The Persuaders!
Encyclopedia
The Persuaders! is a 1971
action/adventure series
, produced by ITC Entertainment
for initial broadcast on ITV
and ABC
. It has been called "the last major entry in the cycle of adventure series that had begun eleven years earlier with Danger Man
in 1960", as well as "the most ambitious and most expensive of Sir Lew Grade
's international action adventure series".
Despite its focus on the British and American markets, the show was popular elsewhere. It won its highest awards from Australia
and Spain
, while Roger Moore
and Tony Curtis
were decorated in Germany
and France
for their acting. It persists in the memory of European filmmakers and audiences, having been casually referenced in 21st century productions from Sweden
, France
, Britain
and Germany
.
as Danny Wilde, and Roger Moore
as Brett Rupert George Robert Andrew Sinclair, 15th Earl of Marnock, referred to through most of the series by his courtesy title
of Lord Brett Sinclair, two international playboys. Much of the humour of the show derived from playful observations about the differences between British and American customs. The show ended after one season, in consequence of failing to make an impact on US TV, thereby releasing Roger Moore to star in the popular Bond films
. Roger Moore had been directly involved in the production of the series, and the need for an American co-star was deemed by all imperative to ensure a television release in the USA. An overture to Rock Hudson
was rejected, as it was by second choice Glenn Ford
. A list of candidates was then sought from ABC America. Tony Curtis agreed to the series project and flew into England in April 1970 to commence location filming, only to create headlines of a different type by way of his arrest at Heathrow Airport for possession of cannabis
. He was fined £50.
Now globe-trotting playboys, the men meet on holiday in the French Riviera
, instantly disliking each other and destroying a hotel bar with their fist-fight. Arrested, they are delivered to retired Judge Fulton (Laurence Naismith
) who offers them the choice of spending ninety days in jail or helping him right errors of impunity
. Grudgingly, Wilde and Sinclair agree to help solve Fulton's initial case. He then releases them from any threat of jail.
The men develop a sparing affection for each other, and are soon stumbling into more adventures: sometimes by chance, sometimes due again to Judge Fulton. Although the Judge recurs in the series, he has no formal relationship with his two agents. Several episodes depict his finding a way to convince Wilde and Sinclair to act on his behalf. For instance, in "Angie, Angie" he easily convinces one of the pair. In "The Man in the Middle" he endangers his agents, so that they must act in his behalf. When they are short of cash, he lures them with money. In "Powerswitch" he manipulates events from the shadows, with Sinclair and Wilde not knowing of the Judge's involvement.
In episode 12, "That's Me Over There", it appears that Sinclair has had a longstanding interest in crime-fighting, as he has had installed a dedicated telephone line for an informer on a master criminal. In episode 17, "Five Miles to Midnight", he tells Joan Collins
's character that he personally works for the Judge because it has given him something worthwhile to do after his failed motor racing career; Wilde never reveals nor explains his reasons.
establish the background and current identities of the protagonists via split-screen
narrative technique: two folders, one red, one blue, labelled Danny Wilde and Brett Sinclair simultaneously narrate their lives. As the biographies approach their current ages, a series of four short sequences combine live footage with torn newspaper clippings, connoting their excitingly peripatetic lifestyles. The conclusion shows them together enjoying a life of sport, drink, women, and gambling. The titles were specifically designed so that neither actor would appear to have top billing, something both Moore and Curtis stipulated when they agreed to co-star.
The title sequence retains a cinematic technique cachet among professional film editors. In 1995, Peugeot
released an advertisement for the 306 car, with the theme of the opening title sequence, the split screen process and even the voice of Michel Roux
, who dubbed Tony Curtis in the original series. In 2007, France 2
satirically used it to introduce a report about relations between the newly-elected French President Nicolas Sarkozy
and his first Prime Minister François Fillon
. Moreover, the same channel reprised the satire for the 13 October 2007 episode of On n'est pas couché about the strained relationship between McLaren Formula One
drivers Lewis Hamilton
and Fernando Alonso
.
, Brett Sinclair drives a UK-registered Bahama Yellow right-hand-drive Aston Martin DBS
with V8 wheels and markings. As with Simon Templar
(Roger Moore's character from The Saint television series), Lord Brett Sinclair's car has personalised number plates
of his initials; Templar’s were “ST 1”, Sinclair’s are “BS 1” (Except for one scene in the episode "The Gold Napoleon" where the car had its original UK registration number PPP 6H instead). In fact, the true owner of the plates at the time, Billy Smart, Jr
permitted their fictional use. The Aston Martin from the show was sold by the factory after filming ended, via HR Owen in London, to its first private owner. It was restored to a very high standard in recent years by the Aston Martin factory and is still in private ownership in the UK. Danny Wilde’s car bears Italian registration plates, 221400.MO (the 'MO' component represents the city of Modena, which happens to be the headquarters and manufacturing base of Ferrari). The exact whereabouts of the Dino today is unknown but it is reliably believed to be alive and well in Italy with a private owner.
