The
lowdown: ''Every government has its Secret Service branch. America,
the CIA; France, the Deuxieme Bureau
and England, MI5. NATO also
has its own. A messy job? That's when they call on me - or someone like
me. Oh yes,
my name is Drake, John Drake.'
These words were the introduction to the first series of the British spy
series starring
Patrick McGoohan as an American
NATO agent who was sent on missions around the world. 'Danger Man' ran
for 86
episodes and four seasons
between October 1960 and December 1968, although the final season only
comprised two
episodes, as McGoohan then
went off to make 'The Prisoner'.
'Danger Man' featured guest
appearances by many actors who were well-known at the time, or would become
famous
for later roles. Patrick
Troughton appeared in episode 28 of season one, entitled 'Bury the Dead',
which was first broadcast
on ITV1 on 7 May 1961. John
Drake travels to Sicily to investigate the apparent death of a friend and
fellow agent,
Tony Costello. However,
he runs afoul of the local police captain, who is involved in a gun-running
operation. A couple
of local thugs named Bruno
and Bartello (Troughton), who are part of the gun-smuggling ring, attempt
to cause trouble for
Drake by getting him arrested,
but he refuses to fight them and thus play into their hands. Drake eventually
exposes the
gun-running operation, and
discovers that he did not know Costello as well as he thought. Patrick
Troughton does not have
a lot of screen time in
this episode, but he does a pretty good Italian accent (I have heard much
worse, anyway!)
Trivia:
This
was Patrick Troughton's second appearance in 'Danger Man'. He previously
appeared in an episode from the
first
season entitled 'The Lonely Chair'.
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