, 2200hrs). The Persuaders! had an uphill struggle for a US audience possibly not ready for British humour (or the playful oneupmanship of Roger`s character).

With Dalek creator Terry Nation as story consultant and the wiritng skills of Nation, the Avengers` Brian Clemens, John Kruse, Michael Pertwee, Terence Feely, Adam Adamant`s Tony Williamson and Harry H Junkin on tap; direction by Basil Dearden, Roy Ward Baker, Sidney Hayers, Val Guest, Leslie Norman, James Hill and Roger Moore himself, it`s a conundrum why the show wasn`t a roaring success.

One thing is sure, it`s one of the more fondly remembered of the ITC golden age series. It`s sheer escapist fun starring two actors obviously having an absolute ball, surrounded by some of the most beautiful women on television and supported in the acting stakes by an army of old and familiar faces including Patrick Troughton, Ed Devereaux, Joss Ackland, Joan Collins, Hannah Gordon, Nigel Green, Ian Hendry, Diane Cilento, Denholm Elliot and Dame Gladys Cooper.

Video

The 24 episodes of the series are contained in the first six discs of the set. They are presented in their original 4:3 as transmitted back in 1971/2. Technically they look great. There is a little wear and tear, but nothing out of the ordinary. Colours are excellent and contrast and detail fine. Between 2000 and 2002, Carlton previously released the series in dribs and drabs. The first two discs, containing six episodes, were unrestored but the remaining eighteen episodes were given an excellent video restoration by BBC Resources. A straight comparison with the Carlton discs reveals the discs are authored from the same masters. The six episodes that were unrestored in the Carlton release, however, look distinctly improved with better colour and contrast. The video extraction is also better framed than before. (These remarks are based on two out of the six as Network kept back disc one from reviewers). Interestingly some lab artefacts visible on "Greensleeves" are identical between the two versions, meaning that either both transfers were made from the same print, or the actual negative of the episode suffered some problems at the lab. If anything the latter Carlton discs marginally score over these new discs as they include subtitling (Network seldom if ever include subtitling). However, if subtitles aren`t important to you, each Network episode disc also contains an extensive behind-the-scenes photo gallery for each episode on that disc.

The extras disc includes a main documentary in 16:9 which includes some reframed shots of the show. The documentary looks wonderful as well as including some fascinating interviews. The rest of the disc is made up largely of source material of varying quality. The Avroskoop item is very obviously sourced from 16mm and includes reduction print material from "The Man In The Middle" with Terry-Thomas.

The final two discs in the set, for better or worse, contain the four compilation movies made up by ITC as movies-of-the-week. Each movie is made up of two episodes. "London Conspiracy" is made up of "Greensleeves" and "A Home Of One`s Own", and sports video generated titles and a really scary transfer glitch that sits in the middle of the picture and affects the image like a funhouse mirror. The other three movies are "Mission Monte Carlo", "Sporting Chance" and "The Switch".

Audio

Nothing special. Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono. Special mention should of course be given to John Barry`s theme for the show which stands as one of the coolest tv themes of all time. The series was scored by Ken Thorne, who went on to score Superman II.

Features

Disc Seven is dedicated to the bulk of the extras. Top of the list is one of Swinging Star`s outstanding documentaries `The Morning After - Remembering THE PERSUADERS`. Featuring interviews with Roger Moore (Lord Brett Sinclair), Tony Curtis (Danny Wilde) and crew members: Robert S Baker (producer), Johnny Goodman (executive in charge of production), Malcolm Christopher (production manager), Ken Baker (assistant director), Brian Clemens (writer), Roy Ward Baker (director) and Tony Spratling (director of photography) and others, the documentary is an often quite raucous set of reminiscences about the making of the series. Language, at least on the check disc I saw, is distinctly strong, especially when Tony Curtis recalls the first week`s location filming with Joan Collins for the episode Five Miles To Midnight. While Curtis is cheerfully unrepentant about his behaviour on and off set while shooting the series, most contributors wind up reminiscing how difficult Curtis could be to work with.

There are audio commentaries on three episodes featuring contributions from Sir Roger Moore, Tony Curtis, Robert S Baker, Johnny Goodman, Roy Ward Baker, Brian Clemens, Malcolm Christopher, Ken Baker and others. These commentaries are frequently quite rowdy and very entertaining to listen to.

Included in the extensive list of extras are some strange little items - Tony Curtis is interviewed on a 1974 edition of The Russell Harty Show. There is also some mute news footage of Tony Curtis ordering a Lagonda from Aston Martin. Roger Moore and his design consultancy for a Bradford clothing manufacturer is covered in a 1970 news item which shows the actor in the disreputable haircut and `tache he sported in The Man Who Haunted Himself.

A particularly nice extra is the Dutch documentary from the AVROskoop strand which includes interviews with Curtis, Moore and Terry-Thomas. The latter is particular interesting as I cannot recall ever seeing T-T interviewed before.

Pan`s People make a memorably awful appearance not doing anything they were so fondly remembered for in a Top of the Pops promotional film for John Barry`s single of The Persuaders! theme.

The episode of The Saint which was effectively the pilot for The Persuaders! - the Ex-King of Diamonds - is presented in its entirety and can be watched with another entertainingly rowdy audio commentary with Sir Roger, Robert S Baker, Johnny Goodman and director Alvin Rakoff.

Perhaps controversially included are the ten promotional spots - 5 foreign, 5 mute for the UK shot on the Chinese restaurant set of A Death In The Family. This includes Roger Moore`s infamous "I hate the f*cking Germans" outburst.

Listed among the extras is a trailer and opening sequence for unreleased feature version of The Persuaders! film. This has alarmed some people, thinking that it might be the first sighting of the Persuaders! movie currently in production and starring Steve Coogan and Ben Stiller. Rest easy - it isn`t. It`s actually surviving materials of another compilation movie from the series that was never released.

Finally there`s a fair amount of odd trims and bits from Chambers and Associates of textless and foreign language titles and credits for odd episodes.

Conclusion

For my money, The Persuaders! represents ITC at the height of its game. It`s one of the most charming, fun adventure shows made for television and stars two leading men at their individual and collective best. Moore shows the insouciant charm and wit he delighted audiences with as the Saint and would go on to demonstrate in the Bond films, and Curtis shows the deft comic touch he showed in movies like Some Like It Hot, The Great Race and Monte Carlo Or Bust. Written by some of the top names in sixties television and directed by some of the most respected directors in the industry, The Persuaders! was a triumph unappreciated at the time. For my money it`s a classic.