Department S: The Complete Series

Great to see these 60s detective series. They still hold up well today, but add a touch of classy acting with clean dialogue.

Format Reviewed: Blu RayDepartment S (henceforth DS) ran for just one series of 28 episodes, from March 1969 through to March 1970. Produced by ITC the series was at the time the latest in a relentless production line of (mostly) successful action-orientated shows. Invested with by then mandatory ambitions to replicate the international success of The Avengers (of which had successfully cracked the highly lucrative U.S. market) DS was yet another hit for independent television, though a far more modest one compared to the aforementioned ’Avengers.Despite being very much in the same formulaic mould as Steed and Mrs Peel’s adventures the series nonetheless took conscious steps to distinguish itself conceptually. Subsequently DS pursued a more mystery orientated premise, one that deliberately eschewed the psychedelic surrealism so redolent of ‘Avengers and many of its predecessors.An ostensibly insoluble paradox formed the core premise of each episode, one that baffles the conventional authorities necessitating the passing of the investigative baton to Interpol’s mysterious and unorthodox Department S. Thus the team, comprising of three prodigious crime-fighting minds peerless in each of their respective fields of expertise, set out to overcome the impossible, resolve the improbable and make sense of the incomprehensible!Unfortunately it’s this dynamic trio of at least theoretical equals that proves to be DS’s most significant shortcoming…Indeed, top billed Peter Wyngarde portrays flamboyant fiction writer, prodigious intellect and all round swinging 60’s popinjay ‘Jason King’ and, whether by design or serendipitous chance, quickly proceeds to establish DS as very much his show.Certainly DS’s scriptwriting cadre were not oblivious to King’s appeal with Wyngarde securing the majority of screen time and the best lines as a consequence. Such emphasis on one character however proves detrimental to his two compatriots whose roles are inevitably diminished by his domineering persona.The second member of Department S is the intrepid if comparatively bland Stewart Sullivan. Portrayed by American actor Joel Fabiani (casting evidently intended to attract the aforementioned U.S. market) Sullivan is the more physical, literal thinking component to the team and regularly finds himself embroiled in punch ups with the criminal fraternity. Whilst the luckless Sullivan endures batterings and kidnappings the incongruous King is often predisposed elsewhere, busy seducing a pulchritudinous young lady over an irresistible combination of champagne dinner and silver-tongued platitudes!Fabiani puts in a solid enough performance with the material he’s given but with the show’s primary focus intractably placed upon King he can do little to prevent himself being overshadowed. Nevertheless Sullivan is still imbued with sufficient depth for Fabiani to invest some contrasting individuality into him. He’s even occasionally rewarded with a few Sullivan-centric episodes.Sadly poor old Rosemary Nicol is nowhere near as fortunate as either of her colleagues and is by far the worst off amongst Department S’s triumvirate of unequals. As ‘computer expert’ (not that you’d notice outside of a couple of episodes) Annabelle Hurst, Nicol is third billed in every sense and very much the fifth wheel of the team thanks to a succession of character-neglecting scripts. In fact as the show progressively becomes more Wyngarde/King orientated poor Hurst is practically reduced to performing lowly secretarial duties in many episodes!Rounding out the regular cast is Denis Alba Peters as Sir Curtis Seretse. Essentially the department’s administrative leader and lynchpin Peters puts in a credible performance as the staid and impeccably dignified Sir Cutis. Gambian Peters also provides quite the exotic visual element to the show too given that he portrays a black character in authority, both rare for British television at the time.In spite of DS’s very modest shortcomings and initial success the series has since rightfully attained a cult following, ably delivering the suspense, mystery and action it promises. Whilst some episode resolutions undeniably fail to live up to their initial, ostensibly ingenious premise the series ultimately triumphs, thanks not least to Peter Wyngarde’s magnetic performance.CONCLUSION:DS comes highly recommended to those like myself increasingly compelled to seek out the shows of yesteryear as a tonic against the relentless cynicism and ideological claptrap that feebly masquerades as ‘escapist entertainment’ nowadays.I purchased Department S having never seen a single episode before. I was hoping for just good, unadulterated fun… and that’s exactly what I got! Network has also performed its usual restorative miracles presenting this wonderful series in glorious HD. Money well spent.

