Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)
Encyclopedia
Randall and Hopkirk, first transmitted during 1969-70, is a British
private detective television series starring Mike Pratt and Kenneth Cope
as the private detectives Jeff Randall
and Marty Hopkirk
, respectively. The series was originally created by Dennis Spooner
and produced by Monty Berman
. It aired in the United States under the title My Partner the Ghost.
In the initial episode Hopkirk was murdered in the line of duty, but returned as a ghost
. Randall was the only main character able to see or hear him. However, at least two minor characters were able to see and hear him in separate episodes.
ITC
film corporation produced a single series of 26 episodes during 1968 and 1969 which was aired between September 1969 and March 1970. The pilot episode was originally broadcast on ITV
in the United Kingdom
on Friday 19 September 1969 on ATV Midlands. LWT broadcast the Pilot on 21 September 1969.
The series was remade in 2000 as Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)
, starring British comedy
duo Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer.
On May 10, 2010 the SyFy
Channel announced that it had secured the rights to Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) and were looking to develop a pilot.
in 1967. Spooner had a keen interest in the paranormal
and ghostly phenomena, which he believed would be an inspired idea for a television series, incorporating it with the characteristic crime
, drama
and action
of other earlier productions in the 1960s such as The Avengers
and The Saint
.
Spooner was strongly influenced by other paranormal films such as Blithe Spirit
and Topper
which had a profound impact on him, providing him with an understanding of the elements of the fantasy
genre, studying the aspects of paranormal
activity upon which a television series could be based.
While working on The Baron
for ITC
, Spooner met the producer Monty Berman
, with whom he later formed the production company Scoton. Spooner had already worked with Mike Pratt and Annette Andre
in The Baron in 1966 and 1967, and had known Pratt and Kenneth Cope
from other series such as The Avengers and his work on the BBCs Z-Cars
. Pratt and Andre had also appeared in The Saint earlier in the 60s which both Spooner and Berman were familiar with. Screen testing began in late 1967 and soon both Monty Berman and Spooner agreed the trio would make an ideal casting and the three were soon confirmed in the major roles.
Soon after this, Scoton were informed that they were to commence the filming of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) in 1968 alongside the production of Department S
. Filming commenced in 1968 and the cast worked strenuously into 1969 to complete the series. The first episode was broadcast on 19 September 1969 on ATV Midlands.
In the pilot episode, "My Late Lamented Friend and Partner
", Marty is murdered during an investigation and returns immediately as a ghost
whom only Jeff (and the occasional psychic
) can see, to help Jeff bring his murderer to justice. However in helping Jeff with his case, Marty stays out of his new grave
for too long and is cursed to walk the Earth for 100 years. Seeing the advantages of having a ghost at the detective agency Marty stays as an invisible partner playing the key role in helping Jeff solve crime thereafter, also meaning that he can see his widow Jeannie Hopkirk who works as a secretary at the agency every day.
Marty is instrumental throughout the series in ensuring Jeff is aware of the occurrences of crimes and more often than not is responsible for saving his partner's life in each episode by using his supernatural powers. However, his powers are very limited in that he physically cannot touch anything and has no extrasensory knowledge of events that take place when he isn't present. Whilst Marty aids Jeff immensely in his investigations, his persistence at urging Jeff to follow leads when Jeff has other engagements, where there is no obvious criminal activity or where he is putting his life and reputation at risk can seriously infuriate and terrorise the short-fused Jeff.
The comedic
aspect of the series came to the surface in episode 2, "A Disturbing Case
", which dealt with hypnotic
suggestion. Written by Mike Pratt himself, the episode features Marty impersonating the thick German accent of the German psychiatrist Dr Conrad (David Bauer
), allowing him to direct the glazed drugged Randall to do exactly what he wants whilst he is in his pyjamas in a nursing home. Although the second episode is undoubtedly the most comic of the series, Marty's ability to control hypnosis is an important source of comedy in subsequent episodes, notably later in episode 10, "When did You Start to Stop Seeing Things?
", in which he eventually manages to hypnotize a hypnotist himself to save Randall by directing him to behave like an animal (a panther
) and perform like a Secret Agent in direct contrast to the behaviour a professional would usually follow.
In episode 3, "All Work and No Pay
", a number of story elements important for later episodes in the series are introduced, particularly exposing the vulnerability and naivety of Jeannie Hopkirk, traits which can leave her life in danger due to her willingness to help people. Jeannie is manipulated by the Foster Brothers who, by using electronic equipment, falsely convince her that her late husband Marty is a poltergeist
and that they as spiritualists will lay his spirit to rest. The brothers plan to employ Jeannie to bring other widows to them and use their supposed exorcism
of Marty as a reward. Her falling into their trap nearly costs the life of another woman.
As she is invited into their manor house we see the start of a much used setting in the majority of the Randall and Hopkirk episodes, an eerie lavish country manor with a grand hallway and rooms and 1930s eccentric décor creating an element of suspense. The same set with a few alterations was used on the majority of later episodes filmed in the same studio set. The third episode also sets the scene for the themes of exorcism
, paranormal
spirituality
, psychic
mediums and placing Marty Hopkirk to rest which also feature in later episodes such as "Whoever Heard of a Ghost Dying?
" and "But What a Sweet Little Room
".
The appearance of psychic mediums develops in the next episode "Never Trust a Ghost
" and also establishes Jeff Randall's trust in his ghostly partner for the series. Jeff visits a deranged medium to question Marty's reliability, beginning to doubt him. We see Jeff Randall become seriously frustrated with his deceased partner as he places his reputation in danger at following up Hopkirk's seemingly false leads, yet Marty persists on bothering him even when he is in the company of women. The medium believes that ghosts hallucinate but Marty whom the medium can see takes hours to convince him of his capabilities. Marty's correct deductions and his ability to stop enemy agents in the end solidifies Jeff's trust of him. The medium is also significant as he is the first man other than Jeff who can see and communicate with Marty the ghost, repeated later in the series as other mediums can communicate.
In episode 4 it really becomes evident that Randall has a distinct hatred of the police
, which is reciprocated. In nearly every episode where the police are involved with enquiries some way or the other they always suspect Randall as the villain in a crime with Randall many a time treating them rather rudely in his frustration. In many episodes he conflicts with the suspicious Inspector Large played by Ivor Dean
. In the eighth episode "Whoever Heard of a Ghost Dying?
" and the 10th episode "When did You Start to Stop Seeing Things?
" in particular Randall is suspected of not only being a criminal involved in the operation of diamond
operations but is suspected as a murderer implicated to directly throw the police off guard.
The fourth episode is also the first time we really see that Jeff Randall is a womaniser, followed up in the sixth episode "Just for the Record
" where he is surrounded by beautiful women at a beauty contest
, offering Miss Moscow "a cup of tea" as a cover for sex. Even when Jeff does not physically make contact with attractive women it is clear there is always a mutual attraction between them for example in the 17th episode "Somebody Just Walked Over My Grave
" where he flirts with the housekeeper.
However in episode 7, "Murder Ain't What it Used to Be
", Randall does show that he does have moral
s in some areas of his life and when hired by American
racketeer Paul Kirstner to look after his daughter he initially rejects at the thought of working for a criminal but eventually relents when he is given a substantial sum of money. However whilst money and earning a living means a great deal to him and is often why he initially decides to take up a case, in later episodes such as episode 12, "For the Girl who Has Everything", he turns down a send off of £250 because he feels he hasn't deserved it yet, demonstrating that he must work for his money. On the contrary in episodes such as "Money to Burn
", he becomes directly implicated in a crime because of his indecisiveness over whether to accept £500,000 of old money that is to be incinerated.
