Tag: ITV

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Classic Series Prisoner, The

Once Upon A Time

The PrisonerNumber Two – actually one of the first men of that rank to interrogate Number Six – returns in a final desperate attempt to break his mind. Number Two forces Number Six through a brutal regression into his own childhood, but the prisoner still doesn’t break – and finally, his interrogator does. Number Six’s reward for surviving the encounter is, at long last, a confrontation with Number One.

written by Patrick McGoohan
directed by Patrick McGoohan
music by Ron Grainer and Albert Elms

Cast: Patrick McGoohan (Number Six), Leo McKern (Number Two), Peter Swanwick (Supervisor), John Cazabon (Umbrella man)

Original Title: Degree Absolute

Note: According to numerous sources, actor Leo McKern suffered a nervous breakdown during the production of this episode, citing the show’s intense content as the cause.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Classic Series Prisoner, The

Fall Out

The PrisonerHaving triumphed against Number Two, Number Six is finally on his way – so he thinks – to meet Number One. But first, he has one more trial to undergo, though he can’t tell if he is the defendant…or the judge. The impetuous Number 48 is brought before him, held in contempt for his youthfully rebellious attitude. Number Two is miraculously brought back from the dead, though he seems unaware that his reign has ended. Number Six finally embarks on the final leg of his quest, but he is unprepared for the revelation that he may, in fact, already be Number One.

written by Patrick McGoohan
directed by Patrick McGoohan
music by Ron Grainer and Albert Elms

Cast: Patrick McGoohan (Number Six), Leo McKern (Number Two), Kenneth Griffith (President), Peter Swanwick (Supervisor), Michael Miller (Delegate), Alexis Kanner (Number 48)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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UFO

Identified

UFOWhen evidence of UFO visits and alien abductions becomes real, a top-secret international agency, SHADO (Supreme Headquarters Alien Defense Organization), is formed, under the direction of Commander Ed Straker. Housed in the underground levels beneath a film studio that hides its activities, SHADO is on the verge of a new detection technology that could turn the tide against future UFO incursions. But the aliens – as yet unidentified – are also aware of this development, and are already taking steps to stop that technology from being deployed. From submarines capable of launching jet fighters, to a moonbase capable of launching space planes, Straker puts all of SHADO’s resources on the highest alert. The prize: SHADO’s first captured alien…and only then does Straker realize that this is but the first volley in a much longer battle for the planet Earth.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by Gerry Anderson & Sylvia Anderson with Tony Barwick
directed by Gerry Anderson
music by Barry Gray

UFOCast: Edward Bishop (Cmdr. Straker), George Sewell (Col. Freeman), Peter Gordeno (Capt. Carlin), Gabrielle Drake (Lt. Ellis), Grant Taylor (General Henderson), Basil Dignam (Cabinet Minister), Shane Rimmer (Seagull X-Ray Co-Pilot), Antonia Ellis (Joan Harrington), Gary Myers (Lew Waterman), Michael Mundell (Ken Matthews), Harry Baird (Mark Bradley), Keith Alexander (SHADO Radio Operator), Jon Kelley (Skydiver Engineer), Georgina Moon (Skydiver Operative), Dolores Martinez (Nina Barry), Jeremy Wilkin (Skydiver Navigator), Paul Gillard (Kurt Mahler), Wanda Ventham (Virginia Lake), Gary Files (Phil Wades), Matthew Roberton (Dr. Harris), Maxwell Shaw (Dr. Shroeder), Annette Kerr (Nurse)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Timeslip

The Wrong End Of Time – Part 1

TimeslipYoungsters Liz Skinner and Simon Randall, bored with the dull surroundings near the Skinners’ vacation spot, go exploring the surrounding countryside, finding a place near an abandoned naval station where they hear an unusual sound all around them. Venturing onward, they pass through some sort of portal, stepping into the same place, but a different time – World War II, to be precise. Shortly after they see men who they’re certain are speaking German, the two children are captured and taken to be questioned about what business they had near the naval station. When Liz recognizes their interrogator – from having met him in the future, later in his life – it only raises further suspicions. And then they meet a young sailor named Frank Skinner – Liz’s father, long before she was born. The older Frank Skinner claims he had a mental breakdown during the war and can’t remember what his role in it was…but his daughter is about to find out by being there.