Both cars were provided to the show's producers courtesy of the respective vehicle manufacturers.
titled "The Ex-King of Diamonds", wherein Simon Templar
(Moore) is partnered with a Texas oilman (Stuart Damon
) in a Monte Carlo
gambling adventure. Liking that combination, Robert S. Baker
and Lew Grade
funded a new series. Unusually, production of the series began and continued without contracts among the producers and Moore. Moreover, Moore's role as producer is not obvious from watching the series, but Curtis confirmed the fact: "Roger was always like the host with the show, because it was his company that was producing it. I would say he was the largest independent owner of it; Roger and his company owned it with Bob Baker, and Sir Lew owned the rest of it."
At the time, the twenty-four episode The Persuaders! was the most expensive British television series produced, each episode costing £100,000, ( 2007:£1,800,000 ) for location filming in France
, Spain
, Sweden
, and Italy
, and star salaries. One of the series' unusual production aspects was that Roger Moore was — officially and practically — his own wardrobe artist, stemming from genuine sartorial interest and marketing his line of clothes by the Pearson and Foster firm.
detailed how they did not get along when she was a guest star. She cited Curtis's foul temper for why the set of the "Five Miles to Midnight" episode was tense. Episode director Val Guest
, in a 2005 interview to the British Film Institute
confirmed Collins's assessment of Curtis:
In his autobiography, Still Dancing, Lew Grade
notes that the actors "Didn't hit it off all that well", because of different work ethics. Despite third-party claims, Curtis and Moore consistently maintained they had an amicable working relationship. Moore says: "Tony and I had a good on- and off-screen relationship, we are two very different people, but we did share a sense of humour".
In a 2005 interview, Curtis referred to Moore with affection and revealed he would not participate in a remake of The Persuaders! without Moore.
, The Champions
, The Baron
). Failure to do so would often lead to cancellation. But The Persuaders made little impact in the US, where it aired opposite Mission: Impossible
on Saturday nights. It was very much a case of "mission impossible" for the British series to "persuade" audiences to switch over despite the fact that Impossible was itself not in the top 30 of all programs in 1971. The show was pulled by ABC before all 24 episodes were shown.
Four pairs of episodes from the series were re-edited into four individual TV movies for the ITC American market, entitled The Switch, Mission: Monte Carlo, Sporting Chance and London Conspiracy. A fifth episode pairing was planned, simply entitled The Persuaders, but never completed. This format, too, did little to spark American interest.
In Britain the show fared much better, placing easily in the top 20 of all shows in 1971.
was completed. Beyond simply making the initial sale, the series was popular with viewers in Continental Europe
, especially in Germany, Denmark, France, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Russia, Hungary and Italy, where it is still regularly repeated. The Finnish local title is: Veijareita ja Pyhimyksiä, "Rascals and Saints", The Danish local title is: De uheldige helte, "The unlucky heroes", The Russian local title is: "Сыщики-любители экстра-класса", The Swedish local title is: Snobbar som jobbar, "Snobs on the Job", and the Norwegian: Gullguttene (Golden Boys), the italian:"Attenti a quei due" (Careful about those two). In The Netherlands the series was broadcasted titeled: "De Versierders". As for the French market it was "Amicalement Votre".
(sic) and ironic tongue-in-cheek
remarks" and that it "even mentioned Lord Sinclair becoming 007 at one or two occasions". It also frequently included remarks about the series itself like "Junge, lass doch die Sprüche, die setzen ja die nächste Folge ab!" (Quit the big talk, lad, or they'll cancel the series) or about the dubbing: "Du musst jetzt etwas schneller werden, sonst bist Du nicht synchron" (Talk faster, or you aren't in sync any more).
This is backed by a 2005 doctoral dissertation at the University of Hamburg
. In it, Nicole Baumgarten takes note of "qualitative content analyses of 15 episodes" of The Persuaders versus the German version, Die Zwei ("The Two"). Baumgarten interprets these 1978 analyses as having proven She goes on to put the matter more plainly, saying that the only common element between The Persuaders and Die Zwei is the visual information.
CBS News
investigated the German dubbing industry in 2006, where they, too, confirmed substantial differences between the German and English-language versions of The Persuaders! In trying to assess the reasons why such a radical change was made, CBS discovered that German dubbing artists believed that "staying exactly true to the original is not always the highest aim." This spirit was invoked by the person who oversaw the adaption and also performed Tony Curtis' role:
It has been argued that an important reason for the vast differences between localised versions of The Persuaders! owes significantly to the nature of the piece.
The Persuaders!, Viaggio argues, needed to be different on the Continent because a strict translation simply would not have made sense to local audiences.
on Channel 4
, Granada Plus
, Bravo and ITV4
in the 1990s and 2000s. When the pilot episode Overture was screened as part of Channel 4
's nostalgia strand TV Heaven
in 1992, that series' host, comedy writer Frank Muir
, said in a Radio Times
interview that The Persuaders "must have been the best bad series ever made... absolute hokum". However, BBC Radio 5
presenter Dave Aldridge later asked: "Was seventies TV really this good?"