A number of developments are made to Marty's character in episodes 7-10. "Murder Ain't What it Used to Be
" is the first episode where another ghost appears alongside him, in the shape of Bugsy, the cackling Chicago gangster who was killed in the 1920s who returns to haunt his double-crosser Paul Kirstner. Marty immediately shows an inferiority to him and his abrasive attitude and is unwilling to confront him even when he pesters Jeannie. However towards the end he teases Bugsy by manipulating objects in his direction, objects that can be seen moving and crashing to the human eye. In the episode it also becomes clear that Marty as a ghost can travel back in time as Bugsy takes him back to the black and white 20s to witness his murder over a prohibition
scam.
In episode 8, "Whoever Heard of a Ghost Dying?
", it becomes clear that Cecil, a psychic medium, can see Marty (unbeknownst to him) and is able to use him to deliberately put his living partner Jeff Randall off the track of a series of diamond robberies, who had been secretly filmed seemingly speaking to himself on a number of occasions. Despite being a ghost, the power of the psychic puts Marty's health in serious jeopardy to the point where he nearly disappears at the end of the episode, when the medium attempts to exorcise him at his graveside.
In episode 9, Marty proves that in many ways his feelings are still human and he shows as much fear of other ghosts and paranormal
activity as any human would. In "The House on Haunted Hill
", Marty shows a great fear of electronic equipment in a house attic
pretending to producing the sounds and noises of ghosts. He is far more afraid than even Jeff, and he doesn't appear to have any sense of other paranormal phenomenon when he can not physically see them.
would enter the scene and the other actors would unfreeze. Cutting out the extraneous footage in between was all that was necessary. Disappearances used the same method in reverse. Optical effects, which were prohibitively expensive and time consuming at the time, were largely avoided, although superimposition
or bluescreen travelling matte shots were very occasionally used. In at least one scene, the Victorian theatrical illusion Pepper's Ghost
was used.
The final episode, "The Ghost Talks
" (actually released as the 21st to be filmed) contained extended flashbacks of Hopkirk alone solving a case – Jeff being out of town – before his death. This was necessitated by Mike Pratt having been injured in a fall from a drainpipe while trying to get into his locked flat. Pratt broke both his legs, rendering him bedridden in a real hospital bed (Pratt also had a nurse in attendance) on the set of a hospital room for duration of filming for that episode. Jeff's incapacity in the episode was explained by his having fallen off a balcony whilst in pursuit of a safecracker.
Although Marty is not supposed to have a physical presence, beds and armchairs can sometimes be seen sagging under his weight. He blows a cabinet door open in "When the Spirit Moves You
" and, in another episode, he actually pushes aside a bead curtain. It is never explained why he has a shadow.
Except for some brief exterior scenes in the pilot episode and original opening titles, most of the scenes featuring the principal cast were shot in the studio. Exterior scenes were usually either simulated using blue screen, shot using body double
s or made use of the Associated British Elstree Studios
lot. Unusually for an ITC series however, one episode had a significant amount of location shooting with principal cast members - at Woburn Abbey
.
Cars used by the main characters were a white Vauxhall Victor 2000 FD registration RXD 996 F and a red Austin Seven/Mini registration BAP 245 B. The Victor was one of six loaned by Vauxhall Motors for filming the series and viewers may sometimes catch the second unit continuity out as some scenes of Jeff Randall's Victor show the car with a burgundy interior and others a black cabin. The actual car bearing the RXD 996 F plate was last seen in a scrap yard in 1976. The red Mini was used by all three characters, but was Marty Hopkirk's car and driven by Jeannie Hopkirk after his death. The car was also used briefly for a scene in one episode of The Persuaders!
when Tony Curtis
shows up in disguise as a butler at Lord Brett Sinclair's country abode. The current whereabouts of this Mini remain unknown.
Jeff Randall is a successful but often financially struggling private detective whose success in mystery
solving becomes inevitably greater once he has the benefits and paranormal
abilities of his deceased partner Marty Hopkirk
. Randall is described as fairly tall, around 6 ft, very thin and dishevelled looking although he is mostly clean-shaven. Throughout the entire series aside from a grey or dark suit with a white shirt for work Randall consistently wears brown or beige clothing, instantly recognizable by his tan leather jacket and beige polo neck
jumpers or his long beige mac.
He is quick, agile and light on his feet and is able to manoeuvre around attackers very briskly. Randall is known to have a short fiery temper
and can become particularly irritated with certain situations and people, particularly the ghost of Marty who torments him as much as helps him. He smokes regularly and is a heavy drinker in stressful situations.
Jeff at times can be a highly ambiguous character. In certain episodes he can show morals and respect for other characters. However at times he can also appear as immoral and verging on criminal in his behaviour. In episode 5, "That's How Murder Snowballs
", for example, Randall rather than informing the police
after the murder of the theatre performer, rang a newspaper immediately to ensure that his tip off earned him a substantial amount of money for leaking story, 'blood money' as Jeannie called it, making money out of a dead man.
Randall is also a womaniser
and he attracts many beautiful women from episode to episode. However any love interest also fizzles out very quickly due to his commitments to follow up Marty's leads leaving them stranded.
Marty Hopkirk is a deceased private detective murdered in the line of duty. After being the victim of a hit and run, Marty returns as a ghost
, selecting Jeff Randall
as the only man who can see and hear him as he returns to the world of the living. Staying out in the daylight to help Jeff solve an early case, he is cursed to roam the Earth for 100 years. Marty is a highly persistent character clad in an all white suit to mimic that of a ghost
. At times his pressuring of Jeff to pursue cases and follow up leads that he has witnessed nearly puts Jeff at breaking point and haunts Jeff almost as much as he aids him in fighting crime.
As a ghost
Marty travels by teleport
ing from one place to the other, although he can seemingly walk as a human would in whatever location he is in. Although he cannot physically touch people or things he can manipulate objects such as vase
s and furniture
which prove crucial in many cases in putting attackers of Jeff at bay. Marty's use of wind blowing also proves very important in distracting people allowing Jeff to manoeuvre and enter situations, which would have otherwise proved impossible. In one episode ("Just for the Record
"), Marty saves Jeff's life as he is being burnt in a warehouse, by using his concentration to shatter the alarm bells.
However Hopkirk can also be a highly jealous character and is often quick to jump to conclusions. For instance in the episodes "Never Trust a Ghost
" and "Murder Ain't What it Used to Be
" when it appears that Jeff and Bugsy had bedded his widow Jeannie, he becomes highly irritated and angry at the situations. This also shows that while Marty can move from place to place by teleporting and has certain extra sensory abilities his abilities to understand situations where he is not present are as limited as a human's.
Despite being a ghost, there are many situations where Marty proves that in many ways his feelings are still human and he shows as much fear of other ghosts and paranormal
activity as any human would. In the episode "The House on Haunted Hill
", Marty shows a great fear of electronic equipment producing the sounds and noises of ghosts in a house attic
. He is far more afraid than even Jeff, and he doesn't appear to have any sense of other paranormal phenomenon when he cannot physically see them. He also shows a subservience to the 1920s American gangster
ghost of Bugsy in episode 8, "Murder Ain't What it Used to Be
".
In episode 21, "The Ghost Talks
", which is a flashback of Marty when he was living also reveals he was physically very weak and would lose in a fight very easily. His physical strength appeared to be particularly lacking for a professional detective.
Jeannie Hopkirk (Annette Andre
) is the young widow of Marty Hopkirk
and serves as a secretary at the Randall and Hopkirk Private Investigation office. She is an attractive woman with neat blond hair and a petite frame and build. Jeannie can prove a very useful character in Jeff's exploits and she has saved him many times from an early demise. She is highly resourceful and able as a secretary but often she appears as very naive and vulnerable, which has put her own life in danger on many occasions. In only the third episode, "All Work and No Pay
", she believes the tomfoolery of the Foster brothers as they use electronic equipment to pretend that the poltergeist
of Marty is destroying her apartment
. She believes that they are spiritualists who indeed have the ability to contact her deceased husband. In episode 10, "When Did You Start to Stop Seeing Things?