written by Bruce Stewart
directed by John Cooper
music not credited

TimeslipCast: Cheryl Burfield (Liz Skinner), Spencer Banks (Simon Randall), Denis Quilley (Commander Traynor), Iris Russell (Jean Skinner), Derek Benfield (Skinner), John Alkin (Frank), Sandor Eles (Gottfried), Paul Humpoletz (Graz), John Garrie (Arthur Griffiths), Royston Tickner (George Bradley), Peter Sproule (Ferris), John Abbott (Phipps), Kenneth Watson (Dr. Fordyce), Virginia Balfour (Alice Fortune), Sally Templer (Sarah), Hilary Minster (German Sailor)

TimeslipNotes: This episode is introduced by ITV’s then science reporter, Peter Fairley, introducing the series’ premise but cautioning that it is purely fiction. Eduard Salim Michael’s classical piece “Rite de la Terre” is used as the series’ theme song, but there is no incidental music during the story itself. Timeslip was originally recorded in full color, but only one episode remains in that format. The original color videotapes of the other episodes were wiped and reused (a common practice in the early 1970s), and we only have the remainder of the show to watch thanks to black & white film recordings created to sell the series overseas to broadcasters who were not yet transmitting in color.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Ace Of Wands Season 2

Seven Serpents, Sulphur And Salt – Episode 1

Ace Of WandsMr. Christopher, an acquaintance of Mr. Sweet’s, rushes into Sweet’s bookstore while Lulli is watching the shop. He asks Lulli where Sweet can be reached, and then wants to call him, hiding a piece of paper in one of the books in the shop while Lulli looks for the phone number. But before much of a conversation can take place, a man named Luko appears out of thin air, killing Mr. Christopher and then looking for something until Lulli walks in. Luko vanishes again just as the door opens, leaving Lulli to find Mr. Christopher’s cobweb-covered corpse. Tarot, Sam and Mr. Sweet converge on the store, and Mr. Christopher’s walking stick, imbued with some kind of magical power, directs them to the paper – a scrap of 14th century paper with a drawing of a serpent. Mr. Sweet consults with the verger at a nearby church about the possible meaning and importance of the paper, only to be met with a horrified response. Tarot and Sam, expecting the killer to return to the bookstore in search of the paper, lay a trap, but this time Luko appears with his employer, the sinister Mr. Stabs, who seems to have considerable magical powers of his own – enough to stop Tarot in his tracks. Mr. Sweet and the church verger return with bad news: an exorcism, complete with chalk circles on the floor, will have to be performed on all who have touched the paper. During this ritual, the hand-drawn serpent becomes a real snake – and a terrified Lulli steps out of the protection of her circle.

written by Trevor Preston
directed by Pamela Lonsdale
music by Andrew Bown

Ace Of WandsCast: Michael Mackenzie (Tarot), Judy Loe (Lulli), Tony Selby (Sam), Donald Layne-Smith (Mr. Sweet), Russell Hunter (Mr. Stabs), Ian Trigger (Luko), Harriet Harper (Polandi), Llewellyn Rees (Mr. Christopher), Jack Woolgar (Charlie Postle)

Notes: This is the premiere of Ace Of Wands’ second season, but along with the rest of the second season, is missing due to ITV’s policy of erasing and reusing then-expensive videotape in the 1970s. This synopsis is based on the original scripts (included as bonus features on Network DVD’s box set release of the surviving third season) as well as very low-quality audio recordings of the episode in question.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
UFO

Reflections In The Water

UFOThe sinking of a commercial boat, followed quickly by the death of an underwater cameraman, gets SHADO’s attention focused on the Atlantic Ocean. Reports of objects resembling metallic flying fish tie both incidents together, and Straker orders Skydiver to investigate the region near a volcanic island where the boat was attacked. Skydiver’s sensors find an underwater power cable connected to a large artificial dome structure. When Straker and Foster investigate that dome in person, they see one of their own inside – a possible traitor within SHADO’s midst. They return to SHADO HQ, only to find the presumed traitor there too, but when questioned, he remembers nothing about the underwater dome. Straker and Foster return to the dome, this time to go inside and investigate…and what they find is their entire crew, and the SHADO control center, duplicated in every detail by the aliens…and ready to take over the real SHADO HQ.

