#harry w. junkin

[mariocki]

The Saint: Vendetta for the Saint - Part 1 (6.15, ITC, 1969)

"Want some advice? Go easy."

"And mine to you is pull out - before I start breaking his world up."

"What?"

"You heard."

"Dear man, have you any idea what you're taking on?"

"No, but I'll pick it up as I go along."

"You won't get six feet. Well, maybe: laid out in your best suit."

#the saint #vendetta for the saint #itc #1969 #leslie charteris #jim o'connolly #john kruse #harry w. junkin #roger moore #ian hendry #rosemary dexter #aimi macdonald #george pastell #marie burke #fulton mackay #peter kristof #peter madden #guy deghy #charles houston #edward evans #malya nappi #eileen way #ooh we're really in the final stretch now. 1969! the show started in 1962‚ it had occupied most of the 60s by this point (a tumultuous and #culturally unique decade). here we hit the second two parter‚ coming quick after the first‚ but a very different fish: where the fiction #makers chose to go bigger‚ zanier‚ weirder (all laser beams and cartoonish villains‚ eccentric side characters and many #explosions) this second movie length outing instead takes a very standard Saint formula (he is sort of witness to a murder and so decides #to bring down the killer and mafia too) and just does it.. more thoroughly‚ i guess? takes advantage of the longer running time and what #was presumably a higher budget to simply add more spectacle to a solid Saint adventure. it works! this is pretty good! fancy location work #(at an actual location! the team shot extensively in Malta for this 2 parter)‚ a helicopter‚ car chases and gun battles. it's the series #finally realising what it's always wanted to be thanks to a last minute splurge of the coffers. pretty good stuff

[mariocki]

The Saint: Paper Chase (5.11, ITC, 1966)

"Have you the file?"

"We have outraged Mr. Redman's sense of fair play. How British you have become. The Marquess of Queensberry Rules, even in a fight to the death."

#the saint #paper chase #itc #leslie charteris #1966 #leslie norman #harry w. junkin #michael cramoy #roger moore #ronald hines #niall macginnis #penelope horner #gordon gostelow #jack gwillim #carl duering #michael beint #steve plytas #tony wager #norma west #john g. heller #hans de vries #paul williamson #gordon sterne #frank maher #Gwillim's British Intelligence boss from 5.5 returns and once again Simon is strong armed into doing some spy stuff for queen and country #(but fr why not send the actual spies... John Drake could have done this job with a lot less showing off). a high octane action heavy ep #which presents a fairly simple plot to get Simon into East Berlin and then spends most of the episode on the adventure to get out again #it all feels like it might owe a debt to The Spy Who Came In from the Cold‚ a big screen hit the previous year‚ and even the downbeat #ending feels more le carre than fleming. partly a return to moodier and more realist form‚ except that Simon working for mi5 or 6 feels in #and of itself kind of silly... i mean he's a rich playboy jewel thief. still‚ MacGinnis (a considerable get for the team) is great fun

[mariocki]

The Saint: The Man Who Liked Lions (5.8, ITC, 1966)

"As an enemy, Mr. Templar, I trust you'll prove an exciting opponent."

"I generally do."

#the saint #the man who liked lions #1966 #itc #leslie charteris #harry w. junkin #douglas enefer #jeremy summers #roger moore #peter wyngarde #suzanne lloyd #michael wynne #jeremy young #michael forrest #ed bishop #peter elliott #nike arrighi #robert russell #steven scott #phyllis montefiore #we open on Simon at the colosseum musing on the gladiators of old‚ in a cold open that's disconcertingly similar to that of 1.2 The Latin #Touch; and sure enough‚ Simon has a comic taxi driver assistant‚ only sadly it isn't old friend Marco (Warren Mitchell presumably less #easily booked now that Alf Garnett was a running success). we do get Ed Bishop tho! alas he doesn't make it through the titles.. Suzanne #Lloyd makes her 4th Saint appearance in an impressively expensive looking episode that is nevertheless slightly unhinged #i do feel like‚ after a few fairly standard adventures‚ this fifth series has just rocketed into madness now; first Nessie‚ now a Roman #emperor wannabe (a delightfully OTT Peter Wyngarde‚ who rather improbably complains about the effeminate men of today.. ahem.. and has a #scene where he's massaged by a very muscular and mostly nude man.. someone on the production team was doing him favours..) #the set dressing and costuming for the roman party finále is all very impressive and surely left overs from another production (altho the #series certainly wasn't a cheap one to produce). i had wondered if they were leftovers from Cleopatra‚ which had originally shot in England #before relocating‚ but that would have been Pinewood not Elstree. regardless this is a handsome if silly episode

[mariocki]

The Saint: The Angel's Eye (5.7, ITC, 1966)

"Oh, and uh, go steady on the hard liquor, Upwater. You're used to beer, remember."