", she again believes the enemy when they pretend that Marty's spirit needs to be exorcised and true to her nature she is as helpful as possible in aiding them unknowingly, placing her in another difficult situation. Later, in episode 15, "The Man from Nowhere
", Jeannie goes as far as to partly believe that an impostor is actually her deceased husband Marty in spirit, again emphasizing her vulnerability.
Annette Andre
has made appearances at conventions to greet fans and sign autographs at the September 2007 Mid Atlantic nostalgia convention in Aberdeen, Maryland. And more recently at the Memorabilia Show in Birmingham, England in April 2011 and in New York in May 2011. She is currently writing her autobiography and has created a competition for fans to come up with a title for the book. See 'News' page at www.annetteandre.com.
Filming took place between May 1968 and July 1969.
in 1968/69 on 35mm colour film. They were initially screened on ITV
in the UK
in 1969/70 by ITC's sister company ATV
and most of the other ITV stations, (1970/71 in some regions that waited until full colour had been implemented by all ITV
contractors) repeats lasted until 1976 in most regions, it was repeated again on ITV in 1986/87, in the 90s the series was bought by the BBC
and shown at least 3 times on BBC2 (these were restored prints), this was the last time complete prints were screened in the UK. The series was also re-run on UK digital channel ITV4, (where the episodes were cut to 45-46 mins) until 30 October 2010. In the US
they appeared in syndication
from around 1972, retitled My Partner the Ghost (remembered by many as My Friend the Ghost) because audience research suggested that Americans would not understand the word "deceased".
Two versions of the show's opening titles were made. The original version, which was first seen in the UK when the series was repeated on ITV in 1986/87 and is the version on all subsequent TV re-runs and video/DVD releases, features events seen through images of a finger moving a glass on an ouija board and after shots of Marty shying away from the approaching car the animated spinning hand print gives way to the series title, which fills the screen. Then, specially shot sequences of Jeff, Marty and Jeannie coming out of their office building are seen through a red handprint. However when originally transmitted, and for all UK repeats in the 1970s, this sequence was replaced by a more explicit montage of shots from the Pilot which includes the final scenes at the graveside, but now with Marty explaining (a voice over by Kenneth Cope) that only Jeff can see him: "Only you, Jeff, only you..." This was also the version on US prints, but with the title changed to 'My Partner the Ghost'. It is unknown why the original handprint title sequence was replaced by the graveside titles for the first UK transmissions. The original ad break bumper film, available on Network DVD's 2008 release of the series, proves the current handprint title sequence is the original as it features exactly the same animation of the title graphics. Further evidence is the fact that a version of the handprint title sequence was made without the usual Annette Andre footage but with a clean shot of the office and a caption crediting Judith Arthy for the episode "The House on Haunted Hill".
productions The Baron
, Danger Man
, The Saint
, and Department S
, were composed by Edwin Astley. The use of a brass band
and orchestra
with the prevalent use of the flute
, the clarinet
, violin
s, trumpet
s, and harpsichord on both the main title track and other soundtracks epitomised the music scores created for many action series in the 1960s. The heavy use of the harpsichord and high pitched flutes and clarinets and was intended to create a quirky atmosphere
for the paranormal series whilst a loud brass band was to help create all the tension needed in an action drama at the most intense periods in the series.
DVDs in 2000–2002, which were then issued as a box set by Carlton. The episodes are in the LWT broadcast order. Volume 2 includes the original UK transmission opening titles as an extra, and the US version on Volume 3.
The series was released in Australian in a DVD box set 2005 by Umbrella Entertainment. It contains audio commentaries: from Annette Andre, Directors Roy Ward Baker and Cyril Frankel, Guest stars George Sewell and Jane Merrow and production crew members malcolm Christopher and Ken Baker. It also includes two newly filmed interviews with Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre, nearly 15 minutes of previously unseen production footage, extensive stills galleries, insert reprint of the original ITC promotional brochure, ITC publicity and scripts (as pdfs), all the alternate opening credits, Memorabilia gallery, cast and crew profiles, production notes and a bonus episode of the ITC series The Baron starring Annette Andre.
The series was re-released in the UK in a further boxset in 2008 by Network, the episodes were remastered from the original negatives, and are in production order not broadcast order, this contained a similar though different set of extras to the Australian release, including a specially-commissioned documentary with contributions from Kenneth Cope, Annette Andre, Mike Pratt's son Guy and several writers and directors and 15 mins of mute production footage. Also four episodes had the graveside titles reinstated, a bonus episode of "The Man in Room 17" featuring Mike Pratt and the original ad break bumper and US titles and original music/photo galleries were also included, as was the 1946 film Angel On My Shoulder
starring Paul Muni, and two extensive printed booklets of programme notes by UK television historian Andrew Pixley.
The first half of the series is also available on DVD in the North American market from A&E.
In 2000–2001 the series was remade by Working Title Films
for the BBC
with a more elaborate storyline, starring Vic Reeves
as Hopkirk (once again in a white suit) and Bob Mortimer
as Randall, with Emilia Fox
as Jeannie. Two series were made. The entire first series was written and produced by Charlie Higson
, who also directed some episodes. The second series employed some other writers, including Gareth Roberts
, Mark Gatiss
and Jeremy Dyson
. The situation was the same, but the circumstances of Hopkirk's death were changed.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
private detective television series starring Mike Pratt and Kenneth Cope
Kenneth Cope
Kenneth Cope is an English actor. He is most famous for his roles as Marty Hopkirk in Randall and Hopkirk , Jed Stone in Coronation Street and Ray Hilton in Brookside.- Career :...
as the private detectives Jeff Randall
Jeff Randall
Jeff Randall is a fictional character played by Mike Pratt in the original private detective series, Randall and Hopkirk from 1969 to 1971 and by Bob Mortimer in the BBC remake...
and Marty Hopkirk
Marty Hopkirk
Marty Hopkirk is a fictional ghost played by English actor Kenneth Cope in the television private detective series Randall and Hopkirk from 1969 to early 1970...
, respectively. The series was originally created by Dennis Spooner
Dennis Spooner
Dennis Spooner was an English television screenwriter and story editor, known primarily for his programmes about fictional spies and his work in children's television in the 1960s...
and produced by Monty Berman
Monty Berman
Nestor Montague Berman was a British cinematographer and film and television producer.-Early career:...
. It aired in the United States under the title My Partner the Ghost.
In the initial episode Hopkirk was murdered in the line of duty, but returned as a ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
. Randall was the only main character able to see or hear him. However, at least two minor characters were able to see and hear him in separate episodes.
ITC
ITC Entertainment
The Incorporated Television Company was a British television company largely involved in production and distribution. It was founded by Lew Grade.-History:...
film corporation produced a single series of 26 episodes during 1968 and 1969 which was aired between September 1969 and March 1970. The pilot episode was originally broadcast on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on Friday 19 September 1969 on ATV Midlands. LWT broadcast the Pilot on 21 September 1969.
The series was remade in 2000 as Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)
Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)
Randall & Hopkirk is a British television series, produced by Working Title Films for BBC One. It is a remake of the 1960s television series Randall and Hopkirk and stars Vic Reeves as Hopkirk and Bob Mortimer as Randall, Emilia Fox as Jeannie, and Tom Baker as Wyvern.- Background :Two series...
, starring British comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
duo Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer.
On May 10, 2010 the SyFy
Syfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
Channel announced that it had secured the rights to Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) and were looking to develop a pilot.