Download this episode via Amazonwritten by David Tomblin
directed by David Tomblin
music by Barry Gray

UFOCast: Edward Bishop (Cmdr. Straker), Michael Billington (Col. Foster), James Cosmo (Lt. Anderson), Gordon Sterne (Helmsman), Conrad Phillips (Skipper), Fredric Abbott (1st Seaman), Richard Caldicot (Film Producer), Mark Griffith (Underwater Cameraman), Keith Bell (Film Director), Gerald Cross (Insurance Man), David Warbeck (Skydiver Captain), Anouska Hempel (Skydiver Operative), Wanda Ventham (Col. Virginia Lake), Barry Stokes (Skydiver Navigator), Ayshea (SHADO Operative), Vladek Sheybal (Dr. Jackson), Dolores Mantez (Moonbase Commander), Steven Berkoff (Astronaut)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Ace Of Wands Season 2

Seven Serpents, Sulphur And Salt – Episode 2

Ace Of WandsWhen Lulli makes a hasty – and premature – exit from the exorcism ritual, the snake vanishes, and Lulli begins claiming that she is Kildaa, the bird spirit – and subtly announces her plans to go to the roof of the building in which Tarot lives so she can fly away. Tarot manages to break the spell and bring Lulli back, but the piece of paper with the serpent drawn on it has vanished. Mr. Postle, the church verger who was performing the exorcism, believes that the paper may have been 1/7 of a map to the location of a legendary secret: the ability to turn base metals into gold. Mr. Sweet and Mr. Postle also find evidence of a magician who was previously seeking that secret, named Estabis – over 200 years ago. Tarot and Sam follow a clue to find Mr. Stabs’ base of operations, where they overcome Stabs’ lackey, Luko, and photograph the other map segments in Stabs’ possession. But Stabs himself, in the guise of a reporter seeking an interview with Tarot, gains entry to Tarot’s apartment, which is occupied only by Lulli and Ozymandias the owl when he drops by. He casts a spell on Lulli to force her to give him the photograph of the missing segment of the map…and to force her to poison Tarot’s next cup of coffee…

written by Trevor Preston
directed by Pamela Lonsdale
music by Andrew Bown

Ace Of WandsCast: Michael Mackenzie (Tarot), Judy Loe (Lulli), Tony Selby (Sam), Donald Layne-Smith (Mr. Sweet), Russell Hunter (Mr. Stabs), Ian Trigger (Luko), Harriet Harper (Polandi), Jack Woolgar (Charlie Postle)

Notes: Along with the rest of the first and second seasons of the series, this episode of Ace Of Wands is missing due to ITV’s policy of erasing and reusing then-expensive videotape in the 1970s. This synopsis is based on the original scripts (included as bonus features on Network DVD’s box set release of the surviving third season) as well as very low-quality audio recordings of the episode in question.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Ace Of Wands Season 2

Seven Serpents, Sulphur And Salt – Episode 3

Ace Of WandsA suspicious Sam prevents Tarot from drinking the poisoned coffee, and again, Tarot is able to break the spell over Lulli, bringing her out from under Mr. Stabs’ control. But when she reveals that Stabs has the photo of the missing segment of the map, it’s clear that this race for an ancient secret is in a dead heat: everyone now has the complete map, it’s just a matter of who can decipher it and reach it first. The map leads to a dangerous abandoned well in a graveyard near the ruins of a castle, and Sam decides it’s safest for him to scale his way down the well to find part of the symbol that will unlock the secret. The other part of the symbol is under a large, marked stone, guarded by a particularly poisonous snake, though Tarot is able to retrieve it without disturbing the snake. But it’s only now that his nemeses have done the hard work that Mr. Stabs shows up to claim victory…and in that moments, it looks as though Tarot might switch sides.

written by Trevor Preston
directed by Pamela Lonsdale
music by Andrew Bown

Ace Of WandsCast: Michael Mackenzie (Tarot), Judy Loe (Lulli), Tony Selby (Sam), Donald Layne-Smith (Mr. Sweet), Russell Hunter (Mr. Stabs), Ian Trigger (Luko), Jonathan Cecil (Mr. Thwaites)

Notes: Along with the rest of the first and second seasons of the series, this episode of Ace Of Wands is missing due to ITV’s policy of erasing and reusing then-expensive videotape in the 1970s. This synopsis is based on the original scripts (included as bonus features on Network DVD’s box set release of the surviving third season) as well as very low-quality audio recordings of the episode in question.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Ace Of Wands Season 3

