The I.T.C. series 'Department S', which starred Peter Wyngarde as outrageously camp crime writer 'Jason King', ran for one season in 1969/70. It was internationally successful, but inexplicably failed to secure an American sale. Lew Grade then commissioned a spin-off, entitled simply 'Jason King'.
Fans of the earlier show tend to dislike 'King', but I am not among them. It is a fun show, almost at times like a parody of I.T.C. action series. Dennis Spooner said King was his favourite character because you could do things with him you could not do with say, Simon Templar or John Mannering. One episode, for instance, had King out to nab a spy by hiding inside a crate. A fork lift truck then dumped other crates on top of him, making it impossible for him to get out. That would never have happened to 'The Saint'.
'A Deadly Line In Digits' begins with King on holiday in Austria. Ryland ( Ronald Lacey ) of British Intelligence requests he go back to London immediately. The novelist refuses. Then the Inland Revenue's Mr.Quirley ( Freddie Jones ) tells King he owes a fortune in unpaid taxes. King faces jail unless he co-operates with Sir Brian ( Dennis Price ). A secret society of criminals known as 'Crime Con' have been behind a string of daring robberies, executed with perfect precision, almost as if they know beforehand what the police will do before they do it. A heavily disguised King goes to a meeting. Kenworthy ( Donald Houston ) tells a gathering that Crime Con has tapped into the police computer in New Scotland Yard...
Written by Tony Williamson, this is in effect a remake of 'A Sinister Sort Of Service' from the B.B.C.'s 'Adam Adamant Lives!'. It works well enough here, though I prefer the earlier version myself.
As a cost cutting measure, the series was shot on 16 millimetre film rather than the usual 35, giving it at times the appearance of having been filmed through the bottom of a beer bottle. Consequently the show lacks the rich, glossy look associated with I.T.C. shows. Its quite a lark though, with Wyngarde's flamboyance as irresistible as ever.
Fans of the earlier show tend to dislike 'King', but I am not among them. It is a fun show, almost at times like a parody of I.T.C. action series. Dennis Spooner said King was his favourite character because you could do things with him you could not do with say, Simon Templar or John Mannering. One episode, for instance, had King out to nab a spy by hiding inside a crate. A fork lift truck then dumped other crates on top of him, making it impossible for him to get out. That would never have happened to 'The Saint'.
'A Deadly Line In Digits' begins with King on holiday in Austria. Ryland ( Ronald Lacey ) of British Intelligence requests he go back to London immediately. The novelist refuses. Then the Inland Revenue's Mr.Quirley ( Freddie Jones ) tells King he owes a fortune in unpaid taxes. King faces jail unless he co-operates with Sir Brian ( Dennis Price ). A secret society of criminals known as 'Crime Con' have been behind a string of daring robberies, executed with perfect precision, almost as if they know beforehand what the police will do before they do it. A heavily disguised King goes to a meeting. Kenworthy ( Donald Houston ) tells a gathering that Crime Con has tapped into the police computer in New Scotland Yard...
Written by Tony Williamson, this is in effect a remake of 'A Sinister Sort Of Service' from the B.B.C.'s 'Adam Adamant Lives!'. It works well enough here, though I prefer the earlier version myself.
As a cost cutting measure, the series was shot on 16 millimetre film rather than the usual 35, giving it at times the appearance of having been filmed through the bottom of a beer bottle. Consequently the show lacks the rich, glossy look associated with I.T.C. shows. Its quite a lark though, with Wyngarde's flamboyance as irresistible as ever.