Eight episodes were combined as four feature film compilations but not shown in cinema:
London Conspiracy from "A Home of One's Own" and "Greensleeves"
Mission: Monte Carlo from "Powerswitch" and "The Gold Napoleon"
Sporting Chance from "Someone Waiting" and "Anyone Can Play"
The Switch from "The Ozerov Inheritance" and "Angie, Angie..."
In Germany the series is shown permanently on TV, almost once a year.
Having so few episodes made The Persuaders! a difficult sale for U.S. syndication; however in recent years the proliferation of cable network
s has made re-running single-season shows possible.
London. ITV
regions varied date and order.
Production number here refers to the order of the Network DVD.
Filmed on location and at Pinewood Studios
release in Europe in 2001.
A&E Home Video
released the entire series on DVD in Region 1 in 2 volume sets in 2003/2004.
In 2006, because of its popularity in Britain, a 9-Disc DVD special edition boxed set was released, with extra material to the complete, uncut, re-mastered twenty-four episode series.
In December 2010 Network DVD
announced that Chain of Events would feature on a Blu-Ray disc of individual ITC episodes to be released in February 2011, with a Blu-Ray set of the entire Persuaders! series to follow later in the year. In September 2011 the Region B blu-ray box set containing all remastered, restored episodes of The Persuaders was released to considerable praise from reviewers.
in the mid-1980s, starring Michael Brandon
and Glynis Barber
.
A motion picture remake was announced in 2005, set to star Steve Coogan
and Ben Stiller
. Hugh Grant
and George Clooney
were later announced as the stars, with Stiller attached as producer, aiming for a December 2008 release. As of May 2011, the film remains unproduced.
1971 in television
The year 1971 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1971.For the American TV schedule, see: 1971-72 American network television schedule.-Events:...
action/adventure series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
, produced by ITC Entertainment
ITC Entertainment
The Incorporated Television Company was a British television company largely involved in production and distribution. It was founded by Lew Grade.-History:...
for initial broadcast on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
and ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. It has been called "the last major entry in the cycle of adventure series that had begun eleven years earlier with Danger Man
Danger Man
Danger Man is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the program and wrote many of the scripts...
in 1960", as well as "the most ambitious and most expensive of Sir Lew Grade
Lew Grade
Lew Grade, Baron Grade , born Lev Winogradsky, was an influential Russian-born English impresario and media mogul.-Early years:...
's international action adventure series".
Despite its focus on the British and American markets, the show was popular elsewhere. It won its highest awards from Australia
Logie Award
The TV Week Logie Awards are the Australian television industry awards, which have been presented annually since 1959. Renamed by Graham Kennedy in 1960 after he won the first 'Star Of The Year' award, the name 'Logie' awards honours John Logie Baird, a Scotsman who invented the television as a...
and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, while Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
and Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in over 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama...
were decorated in Germany
Bambi (prize)
The Bambi - Deutschlands Wichtigster Medienpreis, often simply called Bambi Awards and stylized as BAMBI, are presented annually by Hubert Burda Media to recognize excellence in international media and television "with vision and creativity who affected and inspired the German public that year",...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
for their acting. It persists in the memory of European filmmakers and audiences, having been casually referenced in 21st century productions from Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Cast and characters
- Tony CurtisTony CurtisTony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in over 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama...
as Danny Wilde - Roger MooreRoger MooreSir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
as Lord Brett Sinclair - Laurence NaismithLaurence NaismithLaurence Naismith was an English actor.Naismith appeared in films such as Carrington VC , Richard III , Sink the Bismarck! , Jason and the Argonauts , and Diamonds Are Forever . He also starred in a children's ghost film The Amazing Mr Blunden...
as Judge Fulton
Casting
It starred Tony CurtisTony Curtis
Tony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in over 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama...
as Danny Wilde, and Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
as Brett Rupert George Robert Andrew Sinclair, 15th Earl of Marnock, referred to through most of the series by his courtesy title
Courtesy title
A courtesy title is a form of address in systems of nobility used for children, former wives and other close relatives of a peer. These styles are used 'by courtesy' in the sense that the relatives do not themselves hold substantive titles...
of Lord Brett Sinclair, two international playboys. Much of the humour of the show derived from playful observations about the differences between British and American customs. The show ended after one season, in consequence of failing to make an impact on US TV, thereby releasing Roger Moore to star in the popular Bond films
James Bond (film series)
The James Bond film series is a British series of motion pictures based on the fictional character of MI6 agent James Bond , who originally appeared in a series of books by Ian Fleming. Earlier films were based on Fleming's novels and short stories, followed later by films with original storylines...
. Roger Moore had been directly involved in the production of the series, and the need for an American co-star was deemed by all imperative to ensure a television release in the USA. An overture to Rock Hudson
Rock Hudson
Roy Harold Scherer, Jr., later Roy Harold Fitzgerald , known professionally as Rock Hudson, was an American film and television actor, recognized as a romantic leading man during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably in several romantic comedies with Doris Day.Hudson was voted "Star of the Year",...
was rejected, as it was by second choice Glenn Ford
Glenn Ford
Glenn Ford was a Canadian-born American actor from Hollywood's Golden Era with a career that spanned seven decades...
