Sapphire & Steel

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Sapphire & Steel
"Sapphire and Steel have been assigned." The final frame of the title sequence.
Format	Science fiction, drama
Created by	Peter J. Hammond
Starring	Joanna Lumley, David McCallum
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of episodes	34 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	25 mins
Broadcast
Original channel	ITV
Original run	10 July 1979 – 31 August 1982
External links
IMDb profile

Sapphire & Steel is a British television science-fiction series starring David McCallum as Steel and Joanna Lumley as Sapphire. Produced by ATV, it ran from 1979 to 1982 on the ITV network, and was primarily ATV's (and its successor, Central's) answer to the BBC's Doctor Who. The series was created by Peter J. Hammond who conceived the programme under the working title The Time Menders,^[1] after a stay in a haunted castle. Hammond also wrote all the stories except for the fifth, which was co-written by Don Houghton and Anthony Read.

1 Overview
2 Series format
3 The operatives
4 Television stories
5 Audio plays
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Overview

Joanna Lumley and David McCallum as Sapphire and Steel (from Adventure 3).

The programme centres on a pair of interdimensional operatives, the eponymous Sapphire and Steel. Very little is revealed about their purposes or backgrounds in the course of the series but they appear to be engaged in guarding the order, if not the integrity of Time. They are two of several elements that assume human form and are sent to investigate strange events; others include Lead (Val Pringle) who takes the aspect of a jovial, friendly giant.

In the series, it is explained that Time is like a corridor that surrounds everything, but there are weak spots where Time – implied to be a potentially malignant force – can break into the present and take things. There are also creatures from the beginnings and ends of time that roam the corridor looking for the same weak spots to break through.

These breaks are most often triggered by the presence of an anachronism, for example a nursery rhyme, a doctored photograph that mixes period and contemporary elements, or a house decorated to replicate a 1930s setting. Investigators will assess the situation and then, if intervention is warranted, Operators are assigned to deal with the problem by a mysterious unseen authority, to be assisted by Specialists if necessary.

The stories are generally quite cryptic, raising more questions than answers, and have an eerie air to them, being as much ghost stories as they are science fiction. The programme had been allocated a minuscule production budget, which led to the use of simple (but very effective) staging and minimal special effects, ultimately contributing to the uneasy atmosphere of the show. The ambiguous nature of the programme extends to its main characters. While Sapphire is portrayed as more affable and "human" than the no-nonsense, grim Steel, it is clear that their prime concern is to deal with the break in Time, sometimes over the safety of the humans caught in the incidents they investigate.

[edit] Series format

Sapphire & Steel novelisation of the first adventure

Each adventure usually starts with Sapphire and Steel simply showing up, seemingly out of nowhere, although sometimes they are already present when the story begins. They will then investigate and mingle with various humans, although it is nearly always the location the humans are in which is of the most interest: an old house which dates back to the 18th century, an abandoned railway station, a modern-day motorway petrol station, and so on.

Although the series lasted over a period of four years, only six serials consisting of a total of 34 episodes were made, each episode lasting approximately 25 minutes and generally including a reprised précis of the preceding episode. The first and second stories were shown in the summer of 1979, the second story's transmission interrupted by industrial action at the ITV network which led to a repeat of the story in 1979. The third and fourth stories were transmitted in January 1981, and the fifth in August 1981 with a sixth story "in the can" for future transmission.

By this time, production costs were increasing. The high profile and limited availability of the principal actors, Lumley and McCallum, meant that shooting was somewhat sporadic, and the programme's producers ATV were in the process of being reorganized into the new Central Independent Television; all factors which led to the series' demise. Central felt that viewers might mistake the new programmes for repeats of old ones, and broadcast the final, four-part story in late August 1982 to very little fanfare. The show has never been repeated on UK terrestrial television, but some episodes were shown on the satellite and cable station Bravo in the mid-1990s.

A new UK DVD release of the complete series, featuring a new documentary and commentaries, was released on 5 November 2007.^[2]

[edit] The operatives

It is heavily implied that Sapphire and Steel are not human, given their abilities and manner. Steel, for example, often has gaps in his knowledge of human culture and even Sapphire's grace is tempered with a cool detachment from the humans they interact with. In Adventure 5, Steel confirms that they were alien, "in the extraterrestrial sense," but what this qualification means is not clear. The two also refer to being involved in the mystery of the Mary Celeste, and in one case state they will be waiting for a ship to surface in seventy-five years. This could mean they are either exceptionally long-lived or some kind of time travel is involved. P.J. Hammond confirmed the former hypothesis in a 1993 interview.^[3]

Sapphire and Steel, who are Operators, are occasionally assisted by other operatives, including Lead and Silver. Silver is stated in Adventure 6 as being a Specialist rather than an Operator. There are 127 operatives in total, including 12 transuranic elements, which cannot be assigned where life exists. Although they are described as elements, many of the code names are non-elements, such as Sapphire, Steel and Jet, although these could be pseudonyms for aesthetics or discreteness. Sapphire also has a flirtatious relationship with Silver, contributing to an air of underlying sexual tension on the occasions that Silver is called upon to assist the duo.

