Television Treasures

I remember as a kid watching such programmes as The Champions, The Saint And Randall and Hopkirk Deceased, especially as reruns. I was not so nostalgic about some of the other shows like The New Avengers or The Professionals until I recently bought a television with Freeview installed into it. perhaps because these are a little newer than my treasured first choice selections from my youth.

This system has allowed me the luxury of returning to these shows and experiencing many of the episodes for the first time, not as reruns of cherished but slightly jaded playground favourites but as newly discovered favourites from a previous era.

The other night I watched Jack Regan rushing around London in his four door silver Ford Cortina looking for villains and punching them first and asking questions later quickly followed by Bodie and Doyle in their Leather jackets and contrasting hairstyles sneering and posing through their adventures.

In the Professionals I had forgotten what a great part Gordon Jackson had played and how he was nursing a leg wound, this character detail had completely passed me by as a young man.

The point that I am making is that we remember these shows as simpler than they really were, many of the actors in these programmes were very talented and more than capable of bringing a haircut to life or running about and shouting week in and week out. the interplay between Bodie and Doyle and their boss George Cowley is surprisingly respectful and understanding in the episode that I watched and makes them appear real and if I may say so, a little more human and responsible than I had remembered.

Why not give this and many other older shows a chance if you are sometimes disappointed with the endless reality shows and talentless offerings to be seen on todays television screens.

David Smith