The Baron
Encyclopedia
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. (Previous ITC series Stingray
and Thunderbirds
had been filmed in colour, while The Adventures of Sir Lancelot
in 1956-57 had the last fourteen of its thirty episodes shot in colour and Man of the World 1962 pilot episode was also filmed in colour.)
). Paul Ferris was originally cast as Mannering's assistant David Marlowe. However after pressure from the US network Marlowe was dropped in favour of the more glamorous Cordelia (Sue Lloyd
) who was in the first episode.
In Creasey's original novels Mannering was British and, after the few first entries, married. In transforming him into a bachelor and casting a Texan in the role, the producers decided that 'The Baron' would be nicknamed after the cattle ranch once run by his grandfather. In the books he was a reformed jewel-thief (the first few novels described that "career" from Mannering's decision to steal to his going straight) whose criminal ties served him well in investigating jewel, art or antiques-oriented mysteries.
, The Saint
etc.), including guest cast members Peter Wyngarde
and Bernard Lee
, and directors Roy Ward Baker
and Robert Asher
. The lion's share of the scripts were by Dennis Spooner
and Dalek
creator Terry Nation
. A few episodes were written by 'Tony O'Grady', none other than The Avengers
writer-producer Brian Clemens
under a pseudonym.
The character of Mannering was like Simon Templar
, a member of the jet set
, whose glamorous lifestyle was typified by the (at the time) still-exclusive air travel to exotic locations. However filming never left the UK; indeed was filmed chiefly in and around Elstree Studios
in Borehamwood
, Hertfordshire
. Locations used included Haberdashers' Aske's School, St. Albans and Ivinghoe Beacon
. These featured prominently in several other ITC series of the same era. The backlot at Elstree in particular was extensively used, being transformed alternately into Mannering's antiques shop, a Mexican town, a Parisian nightclub, an East European police station and many others besides.
As with other ITC series, the American market was vital, and several episodes were overdubbed (e.g. 'petrol' becoming 'gas', 'whisky' becoming 'scotch') to ensure it was fit for US audiences. Unfortunately despite a promising start it did not do well enough on the US network and was syndicated midway through its run. This effectively ensured no second series would be made even though it was well received in the UK.
The Baron's car was a silver Jensen
CV-8 Mk II
with the registration 'BAR 1'. Unlike the Volvo driven by The Saint, the exclusivity of the car meant the series did not generate the same sales boost as The Saint had done for Volvo. Cordelia drove a considerably less upmarket Daf
33.
The episode "Something For A Rainy Day" featured a clip of the now-famous white Jaguar plummeting over a cliff. It was apparently filmed for this episode but was deemed so expensive the clip went on to be used in many episodes and series later, effectively becoming an in-joke. Whenever someone got in a white Jaguar it inevitably ended in doom!
The episode '"Portrait of Louisa" was a reworking by Terry Nation of his earlier script for an episode of The Saint entitled "Lida".
.
Airdate is for ATV
Midlands. ITV
regions varied date and order.
these were compiled from the two part episodes. Mystery Island was a re-edit of the episodes "Storm Warning" (the pilot episode
)and "The Island" whilst The Man in a Looking Glass was a combination of "Masquerade" and "The Killing".
This led to further European releases of ITC film compilations in the sixties for The Saint
, Man in a Suitcase
and Danger Man
.
) on Region 0 DVD
. Commentaries were recorded by Sue Lloyd
, Johnny Goodman
and Cyril Frankel
amongst others.
In Region 1, Entertainment One
released the complete series on DVD on 10 March 2009.
British television
Public television broadcasting started in the United Kingdom in 1936, and now has a collection of free and subscription services over a variety of distribution media, through which there are over 480 channelsTaking the base Sky EPG TV Channels. A breakdown is impossible due to a) the number of...
series, made in 1965/66 based on the book series by John Creasey
John Creasey
John Creasey MBE was an English crime and science fiction writer. The author of more than 600 novels, he published them using 28 different pseudonyms, including Anthony Morton, Michael Halliday, Kyle Hunt, J.J. Marric, Jeremy York, Richard Martin, Peter Manton, Norman Deane, Gordon Ashe, Henry St...
, written under the pseudonym Anthony Morton, and produced by ITC Entertainment
ITC Entertainment
The Incorporated Television Company was a British television company largely involved in production and distribution. It was founded by Lew Grade.-History:...