. A list of candidates was then sought from ABC America. Tony Curtis agreed to the series project and flew into England in April 1970 to commence location filming, only to create headlines of a different type by way of his arrest at Heathrow Airport for possession of cannabis
Cannabis (drug)
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...
. He was fined £50.
Premise
The Persuaders! are two equally-matched men from different backgrounds who reluctantly team together to solve cases which the courts cannot.- Danny Wilde (Tony CurtisTony CurtisTony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in over 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama...
) is a rough diamond, educated and moulded in the back slums of New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, who escaped by enlisting in the U.S. Navy. He later became a millionaire in the oil business. (Curtis himself suffered a tough childhood in the Bronx, and served in the US Navy. He was 46 when he made The Persuaders, but performed all his own stunts and fight sequences.) - Lord Brett Sinclair (Roger MooreRoger MooreSir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
) is a polished HarrowHarrow SchoolHarrow School, commonly known simply as "Harrow", is an English independent school for boys situated in the town of Harrow, in north-west London.. The school is of worldwide renown. There is some evidence that there has been a school on the site since 1243 but the Harrow School we know today was...
and OxfordUniversity of OxfordThe University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
educated English aristocrat; a former British Army officer and an ex-racing car driver, who addresses his comrade-in-arms as "Daniel".
Now globe-trotting playboys, the men meet on holiday in the French Riviera
French Riviera
The Côte d'Azur, pronounced , often known in English as the French Riviera , is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France, also including the sovereign state of Monaco...
, instantly disliking each other and destroying a hotel bar with their fist-fight. Arrested, they are delivered to retired Judge Fulton (Laurence Naismith
Laurence Naismith
Laurence Naismith was an English actor.Naismith appeared in films such as Carrington VC , Richard III , Sink the Bismarck! , Jason and the Argonauts , and Diamonds Are Forever . He also starred in a children's ghost film The Amazing Mr Blunden...
) who offers them the choice of spending ninety days in jail or helping him right errors of impunity
Errors of impunity
Errors of impunity is a term used in 's book Errors of Justice and in Robert Bohm's introduction to a special edition of The Journal of Criminal Justice on miscarriages of justice. They are defined as lapses that result in criminals either remaining at large or receiving sanctions that are below a...
. Grudgingly, Wilde and Sinclair agree to help solve Fulton's initial case. He then releases them from any threat of jail.
The men develop a sparing affection for each other, and are soon stumbling into more adventures: sometimes by chance, sometimes due again to Judge Fulton. Although the Judge recurs in the series, he has no formal relationship with his two agents. Several episodes depict his finding a way to convince Wilde and Sinclair to act on his behalf. For instance, in "Angie, Angie" he easily convinces one of the pair. In "The Man in the Middle" he endangers his agents, so that they must act in his behalf. When they are short of cash, he lures them with money. In "Powerswitch" he manipulates events from the shadows, with Sinclair and Wilde not knowing of the Judge's involvement.
In episode 12, "That's Me Over There", it appears that Sinclair has had a longstanding interest in crime-fighting, as he has had installed a dedicated telephone line for an informer on a master criminal. In episode 17, "Five Miles to Midnight", he tells Joan Collins
Joan Collins
Joan Henrietta Collins, OBE , is an English actress, author, and columnist. Born in Paddington and raised in Maida Vale, Collins grew up during the Second World War. At the age of nine, she made her stage debut in A Doll's House and after attending school, she was classically trained as an actress...
's character that he personally works for the Judge because it has given him something worthwhile to do after his failed motor racing career; Wilde never reveals nor explains his reasons.
Signature elements
Besides the premise and the characters, The Persuaders is distinguished from other television series by signature elements: the title sequence and the cars of the protagonists.Title sequence
The Persuaders titles and synthesiser theme, by John BarryJohn Barry (composer)
John Barry Prendergast, OBE was an English conductor and composer of film music. He is best known for composing the soundtracks for 12 of the James Bond films between 1962 and 1987...
establish the background and current identities of the protagonists via split-screen
Split screen (film)
In film and video production, split screen is the visible division of the screen, traditionally in half, but also in several simultaneous images, rupturing the illusion that the screen's frame is a seamless view of reality, similar to that of the human eye...
narrative technique: two folders, one red, one blue, labelled Danny Wilde and Brett Sinclair simultaneously narrate their lives. As the biographies approach their current ages, a series of four short sequences combine live footage with torn newspaper clippings, connoting their excitingly peripatetic lifestyles. The conclusion shows them together enjoying a life of sport, drink, women, and gambling. The titles were specifically designed so that neither actor would appear to have top billing, something both Moore and Curtis stipulated when they agreed to co-star.
