Wilde Alliance, The Complete Series [1978]

Interesting to re-watch this little known series.

Wilde Alliance is a trip down memory lane, from the days when families sat together on a saturday night to watch the big film, or be collectively chilled by an armchair mystery. I remember this series as being a particular favourite in our house, and it was, understandably, a national ratings winner at the time. I tend to think of Rupert & Amy Wilde as following in the great traditions of Randall & Hopkirk and the excellent Thriller series created by Brian Clemens. If you can embrace the unavoidably dated material as part of it's charm and interest, and forgive some glaring holes in the plots,then you won't be side-tracked when engaging with the characters, who are extremely easy to like. John Stride and Julia Foster play a husband and wife team of would-be amateur sleuths. He is a crime writer by day and she is an illustrator, and they both have a tendency to get lured into investigating things. They are supposedly short of cash, although they live in a lovely appartment in the historic city of York and drive a sporty car. That's about as realistic as this ever gets. Their relationship is fun, witty, and really does feel authentic. This is down to the superb chemistry of the main leads, and their charisma pretty much carries them through any shortcomings of plot. Rupert Wilde is boyish and a bit spoilt, Amy is resourceful and pragmatic. As a sleuthing team they don't always get it right, but they are honest in intention and mainly optimistic. The banter works very well between the two without getting corny. Brian Clemens tried to create something similar with Stephen Rea & Gayle Hunnicut in his story 'K is for Killing (from the Thriller series) and the attempt was pretty cringeworthy and very stagey. The Wilde's manage to avoid this pitfall by force of personality.Of the 13 episodes, three really stuck in my mind from all those years ago, and I was surprised to find that the same three still stood out from the pack. 'Things that go bump' is a haunted house story, with a real Scooby Doo plotline and a twist you you can see coming a mile off. Having said that, it is great fun to watch. If you have ever watched Most Haunted and envied the intrepid investigators ghost hunting in an old dark house with a sinister reputation, then you'll enjoy this episode. 'A Suspicion of Sudden Death' sees Rupert investigating the death of an author after he catches the grieving relatives having a clandestine celebration after the funeral.'Some Trust in Chariots' is the last episode in the series and in many ways the most touching. It involves a woman who keeps seeiing things which is slowly driving her mad.For some reason a second series was never made, but thankfully they have released the first for us to enjoy all over again. I have listed the episodes below:Question of ResearchFlower PowerToo Much, Too OftenThings That Go BumpThe Private Army of Colonel StoneDanny BoyWell Enough AloneExpress From RomeA Game For 2 PlayersTime & AgainAffray in AmsterdamA Suspicion of Sudden DeathSome Trust in Chariots

This quirky mystery from the 1970s was really good to watch with some quickfire retorts and repartee between John Stride and Julia Foster bringing the stories to life i enjoyed watching the Wilde Alliance and if you like a good offbeat mystery story then you'll love this

Lovely charming and in places dated but lovely to see the two main characters so well played by Ben Fogles lovely mother Julia Foster and the late John stride i remember watching it years ago and told a friend about it who had never heard of the series but now we are both enjoying watching this lovely Dou who seem to have a great relationship.

I remember watching these episodes and being blown away by how smart and stylish they all were. I didn't remember the really quite clever plots with sudden twists and turns that you just didn't expect !Of course it has to be viewed through eyes that realise the production is 30-odd years old.We laughed to see some quite, well, sexy, shots of John Stride's crotch and bottom .. he was obviously the dishy interest in the series, while Julia Foster, the charming sensible one with a true sense of humour.The whole buying process for the set was very successful, from smart TR7, white with black roof, to checked shirts and lots of brown and cream cords and Ming Court with its middle class but slightly boho-chic style.There is much to deride but rather than look for cracks in the plot, enjoy the bounce of each other relationship they had .. it comes across as very genuine and fun.We were shocked (in a good way) to realise they had a pornographer living below them !!Spot the high-life opening sequences, great fun !Only quibble is that the episodes break where the ads would have been, which is a bit odd ... but it does give you a chance to enjoy the open/close theme tune.I/we so enjoyed the lot, if you love the 70's enjoy rounded character portrayal and can turn a blind eye to a few glitches, buy and enjoy !Richard

I remember watching this series in the late 70's and enjoying it very much. This was because the lead actors are most engaging in their roles and the stories are interesting and well played.The reason for 3 stars only is because, and yet again, the dvd release has not been cleaned up. The picture quality and sound could have been improved and advert breaks have been left in. They clearly just transferred the tv tapes to dvd format with very little effort. Such a shame. Otherwise definitely worth a watch.

I had never seen this series before and thought it looked interesting. It IS interesting! The stories are quirky and hold one's attention and the whole series is immensely watchable and charming. One wonders why they can't make programmes like this today. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I found the picture quality good and I felt it had a freshness to it, not dated (so many feel that they have to throw in that overused term for anything from the past, no matter how recent!) Highly recommended.

Loved this series when it was on years ago and came across it while looking for a trip down memory lane during lockdown.