KOOL TV REVIEW: "CALLAN" THE MONOCHROME YEARS

Spy with a conscience. Edward Woodward as CALLAN. All images: NETWORK DVD

One of the UK’s most beloved TV series of the late sixties and early seventies, the unique spy thriller CALLAN, created by James Mitchell, whose vulnerable but dangerous assassin lead character would be played to perfection by the excellent late actor Edward Woodward (his career best role, and the one that launched him into the TV hall of fame forever), has now been made available in its existing entirety via two box sets from the ever reliable UK company NETWORK DVD –one for the surviving black and white episodes of the shows first two seasons, the other for the two equally successful colour years from the early seventies. It’s the former set that I’ve now had the chance to see, and there are some cracking episodes on it that make it an essential purchase for all fans of good drama, strong characters and spy series in general. Considering the age of the episodes they are in pretty good shape for the most part, though sadly its obvious that, bar one episode, THE WORST SOLIDER I EVER SAW, previously lost but now expertly restored and re-edited from the original surviving recording footage, this has not had the kind of special clean-up treatment seen with the work done by the likes of the BBC’s DOCTOR WHO classic series DVD range, that it I feel it deserved. There’s also no behind the scenes booklet accompanying the release and no DVD extras at all, which is a further missed opportunity (I’m sure NETWORK could have interviewed some of the directors/writers who might still be alive, and on the acting front they could have at least tracked down Anthony Valentine (who played Callan’s rival, Toby Mears) for a chat or at least a couple of episode commentaries). Such an enduringly popular series as CALLAN, even if it is in a Black and White format that might be seen as off putting for certain buyers, deserved better. 

At the end of the day, though, it’s the episodes themselves that count and are the real stars of the package. All of them are worth watching, and the original pilot, A MAGNUM FOR SCHNEIDER, realized by one of THE AVENGERS TV series earliest producers, Leonard White, and directed by Bill Bain (also instrumental visually in some of that aforementioned series style), made on unglossy, raw videotape for the ARMCHAIR THEATRE series by ABC TV (and staying in that format for the rest of the series to come), is one of the best ever made for that time. All the series later classic trademarks and elements that would make it such a success with UK TV audiences are on display here, showing the great story and character promise to come pretty much from the get go. James Mitchell’s script is lean and mean, and well caters for the theatre like atmosphere of the opener, with a star performance from Edward Woodward and an equally strong supporting cast including regular 60’s TV baddie, before becoming the suave 70’s sophisticate of shows like TO THE MANOR BORN and LYTTON’S DIARY, Peter Bowles, in his one and only performance as Callan’s young rival, and private boarding school toff Toby Mears, THE PRISONER’s Ronald Radd as the mysterious but seedy and dangerous “Hunter”, in charge of the UK’s spy ring known as The Section, and the super Scottish character actor Russell Hunter looking not so scruffy, but certainly retaining his personal hygiene problems, as the seedy gun acquirer/safe cracker/thief, Lonely. The character dynamics (the antagonistic relationships between the main characters, like Callan and the ambitious, sometimes trigger happy, bullyish thorn in his side Mears (played in the regular series by Anthony Valentine), our often anti-hero-like central character Callan’s in bred and naturalistic hatred of his superiors (The Section making him do all the dark and dirty jobs no one else wants to touch, of which there would be three overall “Hunter”s in Seasons One and Two (Ronald Radd, Michael Goodliffe, Derek Bond), his dry and often bleak sense of humour (where we often hear what he’s thinking-an element of the shows that’s removed in later episodes) and his sometimes isolationism, where his only friend whom he can trust actually turns out to be the downtrodden Lonely (In some ways, poor little Lonely acts as a kind of vicious circle security blanket/boxing pole for Callan, who constantly smacks him around- the spy himself is constantly being bruised and beaten by his superiors in the assignments he has to do and he can’t fight them back, therefore he takes it out on Lonely, whom he can manipulate and scare within their unusual love/hate relationship, and knowing that Lonely doesn’t have the strength to resist him back, either!). Adding to the main characters, the series has realistic and dangerous villains for them to fight, against a sixties London backdrop that is both familiar and grittily sinister.

Callan gets to grips with his "smelly friend" Lonely (Russell Hunter).