Background
Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) was conceived by producer Dennis SpoonerDennis Spooner
Dennis Spooner was an English television screenwriter and story editor, known primarily for his programmes about fictional spies and his work in children's television in the 1960s...
in 1967. Spooner had a keen interest in the paranormal
Paranormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
and ghostly phenomena, which he believed would be an inspired idea for a television series, incorporating it with the characteristic crime
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
, drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
and action
Action genre
The word action has more than one meaning in fiction. Action is one of the fiction-writing modes authors use to present fiction. The term is also used to describe an exiting event or circumstance.-Action as a fiction-writing mode:...
of other earlier productions in the 1960s such as The Avengers
The Avengers (TV series)
The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...
and The Saint
The Saint (TV series)
The Saint was an ITC mystery spy thriller television series that aired in the UK on ITV between 1962 and 1969. It centred on the Leslie Charteris literary character, Simon Templar, a Robin Hood-like adventurer with a penchant for disguise. The character may be nicknamed The Saint because the...
.
Spooner was strongly influenced by other paranormal films such as Blithe Spirit
Blithe Spirit (film)
Blithe Spirit is a British fantasy comedy film directed by David Lean. The screenplay by Lean, Anthony Havelock-Allan, Ronald Neame, and Noël Coward is based on Coward's 1941 play of the same name...
and Topper
Topper (film)
Topper is a 1937 American comedy film which tells the story of a stuffy, stuck-in-his-ways man who is haunted by the ghosts of a fun-loving married couple. It was adapted by Eric Hatch, Jack Jevne and Eddie Moran from the novel by Thorne Smith. The film was directed by Norman Z. McLeod, produced by...
which had a profound impact on him, providing him with an understanding of the elements of the fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
genre, studying the aspects of paranormal
Paranormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
activity upon which a television series could be based.
While working on The Baron
The Baron
The Baron is a British television series, made in 1965/66 based on the book series by John Creasey, written under the pseudonym Anthony Morton, and produced by ITC Entertainment. It was the first ITC show without marionettes to be produced entirely in colour...
for ITC
ITC Entertainment
The Incorporated Television Company was a British television company largely involved in production and distribution. It was founded by Lew Grade.-History:...
, Spooner met the producer Monty Berman
Monty Berman
Nestor Montague Berman was a British cinematographer and film and television producer.-Early career:...
, with whom he later formed the production company Scoton. Spooner had already worked with Mike Pratt and Annette Andre
Annette Andre
Annette Andre is an Australian actress best known for her work on British television throughout the 1960s and 1970s. She was educated at Brigidine College, Sydney. Her father was an upholsterer....
in The Baron in 1966 and 1967, and had known Pratt and Kenneth Cope
Kenneth Cope
Kenneth Cope is an English actor. He is most famous for his roles as Marty Hopkirk in Randall and Hopkirk , Jed Stone in Coronation Street and Ray Hilton in Brookside.- Career :...
from other series such as The Avengers and his work on the BBCs Z-Cars
Z-Cars
Z-Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby in the outskirts of Liverpool in Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.-Origins:The series was developed by...
. Pratt and Andre had also appeared in The Saint earlier in the 60s which both Spooner and Berman were familiar with. Screen testing began in late 1967 and soon both Monty Berman and Spooner agreed the trio would make an ideal casting and the three were soon confirmed in the major roles.
Soon after this, Scoton were informed that they were to commence the filming of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) in 1968 alongside the production of Department S
Department S
Department S is a United Kingdom spy-fi adventure series produced by ITC Entertainment. The series consists of 28 episodes which originally aired in 1969–1970. It starred Peter Wyngarde as author Jason King , Joel Fabiani as Stewart Sullivan, and Rosemary Nicols as computer expert Annabelle Hurst...
. Filming commenced in 1968 and the cast worked strenuously into 1969 to complete the series. The first episode was broadcast on 19 September 1969 on ATV Midlands.
Series overview
My Late Lamented Friend and Partner
"My Late Lamented Friend and Partner" is the pilot episode of the popular 1969 British television series Randall and Hopkirk starring Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre. The episode was first broadcast on 21 September 1969 on ITV...
", Marty is murdered during an investigation and returns immediately as a ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
whom only Jeff (and the occasional psychic
Psychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
) can see, to help Jeff bring his murderer to justice. However in helping Jeff with his case, Marty stays out of his new grave
Grave (burial)
A grave is a location where a dead body is buried. Graves are usually located in special areas set aside for the purpose of burial, such as graveyards or cemeteries....
for too long and is cursed to walk the Earth for 100 years. Seeing the advantages of having a ghost at the detective agency Marty stays as an invisible partner playing the key role in helping Jeff solve crime thereafter, also meaning that he can see his widow Jeannie Hopkirk who works as a secretary at the agency every day.
Marty is instrumental throughout the series in ensuring Jeff is aware of the occurrences of crimes and more often than not is responsible for saving his partner's life in each episode by using his supernatural powers. However, his powers are very limited in that he physically cannot touch anything and has no extrasensory knowledge of events that take place when he isn't present. Whilst Marty aids Jeff immensely in his investigations, his persistence at urging Jeff to follow leads when Jeff has other engagements, where there is no obvious criminal activity or where he is putting his life and reputation at risk can seriously infuriate and terrorise the short-fused Jeff.
The comedic
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
aspect of the series came to the surface in episode 2, "A Disturbing Case
A Disturbing Case
"A Disturbing Case" is the second episode of the popular 1969 ITC Entertainment British television series Randall and Hopkirk starring Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre. The episode was first broadcast on 28 September 1969 on ITV...
", which dealt with hypnotic
Hypnotic
Hypnotic drugs are a class of psychoactives whose primary function is to induce sleep and to be used in the treatment of insomnia and in surgical anesthesia...
suggestion. Written by Mike Pratt himself, the episode features Marty impersonating the thick German accent of the German psychiatrist Dr Conrad (David Bauer
David Bauer (actor)
David Bauer was an American actor, a Chicagoan, who was based primarily in Britain. He was chosen as the most promising actor at Washington University and his professional career began immediately after graduating...
), allowing him to direct the glazed drugged Randall to do exactly what he wants whilst he is in his pyjamas in a nursing home. Although the second episode is undoubtedly the most comic of the series, Marty's ability to control hypnosis is an important source of comedy in subsequent episodes, notably later in episode 10, "When did You Start to Stop Seeing Things?
When did You Start to Stop Seeing Things?
When did You Start to Stop Seeing Things? is the tenth episode of the popular 1969 ITC British television series Randall and Hopkirk starring Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre. The episode was first broadcast on 23 November 1969 on the ITV...
", in which he eventually manages to hypnotize a hypnotist himself to save Randall by directing him to behave like an animal (a panther
Black panther
A black panther is typically a melanistic color variant of any of several species of larger cat. Wild black panthers in Latin America are black jaguars , in Asia and Africa they are black leopards , and in North America they may be black jaguars or possibly black cougars A black panther is...
) and perform like a Secret Agent in direct contrast to the behaviour a professional would usually follow.
In episode 3, "All Work and No Pay
All Work and No Pay
All Work and No Pay is the third episode of the popular 1969 ITC British television series Randall and Hopkirk starring Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre. The episode was first broadcast on 5 October 1969 on ITV...
", a number of story elements important for later episodes in the series are introduced, particularly exposing the vulnerability and naivety of Jeannie Hopkirk, traits which can leave her life in danger due to her willingness to help people. Jeannie is manipulated by the Foster Brothers who, by using electronic equipment, falsely convince her that her late husband Marty is a poltergeist
Poltergeist
A poltergeist is a paranormal phenomenon which consists of events alluding to the manifestation of an imperceptible entity. Such manifestation typically includes inanimate objects moving or being thrown about, sentient noises and, on some occasions, physical attacks on those witnessing the...
and that they as spiritualists will lay his spirit to rest. The brothers plan to employ Jeannie to bring other widows to them and use their supposed exorcism
Exorcism
Exorcism is the religious practice of evicting demons or other spiritual entities from a person or place which they are believed to have possessed...
of Marty as a reward. Her falling into their trap nearly costs the life of another woman.