"Beat it, Jeremy, before your heritage starts showing."

#the saint #the angel's eye #itc #leslie charteris #1966 #harry w. junkin #leslie norman #roger moore #jane merrow #liam redmond #anthony nicholls #donald pickering #t. p. mckenna #fredric abbott #cyril shaps #terence rigby #martin wyldeck #katherine schofield #arthur gross #steven brook #jean benedetti #i forgot to mention in my ramblings on 5.6 (masterpiece of nonsense that it was) that despite being absurd it was actually an adaptation of #a Charteris story (!). so is this episode but it makes much more sense here; this is prime Saint territory‚ as Simon gets involved in a #scheme to steal a priceless diamond (or rather‚ he's attempting to prevent the theft). diamonds naturally enough mean Amsterdam and much #awkward green screen with stock footage projected behind the actors (and a few tulips thrown about the set for good measure). despite an #excellent cast of character actors and a genuinely convoluted plot‚ this does feel like the series going through the motions a little bit #Simon uses his Sebastian Tombs alias for the first time this series‚ and the Saintmobile still hasn't appeared (unless i blinked and missed #it somehow). also Simon no longer delivers his opening narration to camera; with colour that has switched to voice over only and he doesn't #often acknowledge the halo effect either so far (he actually does in this episode which is what reminded me of it). also tw for Roger #Moore's bad accent work again: he does a pretty terrible job of impersonating Redmond's Irish brogue

[mariocki]

The Saint: The Death Game (5.17, ITC, 1967)

"You see, some people do not take kindly to the pressures I exert. Naturally, I have to enforce this by having them executed - preferably in such a way that it appears to be an accident. I should like to consider you two ideal candidates for my pressure department. Your starting salaries will be seventy-five thousand dollars a year."

"And we start with Templar."

#the saint #the death game #1967 #itc #leslie charteris #leslie norman #john kruse #harry w. junkin #roger moore #angela douglas #alan macnaughtan #george murcell #john steiner #bernard horsfall #ivor dean #katherine schofield #stuart cooper #rick jones #michael anthony #karen ford #a weird one! feels very unlike The Saint tbh‚ more closely following the playfully strange style The Avengers had cultivated by this point #it's credited as script by Junkin (by this point the script supervisor on the series) and story by Kruse (an occasional contributor who'd #written a few of the eps that adapted full novels) and perhaps there's some story behind that which explains a slightly fractious episode #begins very self consciously weird and stylish‚ with Simon assailed by toy soldiers on a foggy London street‚ then pivots into psychology #and tearaway students‚ then shifts again to become a larger than life (but more familiar) international conspiracy thing headed by the ever #wonderful Murcell. it's an odd one. good old Bernard H gets to die dramatically and a very young John Steiner (later to become a familiar #face in Italian horror movies) goes Full Ham as one of the students who's a little too taken by the titular game of murder #but Murcell owns the episode doing his drawling european super villain shtick that ITC so often hired him for #a weird one but pretty fun‚ even if it does feel like two separate episodes mashed together

[mariocki]

The Saint: The Master Plan (6.8, ITC, 1968)

"You have the key to the whereabouts of a million pounds worth of heroin."

"Interesting, isn't it?"

"You will tell us."

"Oh, I doubt that."

"I do not."

#the saint #the master plan #1968 #classic tv #leslie charteris #leslie norman #harry w. junkin #roger moore #john turner #lyn ashley #burt kwouk #christopher benjamin #robert morris #paul greenhalgh #james locker #brenda kempner #leslie anderson #prudence drage #edwin brown #eh. a fine one‚ no real plot complaints‚ but it does feel a little like going through the motions. maybe that's just the inevitable #exhaustion setting in after 100+ episodes of one show: Simon's helping a young lady acquaintance look for her missing brother (again) #he's fallen in with a criminal organisation (again) who are smuggling drugs into the uk disguised inside antiques (again!) #the ubiquitous Burt Kwouk had already done two eps in small support roles but here he gets to be the main villain at last #and he's (as always) a great deal of fun; unfortunately‚ he has to contend with a script which is eye rollingly patronising in its #depiction of Chinese people and culture‚ and which more than once skirts close to tipping into full on racism #Chris Benjamin fares a little better as his typically eccentric character type (approaching Avengers level of strangeness)

[mariocki]

The Saint: Vendetta for the Saint - Part 2 (6.16, ITC, 1969)

"Out of everyone in this room, only two people have no reason to lie: you and I."

