Department S - Vol 1 / 2 / 3

This was a reasonably popular TV series filmed between 1968/1969 (with JASON KING as its spin-off) and here we have 13 of the original 26 episodes of the first three (individual) DEPARTMENT S releases – starring the one and only Peter Wyngarde.

Department S is a fictitious wing of Interpol and is headed by Sir Curtis Seretse (Dennis Alaba Peters - a bass voiced black actor who only ever appears briefly invariably to de-brief Sullivan). The Department has but three operatives: ex-FBI Stuart Sullivan (Joel Fabiani), systems expert Annabelle Hirst (Rosemary Nicols) and the one and very much only Jason King, about whom there is considerably more to be said. King is played by the 'outrageous' and eccentric Peter Wyngarde and it would be fair to say that King’s character is the 'ideas' man of the team. He also happens to be a mega best selling novelist (hence ideas), although curiously he does not appear to have succeeded in getting a hard back deal. To call Jason King flamboyant would be a gross understatement and one can't help wondering how much of Mr. Wyngarde's own input was reflected as to the character. The high vented waisted jackets, the colorful matching shirts and big-knotted kipper ties and so on. The character is irresistibly charming even though he never seems to stop drinking what looks like the same tumbler of whisky or brandy (it's a wonder he can still stand up). King chain smokes long yellow-papered cigarettes, has a fondness for quoting Oscar Wilde and is -wait for it - an incorrigible womaniser. That last statement was probably the biggest in-joke of all!

The cases that Department S are assigned to all appear at the outset to be seemingly totally outré and utterly impossible. In the episode ONE OF OUR AIRCRAFT IS EMPTY (Vol 2) an airplane arrives at London airport - minus its 128 passengers! In BLACK OUT (Vol 3) a man goes to the Covent Garden Opera House and wakes up on a West Indian Island. In THE TROJAN TANKER (Vol 1) a woman is seen locked inside a lorry but later mysteriously disappears despite the vehicle still being locked, while in the episode THE PIED PIPER OF HAMBLEDOWN (Vol 1) an English Village is found completely evacuated overnight, save one. In WHO PLAYS THE DUMMY (VOL 3) a car crashes and in the driving seat is a… dummy. Wyngarde's shirt keeps changing color from white to yellow and back again in this one as he climbs in and out of same car, the same happens with his straw hat. Talks about bad continuity! That said, the series was probably first seen in monochrome. In conclusion, all the cases are discovered to have logical explanations by our team of experts.

This series was made 'back to back' with RANDALL AND HOPKIRK (DECEASED) and was written and directed mainly by the same team: the enterprising Monty Berman (producer) and Dennis Spooner (creator). Some of the DEP S episodes start off really promising but disappointingly run out of steam half way through. The directors on offer here were mostly seasoned veterans (and some Hammer film men) like John Gilling and Roy Ward Baker. However, none of this stops the absolutely atrocious continuity which is so bad it becomes laughable. In one scene of THE DOUBLE DEATH OF CHARLIE CRIPPEN (Vol 3) a vintage Roll Royce is supposed to get blown up but the wreck we see is that of an old Bentley (well alright, who is going to blow up a car like that?). On the whole the show is quite fun, with pick up shots abounding all over the place and the same walls (painted in garish green) appearing in three different consecutive interiors in one episode. One can't help wondering if there were any locations used other than London (that really was Belgrave Square, alright) and Elstree. DEPARTMENT S is not quite on par with series like THE AVENGERS, then again… what was? Truth be told, without Wyngarde's hilarious ott kitsch-a-go-go character the series would be far less interesting and as we all know he got his own spin off TV series the next year.

The print of the Blu-ray releases is very crisp indeed and makes King’s suites even more crisp in appearance!