Among Sapphire's abilities is the power to manipulate time in small ways as well as divine the age or historical details of an object by touching it (Psychometry). This latter ability is referred in Adventure 2 as "spot analysis". Her most prominent ability is to "take back time," literally rewinding it in a localised area to see or replay the past. She states in Adventure 1 that she cannot take time back twenty-four hours; in the last episode of the same adventure, at Steel's request she takes time back "half a day". In Adventure 2, she is able to "hold time for a day", when another (in this case, the creature seen as the darkness) takes time back over multiple days. Whether this is an improvement in abilities or a different skill entirely is not made clear. She also exhibits an ability to obtain information about people — their ages and backgrounds as well as psychological insights into their personality — just by being close to them. Sometimes it appears that she does not discover this information herself but is receiving the information telepathically from some external source. In Adventure 2, it is stated that the age at which a living person will die is not estimated but recorded, that it is a historical fact. Nothing else is revealed in the television series as to the extent or nature of any such records, or to what extent Sapphire uses them in relation to information obtained directly. She can also manipulate people's emotions, and project illusions. When she uses her powers, her irises will usually glow blue or, under some circumstances, turquoise.

Steel, on the other hand, can freeze himself to absolute zero which gives him the ability to destroy "ghosts", which are in actuality remnants of Time. He apparently possesses immense strength (in Adventure 3 he ties knots in elevator cables to prevent the elevator from being used) and a degree of invulnerability. He also exhibits telekinetic abilities, being able to paralyse people with a look, weld metal with his bare hands or undo deadbolts with a gesture.

The operatives can also communicate telepathically with each other, and in Adventure 5, Sapphire grants this ability to a human being, whom she dubs "Brass" for the duration. Sapphire removes this ability at the end of the story. It is also suggested in Adventure 5 that other powers can be granted. It is hinted in the debate that ensues between Sapphire and Steel after Sapphire gives Brass his abilities that different powers are classed at different levels, with telepathy being considered one of the most basic.

It is not made clear in the series as to what boundaries exist on the skills of operatives. In Adventure 2, Steel cannot perform "spot analysis", as it is not his field, but in Adventure 4, Sapphire and Steel together are specifically able to replicate Silver's ability to transmutate by remembering what he did.

Other operatives that appear also have special powers. Silver (played by David Collings), a Specialist who is designated as a Technician, is good with electronics and gadgets, is able to transform one small object into another, and is even able to replicate small objects out of nothing. He can also create long-lasting visual images of objects too large to replicate, although the exact parameters for such images are never revealed. Lead (played by Val Pringle), on the other hand, possesses superhuman strength and can act as needed insulation for Steel when he freezes himself to extreme temperatures. Fan fiction has expanded the roll of named operatives to over one hundred, covering almost every element, several allotropes, most gems and semi-precious stones and several compounds.

[edit] Television stories

Main article: List of Sapphire & Steel television stories

Each episode begins with the following prologue:

All irregularities will be handled by the forces controlling each dimension. Transuranic, heavy elements may not be used where there is life. Medium atomic weights are available: Gold, Lead, Copper, Jet, Diamond, Radium, Sapphire, Silver and Steel. Sapphire and Steel have been assigned.

For episode three of Adventure 4 and for all of Adventure 6, Lead's place in the prologue is replaced by Mercury (who was mentioned but never seen). If the series had continued, Mercury could have made an appearance.^[3]

A widespread fan legend claims that the actor David Suchet narrates the prologue. However, creator P.J. Hammond has confirmed that this is not true, and to this day still keeps the actor's identity a closely-guarded secret.

The final television story ends on a cliffhanger. Apparently resentful of Sapphire and Steel's independence, a higher authority sends entities known as Transient Beings (similar to the operatives but from the past), to set a trap for them in the aforementioned café. The serial concludes with Silver dispatched to an unknown fate – and Sapphire and Steel being trapped in the café, floating through space, seemingly for all eternity. The cliffhanger has never been resolved, although Hammond has said that a seventh adventure had been planned, so presumably Sapphire and Steel could have escaped. This was also stated by Joanna Lumley in her autobiography ^[4], who remembered that they were told that this was merely an end-of-season cliffhanger, and that Sapphire and Steel would be freed at the start of the next series. However, in an interview with Doctor Who Magazine (#329, cover date: 30 April 2003), David Collings recalled that although another series was planned, Joanna Lumley and David McCallum both decided that they'd had enough and didn't wish to do any more.

