Department S (TV series)

Production

"When a case proves too baffling for the minds of Interpol, they turn to the talents of Department S."; from the ITC trailer for the series.

The series was created by Dennis Spooner and Monty Berman, although neither wrote any of the episodes, which were instead scripted by ITC regulars such as Terry Nation and Philip Broadley. Many of the directors on the show had also worked on other ITC shows such as The Saint, Danger Man and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased).

The series was shot on 35mm colour film and designed, like all ITC's film productions, to fit the United States commercial format. Although episodes begin with a cold open (after the 'S' logo is shown), unusually, the episode title, writer and director credits appear on screen before the opening title sequence, though after the theme tune has started. With a few exceptions, the principal cast is always studio-bound. Some exteriors are represented by studio buildings, while the rest are mainly shown in second-unit footage using doubles where necessary. Outside locations were, in common with similar series, largely restricted to the Hertfordshire countryside in the vicinity of Borehamwood. At least one foreign location was used, featuring Peter Wyngarde on the streets of Vienna. Otherwise, foreign locations are usually established by the use of stock footage.

The distinctive opening and closing credits were designed by Chambers and Partners who also worked on other similar series such as The Baron and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased). The music was composed by Edwin Astley.

Synopsis

Department S is a division of Interpol headed by international bureaucrat Sir Curtis Seretse (Dennis Alaba Peters). Its headquarters are in Paris and its members investigate international cases that other crime agencies cannot solve. The plots focused on bizarre discoveries such as a plane which lands at Heathrow Airport with no pilot or passengers ("One of our Aircraft is Empty") or a Government official whose chauffer finds him transformed into a skeleton ("The Bones of Byrom Blain").

The team itself is led by American and former FBI agent Stewart Sullivan (Joel Fabiani), who takes direction from Seretse. Outside of his FBI experience, little is known about Stewart except that he is pragmatic and hands-on, and does much of the leg-work, confronting the criminals.

Jason King (Peter Wyngarde) is the ideas man, but also helps in the field. He is an adventure novelist who uses details from their cases to write his novels. The living he makes writing novels affords him a hedonistic lifestyle, and he is often seen with "beautiful" women though he has no permanent love interest in the series; in one episode he mentions he is a widower whose wife was killed in a plane crash. Jason King also serves as comic relief in the series, especially in scenes of hand-to-hand combat where he winds up being subdued as often as he prevails.

Annabelle Hurst (Rosemary Nicols) is a computer expert and analyst as well as a field investigator. She sometimes appears in seductive, glamorous disguises, and is shown in her underwear in the first episode or later taking a bubble bath. There are ongoing hints of romantic interest between Stewart and Annabelle during the series.

Cast

• Peter Wyngarde as Jason King
• Joel Fabiani as Stewart Sullivan
• Rosemary Nicols as Annabelle Hurst
• Dennis Alaba Peters as Sir Curtis Seretse

Episodes

Filming took place between April 1968 and June 1969.

The air dates are for ATV Midlands. ITV regions varied date and order.

The production numbers here refer to ITC synopsis guide numbers and the sequence in the Network DVD booklet.

Guest Cast: Geraldine Moffat, Bernard Horsfall, Peter Bromilow, Tony Steedman, Peter Bowles, Al Mancini, John Gabriel, Marion Mathie, Geoffrey Chater, Charles Houston

Guest Cast: Patricia Haines, Simon Oates, Bill Nagy, Michael Balfour.

Guest Cast: Paul Whitsun-Jones, Edward Brayshaw, Brandon Brady, Robin Hawdon, Denise Buckley, Brian Oulton

Guest Cast: Richard Vernon, Jeremy Young.

