Fri 1 Jul 2011
A TV Series Review by Michael Shonk: DEPARTMENT S (1969-70).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , TV mysteries[22] Comments
DEPARTMENT S. Syndicated in United States. ITC Production. 28 episodes. 60 minutes. 1969 through 1970. Created by Monty Berman and Dennis Spooner. Executive Story Consultant: Dennis Spooner. Produced by Monty Berman. Creative Consultant: Cyril Frankel. Musical Director: Edwin Astley. Cast: Peter Wyngarde (Jason King), Joel Fabiani (Stewart Sullivan), Rosemary Nicols (Annabelle Hurst), Dennis Alaba Peters (Curtis Seretse). Available on DVD but not in Region One format for the US.
In the 1960s the Beatles were not the only British to invade American pop culture. “Mod” fashions from London and the British TV and Film spies quickly followed. James Bond led the way, followed by The Avengers and a group of ITC-produced TV spies/detectives such as those in Department S. * (See FOOTNOTE.)
Department S was a small branch of Interpol made up of four people dedicated to solving the unsolvable crime. Or to quote a BBC2 introduction to the series (available on YouTube as “Department S: The Gen”), “If its too hot for the cops, a might complicated for the military, call Department S.”
Jason King was a flamboyant, best selling mystery writer who had a love for women and liquor. His fictional detective Mark Caine was in a series of books with such titles as Don’t Look Now But Your Clutch Is Slipping. King would often use Caine’s intuitive methods to help solve the mysteries facing Department S.
Jason King was played by Shakespearian actor, Peter Wyngarde, who Sir John Gielgud said was England’s most underrated actor. Wyngarde was a fan favorite, especially with women. The popularity of Wyngarde’s Jason King would lead to the character getting his own series in 1971.
Stewart Sullivan was the team’s field leader. A man of action, his methods were more procedural such as questioning the suspects.
Annabel Hurst was the beautiful computer scientist whose beliefs in the scientific method of crime solving often put her in conflict with Jason’s more human deductions. Her clothes, what little she wore, were the latest in 1960s fashion.
Curtis Seretse was the bureaucrat in charge of Department S. According to the BFI website Screenonline, the use of a black actor for the part was “a bold piece of casting for its time.”
The four characters set up the ultimate conflict of mystery’s solving methods, with one method always successful in explaining the strangest twist.
Department S shared some characteristics with the more popular and famous The Avengers. Both featured the wild fashion of 60s London and highly stylized writing and direction. Most obviously, both series had a fondness for over the top bizarre plots.
In the first episode, “Six Days” (written by Gerald Kelsey and directed by Cyril Frankel), a commercial plane arrives at a London airport with all on board believing they are thirty minutes early, when they are really six days late. This episode can (for now) be seen on YouTube and is highly recommended. (The link will take you to Part 1 of 4.)
While still fun to watch, the cult favorite has its flaws. There were the typical television mystery annoyances such as a chase because no one thought to guard the exits. But the biggest problem for the modern viewer is what the viewers at the time enjoyed most, the now camp character of Jason King.
FOOTNOTE: The ITC series was made for the American television market, even using the American commercial format and length. It might have appeared in the U.S. first. This would explain why IMDb and BFI have different air dates for the series.
IMDb has the series lasting two seasons. Season One lasted eight episodes from March 9, 1969 through April 27, 1969. Season Two lasted twenty episodes from October 1, 1969 through March 24, 1970. BFI has the series lasting two seasons but starting September 3, 1969 and ending April 3, 1970.
July 1st, 2011 at 4:07 pm
When I bought my multi-region player — almost two years ago now? — I smashed my piggy bank and bought nearly $1000 worth of Region Two DVDs from Amazon-UK.
DEPARTMENT S was one of them, along with one or more seasons of the JASON KING followup. Needless to say, I have not watched it yet, and while some of the clips I’ve seen on YouTube look kind of silly (out of context, let’s say), I think it’s time to unbox it and give it a go.
July 1st, 2011 at 5:23 pm
YEAH, Department S and Jason King- I loved that ,back in the early Seventies, when it was aired in our country. Of course, by today’s standards, and even back then, it was hammy, but it was well synchronized ,and in school, it was one of the series that were constantly quoted !
Good find !
