ON HALO-ED GROUND! "THE SAINT" MAKES A COMEBACK?

Roger Moore as THE SAINT. Image: ITC/ITV

With a long running and iconic fictional history that matches, and even surpasses, that of his rival, James Bond, the immortal figure of the occasionally anti-establishment, anti-hero Simon Templar, created by Leslie Charteris-otherwise known as THE SAINT- continues to endure as one of the literary worlds most popular heroes of adventure and detective fiction. Like Bond, of whom the role has many recognisably similar characteristics, he's also been portrayed on the radio, film and TV screen by a number of different actors, all of whom have brought their own unique and enjoyable characteristics and identities to the part, from Horror genre supremo Vincent Price, who brought Templar's life on the edge flourishes to vocal reality in the late forties and early fifties on American NBC radio, to the more exciting and memorable visual form, with distinguished English actor George Saunders as the dry, laconic version of the 1950's movies series, not so much a stiff upper lip but more of a drink before crime fighting raison d'etre, followed by Hugh Sinclair, and then onto television, where the character would enjoy the peak of its success, with the ITC black and white, then colour, series of the mid to late sixties, featuring the lead actor whom many still regard as the seminal and iconic portrayal yet of the character-and the man who instantly made it his own without ever having really needed to try very hard (and I mean that as a compliment)-Roger Moore, who seemed tailor made for the role with his handsome looks, mean right fist that sent many a baddie (or stuntman) into the middle of next Thursday, a nice way with the ladies and possessing world travelling enthusiasm heightened with a realist attitude to life. Following on from the huge success of Moore in the role was never going to be easy, but keeper of THE SAINT's TV rights, Robert S. Baker, was determined to get a new series off the ground as the swinging sixties made way to the flair-swishing seventies, the result being the not unsuccessful RETURN OF THE SAINT, again from ITC studios, with the similar looking to Roger Moore actor Ian Ogilvy keeping the crime fighting tradition going for the short lived but bigger budgeted series, which, unlike the Moore episode/novel adaptations, actually did have glossy location filming abroad that wasn't confined to the dreary ELSTREE Studios backlot! Into the late eighties, and in line with darker and more complex times, actor Christopher Neame, a man who could have played the character himself back in the day, captured the series TV rights (with Baker returning as a consultant) and brought suave British actor Simon Dutton into the exclusive SAINT actors club with his portrayal that was almost a kind of precursor to the kind of James Bond interpretation given by Pierce Brosnan, though without the injection of much needed humour. Sadly, the Dutton adventures, a multi-country produced miasma of a series, has now faded into TV history and was sadly not to succeed as the next popular and evolutionary success for the character that audiences had hoped for, and ended up being pretty unremarkable, leaded with some poor scripts and the seemingly harder edged looking lead actor himself not having enough time to develop into the role. It seemed as if the famous adventurer had hung up his halo once and for all...

THE SAINT (Roger Moore) colour titles:YouTube - ‪The Saint - Title Sequence‬‏
THE RETURN OF THE SAINT (Ian Ogilvy) titles:YouTube - ‪Return of the Saint opening‬‏
THE SAINT (Simon Dutton) titles: YouTube - ‪THE SAINT (1989) THIS IS LONDON WEEKEND TELEVISION‬‏
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Yet, as we all know, from the equally diverse histories of other populist heroes like Bond and the evergreen Time Lord, DOCTOR WHO, you can't put a good character down, and news has circulated recently that, despite a prior unsuccessful attempt to get a revival off the ground in 2007/8, popular British star James Purefoy, a fine actor with diverse film and TV credits including SHARPE, SHERLOCK HOLMES, ROME, and the recent INJUSTICE mini-series thriller for ITV, as well as being used to action/adventure with his lead role in SOLOMON KANE, fighting zombies in RESIDENT EVIL and soon appearing in the big budget sci-fi actioner scheduled for next year: JOHN CARTER, is apparently to take up the hallowed role-and a good choice he is, too!- for a new series attempt of re-imagined stories that will hopefully be a success and re-launch the character, and his halo'ed overhead symbol, to much deserved heights of popularity once again. However, whether the same opening storyline from 2008 will be made, involving Templar- a member of a secret and eons old organisation called The Knights of the Templar- going up against a ruthless child slaver businessman, is currently unknown...

