The Baron
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Baron | |
|---|---|
 British DVD release |
|
| Format | Crime Drama |
| Created by | John Creasey (source) Monty Berman Robert S. Baker[1] |
| Starring | Steve Forrest Sue Lloyd Colin Gordon Paul Ferris |
| Opening theme | Edwin Astley |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 30 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Robert S. Baker |
| Producer(s) | Monty Berman |
| Supervising producer(s) |
Johnny Goodman |
| Story editor(s) | Terry Nation |
| Running time | 60 min. |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ATV UK ABC US |
| Original run | September 28, 1966 UK – April 19, 1967 UK |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
The Baron was a British television series, made in 1965/66 based on the books 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. (Previous ITC series Stingray and Thunderbirds had been made earlier in colour, while The Adventures of Sir Lancelot in 1956 had a number of its episodes shot in Technicolor.)
The show starred American Steve Forrest as John Mannering, an antiques dealer and undercover agent working in an informal capacity for the head of the British Diplomatic Intelligence.
Like other ITC shows, The Baron shared a lot of its production crew with the other productions of the time (Danger Man, The Saint etc.), including guest cast members Peter Wyngarde and Bernard Lee, and directors Roy Ward Baker and Robert Asher. The lion's share of the scripts were by Dennis Spooner and Dalek creator Terry Nation. A few episodes were written by 'Tony O'Grady', none other than The Avengers writer-producer Brian Clemens under a pseudonym.
The character of Mannering was like Simon Templar, a member of the jet set, whose glamorous lifestyle was typified by the (at the time) still-exclusive air travel to exotic locations. However filming never left the UK; indeed was filmed chiefly in and around Elstree Studios in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire. Locations used included Haberdashers' Aske's School, St. Albans and Ivinghoe Beacon. These featured prominently in several other ITC series of the same era. The backlot at Elstree in particular was extensively used, being transformed alternately into Mannering's antiques shop, a Mexican town, a Parisian nightclub, an East European police station and many others besides.
As with other ITC series, the American market was vital, and several episodes were overdubbed (e.g. 'petrol' becoming 'gas', 'whisky' becoming 'scotch') to ensure it was fit for US audiences. Unfortunately despite a promising start it did not do well enough on the US network and was syndicated midway through its run. This effectively ensured no second series would be made even though it was well received in the UK.
The series was released by Network Video on Region 2 and by Umbrella Video (Australia) on Region 0 DVD. Commentaries were recorded by Sue Lloyd, Johnny Goodman and Cyril Frankel amongst others.
Contents |
[edit] Cast
- Steve Forrest....John Mannering AKA "The Baron"
- Sue Lloyd....Cordelia Winfield
- Colin Gordon....John Alexander Templeton-Green
- Paul Ferris....David Marlowe
[edit] Production Credits
- Producer - Monty Berman
- Script Supervision - Terry Nation
- Production Supervisor - Johnny Goodman
- Music - Edwin Astley
[edit] Episodes
In UK broadcast order. Column A = production order; Column B = US broadcast order. '--' indicates that the episode was not networked in the US.
| No. | Title | UK Broadcast Date | A | B |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Diplomatic Immunity | 28 September 1966 | (4) | (1) |
| 2. | Epitaph for a Hero | 5 October 1966 | (1) | (3) |
| 3. | Something for a Rainy Day | 12 October 1966 | (9) | (5) |
| 4. | Red Horse, Red Rider | 19 October 1966 | (2) | (2) |
| 5. | Enemy of the State | 26 October 1966 | (10) | (7) |
| 6. | Masquerade (Part 1) | 2 November 1966 | (14) | (13) |
| 7. | The Killing (Part 2) | 9 November 1966 | (15) | (14) |
| 8. | The Persuaders | 16 November 1966 | (7) | (9) |
| 9. | And Suddenly You're Dead | 23 November 1966 | (12) | (10) |
| 10. | The Legions of Ammak | 30 November 1966 | (3) | -- |
| 11. | Samurai West | 7 December 1966 | (1) | (4) |
| 12. | The Maze | 14 December 1966 | (23) | -- |
| 13. | Portrait of Louisa | 21 December 1966) | (8) | (6) |
| 14. | There's Someone Close Behind You | 28 December 1966 | (11) | (8) |
| 15. | Storm Warning (Part 1) | 4 January 1967 | (25) | -- |
| 16. | The Island (Part 2) | 11 January 1967 | (26) | -- |
| 17. | Time to Kill | 18 January 1967 | (21) | -- |
| 18. | A Memory of Evil | 25 January 1967 | (13) | (12) |
| 19. | You Can't Win Them All | 1 February 1967 | (17) | -- |
| 20. | The High Terrace | 8 February 1967 | (28) | -- |
| 21. | The Seven Eyes of Night | 15 February 1967 | (18) | -- |
| 22. | Night of the Hunter | 22 February 1967 | (24) | -- |
| 23. | The Edge of Fear | 1 March 1967 | (20) | -- |
| 24. | Long Ago and Far Away | 8 March 1967 | (16) | -- |
| 25. | So Dark the Night | 15 March 1967 | (22) | -- |
| 26. | The Long, Long Day | 22 March 1967 | (19) | -- |
| 27. | Roundabout | 29 March 1967 | (27) | -- |
| 28. | The Man Outside | 5 April 1967 | (29) | -- |
| 29. | Countdown | 12 April 1967 | (30) | -- |
| 30. | Farewell to Yesterday | 19 April 1967 | (5) | (11) |
[edit] Trivia
- In Creasey's original books, Mannering was British and was married. In transforming him into an unmarried Texan the producers decided that 'The Baron' would be named after the cattle ranch once run by his grandfather. In the books he had formerly been a jewel-thief.
- Paul Ferris was originally cast as Mannering's assistant David Marlowe. However after pressure from the US network Marlowe was dropped in favour of the more glamorous Cordelia who had appeared in the first episode.
- The Baron's car was a silver Jensen CV-8 Mk II with the registration 'BAR 1'. Unlike the Volvo driven by The Saint, the exclusivity of the car meant the series did not generate the same sales boost as The Saint had done for Volvo. Cordelia drove a considerably less upmarket Daf 33.
- The episode Something For A Rainy Day featured a clip of the now-famous white Jaguar plummeting over a cliff. It was apparently filmed for this episode but was deemed so expensive the clip went on to be used in many episodes and series later, effectively becoming an in-joke. Whenever someone got in a white Jaguar it inevitably ended in doom!
- The episode Portrait of Louisa was a reworking by Terry Nation of his earlier script for an episode of The Saint entitled Lida.