The Doc
July 1st, 2011 at 6:22 pm
DEPARTMENT S is one of my favourite shows from the 60s. Whilst the quality of the puzzles doesn’t remain quite constant throughout the 28 episodes, the best of them (such as THE PIED PIPER OF HAMBLEDOWN or THE SHIFT THAT NEVER WAS) are really satisfying. John Dickson Carr seen through the lens of the 60s action series. It probably has more in common with stuff like THE CHAMPIONS and RANDALL & HOPKIRK DECEASED than THE AVENGERS, which all came from the same ITC stable.
Is there a problem with Jason King? The character was supposed to be louche and over the top. Wyngarde intended the character to be an answer to a lot of the rather strait-laced action heroes of that era. There’s a lovely moment in PIED PIPER… where King hears Sullivan being beaten to a pulp by a mountainous bad guy. He considers going to help, but ultimately decides to stay out of it! Co-creator Dennis Spooner always loved writing for a character who hardly ever won a fight. The fact that no-one concerned took King seriously should surely count for something. This isn’t someone who used to be cool and is now ridiculous. There was always a measure of absurdity to him.
Rather than being intended for the US market, it was made with the US market in mind (American star/ad breaks/good film stock). Lew Grade had enjoyed enormous success when he sold the already existing series of THE SAINT to the US networks, and he always wanted to repeat the experience. By making the show ready for sale to the American market, he hoped to make a sale easier.
Strictly speaking there was only one season of the show. They were all filmed before the first episode was shown on TV.
July 1st, 2011 at 7:36 pm
I actually had little problem with the King character in DEPARTMENT S, but as I did my research every negative review was from a modern viewer complaining about the over the top Jason King. Even the BFI website comments, “Strangely, Jason King’s flares and cravats were once seen as the epitome of stylish elegance.”
His fashions and manners are more obviously camp (from today’s POV) in JASON KING. Think the psychedelic movies of the 60s with their fashions and colors.
This was a period when British writers such as Brian Clemens, Dennis Spooner, Terry Nation and others tried to make it in Hollywood. Nation came the closest.
The reason DEPARTMENT S is less remembered than THE SAINT and THE AVENGERS is DEPARTMENT S was syndicated where the other two made it to the networks (NBC/ABC).
I do wish the DVD set was available here in the U.S. or maybe all of us should visit Steve and watch it on his fancy DVD player.
Thanks for the nice comments guys.
July 2nd, 2011 at 6:03 am
Don’t know why, but not only have I never seen this before but I don’t even remember it being on here.
July 2nd, 2011 at 10:13 am
Indeed…I remember THE CHAMPIONS and a number of others, and I would’ve been drawn to this one, but apparently it didn’t have the “legs” to get into repeats too much…I gather Jeff lives in the NYC area, and in ’69 I moved to the Boston area, two spots where the plethora of independent channels might make something with as bland a title as DEPARTMENT S easy to overlook (and, given the competition among the channels, non-clearance in those markets less likely than in smaller cities). But clearly I need to see this one, as much as ADAM ADAMANT LIVES! Wyngarde I know mostly from NIGHT OF THE EAGLE/BURN, WITCH, BURN!, the rather good (if not completely successful) adaptation of Fritz Leiber’s seminal novel CONJURE WIFE.
July 2nd, 2011 at 11:23 am
I have loads of DVDs of vintage British TV, but since I live in Britain they’re generally easier to get hold of! At the risk of sounding like a stuck record, I really would advise anyone on this forum who hasn’t got a multi-region player to nip out and get one. Not only will you get the chance to see DEPARTMENT S, you will also be able to see stuff like MR PALFREY OF WESTMINSTER, THE SANDBAGGERS, THE HANGED MAN, CALLAN, ARMCHAIR THRILLER, THE BEIDERBECKE AFFAIR, BULMAN, THE CHAMPIONS, SPYDER’S WEB, THE POWER GAME….etc…etc…etc…etc.
After all, it’s not as if I have done my bit and watched load of American TV, is it?
Michael: Didn’t Terry Nation write/produce on a few epiodes of MACGYVER in its first season? He re-located to Hollywood at the beginning of the 80s, I seem to remember.
July 2nd, 2011 at 12:39 pm
I am not sure where I watched it. It may have been a station in Pittsburg, Kansas or Baton Rouge, Louisiana (I moved in 1971). It did not last long.
Bradstreet, yes, Terry Nation was involved with MACGYVER. Check out this nice bio…
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/464311
The British stuff will occasionally suddenly become available over here. THE CHAMPIONS has 30 episodes available at Amazon’s video library. ARMCHAIR THRILLER has some full episodes available at YouTube. The film of CALLAN after the series is also available in full on YouTube.