. It was the first ITC show without marionettes to be produced entirely in colour. (Previous ITC series Stingray
Stingray (TV series)
Stingray is a children's marionette television show, created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and produced by AP Films for ATV and ITC Entertainment from 1964–65. Its 39 half-hour episodes were originally screened on ITV in the UK and in syndication in the USA. The scriptwriters included Gerry and...
and Thunderbirds
Thunderbirds (TV series)
Thunderbirds is a British mid-1960s science fiction television show devised by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and made by AP Films using a form of marionette puppetry dubbed "Supermarionation"...
had been filmed in colour, while The Adventures of Sir Lancelot
The Adventures of Sir Lancelot
The Adventures of Sir Lancelot is a British television series first broadcast in 1956, produced by Sapphire Films for ITC Entertainment and screened on the ITV network...
in 1956-57 had the last fourteen of its thirty episodes shot in colour and Man of the World 1962 pilot episode was also filmed in colour.)
Plot outline
The show starred American Steve Forrest as John Mannering, an antiques dealer and undercover agent working in an informal capacity for the head of the fictional British Diplomatic Intelligence, Templeton-Green (Colin GordonColin Gordon
Colin Gordon was a British actor born in Ceylon .He was educated at Marlborough College and Christ Church, Oxford. He made his first West End appearance in 1934 as the hind legs of a horse in a production of “Toad of Toad Hall”. From 1936 to 1939 he was a director with the Fred Melville Repertory...
). Paul Ferris was originally cast as Mannering's assistant David Marlowe. However after pressure from the US network Marlowe was dropped in favour of the more glamorous Cordelia (Sue Lloyd
Sue Lloyd
Sue Lloyd was an English model turned actress with numerous film and television credits.-Biography:...
) who was in the first episode.
In Creasey's original novels Mannering was British and, after the few first entries, married. In transforming him into a bachelor and casting a Texan in the role, the producers decided that 'The Baron' would be nicknamed after the cattle ranch once run by his grandfather. In the books he was a reformed jewel-thief (the first few novels described that "career" from Mannering's decision to steal to his going straight) whose criminal ties served him well in investigating jewel, art or antiques-oriented mysteries.
Cast and characters
- Steve Forrest....John Mannering AKA "The Baron"
- Sue LloydSue LloydSue Lloyd was an English model turned actress with numerous film and television credits.-Biography:...
....Cordelia Winfield - Colin GordonColin GordonColin Gordon was a British actor born in Ceylon .He was educated at Marlborough College and Christ Church, Oxford. He made his first West End appearance in 1934 as the hind legs of a horse in a production of “Toad of Toad Hall”. From 1936 to 1939 he was a director with the Fred Melville Repertory...
....John Alexander Templeton-Green - Paul Ferris....David Marlowe
Production credits
- Producer - Monty Berman
- Script Supervision - Terry NationTerry NationTerry Nation was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist.He is probably best known for creating the villainous Daleks in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who...
- Production Supervisor - Johnny Goodman
- Music - Edwin Astley
Production
Like other ITC shows, The Baron shared a lot of its production crew with the other productions of the time (Danger ManDanger 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...
etc.), including guest cast members Peter Wyngarde
Peter Wyngarde
Peter Paul Wyngarde is an Anglo-French actor best known for playing the character Jason King, a bestselling novelist turned sleuth, in two British television series in the late 1960s and early 1970s: Department S and Jason King .-Biography:He was born Cyril Goldbert in Marseilles, France, the...
and Bernard Lee
Bernard Lee
John Bernard Lee was an English actor, best known for his role as M in the first eleven James Bond films.-Life and career:...
, and directors Roy Ward Baker
Roy Ward Baker
Roy Ward Baker , born Roy Horace Baker, was an English film director, credited as Roy Baker for much of his career. His best known film is A Night to Remember which won a Golden Globe for Best English-Language Foreign Film in 1959...
and Robert Asher
Robert Asher (Director)
Robert Asher was a British film and television director.-Film career:Asher began his career as an assistant director in 1934, working with Anthony Pelissier, Robert Hamer, Maurice Elvey and Roy Ward Baker among others...
. The lion's share of the scripts were 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 Dalek
Dalek
The Daleks are a fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. Within the series, Daleks are cyborgs from the planet Skaro, created by the scientist Davros during the final years of a thousand-year war against the Thals...
creator Terry Nation
Terry Nation
Terry Nation was a Welsh screenwriter and novelist.He is probably best known for creating the villainous Daleks in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who...
. A few episodes were written by 'Tony O'Grady', none other than 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...
writer-producer Brian Clemens
Brian Clemens
Brian Horace Clemens OBE is a British screenwriter and television producer, possibly best known for his work on The Avengers and The Professionals...
under a pseudonym.
The character of Mannering was like Simon Templar
Simon Templar
Simon Templar is a British fictional character known as The Saint featured in a long-running series of books by Leslie Charteris published between 1928 and 1963. After that date, other authors collaborated with Charteris on books until 1983; two additional works produced without Charteris’s...
