Department S

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This article is about the TV series. For other uses, see Department S (disambiguation).

ITC Entertainment Distributions
Department S
British DVD release
Format	Spy-Fi Action Adventure
Run time	50 min.
Creator(s)	Dennis Spooner Monty Berman
Starring	Peter Wyngarde Joel Fabiani Rosemary Nicols
Country	UK
Network	ATV
Original run	September 9, 1969 – March 17, 1970
No. of episodes	28
Production Company	ITC Entertainment

Department S was a British espionage/science fiction adventure series produced by ITC Entertainment. The series lasted for 28 episodes, which aired in 1969-70. The series starred Peter Wyngarde as Jason King (who later went on to star in his own, eponymous, spin-off series), Joel Fabiani as Stewart Sullivan and Rosemary Nicols as Annabelle Hurst. The trio were agents for a fictional special department (the 'S' of the title) of Interpol. The head of Department S was Sir Curtis Seretse (played by Dennis Alaba Peters).

The series was created by Dennis Spooner and Monty Berman, although neither wrote any of the episodes, which were insated written by ITC veterans such as Terry Nation and Philip Broadley. Many of the directors on the show had also worked on a number of ITC shows – The Saint, Danger Man, The Protectors and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased). Like many of the ITC shows, Department S has gained cult status.

"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.

Austin Powers is believed to have been based upon the flamboyant Jason King character. Jason King was also the basis for Jason Bentley, played by Peter Richardson in the 1993 Comic Strip Presents film Detectives on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown

The series is available on DVD in Britain, released by Carlton Television (now ITV plc). Repeats began airing on ITV4 in November 2005, alongside a large number of similar ITC productions.