Pretty Good

Perfectly adorable

Did you people see the same film I saw?

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

I enjoyed Department S when I discovered it on DVD, so decided to give its spin-off series a try, even knowing going in that it was not as well-regarded. I very quickly found out why!What made Jason King (the character) work in Department S was that he had two relatively normal sidekicks - who appear here only in the briefest of stock footage flashbacks in one single episode - to bounce off, making him seem like an eccentric in a more or less everyday world. Given his own series and shorn of anyone to keep him in check, however, Jason becomes absolutely ludicrous, a camp comic-book creation with barely even one toe in reality. That he's at all bearable to watch is entirely down to Peter Wyngarde's charm, as the scripts frequently make him casually sexist and even racist in a cringeworthy 1970s way. (One episode actually has him say "Ah so, dlagon rady" to a Chinese woman... a Chinese woman played by a British actress in yellowface and false eyelids. Horrible!)The stories are also bottom-of-the-barrel stuff. Since he's no longer part of a law enforcement agency, every contrivance imaginable is needed to force Jason into the plots. He unwittingly uses a codeword meant to identify an arms dealer. He's hypnotised. He's mistaken for a hit-man because he's carrying a rose. He picks up a hitch-hiker involved in a crime. He's impersonated (twice). He's blackmailed by MI6 (several times). He's kidnapped (repeatedly). In the laziest example, he just so happens to know *three* different people - from different countries - who are trying to obtain a stolen statue, none of whom have any connection to each other.The scripts are not the only thing that were cheap. To pay for location shooting in Europe (Jason visits Paris, Hamburg, Vienna, Venice and other cities - mostly wandering around in front of famous landmarks just to prove that yes, they really sent their leading actor there for the day) the show was shot on 16mm film rather than ITC's usual 35mm, and it looks terrible. 16mm can be decent quality - look at the restored DVDs of the Jon Pertwee era of Doctor Who - but here everything is muddy and astonishingly grainy. The same sets appear over and over (every rich character seems to share a room with a blue domed ceiling), as do even cars. There's a silver Vauxhall Viva that follows Jason to almost every country he visits! Amazingly, a halfway-decent story does occasionally manage to force its way through the dross; 'As Easy As ABC' sees two criminals using the plot of one of Jason's own novels to carry out a robbery and frame him for it, 'To Russia With Panache' plays like a lost Department S script as Jason investigates a bizarre murder in the Kremlin, and 'Wanna Buy A Television Series?' amusingly bites the hand that feeds it by ridiculing the same US TV networks that ITC depended upon to fund its shows. But most of the episodes are empty, silly and, worst of all, *boring* nonsense that not even Wyngarde's charisma can save.

Compared to its predecessor Department S, Jason King was a generally enjoyable but sometimes uneven show which pointed to the impending decline of the ITC adventure series. Though many of the stories were good with excellent guest actors, and there was an emphasis on style, the series suffered from budgetary constraints compared to its contemporaries in 1971. These included grainy 16mm film, too much studio filming/stock footage and no matter where in the world a particular episode was set, any cars used tended to be right hand drive including in particular a recurring Vauxhall Viva that turned up in episodes set in France, Turkey and the Far East among others. Other ITC series disguised these discrepancies better.It was also sometimes slow moving and lacking in atmosphere, concentrating on King's style, flamboyance, social graces and relationships with whichever guest actress(es) were in the particular episode, rather than other characters and the ultimate plots, which were becoming clichéd. The show may have benefited if there had been regular support actors to play with/against King in every episode.Nevertheless, Jason King is one of the most memorable TV characters of that era, if not of all time, and the best episodes were very good indeed. Being forever identified as Jason King, and unfortunately caught up in a minor scandal, whether Peter Wyngarde could have continued to be (or wanted to be) a convincing leading man in subsequent years is debatable. He would have been excellent in lighter fare such as sitcoms and perhaps even as a Doctor Who. His relative obscurity is a loss to TV and movies.

Finally we have a digital channel that is not afraid to run the old ITC pulp series from the late 60's and early 70's. These are the ones we 50-year-olds grew up with! They were, of course, formulaic having the two-man/one girl teams (almost always with the Canadian/American Hero in order to sell over the pond). With the popularity of the formula it was surprising that 'Department S' spawned an untypical offshoot - Solo British Hero with very few Transatlantic guest parts. This was harking back to the glory days of 'Simon Templar'.ITV4 has now re-run a number of these old 'Jason King' episodes most recently a two-parter entitled "All That Glisters.." I am absolutely convinced that Clinton Greyn's character of 'John Mallen' was voiced-over by Shane Rimmer, although no mention of this occurs in the credits. Anyone familiar with these stock actors would surely recognise the substitution instantly, unless Greyn had cultivated a mid-Atlantic accent of remarkable similarity during his time in the USA.If true it is a shame that Rimmer (who, I believe has been unwell recently) received no accolade for the performance. Such 'Lip-Sync' on live actors must be far more demanding than marionettes and is to be admired!Can anyone out there shed any light on this?

Having just read the write up on this site.. I'm not sure I agree. ITV4 has started showing a lot of old ITC progs, including Department S and Jason King. Watching it now at age 54.. I remember it when first shown.. but now.. I'm enjoying it all over again. I'm surprised they were hour long episodes... but find I have really enjoyed them. Many will compare them to modern series.. well, I view everything with the thought of, they were of their time. I've found what I've seen so far humorous.. and knowing what I know now of Peter Wyngarde, am STILL thoroughly enjoying them? Tongue in cheek.. STYLE.. charm with the ladies.. a laugh.Entertaining. Its a shame modern series with hi tech effects.. often overshadow characters. These shows HAVE characters. Now I know there were 26 episodes, I know a mate who told me there were only 6.. must have read a miss print.