The title sequence retains a cinematic technique cachet among professional film editors. In 1995, Peugeot
Peugeot
Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...
released an advertisement for the 306 car, with the theme of the opening title sequence, the split screen process and even the voice of Michel Roux
Michel Roux (actor)
Michel Roux was a French actor.He was also the French Voice for many American and Italian actors, such as Jack Lemmon, Peter Sellers, Alec Guinness and Tony Curtis....
, who dubbed Tony Curtis in the original series. In 2007, France 2
France 2
France 2 is a French public national television channel. It is part of the state-owned France Télévisions group, along with France 3, France 4, France 5 and France Ô...
satirically used it to introduce a report about relations between the newly-elected French President Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
and his first Prime Minister François Fillon
François Fillon
François Charles Armand Fillon is the Prime Minister of France. He was appointed to that office by President Nicolas Sarkozy on 17 May 2007. He served initially until 13 November 2010 when he resigned from being prime minister before a planned cabinet reshuffle.On 14 November 2010, Sarkozy...
. Moreover, the same channel reprised the satire for the 13 October 2007 episode of On n'est pas couché about the strained relationship between McLaren Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
drivers Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton, MBE is a British Formula One racing driver from England, currently racing for the McLaren team. He was the Formula One World Champion.Hamilton was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire...
and Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso Díaz is a Spanish Formula One racing driver and a two-time World Champion, who is currently racing for Ferrari....
.
The cars
The protagonists drive signature cars: Danny Wilde drives a Red left-hand-drive Dino 246 GTDino (car)
Not to be confused with Fiat DinoDino was a brand for mid-engined, rear-drive sports cars produced by Ferrari from 1968 to 1976. The Dino brand was meant to be used for cars with engines that had fewer than 12 cylinders, reserving the Ferrari name for the V-12 and flat 12 models. The Dino name was...
, Brett Sinclair drives a UK-registered Bahama Yellow right-hand-drive Aston Martin DBS
Aston Martin DBS
The Aston Martin DBS is a GT car produced by the British manufacturer Aston Martin Lagonda Limited. Originally produced from 1967–72, it featured in the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service...
with V8 wheels and markings. As with Simon Templar
Simon Templar
Simon Templar is a British fictional character known as The Saint featured in a long-running series of books by Leslie Charteris published between 1928 and 1963. After that date, other authors collaborated with Charteris on books until 1983; two additional works produced without Charteris’s...
(Roger Moore's character from The Saint television series), Lord Brett Sinclair's car has personalised number plates
Vanity plate
A vanity plate or personalized plate , prestige plate, private number plate, or personalised registration or custom plate or personalised plate is a special type of vehicle registration plate on an automobile or other vehicle...
of his initials; Templar’s were “ST 1”, Sinclair’s are “BS 1” (Except for one scene in the episode "The Gold Napoleon" where the car had its original UK registration number PPP 6H instead). In fact, the true owner of the plates at the time, Billy Smart, Jr
Billy Smart, Jr
Billy Smart, Jr was widely known in Britain as a circus performer and impresario.Smart, whose real name was Stanley, was the tenth child and third son of Billy Smart, Sr. His father was a showman and fairground proprietor, who bought a circus in 1946. The first appearance of the Billy Smart circus...
permitted their fictional use. The Aston Martin from the show was sold by the factory after filming ended, via HR Owen in London, to its first private owner. It was restored to a very high standard in recent years by the Aston Martin factory and is still in private ownership in the UK. Danny Wilde’s car bears Italian registration plates, 221400.MO (the 'MO' component represents the city of Modena, which happens to be the headquarters and manufacturing base of Ferrari). The exact whereabouts of the Dino today is unknown but it is reliably believed to be alive and well in Italy with a private owner.
Both cars were provided to the show's producers courtesy of the respective vehicle manufacturers.
Production
The concept of The Persuaders originated in one of the final episodes of The SaintThe Saint (TV series)
The Saint was an ITC mystery spy thriller television series that aired in the UK on ITV between 1962 and 1969. It centred on the Leslie Charteris literary character, Simon Templar, a Robin Hood-like adventurer with a penchant for disguise. The character may be nicknamed The Saint because the...
titled "The Ex-King of Diamonds", wherein Simon Templar
Simon Templar
Simon Templar is a British fictional character known as The Saint featured in a long-running series of books by Leslie Charteris published between 1928 and 1963. After that date, other authors collaborated with Charteris on books until 1983; two additional works produced without Charteris’s...
(Moore) is partnered with a Texas oilman (Stuart Damon
Stuart Damon
Stuart Damon is an American actor. He is known for thirty years of portraying the character Dr. Alan Quartermaine on the American soap opera General Hospital, for which he won an Emmy Award in 1999....