Exorcism
Exorcism is the religious practice of evicting demons or other spiritual entities from a person or place which they are believed to have possessed...
, paranormal
Paranormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
spirituality
Spirituality
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
, psychic
Psychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
mediums and placing Marty Hopkirk to rest which also feature in later episodes such as "Whoever Heard of a Ghost Dying?
Whoever Heard of a Ghost Dying?
Whoever Heard of a Ghost Dying? is the eighth episode of the popular 1969 ITC British television series Randall and Hopkirk starring Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre. The episode was first broadcast on 9 November 1969 on ITV...
" and "But What a Sweet Little Room
But What a Sweet Little Room
"But What a Sweet Little Room" is the thirteenth episode of the popular 1969 ITC British television series Randall and Hopkirk starring Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre. The episode was first broadcast on 14 December 1969 on the ITV. Directed by Roy Ward Baker.-Synopsis:Jeff...
".
The appearance of psychic mediums develops in the next episode "Never Trust a Ghost
Never Trust a Ghost
"Never Trust a Ghost" is the fourth episode of the popular 1969 ITC British television series Randall and Hopkirk starring Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre. The episode was first broadcast on 12 October 1969 on ITV. Directed by Jeremy Summers.-Synopsis:While out on a late-night stroll...
" and also establishes Jeff Randall's trust in his ghostly partner for the series. Jeff visits a deranged medium to question Marty's reliability, beginning to doubt him. We see Jeff Randall become seriously frustrated with his deceased partner as he places his reputation in danger at following up Hopkirk's seemingly false leads, yet Marty persists on bothering him even when he is in the company of women. The medium believes that ghosts hallucinate but Marty whom the medium can see takes hours to convince him of his capabilities. Marty's correct deductions and his ability to stop enemy agents in the end solidifies Jeff's trust of him. The medium is also significant as he is the first man other than Jeff who can see and communicate with Marty the ghost, repeated later in the series as other mediums can communicate.
In episode 4 it really becomes evident that Randall has a distinct hatred of the police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
, which is reciprocated. In nearly every episode where the police are involved with enquiries some way or the other they always suspect Randall as the villain in a crime with Randall many a time treating them rather rudely in his frustration. In many episodes he conflicts with the suspicious Inspector Large played by Ivor Dean
Ivor Dean
Ivor Donald Dean was a British stage and television actor.With his lugubrious demeanour he was often cast as world-weary police officers or butlers, and indeed it is for the role of Chief Inspector Claud Eustace Teal in the 1960s series The Saint, opposite Roger Moore, that he is best remembered...
. In the eighth episode "Whoever Heard of a Ghost Dying?
Whoever Heard of a Ghost Dying?
Whoever Heard of a Ghost Dying? is the eighth episode of the popular 1969 ITC British television series Randall and Hopkirk starring Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre. The episode was first broadcast on 9 November 1969 on ITV...
" and the 10th episode "When did You Start to Stop Seeing Things?
When did You Start to Stop Seeing Things?
When did You Start to Stop Seeing Things? is the tenth episode of the popular 1969 ITC British television series Randall and Hopkirk starring Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre. The episode was first broadcast on 23 November 1969 on the ITV...
" in particular Randall is suspected of not only being a criminal involved in the operation of diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
operations but is suspected as a murderer implicated to directly throw the police off guard.
The fourth episode is also the first time we really see that Jeff Randall is a womaniser, followed up in the sixth episode "Just for the Record
Just for the Record
Just for the record is the sixth episode of the popular 1969 ITC British television series Randall and Hopkirk starring Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre. The episode was first broadcast on 25 October 1969 on ITV...
" where he is surrounded by beautiful women at a beauty contest
Beauty contest
A beauty pageant or beauty contest, is a competition that mainly focuses on the physical beauty of its contestants, although such contests often incorporate personality, talent, and answers to judges' questions as judged criteria...
, offering Miss Moscow "a cup of tea" as a cover for sex. Even when Jeff does not physically make contact with attractive women it is clear there is always a mutual attraction between them for example in the 17th episode "Somebody Just Walked Over My Grave
Somebody Just Walked Over My Grave
Somebody Just Walked Over My Grave is the seventeenth episode of the popular 1969 ITC British television series Randall and Hopkirk starring Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre. The episode was first broadcast on 9 January 1970 on the ITV. Directed by Cyril Frankel.-Synopsis:Marty finds...
" where he flirts with the housekeeper.
However in episode 7, "Murder Ain't What it Used to Be
Murder Ain't What it Used to Be
Murder Ain't What it Used to Be is the seventh episode of the popular 1969 ITC British television series Randall and Hopkirk starring Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre. The episode was first broadcast on 2 November 1969 on ITV. Directed by Jeremy Summers.-Synopsis:Crime boss Paul Kirstner...
", Randall does show that he does have moral
Moral
A moral is a message conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim...
s in some areas of his life and when hired by American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
racketeer Paul Kirstner to look after his daughter he initially rejects at the thought of working for a criminal but eventually relents when he is given a substantial sum of money. However whilst money and earning a living means a great deal to him and is often why he initially decides to take up a case, in later episodes such as episode 12, "For the Girl who Has Everything", he turns down a send off of £250 because he feels he hasn't deserved it yet, demonstrating that he must work for his money. On the contrary in episodes such as "Money to Burn
Money to Burn
"Money to Burn" is a song by English singer-songwriter Richard Ashcroft and is the eighth track on his 2000 album Alone with Everybody. The song was also released on June 12, 2000 as the second single from that album in the United Kingdom...
", he becomes directly implicated in a crime because of his indecisiveness over whether to accept £500,000 of old money that is to be incinerated.
A number of developments are made to Marty's character in episodes 7-10. "Murder Ain't What it Used to Be
Murder Ain't What it Used to Be
Murder Ain't What it Used to Be is the seventh episode of the popular 1969 ITC British television series Randall and Hopkirk starring Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre. The episode was first broadcast on 2 November 1969 on ITV. Directed by Jeremy Summers.-Synopsis:Crime boss Paul Kirstner...
" is the first episode where another ghost appears alongside him, in the shape of Bugsy, the cackling Chicago gangster who was killed in the 1920s who returns to haunt his double-crosser Paul Kirstner. Marty immediately shows an inferiority to him and his abrasive attitude and is unwilling to confront him even when he pesters Jeannie. However towards the end he teases Bugsy by manipulating objects in his direction, objects that can be seen moving and crashing to the human eye. In the episode it also becomes clear that Marty as a ghost can travel back in time as Bugsy takes him back to the black and white 20s to witness his murder over a prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
scam.
In episode 8, "Whoever Heard of a Ghost Dying?
Whoever Heard of a Ghost Dying?
Whoever Heard of a Ghost Dying? is the eighth episode of the popular 1969 ITC British television series Randall and Hopkirk starring Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre. The episode was first broadcast on 9 November 1969 on ITV...
", it becomes clear that Cecil, a psychic medium, can see Marty (unbeknownst to him) and is able to use him to deliberately put his living partner Jeff Randall off the track of a series of diamond robberies, who had been secretly filmed seemingly speaking to himself on a number of occasions. Despite being a ghost, the power of the psychic puts Marty's health in serious jeopardy to the point where he nearly disappears at the end of the episode, when the medium attempts to exorcise him at his graveside.