The Meddlers – Part 1

Ace Of WandsTarot visits a run-down street market, learning that unlucky accidents have been befalling the merchants there – a grocer whose goods go rotten, a bookseller whose cart catches on fire, and so on. A trio of wandering street musicians draw Tarot’s attention as well, particularly the somewhat threatening attitude of their spoon player. Tarot meets a photographer named Chas and his sister Mikki, discovering that he has a psychic link to Mikki similar to that which he once shared with Luli. Realizing that the stakes are becoming deadly, Tarot decides to stay and help revitalize that market, only to discover that someone doesn’t want his help…and intends to send that message forcefully.

written by P.J. Hammond
directed by John Russell
music by Andrew Bown

Ace Of WandsCast: Michael Mackenzie (Tarot), Petra Markham (Mikki), Roy Holder (Chas), Michael Standing (Spoon), Barry Linehan (Mockers), Paul Dawkins (Dove), Stefan Kalipha (Drum), Honora Burke (Madge), Neil Linden (Accordion Player)

Notes: This is the premiere of Ace Of Wands’ third season, the only season of the show left intact by ITV’s policy of erasing and reusing then-expensive videotape in the 1970s. While Doctor Who fans may feel Ace Of Wandsunlucky that so many 1960s episodes of that series are missing, Ace Of Wands was produced much more recently, and none of its first two seasons’ episodes now exist in the archives. Involving a crime-solving stage magician with mystic powers and ESP, the series introduced new characters in this episode, replacing the departed Roy (Tony Selby) and Luli (Judy Loe), who had been Tarot’s accomplices in the first two years of the show.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Ace Of Wands Season 3

The Meddlers – Part 2

Ace Of WandsTarot narrowly avoids serious injury, and recognizes the runaway horse for the warning that it represents…but this only makes him more determined to find out what’s happening to the street merchants. Tarot’s car has also been moved without his knowledge, but Chas is able to find it thanks to his local knowledge, and retrieves Tarot’s owl, Ozymandias, from the car. Tarot and Mikki talk to one of the merchants who is packing out her store, but as soon as the woman mentions that her stall space has been bought out by a Mr. Dove, the street musicians appear yet again, again with violence in mind for Tarot.

written by P.J. Hammond
directed by John Russell
music by Andrew Bown

Ace Of WandsCast: Michael Mackenzie (Tarot), Petra Markham (Mikki), Roy Holder (Chas), Michael Standing (Spoon), Barry Linehan (Mockers), Honora Burke (Madge), Paul Dawkins (Dove), Norma West (Chauffeuse), Stefan Kalipha (Drum), Neil Linden (Accordion Player), and Fred Owl (Ozymandias)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Ace Of Wands Season 3

The Meddlers – Part 3

Ace Of WandsTarot and Mikki notice that Chas hasn’t returned home, and begin looking for him. Along the way, Tarot pays a visit to Mr. Dove, trying to size up the man who is buying the street merchants out of their stall spaces, and trying to figure out why. In the meantime, Chas has found Mr. Dove’s competition, a discovery that puts him in danger until Tarot and Mikki find and free him. The fight to empty the street market centers around a literal buried treasure – but if Tarot is right, it’s not worth any of the trouble.

written by P.J. Hammond
directed by John Russell
music by Andrew Bown

Ace Of WandsCast: Michael Mackenzie (Tarot), Roy Holder (Chas), Petra Markham (Mikki), Michael Standing (Spoon), Barry Linehan (Mockers), Paul Dawkins (Dove), Norma West (Chauffeuse), Stefan Kalipha (Drum), Neil Linden (Accordion Player), and Fred Owl (Ozymandias)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Ace Of Wands Season 3

The Power Of Atep – Part 1

Ace Of WandsTarot and Mikki both have the same dream, involving a ritual taking place in an Egyptian tomb…and a mummified corpse that suddenly appears to have Tarot’s head. A call from Tarot’s old friend, Mr. Sweet, brings bad news that seems even more menacing in this light: Egyptian artifacts related to the mythical figure Atep, who was said to be steeped in his own powerful magic. Tarot and Mikki each follow their own leads, but Tarot must eventually resume his preparations for his next death defying stunt. Mikki finds herself in a psychic summoning circle whose participants call upon to power of Atep to ensure that Tarot can defy death no more.