) in a Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....
gambling adventure. Liking that combination, Robert S. Baker
Robert S. Baker
Robert Sidney Baker was a British film and television producer, who at times was also a cinematographer and director.- Movie career :...
and Lew Grade
Lew Grade
Lew Grade, Baron Grade , born Lev Winogradsky, was an influential Russian-born English impresario and media mogul.-Early years:...
funded a new series. Unusually, production of the series began and continued without contracts among the producers and Moore. Moreover, Moore's role as producer is not obvious from watching the series, but Curtis confirmed the fact: "Roger was always like the host with the show, because it was his company that was producing it. I would say he was the largest independent owner of it; Roger and his company owned it with Bob Baker, and Sir Lew owned the rest of it."
At the time, the twenty-four episode The Persuaders! was the most expensive British television series produced, each episode costing £100,000, ( 2007:£1,800,000 ) for location filming in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, and Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, and star salaries. One of the series' unusual production aspects was that Roger Moore was — officially and practically — his own wardrobe artist, stemming from genuine sartorial interest and marketing his line of clothes by the Pearson and Foster firm.
The Curtis and Moore relationship
There is much speculation about the professional relationship between Roger Moore and Tony Curtis on- and off-set. In her autobiography Second Act, Joan CollinsJoan Collins
Joan Henrietta Collins, OBE , is an English actress, author, and columnist. Born in Paddington and raised in Maida Vale, Collins grew up during the Second World War. At the age of nine, she made her stage debut in A Doll's House and after attending school, she was classically trained as an actress...
detailed how they did not get along when she was a guest star. She cited Curtis's foul temper for why the set of the "Five Miles to Midnight" episode was tense. Episode director Val Guest
Val Guest
Val Guest was a British film director, best known for his science-fiction films for Hammer Film Productions in the 1950s, but who also enjoyed a long, varied and active career in the film industry from the early 1930s up until the early 1980s.-Early life and career:He was born Valmond Maurice...
, in a 2005 interview to the British Film Institute
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
confirmed Collins's assessment of Curtis:
In his autobiography, Still Dancing, Lew Grade
Lew Grade
Lew Grade, Baron Grade , born Lev Winogradsky, was an influential Russian-born English impresario and media mogul.-Early years:...
notes that the actors "Didn't hit it off all that well", because of different work ethics. Despite third-party claims, Curtis and Moore consistently maintained they had an amicable working relationship. Moore says: "Tony and I had a good on- and off-screen relationship, we are two very different people, but we did share a sense of humour".
In a 2005 interview, Curtis referred to Moore with affection and revealed he would not participate in a remake of The Persuaders! without Moore.
Initial runs in the UK and US
Lew Grade was always keen to break into the American TV market, which is why he kept coming up with series featuring American actors (Man in a SuitcaseMan in a Suitcase
Man in a Suitcase is a 1967 television series produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment.-Origins and overview:Man in a Suitcase was effectively a replacement for Danger Man, whose production had been curtailed when its star Patrick McGoohan had decided to create his own series, The Prisoner...
, The Champions
The Champions
The Champions is a British espionage/science fiction/occult detective fiction adventure series consisting of 30 episodes broadcast on the UK network ITV during 1968–1969, produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment production company...
, The Baron
The Baron
The Baron is a British television series, made in 1965/66 based on the book series by John Creasey, written under the pseudonym Anthony Morton, and produced by ITC Entertainment. It was the first ITC show without marionettes to be produced entirely in colour...
). Failure to do so would often lead to cancellation. But The Persuaders made little impact in the US, where it aired opposite Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible is an American television series which was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicled the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force . The leader of the team was Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, except in...
on Saturday nights. It was very much a case of "mission impossible" for the British series to "persuade" audiences to switch over despite the fact that Impossible was itself not in the top 30 of all programs in 1971. The show was pulled by ABC before all 24 episodes were shown.
Four pairs of episodes from the series were re-edited into four individual TV movies for the ITC American market, entitled The Switch, Mission: Monte Carlo, Sporting Chance and London Conspiracy. A fifth episode pairing was planned, simply entitled The Persuaders, but never completed. This format, too, did little to spark American interest.
In Britain the show fared much better, placing easily in the top 20 of all shows in 1971.
Outside UK and US
Despite the American disappointment, the series sold well outside the UK and US, which allowed it to be profitable soon after principal photographyPrincipal photography
thumb|300px|Film production on location in [[Newark, New Jersey]].Principal photography is the phase of film production in which the movie is filmed, with actors on set and cameras rolling, as distinct from pre-production and post-production....
was completed. Beyond simply making the initial sale, the series was popular with viewers in Continental Europe
Continental Europe
Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....
, especially in Germany, Denmark, France, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Russia, Hungary and Italy, where it is still regularly repeated. The Finnish local title is: Veijareita ja Pyhimyksiä, "Rascals and Saints", The Danish local title is: De uheldige helte, "The unlucky heroes", The Russian local title is: "Сыщики-любители экстра-класса", The Swedish local title is: Snobbar som jobbar, "Snobs on the Job", and the Norwegian: Gullguttene (Golden Boys), the italian:"Attenti a quei due" (Careful about those two). In The Netherlands the series was broadcasted titeled: "De Versierders". As for the French market it was "Amicalement Votre".