Guest Cast: Anton Rodgers, Basil Dignam, Gillian Lewis, Robert Russell, John Gabriel , Edina Ronay

Guest Cast: Toby Robins, Stratford Johns, Michael Robbins, Tony Caunter, Frank Gatliff, Peter Reynolds, Martin Boddey, Juliet Harmer

Guest Cast: Neil McCallum, Dawn Addams, Dudley Sutton, Norman Eshley, John Bailey, Brian McDermott

Guest Cast: Fiona Lewis, Bridget Brice, Michael Gwynn, Alan Wheatley, Neil McCarthy, Juliet Harmer, John Steiner

Guest Cast: Neil Hallett, Sue Lloyd, Richard Caldicot, David Sumner, Paul Stassino

Guest Cast: Peter Arne, Edward de Souza, John Savident, Michael Godfrey, Yolande Turner, Veronica Carlson, George Pravda, Gertan Klauber

Guest Cast: Alan MacNaughtan, Kate O'Mara, George Pastell

Guest Cast: George Pastell, Isla Blair

Guest Cast: Alexandra Bastedo, Adrienne Corri, Eric Pohlmann, Arnold Diamond, William Wilde

Guest Cast: Edina Ronay, Donal Donnelly, Michael Gothard, Alex Scott, Joanna Vogel

Guest Cast: Caroline Blakiston, James Kerry, Eric Lander, Eddie Byrne, Leslie Schofield

Guest Cast: Wanda Ventham, John Nettleton, Duncan Lamont, Tony Selby

Guest Cast: Kieron Moore, Barbara Murray, Alan Lake, David Bauer, Edward Caddick, Steve Plytas, Ricardo Montez

Guest Cast: Harold Kasket, Cyril Luckham, Ronald Radd, Jean Marsh, Basil Dignam, Martin Miller, Marne Maitland, Ronald Leigh-Hunt, Philip Locke

Guest Cast: Ann Bell, Robert Urquhart, Guy Deghy, Basil Dignam, Sarah Lawson, Oliver MacGreevy

Guest Cast: Virginia North, Hans Meyer, Clinton Greyn

Guest Cast: Jennifer Hilary, Paul Whitsun-Jones, Guy Rolfe, Peter Copley, Michael Barrington

Guest Cast: Patricia English, Leslie Sands, Derek Newark, Harvey Hall, Tommy Godfrey

Guest Cast: Eleanor Summerfield, Anthony Hopkins, Frederick Jaeger, Colin Gordon, Brian Worth, Larry Martyn, Nosher Powell

Guest Cast: John Carson, John Baron, Patrick Barr, Gerald Campion

Guest Cast: Patricia Donahue, Iain Cuthbertson, Warren Stanhope, Garfield Morgan, Barry Andrews, Richard Heffer

Guest Cast: Lois Maxwell, Donald Houston, Norman Bird, Anthony Nicholls, Weston Gavin

Guest Cast: Magda Konopka, Lee Montague, Cyril Shaps, Wolfe Morris, John Cazabon, Yuri Borienko

Guest Cast: Michael Coles, Ronald Lacey, Anthony Valentine, John Ronane, Patrick Mower, Peter Arne, David Healy, Sandor Eles, Robert Cawdron

Re-runs

A repeat run of Department S began on ITV4 in November 2005, alongside others of a large number of similar ITC productions. Episodes of Department S screened on London Live TV channel in the London area in March–April 2022. Rewind Television DTT channels in the United Kingdom started broadcasting the series in December 2024.

Home media

The first two episodes of Department S were released on DVD in Britain by Carlton Television (now part of ITV plc). Department S was released on DVD in Australia by Umbrella Entertainment in a box set. This version is in PAL with no region code. Network released the series on DVD in the United Kingdom http://www.networkdvd.net/product_info.php?products_id=523 featuring many exclusive extras, including commentaries and part of a documentary series also covering Jason King: Wanna Watch a Television Series? Chapter One: Variations on a Theme.

Department S first appeared in high definition on Blu-ray as a single episode on Retro Action Volume 1 released by the Network imprint on 19 September 2011. This contained the episode "A Small War of Nerves", which features Anthony Hopkins.

Volume-by-volume release of the entire series in new high-definition transfers on Blu-ray began in 2017, with the first available on 27 February. There are six volumes in total; the first two each contain four episodes, the next four contain five episodes each.

A complete box set of the entire series was released in Blu-ray on 2 October 2017, coded for all three regions.

References

References

1. "Department S: The Complete Series Blu-ray (United Kingdom)".
2. Dates from ITC Episode guide issued with the Network DVD
3. [[History of ITV]]
4. "Department S: Volume 1 Blu-ray (United Kingdom)".
5. "Department S: The Complete Series Blu-ray (United Kingdom)".