In the 1960's ITC entertainment produced thriller series for worldwide distribution that often had a touch of imagination to the basic set up. This is one such. Department S are a team of three interpol investigators who are called in to investigate seemingly impossible crimes. This leads to some great pre credits sequences such a crashed car being found to have been driven by a dummy, or a plane arriving six days late at an airport and the crew having no idea why.The investigators are stewart sullivan, played by joel fabiani, rugged and well dressed american man of action. Annabelle Hurst, played by rosemary nicols, british comnputer expert with an eye for detail. And Jason King. Played by peter wyngarde, jason is the writer of the successful mark caine thriller novels and he researches them by doing daring things and working for the department.The show made peter wyngarde a huge star, and it's down to a superb performance from him. Dashing, well dressed, a ladies man with a deep voice and a sharp mind he's a very charismatic character played by a very good actor. But Joel Fabiani and Rosemary Nicols do bring their roles to life very well also, and the three make a great team.Making brief appearances in most episodes is their boss, sir curtis suretse. Played by dennis alaba peters, sir curtis is a well spoken oxford educated african man. Also very well played and making him black and african makes him an absolutely non stereotypical character, which is very appealing.each episode runs for fifty minutes and features the team investigating one of these impossible crimes.It can be a frustrating series because a few too many episodes are rather generic thriller scripts that could have worked equally well as episodes of the saint or many other shows of the time. but when the show really sticks to the impossible crimes premise, most notably in episodes such as six days and last train to redbridge, it's great.It's not the paciest programme ever made and there's a lot of stock footage and back projection - I even recognised a couple of the locations, meant to be on bermuda and the costa del sol, as having been filmed in my home town of poole in dorset. But that all adds to the charm. This is, at it's best, entertaining and well written tv, from a company who knew how to make that kind of thing.There are twenty eight episodes, four to each of the first seven discs in the box. There's no direct scene access and you just select which one you want to watch from a main menu.There are no subtitles and the only language option is english.the first episode - six days - and later one the double death of charlie crippen have commentaries, but are the only two that do.disc eight contains the following extras:Wanna watch a television series? a fifty minute long documentary about the making of the show. a very thorough and in depth piece, with appearances from joel fabiani and rosemary nicols, this is well worth a watch. peter wyngarde doesnt appear and does come in for some criticism for his attitude at the time, so it's a shame we don't get to hear from him. this is part one of a two part documentary and part two can be found in the dvd collection of spin off show jason king.music suite: some of the incidental music played over stills from the show and the production of certain episodes.an extensive gallery of stills from the programme.man in a suitcase - day of execution. this is an episode from another itc show, a series about a former spy gone freelance, and it's on here because rosemary nicols appears in it. she provides a short introduction to the episode. she has a good role in it, and it's a pacy and gripping tale of revenge, so it's worth a watch.there's also the logo used at the start and end of every commercial breaks.a cut down version of the episode the mysterious man in the flying machine. this version was sold to soem international markets and only runs half the length of the original version. it's perhaps as a result a little too fast for it's own good and it's rather like watching edited highlights of the original. the print is also rather old and has the words SPONSORS MESSAGE where commercial breaks would be inserted later on. It's worth a look but it's better to watch the full version first.also as pdf files [accessible by putting the disc onto a computer and accessing the my computer screen] are quite a remarkable amount of promotional material for the show, issued back in the 1960's.all in all a fine collection of a pretty fine piece of tv. and if you like jason king, do be sure to watch the series jason king, which followed this one.

The picture quality from these Blu-rays is astonishing. Certainly on a par with, for example, Randall & Hopkirk. It looks like the original camera negatives have been used, except where captions and/or special effects (e.g. in-car sequences) or transition effects have been used.I won't comment on the show itself except to say that it's a good, imaginative caper although the 'exotic location' idea is a bit corny; generally some stock footage and a caption to establish where our heroes supposedly are followed by either studio-bound scenes or sequences shot in the Home Counties.It would've been nice to have more extras; I gather the DVD version had quite a few of them.

A product of its time but still an enjoyable mystery series in which our heroes solve the mystery and manage to smoke an awful lot of cigarettes as was the custom of the time.Annabelle Hurst as Rosemary wears some gorgeous outfits which make you (or at least me) nostalgic and envious.It is a fun watch I recommend it