"And how do you reason this?"

"We are both about to die."

#the saint #vendetta for the saint #1969 #leslie charteris #john kruse #harry w. junkin #jim o'connolly #roger moore #ian hendry #rosemary dexter #aimi macdonald #finlay currie #george pastell #marie burke #peter madden #alex scott #anthony newlands #steve plytas #gertan klauber #steven berkoff #ricardo montez #where the fiction makers was shot as two episodes planned to be stitched together for cinema release‚ Vendetta had the opposite production #ie. it was shot as a film and then cut into two for tv; this means that this 2nd ep is the only episode in 118 not to feature Simon being #introduced by name and getting the halo effect before the credits. instead we get a montage of last week's events! some other small tics #are evidence of this backwards creation; this ep also carries the film's 'the end' onscreen title before the proper end credits #truthfully this second part can't quite live up to the first; all the plot and intrigue is more or less sorted out in part 1 and so this #ep is mostly concerned with back and forth chases‚ gun fights and showdowns. they're pretty good (we're still in Malta after all) but it #does mean that it's sort of all show and no brains for the wrap up. oddly‚ despite the two eps heavily playing up the vendetta aspect and #Simon hinting more than once that he's willing to outright kill Hendry's big bad‚ he survives the finale. it would make more sense if Simon #had got a line about mercy or something or just acknowledged it‚ but nothing. ho hum. not a bad two parter!

[mariocki]

The Saint: The House on Dragon's Rock (6.9, ITC, 1968)

"It's a monster from another planet. All them satellites tampering with nature."

"Don't talk so daft, man."

"Same again, Dylan."

"It's, um... it's lycanthropy."

"Duw, there's a lovely word. What's it mean, then?"

#the saint #the house on dragon's rock #1968 #roger moore #leslie charteris #harry w. junkin #anthony bate #annette andre #mervyn johns #alex scott #glyn houston #richard owens #talfryn thomas #heather seymour #anthony blackshaw #david garfield #dafydd havard #peter lawrence #reg pritchard #welp I finally made it. 107 episodes and the whole time in the back of my mind I've been half waiting for this ep; the most infamous of #The Saint's adventures‚ perhaps the most infamous episode of any ITC property. SPOILERS incoming for a 55 yr old tv show: (you were warned) #yes it's a classic Giant Ant Episode. quite how a relatively straightforward series about a playboy adventurer got to this point is almost #beyond comprehension‚ but here we are. Simon's in Wales (depicted as a land of superstitious peasant farmers and rolling mists to nobody's #surprise‚ alas) and he's investigating mysterious goings on. the source? i mean i already said‚ it's a goddamn giant ant. pity poor Anthony #Bate‚ a genuinely brilliant actor‚ here somehow delivering monologues about the supremacy of the ant with a straight face. pity poor dear #Annette Andre‚ menaced unconvincingly by a single mandible and expected to cry tears of fear. don't pity Roger Moore who inexplicably took #on directing duties as well as starring for this ep; he does his best (lots of handheld camera and interesting transitions) but you just #can't get past the giant ant (sometimes a puppet‚ usually superimposed) and the sheer lunacy of the plot #network and some online sources place this at the start of s5 but in the uk it was definitely not shown until halfway through s6 #perhaps someone had the good sense to sit on it until the crew were truly out of fucks to give...

[mariocki]

The Saint: The Russian Prisoner (5.3, ITC, 1966)

"This is not a joke! I am very angry."

"Well, you could have fooled me."

"I warn you! If any of our diplomatically immune guests press charges..."

"You'll put me in jail?"

"With the greatest of pleasure."

