The Invaders

Several episodes of the classic Quinn Martin TV series have been going up on YouTube this year, and here is the pilot episode Beachhead, in which all the ingredients mentioned in the opening narration for every subsequent episode came to pass. Here is 'the man too long without sleep; and the 'closed, deserted diner'.

This is the kind of series that made real impact on the audience because of its storytelling, intrigue and development – despite some 'goofy writing' (as one commenter to the next episode put it) and relatively low-grade special effects. Now we can re-live the gripping drama of The Invaders as it was properly devised by Larry Cohen, without the peculiarities of the two-part mini-series starring Scott Bakula some years later...

Indian Actors in Britain

I have (for the umpteenth time) remembered the late and excellent comedy actor Dino Shafeek, mainly because I just had a filled chapati, and there was a scene in It Ain't Half Hot Mum on board a train where Dino had to try to get his mother's meal-time chapati to her without the filling dropping out. If you ever saw it, you'll know what I mean...

It was a real shame to lose him at a comparatively young age; but we in this country have been blessed with a good sprinkling of high quality Indian actors, both comedic and serious. It was thus with some pleasure that, on checking at the Internet Movie DataBase (IMDB), I found that Saeed Jaffrey is still with us, at the grand age of 84, and still very much active in the profession.

Now, this is the man who has one award and two nominations (including one BAFTA) to his name, and is still working in one, two or three productions a year, every year. His short-lived sitcom Tandoori Nights was more a gentle observation than a real comedy – which probably was responsible for its being dropped so soon, and one can understand the TV executives' thinking here – and was a delight in its own way, if incorrectly 'pigeonholed'...

Those like me who are old enough to remember Gangsters, the freewheeling double-series that brought recognition to the late Maurice Colbourne (real name: Roger Middleton) before Howard's Way cemented that, might recall that there were several good Indian-origin (and similar) actors in that, including Ahmed Khalil (whose ethnic origin I have never discovered), Saeed Jaffrey again, and – for just four episodes in the second series – the wonderful Zia Mohyeddin.

 Anyone who saw that will recall his charismatic portrayal of Iqbal Khan (yes, a somewhat mixed name!) and his quest in that mini-arc at the start of the second season – and he was just so English somehow! I always thought it was an impressive performance, and a good reminder that there is actually scope for genuine acting talent originating from that part of the world.

By comparison, the mass-produced fluff from Bollywood (aimed at gullible peasants – and that's the industry's view, not mine) is absolute rubbish – as the Ivory-Merchant productions have also shown over the decades. The lesson is not to judge Indian actors and others in the business as if they were mere Bollywood types (although there are a few gems hidden in there too, such as Sridevi) – there are a fair number who are a lot better than that...

Angelo Muscat

There were only two constant character's in Patrick McGoohan's cult Tv series The prisoner – his own, Number Six, and the mute butler at Number Two's residence. There'd be a new Number Two each episode, with one or two coming back (most notably Leo McKern), but the butler remained throughout.

Even the security/monitoring room Supervisor (played by Peter Swanwick) didn't last the whole series, which was a little disappointing: who can forget his calls of "Orange alert!" In fact, he was in just eight of the seventeen episodes...

He was played by Malta-born diminutive actor Angelo Muscat, who also played an Oompa Loompa in the original Willy Wonka film and a few other parts besides, mostly uncredited. He died in 1977 at the all-too-young age of just 47, just six years after the Wonka movie was released.

I was sad to stumle upon tthis bit of information, because in common with millions of other viewers (I am sure) I had developed an easy liking for the little fellow who never said anything, but was always there and knew just what to do. You couldn't help but like the butler, even though technically he was part of 'the establishment' behind The Village and all for which it stood.

He just seemed to be above it all, somehow, regardless of what we knew intellectually; and much of this must be down to Angelo's perfect personification of his character. If others were anything like me, they too must have been sufficiently intrigued to have watched carefully to find out who he was, during the closing credits when we were supposed to be watching the assembly of the (very stylish) penny-farthing bicycle and 'Rover's appearance at the end

He was unforgettable, especially as that particular character, so will live on in our memories, especially as The Prisoner is re-shown on one channel or another every few years and probably always will be.

Mr Steed and Mrs Peel

A true classic TV theme to a quintessentially British series – this is The Avengers as it was always destined to become once Ian Hendry and Honor Blackman had left. Not that there was anything wrong with either of them, but they were in effect just the warm-up for what was at that time still to come.

Who could forget those endings in particular, often involving Champagne, sometimes in a 'fountain'...

Here is the extended version of the theme, along with some stills from episodes of that era...

Finding That Elusive TV Theme

One television theme from many years ago that I wanted to share with my readers has so far been impossible to find. One great joy of the Internet has been being able to revisit those memories of decades ago because someone has kindly uploaded a theme and perhaps even a video of a programme's entire intro and/or closing sequence.

One I have specifically searching for during these past months has been one of the themes to the long-running ITV series of the 'seventies called "Love Story". Yes, I know, I know... but this particular theme made it worth catching the beginning of the programme and then finding an excuse to go and do something else.

There were several themes over the years, but the one I have in mind was by a jazz trio of piano, plucked bass and drums. It was very good and with a moderate 'tingle factor'. It was mostly slow, with an uptempo middle section, very distinctive and certainly unforgettable. I have a feeling it might have been composed by Derek Hilton, but cannot be sure. There seems to be no record of it attributed to him that I can find via that route.

 If anyone knows where an on-line version of this theme exists, presumably hidden away from search engines and other such front-on approaches that in my experience fail to find it, do please post a link in the comments and I'll gladly embed it here (or provide the link if embedding has been disabled or is otherwise not possible) so that all who visit this 'blog can enjoy this excellent piece.