[edit] Audio plays

In late May 2004, Big Finish Productions announced that they had secured the rights to produce a new series of Sapphire & Steel audio adventures for release on CD. However, neither McCallum nor Lumley reprised their roles: McCallum was working in the United States and Lumley declined to play Sapphire again. The characters were recast, with Susannah Harker and David Warner taking over the roles. The range is produced by Nigel Fairs and Jason Haigh-Ellery.

The character of Gold (played by Mark Gatiss) appears in the first adventure The Passenger and returns in Perfect Day. The character of Ruby (played by Lisa Bowerman) appears in the second series story Water Like a Stone, reappearing in Cruel Immortality and Second Sight. David Collings reprises his role as Silver in the third and fifth stories of the first series of audio plays. During the production of each season, Nigel Fairs has had to step in at late notice to write a replacement script (writing Dead Man Walking from John Ainsworth's outline in series one, replacing Gary Russell's Big Fun with Cruel Immortality in series two and replacing Joseph Lidster's Reborn with Second Sight in series three).

It was originally rumoured that the new stories would be set before the climactic final story of the television series, but the released plays are set after Adventure 6, with no explanation given as to how they escaped. However, at the start of The Passenger, the characters comment that it has been a long time since they last worked together and, in Cruel Immortality, imply that they were freed in some unspecified way by Silver.

At the end of The Mystery of the Missing Hour, Sapphire and Steel once again find themselves trapped. The following story, Second Sight sees the characters 'reborn' once more - this time in the guise of two young Australians, played by Blair McDonough and Anna Skellern.

CD #	Release date	Story Title	Writer	Synopsis
1	May 2005	The Passenger	Steve Lyons	A steam train enthusiast boards an antiquated 1930s train for a journey with eleven other passengers, and an old book provides the trigger for Time to start playing out a familiar tale that will end in murder. Can Sapphire, Steel and Gold overcome one man's guilt and prevent the inevitable? (4 parts)
2	June 2005	Daisy Chain	Joseph Lidster	An ordinary house with a seemingly happy family hides a secret that might destroy them, as well as Sapphire and Steel. The operatives must find the right link in a chain of cause and effect — but to break it, someone may have to be sacrificed. (4 parts)
3	July 2005	All Fall Down	David Bishop	In an historical area of London, old artefacts are uncovered, and a journal provides a dangerous link to the past. Even with Silver's help, Steel finds the Black Plague reaching out from the mists of Time, while Sapphire risks becoming trapped as part of history itself. (4 parts)
4	August 2005	The Lighthouse	Nigel Fairs	A newlywed couple move into a lighthouse intending to renovate it, but ghosts from the past, secrets from the present and phantoms from the future hurtle around one another in a time storm, threatening to engulf them all in an inescapable cycle of madness and death. (2 parts)
5	September 2005	Dead Man Walking	Nigel Fairs (based on a story by John Ainsworth)	An unexplained death at a prison is only the first of a series of inconsistencies with Time that Sapphire and Steel are called in to investigate. (2 parts)
2.1	July 2006	The School	Simon Guerrier	The school has stood for a century, and proud of its history. However, old ghosts are stirring and lessons will be learned… but will Sapphire and Steel become the teachers, or the students? (4 parts)
2.2	September 2006	The Surest Poison	Richard Dinnick	An auction of timepieces, a 156-year-old man, the theft of the greatest watch ever built and its creator, the greatest watchmaker of all: all linked across history. Time has a plan, one with cataclysmic consequences for humanity unless Sapphire and Steel can stop it. (4 parts)
2.3	November 2006	Water Like a Stone	Nigel Fairs	In an abandoned theatre on Christmas Eve, plans to celebrate a dead playwright's work threaten to lure Sapphire and Steel into a maze from which there may be no escape…
2.4	January 2007	Cruel Immortality	Nigel Fairs	Steel is alone, trapped in a Retirement Home in the middle of nowhere.
2.5	March 2007	Perfect Day	Steve Lyons	Steel, Sapphire and Gold find themselves attending a wedding.
2.6	May 2007	The Mystery of the Missing Hour	Joseph Lidster	Sapphire and Steel arrive in Cairo, 1926 to solve an impossible murder.
3.1	March 2008	Second Sight	Nigel Fairs	Sapphire and Steel have gone. Sapphire and Steel are here.
3.2	April 2008	Remember Me	John Dorney	A faded sitcom star wanders through the darkness of a deserted pier, haunted by the ghosts of his dead colleagues.
3.3	May 2008	Zero	Steve Lyons	The Space Shuttle Aspirant is in a decaying orbit, its engines dead. Time is running out.
3.4	June 2008	The Wall of Darkness	Nigel Fairs	An abandoned shopping centre in the middle of the night. Is the journey at an end?