In episode 9, Marty proves that in many ways his feelings are still human and he shows as much fear of other ghosts and paranormal
Paranormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
activity as any human would. In "The House on Haunted Hill
The House on Haunted Hill
The House on Haunted Hill is the ninth episode of the popular 1969 ITC British television series Randall and Hopkirk starring Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre. The episode was first broadcast on 16 November 1969 on the ITV...
", Marty shows a great fear of electronic equipment in a house attic
Attic
An attic is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building . Attic is generally the American/Canadian reference to it...
pretending to producing the sounds and noises of ghosts. He is far more afraid than even Jeff, and he doesn't appear to have any sense of other paranormal phenomenon when he can not physically see them.
Filming Randall and Hopkirk
Hopkirk's appearances were achieved by the simplest and cheapest of means, which had been in use since the earliest days of cinema. While the camera remained static, the other actors would freeze, Kenneth CopeKenneth Cope
Kenneth Cope is an English actor. He is most famous for his roles as Marty Hopkirk in Randall and Hopkirk , Jed Stone in Coronation Street and Ray Hilton in Brookside.- Career :...
would enter the scene and the other actors would unfreeze. Cutting out the extraneous footage in between was all that was necessary. Disappearances used the same method in reverse. Optical effects, which were prohibitively expensive and time consuming at the time, were largely avoided, although superimposition
Superimposition
In graphics, superimposition is the placement of an image or video on top of an already-existing image or video, usually to add to the overall image effect, but also sometimes to conceal something .This technique is used in cartography to produce photomaps by superimposing grid lines, contour lines...
or bluescreen travelling matte shots were very occasionally used. In at least one scene, the Victorian theatrical illusion Pepper's Ghost
Pepper's ghost
Pepper's ghost is an illusionary technique used in theatre and in some magic tricks. Using a plate glass and special lighting techniques, it can make objects seem to appear or disappear, transparent, or make one object seem to morph into another...
was used.
The final episode, "The Ghost Talks
The Ghost Talks (Randall and Hopkirk Deceased)
"The Ghost Talks" is the twenty-first episode of the popular 1969 ITC British television series Randall and Hopkirk starring Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre. The episode was first broadcast on February 6, 1970, on the ITV...
" (actually released as the 21st to be filmed) contained extended flashbacks of Hopkirk alone solving a case – Jeff being out of town – before his death. This was necessitated by Mike Pratt having been injured in a fall from a drainpipe while trying to get into his locked flat. Pratt broke both his legs, rendering him bedridden in a real hospital bed (Pratt also had a nurse in attendance) on the set of a hospital room for duration of filming for that episode. Jeff's incapacity in the episode was explained by his having fallen off a balcony whilst in pursuit of a safecracker.
Although Marty is not supposed to have a physical presence, beds and armchairs can sometimes be seen sagging under his weight. He blows a cabinet door open in "When the Spirit Moves You
When the Spirit Moves You
"When the Spirit Moves You" is the sixteenth episode of the popular 1969 ITC British television series Randall and Hopkirk starring Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre. The episode was first broadcast on 2 January 1970 on the ITV...
" and, in another episode, he actually pushes aside a bead curtain. It is never explained why he has a shadow.
Except for some brief exterior scenes in the pilot episode and original opening titles, most of the scenes featuring the principal cast were shot in the studio. Exterior scenes were usually either simulated using blue screen, shot using body double
Body double
A body double is a general term for someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character in any recorded visual medium, in shots where the character's body is shown but the face is either not visible or shown indistinctly, or in shots where the image of the credited actor's face is joined,...
s or made use of the Associated British Elstree Studios
Elstree Studios
"Elstree Studios" refers to any of several film studios that were based in the towns of Borehamwood and Elstree in Hertfordshire, England, since film production begun in 1927.-Name:...
lot. Unusually for an ITC series however, one episode had a significant amount of location shooting with principal cast members - at Woburn Abbey
Woburn Abbey
Woburn Abbey , near Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, is a country house, the seat of the Duke of Bedford and the location of the Woburn Safari Park.- Pre-20th century :...
.
Cars used by the main characters were a white Vauxhall Victor 2000 FD registration RXD 996 F and a red Austin Seven/Mini registration BAP 245 B. The Victor was one of six loaned by Vauxhall Motors for filming the series and viewers may sometimes catch the second unit continuity out as some scenes of Jeff Randall's Victor show the car with a burgundy interior and others a black cabin. The actual car bearing the RXD 996 F plate was last seen in a scrap yard in 1976. The red Mini was used by all three characters, but was Marty Hopkirk's car and driven by Jeannie Hopkirk after his death. The car was also used briefly for a scene in one episode of The Persuaders!
The Persuaders!
The Persuaders! is a 1971 action/adventure series, produced by ITC Entertainment for initial broadcast on ITV and ABC. It has been called "the last major entry in the cycle of adventure series that had begun eleven years earlier with Danger Man in 1960", as well as "the most ambitious and most...
when Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in over 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama...
shows up in disguise as a butler at Lord Brett Sinclair's country abode. The current whereabouts of this Mini remain unknown.
Jeff Randall
Mystery fiction
Mystery fiction is a loosely-defined term.1.It is often used as a synonym for detective fiction or crime fiction— in other words a novel or short story in which a detective investigates and solves a crime mystery. Sometimes mystery books are nonfiction...
solving becomes inevitably greater once he has the benefits and paranormal
Paranormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
abilities of his deceased partner Marty Hopkirk
Marty Hopkirk
Marty Hopkirk is a fictional ghost played by English actor Kenneth Cope in the television private detective series Randall and Hopkirk from 1969 to early 1970...
. Randall is described as fairly tall, around 6 ft, very thin and dishevelled looking although he is mostly clean-shaven. Throughout the entire series aside from a grey or dark suit with a white shirt for work Randall consistently wears brown or beige clothing, instantly recognizable by his tan leather jacket and beige polo neck
Polo neck
A polo neck or turtle neck or skivvy is a garment—usually a sweater—with a close-fitting, round, and high collar that folds over and covers the neck...
jumpers or his long beige mac.
He is quick, agile and light on his feet and is able to manoeuvre around attackers very briskly. Randall is known to have a short fiery temper
Temperament
In psychology, temperament refers to those aspects of an individual's personality, such as introversion or extroversion, that are often regarded as innate rather than learned...
and can become particularly irritated with certain situations and people, particularly the ghost of Marty who torments him as much as helps him. He smokes regularly and is a heavy drinker in stressful situations.
Jeff at times can be a highly ambiguous character. In certain episodes he can show morals and respect for other characters. However at times he can also appear as immoral and verging on criminal in his behaviour. In episode 5, "That's How Murder Snowballs
That's How Murder Snowballs
"That's How Murder Snowballs" is the fifth episode of the 1969 ITC British television series Randall and Hopkirk starring Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre...
", for example, Randall rather than informing the police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
after the murder of the theatre performer, rang a newspaper immediately to ensure that his tip off earned him a substantial amount of money for leaking story, 'blood money' as Jeannie called it, making money out of a dead man.
Randall is also a womaniser
Promiscuity
In humans, promiscuity refers to less discriminating casual sex with many sexual partners. The term carries a moral or religious judgement and is viewed in the context of the mainstream social ideal for sexual activity to take place within exclusive committed relationships...
and he attracts many beautiful women from episode to episode. However any love interest also fizzles out very quickly due to his commitments to follow up Marty's leads leaving them stranded.