, a member of the jet set
Jet set
"Jet set" is a journalistic term that was used to describe an international social group of wealthy people, organizing and participating all around the world in social activities that are unreachable to ordinary people...
, whose glamorous lifestyle was typified by the (at the time) still-exclusive air travel to exotic locations. However filming never left the UK; indeed was filmed chiefly in and around 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:...
in Borehamwood
Borehamwood
-Film industry:Since the 1920s, the town has been home to several film studios and many shots of its streets are included in final cuts of 20th century British films. This earned it the nickname of the "British Hollywood"...
, Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
. Locations used included Haberdashers' Aske's School, St. Albans and Ivinghoe Beacon
Ivinghoe Beacon
Ivinghoe Beacon is a prominent hill and landmark in the Chiltern Hills, standing 233 m above sea level. It is situated close to the villages of Ivinghoe, Aldbury in Buckinghamshire, the Ashridge Estate, and the village of Little Gaddesden in Hertfordshire, and is managed and owned by the...
. These featured prominently in several other ITC series of the same era. The backlot at Elstree in particular was extensively used, being transformed alternately into Mannering's antiques shop, a Mexican town, a Parisian nightclub, an East European police station and many others besides.
As with other ITC series, the American market was vital, and several episodes were overdubbed (e.g. 'petrol' becoming 'gas', 'whisky' becoming 'scotch') to ensure it was fit for US audiences. Unfortunately despite a promising start it did not do well enough on the US network and was syndicated midway through its run. This effectively ensured no second series would be made even though it was well received in the UK.
The Baron's car was a silver Jensen
Jensen Motors
Jensen Motors Ltd was a British manufacturer of sports cars and commercial vehicles, based in the Lyng – West Bromwich...
CV-8 Mk II
Jensen CV8
The Jensen C-V8 is a sports car produced by Jensen Motors.Launched in October 1962, it was the successor to the similarly styled 541 series of Jensen motorcars and shared their use of fibreglass as a body material ....
with the registration 'BAR 1'. Unlike the Volvo driven by The Saint, the exclusivity of the car meant the series did not generate the same sales boost as The Saint had done for Volvo. Cordelia drove a considerably less upmarket Daf
DAF Trucks
DAF Trucks NV is a Dutch truck manufacturing company and a division of PACCAR. Its headquarters and main plant are in Eindhoven. Cabs and axle assemblies are produced at its Westerlo plant in Belgium...
33.
The episode "Something For A Rainy Day" featured a clip of the now-famous white Jaguar plummeting over a cliff. It was apparently filmed for this episode but was deemed so expensive the clip went on to be used in many episodes and series later, effectively becoming an in-joke. Whenever someone got in a white Jaguar it inevitably ended in doom!
The episode '"Portrait of Louisa" was a reworking by Terry Nation of his earlier script for an episode of The Saint entitled "Lida".
Episode list
Filmed July 1965 -October 1966 on location and at Elstree StudiosElstree 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:...
.
Airdate is for 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...
Midlands. 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...
regions varied date and order.
| Episode # | Prod # | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original airdate | Filmed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Films
Two films were put together for European cinema distribution by ITCITC Entertainment
The Incorporated Television Company was a British television company largely involved in production and distribution. It was founded by Lew Grade.-History:...
these were compiled from the two part episodes. Mystery Island was a re-edit of the episodes "Storm Warning" (the pilot episode
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
)and "The Island" whilst The Man in a Looking Glass was a combination of "Masquerade" and "The Killing".
This led to further European releases of ITC film compilations in the sixties for 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...
, Man in a Suitcase
Man in a Suitcase
Man in a Suitcase is a 1967 television series produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment.-Origins and overview:Man in a Suitcase was effectively a replacement for Danger Man, whose production had been curtailed when its star Patrick McGoohan had decided to create his own series, The Prisoner...
and 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...
.
DVD releases
The series was released by Network Video on Region 2 and by Umbrella Video (AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
) on Region 0 DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
. Commentaries were recorded by Sue Lloyd
Sue Lloyd
Sue Lloyd was an English model turned actress with numerous film and television credits.-Biography:...
, Johnny Goodman
Johnny Goodman (TV producer)
Johnny Goodman is a producer most active in independent British television from the 1960s-1980s. He has typically been employed as a supervising producer. He is particularly associated with ITC Entertainment action-adventure shows like The Saint, The Persuaders!, and The Baron.- References :...
and Cyril Frankel
Cyril Frankel
Cyril Frankel is a British film and television director, now retired. His career in television began in 1953 and he directed for over 30 TV programmes until 1990....
amongst others.
In Region 1, Entertainment One
Entertainment One
Entertainment One Ltd is a leading international entertainment business operating in the United States, Canada, the UK, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Australia and New Zealand...
released the complete series on DVD on 10 March 2009.