It’s always fun revisiting old favourites but it’s even more exciting to discover a TV series that one hadn’t even heard of and that turns out to be pretty great.
My big discovery of that type in 2016 was The Protectors, made by Britain’s ABC Television in 1964. It’s an offbeat crime series about a firm that deals in security, insurance investigations and specialised private inquiry work. Some fine writing and some very solid acting. Excellent series and I recommend it highly.
Almost as exciting was my discovery of ITC’s quirky 1963 crime/adventure (with a large dash of humour) series The Sentimental Agent. Carlos Thompson makes a wonderfully suave tongue-in-cheek hero. It’s a low-key series but it has wit and it has style. I also highly recommend this one.
There was also Thames Television’s Zodiac, a 1974 paranormal crime series with a very large helping of comedy and romance. It doesn’t quite come off but it has its moments and the two likeable leads do help. It’s worth a look if you’re in the mood for that sort of thing although you might be advised to try a rental first.
I also made the acquaintance of the BBC’s 1960s and 1970s Francis Durbridge Presents serials. I’ve watched three so far and they were all extremely good - A Game of Murder, Bat Out of Hell and The Doll. Very much worth seeing.
Dangerous Knowledge, a six-part crime/espionage series made by Britain’s Southern Television in 1976, has a similar flavour - a bit gritty but without being grim or miserable. This one is very much worth checking out.
The BBC’s Moonbase 3 is a 1973 sci-fi series that really goes all-in for gritty psychological realism but it’s interesting enough to make it worth seeing.
All in all it was a pretty good year for me for TV discoveries!
A few more for my Amazon wish list. Can definitely second 'Dangerous Knowledge' - I thought it was great!
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