The original teaser poster for the so far unmade THE SAINT 2008 TV project to have starred James Purefoy.

Ultimately, we must remember that no matter what the new series, if it does get off the ground, ends up being like, it surely can't be any worse than that dreadful abortion of a SAINT movie from the mid-nineties starring Val Kilmer- an unmitigated disaster that should never have been realised! Nothing can surely ever top that for sheer awfulness!

The complete series of Roger Moore's THE SAINT, and Ian Ogilvy's RETURN OF THE SAINT are available on DVD. Simon Dutton's series is available on DVD only via Australian stockists.

POWER AND PRINCIPALITY: "CAMELOT"

High stakes for Arthur (Jamie Campbell Bower) and Morgan (Eva Green) in the new interpretation of CAMELOT. Image: STARZ

Just in time to cash in on the heavy dollops of sex and swordplay on offer in the hugely successful GAME OF THRONES HBO adaptation comes the US STARZ channel's ambitious new series CAMELOT to CHANNEL 4 this Saturday evening, based on, you guessed it, the birth and evolution of the Arthur legend (isn't it great that the UK has produced so many iconic characters and legendary heroes ripe for continual re-imagining? If there had been a publicist like Max Clifford back in the day when all these heroes, villains and myths were being formulated and perpetuated-passed through the generations- the film and TV purchasing rights would have been enormous!). It all looks glossy and enjoyable in its own way, with the fresh acting blood of Jamie Campbell Bower in the title role of the young man who will be king, and, as its produced by the people behind THE TUDORS, its more than likely to contradict, for its own story needs, everything that's ever been iconized about the character/saviour of the Dark Ages -if such a man could ever have existed- and his noble part in Ye Olde England's history. Whether such dramatic license will prove to be a good thing, and whether it can even top the likes of such quality works on the subject as John Boorman's superb and enchanting movie, EXCALIBUR, remains to be seen. I think we'll probably end up with a version of the tale one step up from Richard Gere and Sean Connery's 1995 attempt, KING ARTHUR, but with a bit more gritty realism, lots of gore and violence and the aforementioned bed hopping...

Watch your back, Arthur: that Morgan's a deadly lady!

There's definitely one major difference, however, between this and any other prior versions of the Arthur and Merlin legend: namely that it's got the rather lovely Eva Green in it, surely one of the most popular of James Bond girls in recent years after her performance as 007's doomed love Vesper Lynd in the hit Daniel Craig premiere CASINO ROYALE, and she's an actress with the kind of hypnotic and sexually beguiling, dangerous look in her eyes that's absolutely perfect for this kind of storytelling. She plays the important role of Morgan, the series principal antagonist, ambitious to claim the rightful throne that once belonged to her late father, King Uther. No doubt, as the series goes on, she'll make Helen Mirren's sultry and vindictive version of the role in EXCALIBUR look like a convent girl!

Joseph Fiennes as a slightly revised version of Merlin.

Arthur puts his point across to the masses...

The kind of all-star cast needed to propel this series into the public eye, described in the press publicity as being heavy on drama, politics and idealism, continues with the addition of FLASH FORWARD's Joseph Fiennes as a younger and more action heroic version of Merlin than we've been previously accustomed to, Claire Forlani as Arthur's mother Igraine, ROME's James Purefoy, lovely Tamsin Egerton as Arthur's tragic love Guinevere, Sean Pertwee and the always dependable action-hero Vincent Regan, so I'm sure they'll be enough eye candy to be enjoyed by both girls and boys as the story unfolds amongst the no doubt beautiful location backdrops of Ireland and Canada.

Trailer: YouTube - "Camelot" - NEW, long trailer STARZ

Fire and blood make their bedfellows with Arthur as he becomes King of England.

However many seasons it ultimately goes to, will CAMELOT make the kind of long term phenomenal impact that GAME OF THRONES has so quickly reached? Unlikely, I think (and English scripter Chris Chibnall, whose previous credits include LAW AND ORDER UK, DOCTOR WHO and TORCHWOOD, has hardly proved himself as one of the all-time great TV writers yet), but I certainly reckon it will have a good innings existence for the next few years at least across the world's digital TV platforms, their channels always desperate to have well made series in their schedules so as to bolster out their portfolios and viewing figures.

