The
lowdown: 'The Protectors' was first broadcast
on ITV1 between 29 September 1972 and 15 March 1974.
A
total of 52 episodes, of 25 minutes in length, were made. The series starred
Robert Vaughn as Harry Rule,
Nyree
Dawn Porter as Contessa Caroline di Contini and Tony Anholt as Paul Bouchet,
a trio of private detectives
who
are part of an international organization called The Protectors. The team
travels to exotic locations as guns
for
hire, often stepping in to resolve situations that the police cannot or
will not get involved in. It is yet another
action/adventure
series from the ITC Entertainment stable (one of the last of the genre
to be produced by ITC,
in
fact), and created by Gerry Anderson - only his second live-action series.
The
episode: 'Brother Hood' was the second
episode of the first series, and was broadcast on 6 October 1972.
Harry
Rule is hired by Bela Karoleon (Patrick Troughton), a reclusive industrial
magnate who is involved in the
arms
trade. He wants the team to break his political activist brother Sandor
out of a prison on a Mediterranean
island.
Karolean believes that his brother is innocent of the crimes for which
he was jailed, and offers to pay a
quarter
of a million dollars to rescue his brother from jail. Harry Rule initially
refuses to help, but he relents when
Karoleon's
wife tells him that Sandor is a sick man and she does not want him to die
in jail. The jail break goes
according
to plan, but Sandor reveals to the team that his brother wants to kill
him. The Protectors deliver Sandor
to
his brother, who does indeed plan to kill Sandor, as he is one of the few
people in the world who know that
Karoleon's
company is involved in the drugs trade. The Protectors arrive in time to
prevent Sandor's murder.
The
verdict: 'The Protectors' has an interesting
premise, although it is similar in style to other ITC programs of
the time. Like all British
shows of the era, part of the fun of watching this series is identifying
the guest actors
who later went on to more
famous roles. The 25-minute format is unusual for ITC shows, and does not
allow much
time for character development,
although it actually works quite well with this series. 'The Protectors'
is highly
recommended for nostalgia
buffs who love British shows of the 1970s.
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