#the saint #the russian prisoner #itc #1966 #leslie charteris #john llewellyn moxey #harry w. junkin #roger moore #penelope horner #joseph fürst #guy deghy #yootha joyce #godfrey quigley #anthony booth #robert crewdson #sandor elès #raymond adamson #alexis chesnakov #william buck #perhaps it's a reflection on the longevity of this series or its popularity with actors but (Yootha aside) pretty much everyone #in the cast had made Saint appearances before‚ many of them more than once (and Adamson and Fürst had actually appeared together in #2.11 and Fürst and Deghy in 2.27!). After two original scripts we're back to an actual Charteris adaptation‚ from a short story by the same #name. it's an educated guess‚ but given the wealth of bts photos available and some other small clues i suspect this may have been the #first colour episode to go into production. it's a fun one too! Simon gets to have a lot of fun playing adventurer in a cold war set up #and has some killer lines and moments (including a flippant attempt at passing himself off as a Swiss naval commander). Deghy's inspector #kleinhaus is in fact a returning character (from all the way back in 1.5 The Loaded Tourist‚ making this surely the longest gap in the #series between a character's appearances) altho he's much less trusting of Simon here (what happened in those intervening years..) #still it's a nice bit of continuity. lovely lovely Sandor Elès had played a very similar character in a previous ep as a hotel receptionist #but unless he was transferred from Paris to Geneva they aren't the same character..

[mariocki]

The Saint: The Work of Art (2.7, ITC, 1963)

"Mère Lafond, I think it might be wiser if we were to co-operate."

"Ohh, you have changed, my disreputable buccaneer, co-operate!"

"Yes, but in this case it would be better."

"In this case, I go home. My cat is better company than this!"

#the saint #the work of art #1963 #itc #leslie charteris #harry w. junkin #peter yates #roger moore #yolande turner #alex scott #martin benson #john bailey #robert cawdron #manning wilson #hamilton dyce #hazel hughes #neville becker #miki iveria #anne sharp #tom naylor #june smith #a curious case this‚ moreso for the behind the scenes elements; all the early Saint episodes were directly adapted (to greater or lesser #degrees of faithfulness) from Charteris' own Saint novels and‚ in particular‚ the many short stories he wrote featuring the character. this #is based on a short story which concerns the Spanish Civil War (current affairs when the story was written); in adapting it for 60s tv the #writers updated the plot to be about the Algerian war of independence from France (timely stuff and a subject touched on by previous ITC #serials like The 4 Just Men). but although part of the first shooting block‚ and so probably shot in 61 or perhaps early 62‚ this was one #of the episodes held over to form part of s2 in '63; by which time the conflict was over and the OAS (referenced several times in dialogue) #had been rendered largely obsolete by the arrests and killings of most major operatives. for an episode steeped in current affairs it does #it's damndest to remain apolitical (outside of being a plot device‚ the Algerian war is never really commented on) and sees Simon reconnect #with Cawdron's Sgt Luduc and his boss Quercy (recast since s1s Covteous Headsman; Manning Wilson is sadly less fun than Eugene Deckers was)

[mariocki]

The Saint: The Elusive Ellshaw (2.5, ITC, 1963)

"Well, there's nobody here."

"Yes; you wait here, I'll go round the back, see if I can get in a window."

"Simon, do you think you should?"

"Well, I am trying to break the habit."

#the saint #the elusive ellshaw #leslie charteris #1963 #itc #harry w. junkin #john llewellyn moxey #roger moore #angela browne #richard vernon #ellen mcintosh #philip latham #anthony bate #walter brown #philip bond #norman pitt #arthur hewlett #james ottaway #nicholas pennell #a solid murder mystery episode (Simon even assembles the suspects in the drawing room!) finds the Saint (at first anyway) unusually #disinterested in the case (he blames loneliness for a woman's story about being followed. egg on his face when she gets murdered! actually #as an aside‚ that onscreen murder of a woman is fairly unusual for early 60s tv; the Avengers generally steered clear of showing that kind #of violence). then it's off to the country and a shooting party hosted by Richard Vernon's aged patriarch (actually Vernon was only 9 years #older than screen son Philip Bond). the excellent guest cast elevates this one (Anthony Bates!) but it is a little let down both by Simon's #casual misogyny in the first act and by some awkward class politics in the second (of course the working class northern member of the #shooting party is an uncouth‚ sneering dick; of course the old money upper class family are really Quite Nice Actually and Ever So Kind) #we also get our third and final Insp. Teal before the big one; Norman Pitt is I'm afraid to say very much the weakest of the three one shot #Teals‚ getting very little to do and a poorly developed character. he does appear tho to be chewing gum in one scene‚ a surprisingly #faithful nod to the book Teal (a perpetual gum chewer) which the other actors didn’t perform #iirc Dean substituted peppermints for chewing gum; personal preference or acknowledgement that gum was now had youth associations by 1963?

