The
lowdown: 'Remington Steele' was broadcast on NBC
between September 1982 and April 1987, with
a total of 94 episodes made
over five seasons (although the final season comprised just six episodes).
It
starred Pierce Brosnan as
the private detective Remington Steele and Stephanie Zimbalist as his partner,
Laura Holt. The catch is
that Laura is the actual private detective, but her business was suffering
so she
invented the fictitious
private detective Remington Steele. The Brosnan character came into the
series as
a thief who is trying to
steal a shipment of jewels worth $2m. He becomes a reformed character and
agrees
to take on the persona of
Remington Steele, but Laura does not know his real name. Steele ultimately
gets
a private detective's licence
and works with Laura on their cases.
The
episode: 'Hounded Steele' was the 21st episode of the
second season, and was broadcast on 15 May
1984. It featured Tom Baker
as Anatole Blaylock, a rogue Interpol agent who is determined to bring
cat burglar
Kenneth Masters to justice.
Steele and Laura become involved when their secretary Mildred Krebs gets
into
trouble after agreeing to
help Masters to recover his dog (which has been stolen by Blaylock). Masters
wants
to stay retired, but Blaylock
kidnaps Krebs and threatens to kill her unless Masters agrees to steal
the valuable
Jennings Diamond. His dog
proves to be crucial in pulling off the heist. Steele and Laura realise
that Masters is
being set up, and they manage
to turn the tables on Blaylock. Tom Baker is marvellous in this episode.
He is
suitably menacing when the
script requires it, but throughout his scenes there are unmistakeable elements
of
his performance as the Doctor.
A highlight is Blaylock bursting into Remington's office with a gun and
a stocking
over his head, and demanding
the dog.
The
verdict: Although dated (not surprising given its age),
'Remington Steele' is still an entertaining show for
fans of romantic comedy/dramas,
and tends to feature better scripts than 'Moonlighting', which was similar
in
style. 'Remington Steele'
also featured a host of guest stars who were often little-known at the
time, but went
on to bigger and better
things. And of course Pierce Brosnan finally got to take on the role of
James Bond,
nearly ten years after his
commitments to this show prevented him from doing so.
Video Clips: Blaylock
captures Krebs 6.8mb
Blaylock is arrested
3.0mb |
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