Marty Hopkirk
Marty Hopkirk is a deceased private detective murdered in the line of duty. After being the victim of a hit and run, Marty returns as a ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
, selecting Jeff Randall
Jeff Randall
Jeff Randall is a fictional character played by Mike Pratt in the original private detective series, Randall and Hopkirk from 1969 to 1971 and by Bob Mortimer in the BBC remake...
as the only man who can see and hear him as he returns to the world of the living. Staying out in the daylight to help Jeff solve an early case, he is cursed to roam the Earth for 100 years. Marty is a highly persistent character clad in an all white suit to mimic that of a ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
. At times his pressuring of Jeff to pursue cases and follow up leads that he has witnessed nearly puts Jeff at breaking point and haunts Jeff almost as much as he aids him in fighting crime.
As a ghost
Ghost
In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...
Marty travels by teleport
Teleportation
Teleportation is the fictional or imagined process by which matter is instantaneously transferred from one place to another.Teleportation may also refer to:*Quantum teleportation, a method of transmitting quantum data...
ing from one place to the other, although he can seemingly walk as a human would in whatever location he is in. Although he cannot physically touch people or things he can manipulate objects such as vase
Vase
The vase is an open container, often used to hold cut flowers. It can be made from a number of materials including ceramics and glass. The vase is often decorated and thus used to extend the beauty of its contents....
s and furniture
Furniture
Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...
which prove crucial in many cases in putting attackers of Jeff at bay. Marty's use of wind blowing also proves very important in distracting people allowing Jeff to manoeuvre and enter situations, which would have otherwise proved impossible. In one episode ("Just for the Record
Just for the Record
Just for the record is the sixth episode of the popular 1969 ITC British television series Randall and Hopkirk starring Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre. The episode was first broadcast on 25 October 1969 on ITV...
"), Marty saves Jeff's life as he is being burnt in a warehouse, by using his concentration to shatter the alarm bells.
However Hopkirk can also be a highly jealous character and is often quick to jump to conclusions. For instance in the episodes "Never Trust a Ghost
Never Trust a Ghost
"Never Trust a Ghost" is the fourth episode of the popular 1969 ITC British television series Randall and Hopkirk starring Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre. The episode was first broadcast on 12 October 1969 on ITV. Directed by Jeremy Summers.-Synopsis:While out on a late-night stroll...
" and "Murder Ain't What it Used to Be
Murder Ain't What it Used to Be
Murder Ain't What it Used to Be is the seventh episode of the popular 1969 ITC British television series Randall and Hopkirk starring Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre. The episode was first broadcast on 2 November 1969 on ITV. Directed by Jeremy Summers.-Synopsis:Crime boss Paul Kirstner...
" when it appears that Jeff and Bugsy had bedded his widow Jeannie, he becomes highly irritated and angry at the situations. This also shows that while Marty can move from place to place by teleporting and has certain extra sensory abilities his abilities to understand situations where he is not present are as limited as a human's.
Despite being a ghost, there are many situations where Marty proves that in many ways his feelings are still human and he shows as much fear of other ghosts and paranormal
Paranormal
Paranormal is a general term that designates experiences that lie outside "the range of normal experience or scientific explanation" or that indicates phenomena understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure...
activity as any human would. In the episode "The House on Haunted Hill
The House on Haunted Hill
The House on Haunted Hill is the ninth episode of the popular 1969 ITC British television series Randall and Hopkirk starring Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre. The episode was first broadcast on 16 November 1969 on the ITV...
", Marty shows a great fear of electronic equipment producing the sounds and noises of ghosts in a house attic
Attic
An attic is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building . Attic is generally the American/Canadian reference to it...
. He is far more afraid than even Jeff, and he doesn't appear to have any sense of other paranormal phenomenon when he cannot physically see them. He also shows a subservience to the 1920s American gangster
Gangster
A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Some gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from mob and the suffix -ster....
ghost of Bugsy in episode 8, "Murder Ain't What it Used to Be
Murder Ain't What it Used to Be
Murder Ain't What it Used to Be is the seventh episode of the popular 1969 ITC British television series Randall and Hopkirk starring Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre. The episode was first broadcast on 2 November 1969 on ITV. Directed by Jeremy Summers.-Synopsis:Crime boss Paul Kirstner...
".
In episode 21, "The Ghost Talks
The Ghost Talks (Randall and Hopkirk Deceased)
"The Ghost Talks" is the twenty-first episode of the popular 1969 ITC British television series Randall and Hopkirk starring Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre. The episode was first broadcast on February 6, 1970, on the ITV...
", which is a flashback of Marty when he was living also reveals he was physically very weak and would lose in a fight very easily. His physical strength appeared to be particularly lacking for a professional detective.
Jeannie Hopkirk
Annette Andre
Annette Andre is an Australian actress best known for her work on British television throughout the 1960s and 1970s. She was educated at Brigidine College, Sydney. Her father was an upholsterer....
) is the young widow of Marty Hopkirk
Marty Hopkirk
Marty Hopkirk is a fictional ghost played by English actor Kenneth Cope in the television private detective series Randall and Hopkirk from 1969 to early 1970...
and serves as a secretary at the Randall and Hopkirk Private Investigation office. She is an attractive woman with neat blond hair and a petite frame and build. Jeannie can prove a very useful character in Jeff's exploits and she has saved him many times from an early demise. She is highly resourceful and able as a secretary but often she appears as very naive and vulnerable, which has put her own life in danger on many occasions. In only the third episode, "All Work and No Pay
All Work and No Pay
All Work and No Pay is the third episode of the popular 1969 ITC British television series Randall and Hopkirk starring Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre. The episode was first broadcast on 5 October 1969 on ITV...
", she believes the tomfoolery of the Foster brothers as they use electronic equipment to pretend that the poltergeist
Poltergeist
A poltergeist is a paranormal phenomenon which consists of events alluding to the manifestation of an imperceptible entity. Such manifestation typically includes inanimate objects moving or being thrown about, sentient noises and, on some occasions, physical attacks on those witnessing the...
of Marty is destroying her apartment
Apartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
. She believes that they are spiritualists who indeed have the ability to contact her deceased husband. In episode 10, "When Did You Start to Stop Seeing Things?
When did You Start to Stop Seeing Things?
When did You Start to Stop Seeing Things? is the tenth episode of the popular 1969 ITC British television series Randall and Hopkirk starring Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre. The episode was first broadcast on 23 November 1969 on the ITV...
", she again believes the enemy when they pretend that Marty's spirit needs to be exorcised and true to her nature she is as helpful as possible in aiding them unknowingly, placing her in another difficult situation. Later, in episode 15, "The Man from Nowhere
The Man from Nowhere
"The Man from Nowhere" is the fifteenth episode of the popular 1969 ITC British television series Randall and Hopkirk starring Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre. The episode was first broadcast on 28 December 1969 on the ITV. Directed by Robert Tronson.-Synopsis:A man enters Jeannie's...
", Jeannie goes as far as to partly believe that an impostor is actually her deceased husband Marty in spirit, again emphasizing her vulnerability.
Annette Andre
Annette Andre
Annette Andre is an Australian actress best known for her work on British television throughout the 1960s and 1970s. She was educated at Brigidine College, Sydney. Her father was an upholsterer....
has made appearances at conventions to greet fans and sign autographs at the September 2007 Mid Atlantic nostalgia convention in Aberdeen, Maryland. And more recently at the Memorabilia Show in Birmingham, England in April 2011 and in New York in May 2011. She is currently writing her autobiography and has created a competition for fans to come up with a title for the book. See 'News' page at www.annetteandre.com.