[mariocki]

The Saint: Luella (2.19, ITC, 1964)

"Matt, we're in trouble. I mean, Mrs. Taggart's got a picture of Luella in her husband's arms. Suppose, somehow, one of our old suckers saw it?"

"Extortion."

"And blackmail."

"And Dartmoor."

"For about thirty years."

#the saint #luella #itc #1964 #leslie charteris #harry w. junkin #roy ward baker #roger moore #david hedison #suzanne lloyd #sue lloyd #aidan turner #michael wynne #jean st. clair #john woodnutt #julian holloway #peter fontaine #pauline chamberlain #alan bennett #an oddity of an episode. the most overtly comical entry in the series so far sees Simon babysitting an old friend whilst his wife is away #cue much chauvinism and old fashioned sexism as the old friend proceeds to chase any and every woman in sight #it's a queasy sort of episode and sits awkwardly in The Saint framework‚ as do the occasional lapses into US sitcom style #slapstick comedy. more interesting is the cast and some unlikely 4th wall breaking (or if not breaking‚ then light tapping). Sue Lloyd was #still going by Susan at this point but within a year or two she'd have a leading role in The Baron; Hedison was already an established US #commodity‚ at the beginning of a flirtation with London that would last the rest of the decade‚ between work on Voyage to the Bottom of the #Sea. most curious is a closing scene in which Simon apparently acknowledges the halo effect from the pre title sequences and more than #that‚ it is acknowledged by another character; this same character believes Simon to be James Bond‚ which of course Moore would be in a #little under a decade. he'd make his first Bond film in 73 in Live and Let Die; costarring‚ of all people‚ David Hedison as Felix Leiter #old tv. it's a small‚ strange world sometimes.

[mariocki]

The Saint: The High Fence (2.23, ITC, 1964)

"Why should I co-operate? Give me one good reason."

"Withholding information is a serious offence!"

"Then arrest me. Go ahead. Put me in jail, hound me the way you did Johnny! Six arrests..."

"Johnny was a confirmed criminal -"

"He was sick and he was frightened, he needed help! All he got was persecution."

#the saint #the high fence #1964 #leslie charteris #itc #harry w. junkin #james hill #roger moore #james villiers #suzanne lloyd #ivor dean #reginald beckwith #stanley meadows #harry towb #dyson lovell #clare kelly #peter jeffrey #hazel hughes #richard poore #one of the episodes i most clearly remember from previous viewings‚ probably because of a twist that for once i didn't see coming #(i was young and naive!). Teal is back‚ peppermints in tow‚ and facing off against an unusually uptight James Villiers as one of the most #antagonistic policemen the series has seen so far. actually this whole episode is surprisingly critical of the police; where they're often #depicted as less able than Simon‚ here they're downright negligent and display a complete lack of grace or tact when talking to the #innocents (or at least only mildly guilty) caught up in the case. Harry Towb's nervous safecracker is notably shown in a more sympathetic #light than the officers who arrest him. this one also benefits from a great cast of perhaps lesser known Brit tv royalty; Jeffreys would go #on to bigger and better‚ as would Meadows‚ but actors like Towb and Lovell were great character players who never seemed to hit the big #time in the way they deserved. Suzanne Lloyd was a repeat guest star for the series (6 eps in all!) but this is one of her best outings #as she actually gets quite a bit to do‚ including some undercover work‚ and has one of the more developed characterisations of Simon's many #lady friends. Clare Kelly was often in comic work but here she gives a wonderful performance as a grieving widow full of rage

[mariocki]

The Saint: Marcia (2.6, ITC, 1963)

"Presumably you know the story behind your sister's death?"

"You mean the acid in the face?"

"Mmhm. A friend of mine, another actress named Claire Avery, has been threatened with the same thing. I thought you might be able to help me."

"How?"

"By telling me about your sister."

"Do you mean the girl? Or the legend?"