Mahna Mahna

Just for fun, to round off this evening's musical interlude...

Hill Street Blues

Now here's a programme I have never been able to watch all the way through, or want to do so. It was the intro sequence with this wonderful and haunting theme, and a regular cast list that seemed to just go on and on, that caught my attention at the start – then I'd go off and do something else(!)

One of the regular actors was James B Sikking, and a car that 'lives' just across the road from me has a licence number that suggests that name, so it will no doubt come as little surprise to those who know of my penchant for naming vehicles after what's on their licence plates that this is my pet name for that blue (yes, even the colour suggests the series!) car just across the way, less than a minute's walk from my front door...

Joe 90

This is one of Barry Gray's brilliant themes for Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's 'supermarionation' series that I have never featured before.

That omission is corrected right here and now, with the stereo mix of both the opening and closing themes in their original sequences...

Airwolf theme

It's seemingly impossible to find the original full-length Airwolf theme on-line, but of the many remakes by various artists I think this one, though not perfect, is the best I have found after quite a lengthy search.

It's fully up-to-date technically, so is a lot better quality technically than the original would have been anyway. Visually, we get only a still image on this 'video', so this is for the sound track only, and well worth it at that...

Butterflies

Who remembers this? A high tingle-factor, well-written TV sitcom theme with a clever interplay of two vocal parts. The series (by Carla Lane) was so-so, but the theme was something special...


Dolly Parton has performed a full-length version of the song, and (I have now learned) wrote it as well, which is something I never knew before...

Actors in American Sci-Fi

It is interesting to keep an eye out for guest (and sometimes semi-regular) high-quality actors in American Sci-Fi series.

Some of the more recent series, such as Earth: Final Conflict and the new versions of V and Battlestar Galactica, have previously unknown (at least to most of us) performers more-or-less throughout, although the latter did have the excellent Michelle Forbes guesting as Captain Caine of the Pegasus for a couple of episodes. I first encountered Michelle as the Bajoran ensign Ro Laren in Star Trek: The Next Generation some years earlier.

Other series, such as Andromeda and Stargate SG-1 have featured easily-recognisable actors like Peter Wingfield, Sam J. Jones, Tony Todd, John Savage, Carmen Argenziano, Hiro Kanagawa and Kevin Durand, among others. If you want to see what I mean, pick a name from that list and take a look in Google Images and you'll immediately say to yourself "Oh, him!' and probably follow that with 'I wondered what his name was..." Betcha!

I, of course, have (predictably!) been storing these names mentally for years, and a large number of others too, starting decades ago with names that most people alive today wouldn't recognise, such as Jeff Corey (not a brilliant actor, by the way, but always enjoyable to watch, funnily enough) and Michael Cavanaugh.

The series are good showcases for acting talents, as the characters are often more interesting than parts in other genres. For example, Sam J. Jones – hardly one of the greats in terms of acting – had an excellent outing in SG-1 as a bounty hunter in one episode. It really suited his style! It was certainly a long way from the movie Flash Gordon he played all those years ago, opposite Brian Blessed and Timothy Dalton...

Sometimes bringing relatively unknown names into prominence in a big production can work – and sometimes it just doesn't. The new V was cancelled after two seasons owing to poor viewing ratings (all-important in American TV!), and I am reasonably certain that this was largely down to the relatively low acting standard and lack of believability of the main characters – apart from the always-excellent Morena Baccarin as Anna, who was the only name I recognised from the entire cast.

Mind you, Christopher Sher who plays Marcus looks to have potential, but the only other really good performer had his character killed off in the very first episode (Alan Tudyk, who was great in both Firefly and Dollhouse).

Conversely, the Galactica cast turned out to be generally up to the challenges, so that despite the dodgy (almost free-wheeling) writing style of the series, it did go all the way to the story's conclusion. Some of the regular cast made names for themselves in that series and have since appeared elsewhere – perhaps most unexpectedly 'Baltar' becoming Merlin in one production(!)

It's a funny old business, though; and the tendency of series to be cancelled after just one or two series (anything with Eric Close in it seems to last just one season, such as Dark Skies and Now and Again) means that one should never get too deeply into an American series because of the risk of being left hanging.

It can happen here too, though it is relatively uncommon. For example, a number of years ago, two of the three stories of The Tripods were made into a series each, but the third and final story was never made. That was frustrating, as it had become far more interesting during the second season than the first.

I bought the book, though, so I know what happens!

Theme – The Avengers (all versions)

This is the complete set, right from the time Ian Hendry was the main star, and Patrick McNee was playing second fiddle. I recall the opening theme and sequence very well, though in those days I was a bit too young to stay up and watch the programme itself.

After that we go through the Honor Blackman, Diana Rigg and Linda Thorson series' openers, as well as those for the two New Avengers seasons.

Although the famous second theme might get a bit repetitive as one goes through this compendium, it really is worth is for the delightful accompanying sequences – surely the most stylish of any programme ever created, at least until the advent of the New Avengers, which lost most of that...

Theme – Rawhide

One of the most powerful and evocative Western series themes was that for Rawhide, which series also introduced us to Clint Eastwood as Rowdy Yates. I remember it well!

It works even better with the cracking whip, but as far as I can find, none of the online versions has that, so we'll just have to make do without. Keep them dogies movin'!

Theme – Department S

The TV series that introduced us to Jason King (and spawned a spin-off series about his escapades) also had a cracking theme and opening sequence, probably the best in its genre that decade.

This extended version (with stills) runs through the main theme twice, then goes to the ending as per the original, so is entirely consistent with the TV intro...