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Department S (TV series)

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6.7/10
TV

Theme music composer
  
Edwin Astley

Country of origin
  
United Kingdom

Network
  
ITV

7.2/10
IMDb

Developed by
  
Dennis Spooner

Composer(s)
  
Edwin Astley

Final episode date
  
4 March 1970

Spin-off
  
Jason King

Department S (TV series) Department S ITC TV

Created by
  
Dennis Spooner Monty Berman

Starring
  
Peter Wyngarde Joel Fabiani Rosemary Nicols Dennis Alaba Peters

Cast
  
Peter Wyngarde, Rosemary Nicols, Joel Fabiani, Dennis Alaba Peters

Department S is a United Kingdom spy-fi adventure series produced by ITC Entertainment. It consists of 28 episodes which originally aired in 1969 and 1970. It starred Peter Wyngarde as author Jason King (later featured in spin-off series Jason King), Joel Fabiani as Stewart Sullivan, and Rosemary Nicols as computer expert Annabelle Hurst. These three were agents for a fictional special department (the "S" of the title) of Interpol. The head of Department S was Sir Curtis Seretse (Dennis Alaba Peters).

Contents

Department S (TV series) wwwmysteryfilecomBi711SDVDjpg

Production

Department S (TV series) A TV Series Review by Michael Shonk DEPARTMENT S 196970

"When a case proves too baffling for the minds of Interpol, they turn to the talents of Department S." – from the ITC trailer for the series.

Department S (TV series) Department S Series TV Tropes

The series was created by Dennis Spooner and Monty Berman, although neither man wrote any of the episodes. Episodes were instead written by ITC regulars such as Terry Nation and Philip Broadley. Many of the directors on the show had also worked on other ITC shows such as The Saint, Danger Man and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased).

Department S (TV series) Department S TV series by Adam Lonsdale The Nice Rooms Webzine

The series was filmed on 35mm and designed, like all ITC's film productions, to fit the United States commercial format. Unusually, however, the episode title, writer and director credits appear on screen before the opening title sequence, though after the theme tune has started. With a few exceptions, the principal cast is always studio-bound. Some exteriors are represented by studio buildings, while the rest are mainly shown in second-unit footage using doubles where necessary. Exotic locations are usually established by the use of stock footage. To further cut costs, the series was produced back-to-back with Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased).

Synopsis

Department S is a division of Interpol headed by international bureaucrat Sir Curtis Seretse (Peters). Its headquarters is in Paris (Interpol's headquarters has been located in Lyon since 1989) and the members inspect international cases other crime agencies cannot solve.

The team itself is led by American and former FBI agent Stewart Sullivan (Fabiani), who takes direction from Seretse. Outside of his FBI experience, little is known about Sullivan except that he was pragmatic and hands-on, and did much of the leg-work, confronting the criminals.

Jason King (Wyngarde) is the ideas man, but also helps in the field. He is an adventure novelist who uses details from their cases to write his novels. The living he makes writing novels affords him a hedonistic lifestyle, as he is often seen with beautiful women though he had no permanent love interest in the series; in one episode he mentioned he was a widower whose wife was killed in a plane crash. King also serves as comic relief in the series, especially in scenes of hand-to-hand combat where he winds up being subdued as often as he prevails.

Annabelle Hurst (Nicols) is a computer expert and analyst as well as a field investigator. A very attractive woman, Hurst sometimes appears in seductive, glamorous disguises. There were ongoing hints of romantic interest between Sullivan and Hurst during the series.

DVD releases and repeats

The first two episodes of Department S were released on a now-deleted DVD in Britain by Carlton Television (now ITV plc). Department S was released on DVD in Australia by Umbrella Entertainment in a box set. This version is in PAL with no region code. Network released the series on DVD in the United Kingdom [1] featuring many exclusive extras including commentaries and part of a documentary series also covering Jason King: Wanna Watch a Television Series? Chapter One: Variations on a Theme.

A repeat run of Department S began on ITV4 in November 2005, alongside a large number of similar ITC productions.

Cast

  • Peter Wyngarde – Jason King
  • Joel Fabiani – Stewart Sullivan
  • Rosemary Nicols – Annabelle Hurst
  • Dennis Alaba Peters – Sir Curtis Seretse
  • Episode list

    Filming took place between April 1968 and June 1969.

    The airdates are for ATV Midlands. ITV regions varied date and order.

    The production numbers here refer to ITC synopsis guide numbers and the sequence in the Network DVD booklet.

    DS/DCW/4001 The Man in the Elegant Room DS/DCW/4002 The Pied Piper of Hambledown DS/DCW/4003 A Cellar Full of Silence DS/DCW/4004 The Trojan Tanker DS/DCW/4005 Handicap Dead DS/DCW/4006 Six Days DS/DCW/4007 One of Our Aircraft is Empty DS/DCW/4008 The Treasure of the Costa Del Sol DS/DCW/4009 Black Out DS/DCW/4010 The Double Death of Charlie Crippen DS/DCW/4011 The Man Who Got a New Face DS/DCW/4012 The Shift That Never Was DS/DCW/4013 Who Plays the Dummy? DS/DCW/4014 Les Fleurs Du Mal DS/DCW/4015 Last Train to Redbridge DS/DCW/4016 Dead Men Die Twice DS/DCW/4017 A Ticket to Nowhere DS/DCW/4018 The Ghost of Mary Burnham DS/DCW/4019 The Man from 'X' DS/DCW/4020 Death on Reflection DS/DCW/4021 The Perfect Operation DS/DCW/4022 The Duplicated Man DS/DCW/4023 The Mysterious Man in the Flying Machine DS/DCW/4024 Spencer Bodily is Sixty Years Old DS/DCW/4025 A Fish Out of Water DS/DCW/4026 A Small War of Nerves DS/DCW/4027 The Bones of Byrom Blain DS/DCW/4028 The Soup of the Day

    References

    Department S (TV series) Wikipedia