Radical dubbing key to German popularity
There is a body of evidence to suggest that the German version, in particular, was changed by the dubbing process as to be a substantively different program. The French version, titled Amicalement vôtre ("yours,friendly") was in fact a translation of the German version instead of the English original – and was also successful. A German fan has asserted that the German dubbing was "a unique mixture of streetslangSlang
Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...
(sic) and ironic tongue-in-cheek
Tongue-in-cheek
Tongue-in-cheek is a phrase used as a figure of speech to imply that a statement or other production is humorously intended and it should not be taken at face value. The facial expression typically indicates that one is joking or making a mental effort. In the past, it may also have indicated...
remarks" and that it "even mentioned Lord Sinclair becoming 007 at one or two occasions". It also frequently included remarks about the series itself like "Junge, lass doch die Sprüche, die setzen ja die nächste Folge ab!" (Quit the big talk, lad, or they'll cancel the series) or about the dubbing: "Du musst jetzt etwas schneller werden, sonst bist Du nicht synchron" (Talk faster, or you aren't in sync any more).
This is backed by a 2005 doctoral dissertation at the University of Hamburg
University of Hamburg
The University of Hamburg is a university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by Wilhelm Stern and others. It grew out of the previous Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen and the Kolonialinstitut as well as the Akademisches Gymnasium. There are around 38,000 students as of the start of...
. In it, Nicole Baumgarten takes note of "qualitative content analyses of 15 episodes" of The Persuaders versus the German version, Die Zwei ("The Two"). Baumgarten interprets these 1978 analyses as having proven She goes on to put the matter more plainly, saying that the only common element between The Persuaders and Die Zwei is the visual information.
CBS News
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
investigated the German dubbing industry in 2006, where they, too, confirmed substantial differences between the German and English-language versions of The Persuaders! In trying to assess the reasons why such a radical change was made, CBS discovered that German dubbing artists believed that "staying exactly true to the original is not always the highest aim." This spirit was invoked by the person who oversaw the adaption and also performed Tony Curtis' role:
It has been argued that an important reason for the vast differences between localised versions of The Persuaders! owes significantly to the nature of the piece.
The Persuaders!, Viaggio argues, needed to be different on the Continent because a strict translation simply would not have made sense to local audiences.
Also known as
- France: Amicalement vôtre
Italy: Attenti a Quei Due
Argentina: Dos tipos audaces
Netherlands: De speelvogels or De Versierders
Germany: Die Zwei
Poland: Partnerzy
Spain: Los Persuasores
Finland: Veijareita ja pyhimyksiä
Norway: Gullguttene
Turkey: Kaygısızlar
Hungary: Minden lében két kanál
Japan: ダンディ2 華麗な冒険
Greece: Οι Αντίζηλοι
Lithuania: Įtikinėtojai
Latvia: Viltnieki
Estonia:Kelmid ja pühakud
Sweden: Snobbar som jobbar
Russia: Сыщики – любители экстра-класса
ex-Yugoslavia : Suparnici
Denmark: De uheldige helte
Iran : کاوشگرانMexico: Dos Tipos Audaces
Reruns
The series' popularity in Britain earned it re-runsRerun
A rerun or repeat is a re-airing of an episode of a radio or television broadcast. The invention of the rerun is generally credited to Desi Arnaz. There are two types of reruns—those that occur during a hiatus, and those that occur when a program is syndicated. Reruns can also be, as the...
on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, Granada Plus
Granada Plus
Plus was a digital channel run by Granada Sky Broadcasting. It was launched on 1 October 1996 under the original name of Granada Plus, and during its availability it underwent successive rebrands as G Plus, G+ and then simply Plus. However, it remained widely referred to by the public at large by...
, Bravo and ITV4
ITV4
ITV4 is a British television station which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV network. The channel has a male-oriented line-up, including sport, cop shows and US comedies and dramas, as well as classic ITV action...
in the 1990s and 2000s. When the pilot episode Overture was screened as part of Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's nostalgia strand TV Heaven
TV Heaven
TV Heaven is a series of 13 theme nights shown on Channel 4 in early 1992, celebrating the best of archive British television. Each programme focused on a particular year....
in 1992, that series' host, comedy writer Frank Muir
Frank Muir
Frank Herbert Muir was an English comedy writer, radio and television personality, and raconteur. His writing and performing partnership with Denis Norden endured for most of their careers. Together they wrote BBC radio's Take It From Here for over 10 years, and then appeared on BBC radio...
, said in a Radio Times
Radio Times
Radio Times is a UK weekly television and radio programme listings magazine, owned by the BBC. It has been published since 1923 by BBC Magazines, which also provides an on-line listings service under the same title...
interview that The Persuaders "must have been the best bad series ever made... absolute hokum". However, BBC Radio 5
BBC Radio 5 (former)
BBC Radio 5 was a BBC radio network that carried sport, children's and educational programmes.It was transmitted via analogue radio on 693 and 909 kHz, and lasted for three years and eight months. The success of BBC Radio 4's coverage of the Gulf War, on a service known as Scud FM,...
presenter Dave Aldridge later asked: "Was seventies TV really this good?"