Looking at the episodes that follow MAGNUM (from the caliber of well known writers like Ray Jenkins, Michael Winder and Terence Feely) you can see how the shows production values improve with each episode and season (and regular continuity proves excellent). 

Here’s my personal favourite choices of the thirteen surviving episodes in the B/W box set:

A MAGNUM FOR SCHNEIDER (1967 PILOT)

Brought out of an enforced leave by his shadowy spy master “Hunter” (Ronald Radd), civil servant David Callan, once known as a formidable killer with a ruthless streak, is given an unwilling test mission that, if successful, will see him back in employment: to take out a Red File assignment target, a German named Schneider (Joseph Furst), who, it seems, is a danger to British interests, living the good life in London as an importer/exporter. But an importer of what?

THE GOOD GUYS ARE ALL DEAD (SEASON ONE, EPISODE ONE)

Acting as an undesired but needed freelancer for The Section, which is currently working alongside the Israeli Secret Service, Callan has to resume his undercover work as an accounts/book clerk to discover whether an Egyptian businessman, Savros, is really an ex-Nazi slave camp leader, Strauss, from 23 years previously.

This is pretty much another version of the pilot, presumably to introduce new viewers to the series, but it’s still good nonetheless! With its serious tone showing the consequences of being a spy- of perhaps killing someone that you ultimately like despite their reputation- this episode intriguingly shows how being an assassin can affect an individual, especially one possessing a strong sense of morality like Callan!

RED KNIGHT, WHITE KNIGHT  (1969 SEASON TWO (KNOWN AS “THE CALLAN SAGA”), EPISODE ONE)

At odds with a new Hunter (Michael Goodliffe), Callan, soon fully re-instated within The Section, finds himself once more pitted against his old adversary and equal from Moscow, the assassin Punin (Duncan Lamont). Is Punin really defecting to the West? Or is Callan’s adversary up to his old murderous tricks once more?

THE MOST PROMISING GIRL OF HER YEAR (SEASON TWO, EPISODE TWO)

Lab technician Joan Mather (Elizabeth Bell) wants to quit her job in helping to develop a possible new nerve gas weapon and run away with her East German boyfriend, but when The Section realizes she has a natural talent-a photographic memory of all her work- any idea of her leaving is soon under suspicion. Callan, acting as principal investigator for his superior, takes on a dangerous assassin and finds that love can make the ultimate sacrifice…

LET’S KILL EVERYBODY  (SEASON TWO, EPISODE FIVE)

A previously injured Callan finds himself caught in a deadly assassination plot by an unknown power against The Section and its members, with his unsuspecting girlfriend, ex-nurse Jenny (Hilary Dwyer), caught in the middle! An excellent episode from writer Ray Jenkins, with the unexpected shocking death of a major series character by its finale.

THE WORST SOLDIER I EVER SAW (SEASON TWO, EPISODE THIRTEEN)

The dictatorial and power hungry Sultan of Abutar wants to wage war against his Middle Eastern enemies and hires a British Brigadier, Pringle (Alan Cuthbertson), to come to his country in order to train soldiers. The Section, however, aware of the dangers of such a military action in such sensitive times, and how a new war could threaten past and future oil deals, sends Callan, a former solider to Pringle, and now acting as his house manservant, to discreetly stop him…

DEATH OF A HUNTER  (SEASON TWO FINALE, EPISODE FOURTEEN)

On a special individual assignment for Hunter- in surveillance of a possible enemy agent- Callan unwillingly becomes the pawn in a deadly chess game trap being initiated against The Section. This time all bets are off as the final moves on the board see Pawn take Knight!

The series finale, DEATH OF A HUNTER is one of the shows darkest hours for the character of Callan, in a tale which brings together a great, cleverly constructed script by Michael Winder (and if you liked the Michael Caine spy thriller THE IPCRESS FILE you’ll certainly like this). I can only imagine how shocked viewers were by the ending when they first watched the original transmission, backed up with taut and exciting direction from producer Reginald Collin, who, uncertain whether the series would continue in colour, filmed two ending to the episode: one in which Callan lived, and the other in which he died. Fortunately, due to public demand for more, they chose the former!

KOOL TV RATINGS (OVERALL): Episodes 3.5 out of 5. DVD extras 0 out of 5

For more detailed notes on the series in general check out the earlier KOOL TV blog in the labels area.