King Arthur remains an immortally interesting and enduring character across the world, and I have no doubts that this won't be the last time we'll see another romanticised series bearing either his name or legacy...

CLASSIC IMAGE OF THE WEEK: "ROME"

The blood and glory that was ROME. All images: HBO.

Long before STARZ re-imagining of the Spartacus legend would cause a huge stir with audiences and critics for its 300-esque graphic violence, scantily clad women and almost graphic sex scenes, there was HBO's ROME. Arriving on TV screens in a blaze of publicity not long after the huge worldwide success of Ridley Scott's epic GLADIATOR, which, as well as finally making Russell Crowe a star, would re-launch and re-vitalise this particular area of period drama- the sword and sandals epic- this lavish, highly popular two season running series, created by John Milius (whose fascination with soldiers and warfare of all kinds within all eras of history has long been documented), Bruno Heller and William J. MacDonald, filmed entirely in Italy and one of the most expensive productions ever realised by HBO (in partnership with the UK's BBC and Italy's RAI television), primarily revolved around two loyal Roman soldiers, Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo (Kevin McKidd as the former (a slightly rigid, battle hardened and square jaw warrior loyal to Rome and family) and Ray Stevenson (as the latter: a likeable (if a little thick) but loyal friend used to violence and hard living), in career making performances which I don't think they've yet topped), and their partaking, whether deliberately or not, in some of the greatest moments in living history linked to the then seemingly invincible, world dominating Roman Empire. Events affecting not only their friendship but everyone else around them like outward expanding ripples in the water, from lovers and families to acquaintances and rivals/enemies, during a memorable period of time when political alliances, theft, greed, betrayal, lust and battlefield honour ruled, amidst a sea of power and opportunity during which its leaders (including Julius Ceasar (a more sympathetic and intriguing portrayal of the character by Ciaran Hinds) and Mark Anthony (a fine performance of bullying thuggishness from THE SAINT to be's James Purefoy), its senate government, the mob of the people and the huge armies of Roman Centurions were a fixture and way of life which one both admired and feared in equal measure, spanning a time of bloodshed and battlefield warfare the likes of which had hitherto never been experienced before, and certainly never forgotten since...

The series central stars: Ray Stevenson as Titus Pullo and Kevin McKidd as Lucius Vorenus.

Through the first few opening episodes courted controversy from the press and behind the camera (allegedly the BBC, much to the chagrin of series director/consulting producer Michael Apted, edited down the first three episodes as they thought British viewers, unlike their US counterparts, were more familiar with Roman history and wanted to get to the chase with regards to the sex and violence), whilst the likes of sensationalist UK newspapers like THE DAILY MAIL would get on their high horse and quickly rode the crest of the publicity wave by debating whether the BBC should be involved with what they deemed such a disgusting series showing such graphic bloodshed and nudity. Dedicated audiences overall reacted differently to the series, though, as they soon became immersed in its epic, multi-layered story-telling (if sometimes soap-like) drama of the two men and their worldwide adventures and the bickering and betrayals of the numerous powerful Roman houses linked to Caeser, the lavish production values, mostly historical accuracy, and its epic cast (with further great acting from the likes of Kenneth Cranham, Lindsay  (as a very randy and power ambitious Cleopatra characterisation far removed from Elizabeth Taylor's version of the role), Polly Walker (as Caeser's ambitious cousin Atia), Lindsay Duncan (as Caeser's revenge fuelled mistress Servilia), Ian McNeice and Indira Varma (as Lucius' wife Niobe, who bears a tragic secret from her husband). The only true reason the show would eventually stop- its memorable second year including a plot line linked to to the legendary power and passion relationship between Mark Antony and Cleopatra- would be due to its prohibitively very high production costs.

On the battlefront, Vorenus amidst her fellow centurions.

Memorable and stylish series opening titles: YouTube - Rome Opening Credits Intro

Regardless of its eventual cancellation (and a planned sequel movie release that sadly never happened), ROME remains one of the most memorable series to have come from American television in a long time, and well worth watching for first time newbies, or in a second time for fans wanting to re-live a rollicking good drama, when it starts tonight for a new UK re-run of the TMC movie channel...