Episode list
In broadcast order as by LWT London. It was the only ITV station to screen all 26 episodes without breaks in transmission.Filming took place between May 1968 and July 1969.
| Episode # | Prod # | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original airdate |
|---|
Broadcast
The 26 episodes were made by ITC EntertainmentITC Entertainment
The Incorporated Television Company was a British television company largely involved in production and distribution. It was founded by Lew Grade.-History:...
in 1968/69 on 35mm colour film. They were initially screened on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in 1969/70 by ITC's sister company ATV
Associated TeleVision
Associated Television, often referred to as ATV, was a British television company, holder of various licences to broadcast on the ITV network from 24 September 1955 until 00:34 on 1 January 1982...
and most of the other ITV stations, (1970/71 in some regions that waited until full colour had been implemented by all ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
contractors) repeats lasted until 1976 in most regions, it was repeated again on ITV in 1986/87, in the 90s the series was bought by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and shown at least 3 times on BBC2 (these were restored prints), this was the last time complete prints were screened in the UK. The series was also re-run on UK digital channel ITV4, (where the episodes were cut to 45-46 mins) until 30 October 2010. In the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
they appeared in syndication
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
from around 1972, retitled My Partner the Ghost (remembered by many as My Friend the Ghost) because audience research suggested that Americans would not understand the word "deceased".
Two versions of the show's opening titles were made. The original version, which was first seen in the UK when the series was repeated on ITV in 1986/87 and is the version on all subsequent TV re-runs and video/DVD releases, features events seen through images of a finger moving a glass on an ouija board and after shots of Marty shying away from the approaching car the animated spinning hand print gives way to the series title, which fills the screen. Then, specially shot sequences of Jeff, Marty and Jeannie coming out of their office building are seen through a red handprint. However when originally transmitted, and for all UK repeats in the 1970s, this sequence was replaced by a more explicit montage of shots from the Pilot which includes the final scenes at the graveside, but now with Marty explaining (a voice over by Kenneth Cope) that only Jeff can see him: "Only you, Jeff, only you..." This was also the version on US prints, but with the title changed to 'My Partner the Ghost'. It is unknown why the original handprint title sequence was replaced by the graveside titles for the first UK transmissions. The original ad break bumper film, available on Network DVD's 2008 release of the series, proves the current handprint title sequence is the original as it features exactly the same animation of the title graphics. Further evidence is the fact that a version of the handprint title sequence was made without the usual Annette Andre footage but with a clean shot of the office and a caption crediting Judith Arthy for the episode "The House on Haunted Hill".
Music
The theme music of Randall and Hopkirk, like that of other ITCITC Entertainment
The Incorporated Television Company was a British television company largely involved in production and distribution. It was founded by Lew Grade.-History:...
productions The Baron
The Baron
The Baron is a British television series, made in 1965/66 based on the book series by John Creasey, written under the pseudonym Anthony Morton, and produced by ITC Entertainment. It was the first ITC show without marionettes to be produced entirely in colour...
, Danger Man
Danger Man
Danger Man is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the program and wrote many of the scripts...
, The Saint
The Saint (TV series)
The Saint was an ITC mystery spy thriller television series that aired in the UK on ITV between 1962 and 1969. It centred on the Leslie Charteris literary character, Simon Templar, a Robin Hood-like adventurer with a penchant for disguise. The character may be nicknamed The Saint because the...
, and Department S
Department S
Department S is a United Kingdom spy-fi adventure series produced by ITC Entertainment. The series consists of 28 episodes which originally aired in 1969–1970. It starred Peter Wyngarde as author Jason King , Joel Fabiani as Stewart Sullivan, and Rosemary Nicols as computer expert Annabelle Hurst...
, were composed by Edwin Astley. The use of a brass band
Brass band
A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting entirely of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands , but are usually more correctly termed military bands, concert...
and orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
with the prevalent use of the flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
, the clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
, violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
s, trumpet
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
s, and harpsichord on both the main title track and other soundtracks epitomised the music scores created for many action series in the 1960s. The heavy use of the harpsichord and high pitched flutes and clarinets and was intended to create a quirky atmosphere
Atmosphere
An atmosphere is a layer of gases that may surround a material body of sufficient mass, and that is held in place by the gravity of the body. An atmosphere may be retained for a longer duration, if the gravity is high and the atmosphere's temperature is low...
for the paranormal series whilst a loud brass band was to help create all the tension needed in an action drama at the most intense periods in the series.
DVD release
The series was released on seven Region 2DVD region code
DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
DVDs in 2000–2002, which were then issued as a box set by Carlton. The episodes are in the LWT broadcast order. Volume 2 includes the original UK transmission opening titles as an extra, and the US version on Volume 3.
The series was released in Australian in a DVD box set 2005 by Umbrella Entertainment. It contains audio commentaries: from Annette Andre, Directors Roy Ward Baker and Cyril Frankel, Guest stars George Sewell and Jane Merrow and production crew members malcolm Christopher and Ken Baker. It also includes two newly filmed interviews with Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre, nearly 15 minutes of previously unseen production footage, extensive stills galleries, insert reprint of the original ITC promotional brochure, ITC publicity and scripts (as pdfs), all the alternate opening credits, Memorabilia gallery, cast and crew profiles, production notes and a bonus episode of the ITC series The Baron starring Annette Andre.
The series was re-released in the UK in a further boxset in 2008 by Network, the episodes were remastered from the original negatives, and are in production order not broadcast order, this contained a similar though different set of extras to the Australian release, including a specially-commissioned documentary with contributions from Kenneth Cope, Annette Andre, Mike Pratt's son Guy and several writers and directors and 15 mins of mute production footage. Also four episodes had the graveside titles reinstated, a bonus episode of "The Man in Room 17" featuring Mike Pratt and the original ad break bumper and US titles and original music/photo galleries were also included, as was the 1946 film Angel On My Shoulder
Angel on My Shoulder (film)
Angel on My Shoulder is a 1946 American fantasy film about a deal between the Devil and a dead man. It was an independent production, produced by Charles R. Rogers and David W. Siegel, directed by Archie Mayo, written by Harry Segall and Roland Kibbee, and released by United Artists...
starring Paul Muni, and two extensive printed booklets of programme notes by UK television historian Andrew Pixley.
The first half of the series is also available on DVD in the North American market from A&E.
The remake
In 2000–2001 the series was remade by Working Title Films
Working Title Films
Working Title Films is a British film production company, based in London, UK. The company was founded by Tim Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe in 1983. It produces feature films and several television productions, including films starring comic actor Rowan Atkinson...
for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
with a more elaborate storyline, starring Vic Reeves
Vic Reeves
James Roderick Moir , better known by the stage name Vic Reeves, is an English comedian, best known for his double act with Bob Mortimer . He is known for his surreal and non sequitur sense of humour....
as Hopkirk (once again in a white suit) and Bob Mortimer
Bob Mortimer
Robert "Bob" Renwick Mortimer is an English comedian and actor, who is best known for his double act with Vic Reeves...
as Randall, with Emilia Fox
Emilia Fox
Emilia Rose Elizabeth Fox is an award-winning English actress, known for her role as Dr. Nikki Alexander on BBC crime drama Silent Witness, having joined the cast in 2004 following the departure of Amanda Burton. She also appears as Morgause in the BBC's Merlin beginning in the programme's second...
as Jeannie. Two series were made. The entire first series was written and produced by Charlie Higson
Charlie Higson
Charles Murray Higson , more commonly known as Charlie Higson - also Switch - is an English actor, comedian, author and former singer...
, who also directed some episodes. The second series employed some other writers, including Gareth Roberts
Gareth Roberts (writer)
Gareth John Pritchard Roberts is a British television screenwriter and novelist, best known for his work related to the science-fiction television series Doctor Who...
, Mark Gatiss
Mark Gatiss
Mark Gatiss is an English actor, screenwriter and novelist. He is best known as a member of the comedy team The League of Gentlemen, and has both written for and acted in the TV series Doctor Who and Sherlock....
and Jeremy Dyson
Jeremy Dyson
Jeremy Dyson is an English screenwriter and, along with Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith, a participant in The League of Gentlemen.-Early life:...
. The situation was the same, but the circumstances of Hopkirk's death were changed.