But you are right we are missing some great TV. Then we are missing some great American TV as well, such as HARRY O and the series I next review…
July 2nd, 2011 at 1:10 pm
HARRY O…?
Huzzah!
July 2nd, 2011 at 2:01 pm
No HARRY O. It is another series. I should have added a comma or more examples. I have an endless list. But no spoilers here.
July 2nd, 2011 at 2:23 pm
Oh. I am disappointed. But only temporarily!
July 2nd, 2011 at 2:39 pm
Not to distract discussion too much away from British DEPARTMENT S. My next review looks at an American network series that could be described as a forgotten PETER GUNN like series.
July 2nd, 2011 at 6:10 pm
I remember HARRY O very clearly, even though it must be over 30 years since I last saw it. He was a very strange hero for a young kid, but somehow he was to me. Why isn’t the series available on dvd? Is there some specific reason?
July 2nd, 2011 at 8:14 pm
For reasons beyond human understanding, Warners does not think there is a big enough demand for the series to make a profit on DVD.
However, Warners has made SMILE JENNY, YOU’RE DEAD (HARRY O’s second TV movie pilot) available as a “made on demand” DVD. It is available at wbshop.com for $17.96 (Amazon sells it at $24.99). Us fans hope this will lead to the entire series making it out on DVD.
Warners is doing the same for NBC’s SEARCH and have the TV Movie pilot called PROBE available.
I am hoping Netflixs and other downloading places will reduce the cost for the studio to the point they let everything out including the Golden Oldies of the past.
July 3rd, 2011 at 2:53 am
The first episode ‘Six Days’ was shown in the UK in the London area on LWT on Friday, January 10th 1969. The original air dates given in IMDb refer to the first showings on ATV, a different ITV region
July 3rd, 2011 at 11:42 am
Jamie
I thought it was difficult to put dates on some US series, the way they jump the time slots around on some of them. You make it sound as though in the UK it’s a task three times as hard. Thanks!
— Steve
July 3rd, 2011 at 2:38 pm
Until the early ’80s, even Saturday nights on ITV were different depending on which region you lived in. A huge budget show like SPACE 1999 was shown at prime time in some regions, late night on others, and early mornings if you were really unlucky!
July 3rd, 2011 at 3:48 pm
British and American TV have endless differences, from commercial breaks to the length of a series (though our cable networks are starting to mimic the six episode long season).
But I am curious how different is the British system from other countries in Europe?
July 7th, 2011 at 5:13 pm
When I was at school, everyone wore their shirt cuffs ‘like Jason King’ , under their sweater. I used to drink with an ex of Wyngarde in Kensington and apparently he did put it about a bit!
July 7th, 2011 at 7:39 pm
Oddly enough, in an Australia poll, women named him the man they most wanted to lose their virginity to.
He has had many unforgettable roles, from THE PRISONER to the FLASH GORDON movie, but who can forget his role as leader of the Hellfire Club in THE AVENGERS episode “A Touch of Brimstone”. The episode never shown on American network television.
August 11th, 2011 at 11:59 am
Update. Recently, the episode “Six Days” available for viewing on YouTube has been removed.
August 11, 2011.
June 8th, 2014 at 10:36 pm
What’s not widely appreciated is that “Dept. S” is required source material for anyone trying to solve the recent TV serial “Lost”. The latter remains a mystery even though its makers tried to put everybody off the track by concluding without a solution, even denying the show’s essence as a mystery.
Charlie’s “DS” signet ring referred to “Dept. S”, and was said to be reflected in his band name, Drive Shaft, just as there was a real world band named Department S after the TV show. Even the opening music (in the premier, variations as mood music later) of “Lost” quoted that of “Dept. S”.
Some of the “Dept. S” episodes bear obvious relationships to “Lost”, while the relationships of some other episodes come out only after you’ve already done some sleuthing about the plot of “Lost” and detected its undisclosed motifs, chiefly the use of doubles. It also helps if you’ve read A.C. Doyle’s “The Lost Special” and familiarized yourself with its adaptations, historic antecedent, and other stories collected with it. Basically, “Lost” turns out to be a story of a big secret that was to be kept by killing in an airline wreck those who held it and replacing them with brain-wiped doubles, except that the originals infiltrated the doubles.