Sun 7 Feb 2010
A British TV series review: WILDE ALLIANCE (1978).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , TV mysteries[3] Comments
WILDE ALLIANCE. Yorkshire TV, ITV1, UK; 13 x 60m episodes, 17 January 1978 to 11 April 1978. John Stride (Rupert Wilde), Julia Foster (Amy Wilde). Producer: Ian Mackintosh.
Tise Vahimagi happened to mention this series in a post he did on this blog almost three years ago, one in which he was discussing the various TV series that crime fiction writer Ian Mackintosh was involved in, one way or another.
At the time I’d never heard of Wilde Alliance (and in fact back then I was more or less a complete novice when it came to old British TV series), and his description of the show was definitely tantalizing:
Said he: “… [a] comedy-thriller featuring the amateur sleuthing adventures of a thriller novelist and his busybody wife (the latter in the Pamela North, Jennifer Hart vein).” Tantalizing, I said, because, I thought, what are the chances that anyone would dig this probably all-but-forgotten series out of whatever archive it might be in, if it existed at all.
So what a fluke of luck it was to discover that, at the same time I purchased my first multi-region DVD player, that the series did exist, all 13 episodes, and that in fact it had just come out on DVD. It was promptly in my Amazon-UK shopping cart and speeding across the Atlantic on its way to me.
As Tise said, Rupert Wilde is a thriller mystery writer. As played by John Stride, he’s a chunky fellow, with grayish white hair that’s just a little too long to be called kempt, but was probably in fashion then, back in the late 70s. His wife Amy is pert, saucy and slight and a perfect helpmate, very much her own woman, but cheerfully praising, pleasing and prodding Rupert on.
They’re a happily married couple and normal in all regards except for their penchant to get mixed up in small scrapes and escapades, some of which involve crimes and some don’t. They aren’t as rich as the Harts (Hart to Hart), since Rupert is always pressed on deadlines for his next book in order to pay the bills, but they certainly are far from poor.
Of the five episodes I’ve watched so far, I’ve enjoyed the fifth the most: “The Private Army of Colonel Stone,” in which the son of one of Rupert’s honorary aunts has mysterious died in Africa while on a diamond-hunting expedition. No body has been found, but the three men who’d been with him have taken over the isolated cottage that the dead man had used to finance his share of the venture. Plenty of twists and turns in the plot before it’s done.
Other episodes, so far:
(2) “Flower Power.” Amy Wilde comes up with a scheme to stop a dam from being constructed that will flood a beautiful valley.
(3) “Too Much Too Often.” A weekend in the country with a unhappy couple ends in disaster — a raging river and a drink too many?
(4) “Things That Go Bump.” A house that Rupert’s agent has purchased seems to have both a curse and a ghost that comes with it.
Very minor plot material, when it comes down to it, nor are either of the stars big names, then or now (I will gladly stand corrected on that), but the interplay between the two leading actors is as charming (if I may use such a word in describing a TV series purportedly a detective show) as that between Steed and Mrs. Peel in a series in which, however, the stories were larger than life.
Not quite so with Wilde Alliance. Their adventures are ordinary, or almost so. (None of the above ever happened to Judy and I.)
[UPDATE.] Later the same morning. Scouting on the Internet for more information about the series, I found a webpage containing a lengthy overview of it. Quoting briefly, which I assume I may:
February 7th, 2010 at 9:16 am
I watched several episodes of the original series. John Stride was a big name,having starred as a dodgy lawyer in The Main Chance, and Julia Foster was quite popular. I felt it was ok at the time, but the stories and characters were a bit too lightweight in comparison to the best tv of the 60s and 70s.
February 7th, 2010 at 2:19 pm
We certainly don’t disagree about the story lines in WILDE ALLIANCE being lightweight, Martin. Any dedicated fan of action adventure films or cops-and-robbers TV shows is really going to be bored out their mind, I’m sure. And my tolerance for “charming,” which is the adjective I used, may be exhausted before getting through to the end of the season.
I’ve been wondering why there was only the one season, and while I’m a long way away in both time and place, maybe I’ve put my finger on it in my last sentence above?
Producer Ian Mackintoch went on to do THE SANDBAGGERS next, a show about an “elite British Intelligence covert operations unit,” as stated on IMDB. I can’t imagine a bigger contrast!
I see that THE SANDBAGGERS is also available on DVD (1978-1980). I’m willing to give this one a try, whenever I can.
But at the moment I’m alternating episodes of WILDE ALLIANCE with those of THE PROFESSIONALS (1978-1983), also about the same time, but with about ten times the action, the series chronicling the adventures of the three top agents for Britain’s Criminal Intelligence 5.
Enjoyable enough, but there’s also the sense of having seen a lot of it before. WILDE ALLIANCE has a small edge in being different, at least!
— Steve
February 7th, 2010 at 4:11 pm
Steve mentions THE SANDBAGGERS, a TV show I watched on dvd a few years ago. I found this series to be very realistic and very hardboiled compared to James Bond or Man From Uncle. It shows some of the office politics and dirt and grime behind the “spy business”. Also the 6th or 7th episode is a real stunner showing just about the toughest decision a spy might have to make.
Unfortunately the writer Mackintosh died an early death thus ending the series. This is a series that should not be missed if you like unusual and high quality TV. In fact, writing these words makes me realize that I have to watch it again.