Review of Ace Of Wands

Introduction

"The Adventures of Tarot - Ace Of Wands and renowned illusionist - a twentieth-century Robin Hood, with a pinch of Merlin and a dash of Houdini."

That was how the ITV childrens` tv series was billed. Tarot (Michael MacKenzie) was a young magician and escapologist whose off-stage life was full of crimes and mysteries of a magical nature. Tarot was assisted by his stage assistant Lillian "Lulli" Palmer (Judy Loe) and stage manager Sam Maxtead (Tony Selby - Cpl. Marsh in the ITV sitcom Get Some In). Created by Trevor Preston, the show was strong meat for young viewers, specialising in the sort of creepy, supernatural storyline that would make Sapphire and Steel such a winner for series writer PJ Hammond.

The show was made by Thames Television at the Teddington Studios complex on videotape, with 16mm film inserts for location work. The first two seasons comprised thirteen episodes apiece, and in a typical act of penny-pinching were destroyed by the tv company while the show was still in production to free up valuable videotape.

**The box set of the show includes extensive - if not exhaustive - notes on the series by tv historian Andrew Pixley (who wrote the brilliant viewing notes booklet in the Adam Adamant box set). Unfortunately, Network`s PR have neglected to provide me with a copy and the deadline for this piece doesn`t permit me to chase one up. I have to make do with Dave Rogers` notes in his ITV Encyclopedia Of Adventure.

By season three, Judy Loe and Tony Selby had moved on and their places were taken by Petra Markham as Mikki, a journalist and Roy Holder as her brother Chas, a photographer. Season Three was originally transmitted between 19th July and 29th November 1972 (Wednesdays).

The Meddlers is the first story on the set, a three-parter written by PJ Hammond. Tarot and his new companions investigate a curse which has driven stallholders from the local street market. Mr Dove (Paul Dawkins), who watches proceedings from his tower-block eyrie through binoculars, and local "prophet of doom" Mockers (Barry Linehan) hamper Tarot`s investigations.

The Power Of Atep is a four-parter by Dr Who scriptwriter Victor Pemberton. Tarot and Mikki have identical dreams. A meeting with medium John Pentacle (Sebastian Graham-Jones) leads Tarot and the team to Egypt and the tomb of Atep, where they encounter Quabel, Tarot`s former stage partner and double.

Peacock Pie is a three-parter by master of the macabre PJ Hammond and introduces the nondescript Mr Peacock (Brian Wilde - who has never looked creepier), a man with immense mental powers.

Mama Doc is a three part adventure by Maggie Allen. Tarot`s friend Mr Sweet involves Tarot and the gang when one of his colleagues at University disappears. The trail leads Tarot to a doll`s hospital run by Mama Doc (Pat Nye), who with her sidekick Bobby (Michael Mundell) turns people into dolls.

Sisters Deadly is a three-parter by Victor Pemberton. Chas returns from a photo-assignment with no memory of the occasion. Least of all any recollection of turning over a post office for the princely sum of £20. Tarot uncovers a plot to kidnap a high-ranking NATO official.

The series winds up with a four-parter by PJ Hammond called The Beautiful People. Mikki is refused entry to a village fete by two beautiful girls Dee and Emm. Tarot uncovers a convoluted plot by extra-terrestrials with extraordinary powers.

The show has parallels with classic Doctor Who - an other-worldly main character with companion characters, multiple-part adventures, writers including Victor Pemberton (classic Who) and P J Hammond (new Who), and a cavalier attitude to archiving.

1970s tame tv magician and Magic Circle stalwart Ali Bongo acted as magical adviser to the series. He used to be the technical adviser on the old David Nixon magic show (which predated Paul Daniels and was easily the best magic show on the box).

The surviving twenty episodes are gripping stuff which stands up quite well to the passage of thirty-five years (Roy Holder has been spotted recently playing a grandad in a tv advert). It`s a crying shame that the first two series are missing, having been wiped.

Video

Presented in its original 4:3. The series was made on videotape with 16mm filmed inserts. Picture quality is excellent with little in the way of video artefacts, which in itself is remarkable for a show made in the early 1970s - the picture isn`t remotely as soft as most contemporary video looks. Maybe it has something to do with the fact the tapes haven`t been run many times in the intervening years.

Audio

Dolby 2.0 reproduction of the original Mono soundtrack.

Features

Network have really pushed the boat out with this release. The twenty episodes of the series span the first three discs of the set while the fourth is devoted to the special features.

Audio commentaries are available on a number of the episodes. Sadly, as with virtually all Network releases, there are no subtitles for the hard of hearing.

At the heart of the special features is the three-part documentary The Story With No End. At fifteen minutes apiece, these could have been cut together into a single documentary, but I suppose they wanted to keep up the conceit of the multi-part stories. All of the cast of the shows are present - Michael MacKenzie, Judy Loe, Tony Selby, Petra Markham and Roy Holder. Time has not been kind to any of them, apart from Judy Loe who looks amazing. Show creator Trevor Preston and series 1 and 2 producer Pamela Lonsdale offer their input as well as magic advisor Ali Bongo who demonstrates the mechanics of the special effects snake from The Power Of Atep.

A slightly awkward editorial choice is that of cropping the clips from the show to 16:9 in the documentary. This drags down the definition of the clips and makes them look not as well as they do on the other discs.

There is also an image gallery (in 4:3) which includes stills taken during the making of the lost first and second series.

Also included are an episode from Shadows called Dutch Schlitz`s Shoes by Trevor Preston featuring a spectacularly creepy Russell Hunter (a million miles from his Lonely character in Callan) as Mr Stabs. There is also Preston`s Dramarama sequel called Mr Stabs featuring David Jason as Mr Stabs and David Rappaport as his sidekick Luko. Both are joyously theatrical pieces of hokum designed to freak out the smaller members of the family over their toast and spaghetti `oops.

Rounding out the package are script pdfs included as DVD-ROM content.

Conclusion

A classic childrens` series of the 1970s. Streets ahead of comparable fare (The Tomorrow People), and on a par with the sublime and scary Sapphire and Steel. Reviewing releases like this are the icing on the cake having had to sit through stuff like Marie Lloyd and Paul Merton. It`s just a shame they couldn`t have sent me a copy of Andrew Pixley`s viewing notes booklet (hint, hint).