Eight episodes were combined as four feature film compilations but not shown in cinema:
London Conspiracy from "A Home of One's Own" and "Greensleeves"
Mission: Monte Carlo from "Powerswitch" and "The Gold Napoleon"
Sporting Chance from "Someone Waiting" and "Anyone Can Play"
The Switch from "The Ozerov Inheritance" and "Angie, Angie..."
In Germany the series is shown permanently on TV, almost once a year.
Having so few episodes made The Persuaders! a difficult sale for U.S. syndication; however in recent years the proliferation of cable network
Cable network
A cable channel is a television channel available via cable television. Such channels are usually also available via satellite television, including direct broadcast satellite providers such as DirecTV, Dish Network and BSkyB...
s has made re-running single-season shows possible.
Episode list
Airdate is for LWTLondon Weekend Television
London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...
London. ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
regions varied date and order.
Production number here refers to the order of the Network DVD.
Filmed on location and at Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios is a major British film studio situated in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, approximately west of central London. The studios have played host to many productions over the years from huge blockbuster films to television shows to commercials to pop promos.The purchase of Shepperton...
| Ep # | Prod # | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original airdate |
|---|
DVD releases
The entire series was remastered for DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
release in Europe in 2001.
A&E Home Video
A&E Television Networks
A&E Television Networks is a U.S. media company that owns a group of television channels available via cable & satellite in the US and abroad...
released the entire series on DVD in Region 1 in 2 volume sets in 2003/2004.
In 2006, because of its popularity in Britain, a 9-Disc DVD special edition boxed set was released, with extra material to the complete, uncut, re-mastered twenty-four episode series.
In December 2010 Network DVD
Network DVD
Network DVD is a DVD publishing company that specialises in classic British television. In particular, it has the rights to a number of well-known ITV programmes...
announced that Chain of Events would feature on a Blu-Ray disc of individual ITC episodes to be released in February 2011, with a Blu-Ray set of the entire Persuaders! series to follow later in the year. In September 2011 the Region B blu-ray box set containing all remastered, restored episodes of The Persuaders was released to considerable praise from reviewers.
Awards
- Winner - Logie AwardLogie AwardThe TV Week Logie Awards are the Australian television industry awards, which have been presented annually since 1959. Renamed by Graham Kennedy in 1960 after he won the first 'Star Of The Year' award, the name 'Logie' awards honours John Logie Baird, a Scotsman who invented the television as a...
1972 Best Overseas Drama (Australia) - Winner - TP de OroTP de OroThe TP de Oro is a Spanish award given since 1973, to honour, mostly, Spanish, but also foreign television series. The TP de Oro is considered to be the most prestigious Spanish awards for television.-External links:* *...
Award 1973 Best Foreign Series (Spain) - Winner - BambiBambi (prize)The Bambi - Deutschlands Wichtigster Medienpreis, often simply called Bambi Awards and stylized as BAMBI, are presented annually by Hubert Burda Media to recognize excellence in international media and television "with vision and creativity who affected and inspired the German public that year",...
1973 for Curtis and Moore (Germany)
Influence and remake
The concept of a partnership between a rough American from the city backstreets and a sophisticated British aristocrat was to be used again in the cop action drama Dempsey & MakepeaceDempsey & Makepeace
Dempsey & Makepeace is a British television crime drama made by London Weekend Television for ITV, created and produced by Ranald Graham...
in the mid-1980s, starring Michael Brandon
Michael Brandon
Michael Brandon is an American actor who resides in the United Kingdom and United States.-Life and career:Brandon was born Michael Feldman in Brooklyn, New York to Miriam and Sol Feldman...
and Glynis Barber
Glynis Barber
Glynis Barber is a South African actress of Afrikaner descent, born and brought up in South Africa. She was born Glynis van der Riet. When she was five years old, her parents divorced, and she and her mother moved to Johannesburg. She is best known for her portrayal as Sgt...
.
A motion picture remake was announced in 2005, set to star Steve Coogan
Steve Coogan
Stephen John "Steve" Coogan is a British comedian, actor, writer and producer. Born in Manchester, he began his career as a standup comedian and impressionist, working as a voice artist throughout the 1980s on satirical puppet show Spitting Image. In the early nineties, Coogan began creating...
and Ben Stiller
Ben Stiller
Benjamin Edward "Ben" Stiller is an American comedian, actor, writer, film director, and producer. He is the son of veteran comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara....
. Hugh Grant
Hugh Grant
Hugh John Mungo Grant is an English actor and film producer. He has received a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA, and an Honorary César. His films have earned more than $2.4 billion from 25 theatrical releases worldwide. Grant achieved international stardom after appearing in Richard Curtis's...
and George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
were later announced as the stars, with Stiller attached as producer, aiming for a December 2008 release. As of May 2011, the film remains unproduced.
External links
- The Theme LP
- retro-Action Volume 1 Network DVD Blu-Ray release.