written by Victor Pemberton
directed by Nicholas Ferguson
music by Andrew Bown

Cast: Michael Mackenzie (Tarot), Roy Holder (Chas), Petra Ace Of WandsMarkham (Mikki), Sebastian Graham-Jones (John Pentacle), Donald Layne-Smith (Mr. Sweet), Michael Mulcaster (High Priest), Frederick Beauman (Worshipper), Margot Field (Worshipper), Catherine Brandon (Worshipper), and Fred Owl (Ozymandias)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Ace Of Wands Season 3

The Power Of Atep – Part 2

Ace Of WandsWhen Tarot fails to surface while practicing a stunt involving breaking free of a straitjacket underwater, Chas leaps to his rescue and drags Tarot back to safety. Mikki breaks from her trance-like state in the psychic circle, revealing that her allegiances are to Tarot rather than Atep; when she, Tarot, Chas and Mr. Sweet go to visit the house where the ritual took place, there’s no evidence that anyone was ever there. Worse yet, Mr. Sweet discovers that the obscure book, “The Power of Atep”, has been stolen. All clues seem to point to Egypt, in the Valley of the Pharaohs, and Chas and Mikki convince Tarot that he must go there. John Pentacle, the leader of the sinister psychic ritual, knows that Tarot will go to Egypt as well…and he will be waiting.

written by Victor Pemberton
directed by Nicholas Ferguson
music by Andrew Bown

Cast: Michael Mackenzie (Tarot), Roy Holder (Chas), Petra Ace Of WandsMarkham (Mikki), Sebastian Graham-Jones (John Pentacle), Donald Layne-Smith (Mr. Sweet), Michael Mulcaster (High Priest), Frederick Beauman (Worshipper), Margot Field (Worshipper), Catherine Brandon (Worshipper), Michael Rose (Tramp), and Fred Owl (Ozymandias)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Ace Of Wands Season 3

The Power Of Atep – Part 3

Ace Of WandsTarot begins to wonder if his former partner, a fellow stage magician, has a hand in the disappearance of the Atep’s mummy from the British museum, as the unusual theft has some of the hallmarks of an act that they once performed together. Before they arrive in Egypt, Mr. Sweet arranges for Tarot, Mikki and Chas to meet Fergus, the Egyptologist who opened Atep’s tomb and can lead them back to it. Mikki and Tarot both instantly recognize the tomb from their shared nightmares. When Chas takes a photograph in the tomb, Fergus forbids further pictures, but once the travelers are on their own and Chas develops the one photo he took, Mikki spots the man she knows as John Pentacle – a man Tarot recognizes as his former stage partner. But as Fergus finds out not long afterward, John Pentacle has an uncanny talent for looking and sounding exactly like Tarot…a talent that could put Tarot himself in deadly danger.

written by Victor Pemberton
directed by Nicholas Ferguson
music by Andrew Bown

Ace Of WandsCast: Michael McKenzie (Tarot), Roy Holder (Chas), Petra Markham (Mikki), Sebastian Graham-Jones (John Pentacle), Joe Dunlop (Fergus Wilson), Lynval May (Arab Boy), and Fred Owl (Ozymandias)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Ace Of Wands Season 3

The Power Of Atep – Part 4

Ace Of WandsTrapped in the tomb of Atep with his vengeful former stage partner, Tarot is told that he will have to survive a magical duel with Atep, who was himself a skilled magician serving the Pharaohs of Egypt. Tarot wants no part of it, but he has little choice, and expects very little competition from a dead man, only to be surprised when at least some of the tales of Atep’s magical prowess prove to be true. Mikki and Chas strong-arm Fergus into taking them to Atep’s tomb to help Tarot, only to find that Fergus has been in league with the worshippers of Atep all along. Will Tarot have to endure the increasingly deadly duel with Atep alone?

written by Victor Pemberton
directed by Nicholas Ferguson
music by Andrew Bown

Ace Of WandsCast: Michael McKenzie (Tarot), Roy Holder (Chas), Petra Markham (Mikki), Sebastian Graham-Jones (John Pentacle), Joe Dunlop (Fergus Wilson), and Fred Owl (Ozymandias)

LogBook entry by Earl Green