#the saint #marcia #itc #1963 #leslie charteris #harry w. junkin #john krish #roger moore #samantha eggar #kenneth mackintosh #marion mathie #johnny briggs #jill melford #philip stone #stanley meadows #tony beckley #janet davies #philip anthony #virginia clay #peter duguid #we're back at Elstree Studios (the real life home of production on The Saint!) for another movie set mystery; this episode takes far #more advantage of the setting than Starring the Saint‚ with numerous scenes on studio sets and a fight on the catwalks above #the plot is a rather grim tale of suicide and blackmail‚ beginning with newsreel footage of a screen starlet's funeral (actually clips from #Ivor Novello's funeral!) before we get another Saint first: a flashback scene! director Krish plays with the format more than many other #directors on the series‚ employing foggy visuals and extreme angles for the flashback scene and later pulling off a beautiful crash zoom #into Eggar's screaming mouth. his style is notable but perhaps it was too showy for the producers (this was his only Saint episode) #eggar is very good but a little underserved by a script which doesn't require much from her besides acting scared #i genuinely did not recognise the great Tony Beckley; i knew i recognised the face but just couldn't place him bc I've genuinely never seen #him so young! again he's great but doesn't have much to do; this is a Simon heavy episode in which supporting players are little more than #sketched in‚ which is a shame‚ bc Starring the Saint did great stuff with unbearable movie types and hangers on

[mariocki]

The Saint: The Lawless Lady (2.20, ITC, 1964)

"Why don't you join us?"

"Who's he?"

"A friend."

"Oh?"

"Yes, some people have them."

#the saint #the lawless lady #1964 #leslie charteris #harry w. junkin #jeremy summers #roger moore #dawn addams #julian glover #ivor dean #ronald ibbs #john g. heller #david sumner #james belchamber #anthea wyndham #kenneth benda #dorothy black #stuart saunders #anne sharp #gerald young #edith saville #adapted from a Charteris novella in which the Saint is only a minor character and the hero is Dicky Tremaine (the character here played in #brief by David Sumner). the writers seem to have taken a very loose approach to this story‚ keeping only the title and a few basic elements #as well as reusing the basic shape of series 1's The Charitable Countess (right down to some expositionary dialogue). this one begins i #should add‚ with one of Simon's most cringe induicing and mercilessly sexist monologues yet‚ on the subject of women drivers (it's as bad #as it sounds) but the ep itself isn't bad; like i say‚ a basic retread of 1.12 but with the added bonus of Inspector Teal (it's been a #while!) and a deliciously vicious turn from Julian Glover as a sour faced henchman who's quick with his fists. the fistfight between #Glover and Moore at the end of the episode is one of the most brutal yet. Moore and Addams had notably good chemistry in her previous ep #(2.1‚ The Fellow Traveller) and they rekindle it here. of the many women to fall hopelessly in love with Simon Templer‚ she's perhaps the #most convincing (even if she could do better imo....)

[mariocki]

The Saint: Portrait of Brenda (6.19, ITC, 1969)

"The question of your departed friend; I hope I helped."

"Unfortunately, my friend died in a rather tragic and unnecessary way."

"A wasting disease?"

"No, it was much more sudden. A knife - in the back."

#the saint #portrait of brenda #leslie charteris #harry w. junkin #itc #1969 #john gilling #roger moore #anna carteret #ivor dean #anne de vigier #trevor bannister #petra davies #marne maitland #hazel coppen #tina ruta #larry taylor #david prowse #harry littlewood #the penultimate Saint ep‚ and we're really digging into that late 60s groove; this one manages to mix in pop art‚ pop music‚ chelsea #fashions and gurus. given that heady mix‚ and a rather troublesome opening narration‚ i was braced for more flower children awfulness as in #5.17 or 5.25 but actually this is a pretty classic Saint ep; strip it of its rather gaudy visuals and costuming and set design and this #really wouldn't be out of place in the black and white era. Simon's after a murderer‚ and to get him he must enlist the help of that most #irascible of bloodhounds Insp Teal: it's a delight to see him again and on his final outing he even gets a rather nice final scene with #Simon which feels like the production team saying goodbye in a way. the pop music element of the plot includes scenes at a recording studio #as Anna Carteret lays down her new single; several 60s shows featured this kind of plot device (Adam Adamant and Mr Rose spring to mind) #but i have to say the (fictional) song being recorded here has the bones of a genuinely good single (with a slightly different arrangement #and perhaps a stronger vocal; sorry Anna...). it's written by lyricist Gary Osborne who'd have been just 19 or so at the time but went on #to write the words for Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds as well as working with Elton John. also Dave Prowse gets used as a human shield by #Simon (fatally); swings and roundabouts i suppose