Harry Rule, the Contessa di Contini and Paul Buchet continue to lead The Protectors international detective organisation.
Group Three/ITC
Produced: 1972-73
First UK broadcast: Monday 2nd April 1973 – 11.15pm
Westward and Channel Television
26 episodes x 25 minutes
Producers: Gerry Anderson and Reg Hill
Associate Producer: Desmond Saunders
Directors: John Hough, Jeremy Summers, Don Leaver, Michael Lindsay-Hogg, Charles Crichton, Cyril Frankel and David Tomblin
Director of Photography: Brendan J. Stafford BSC and Frank Watts BSC
Art Director: Bob Bell
Script Editor: Tony Barwick
Music Composed and Directed by John Cameron
Theme Music and Lyrics by Mitch Murray and Peter Callender
| Episodes List | |
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| 1 |
Bagman Wealthy widow Gudren Andersen contacts Harry and Caroline when she receives a call from Christian Janson demanding one million krone in return for her daughter Evi, being held hostage in a disused island fort. Harry and Caroline take the ransom money to an arranged rendezvous at a derelict house on the coast road to Elsinore, but the exchange is interrupted when a policeman named Hansen arrives asking what they are doing on private property. After he leaves, Harry and Caroline find a note left on their car giving the location of a new rendezvous and Harry realises that Jansen plans to send them running all over Copenhagen so that they are unable to set a trap for him… Screenplay by Terry Nation Directed by John Hough Additional Cast:
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| 2 |
The Bridge Anna De Santos has been abducted by David Mitchell, the son of one of her father’s closest friends. Señor De Santos calls in the Contessa who meets Mitchell at a cuevas in Madrid, where she learns that his ransom demands are $10 million plus explosives and someone who knows how to handle them. Masquerading as a ruthless mercenary and explosives expert, Harry delivers the ransom and is taken to a villa outside Madrid where Anna is being held captive. There, Harry learns that Mitchell plans to assassinate America’s special envoy during a fact-finding tour by detonating the explosives under the bridge at Diaganda while the envoy’s car is crossing it… Screenplay by Tony Barwick Directed by Jeremy Summers Additional Cast:
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| 3 |
Fighting Fund The Marquesa Visconti and her antiquities preservation society have received film of an audacious art theft by the members of Red Army Group C. The thieves have issued instructions for an auction of the art treasures, threatening that the lots will be destroyed if the police are informed. Harry and Caroline attend the auction at the address detailed in the instructions, only to find that they must bid by radio, competing against bidders at addresses all over Rome. Caroline joins the bidding to stall the auction long enough for Harry and the police to pinpoint the source of the auctioneer’s signal, but as they close in on an apartment at the Calle di Santa Monica, the auction is suddenly terminated… Screenplay by John Kruse Directed by Jeremy Summers Additional Cast:
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| 4 |
Quin The Protectors have been retained by Laura Sutton to find her missing brother Jimmy, recruited in Marseilles 19 months ago by Quin, an international mercenary who has made a fortune out of war, genocide and political expediency. After two months, their search for Quin has brought them to Madrid where Harry is taken to a meeting with Quin’s associate Garcia at Las Ventas bullring. Explaining that he has a proposition for Quin, Harry is later taken to a deserted cuevas beneath the Plaza Mayor where another of Quin’s associates, Allen, bundles him into a car. Caroline attempts to follow in a taxi, but she loses him when the road is suddenly blocked by a truck… Screenplay by Trevor Preston Directed by Don Leaver Additional Cast:
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| 5 |
Lena Caroline’s friend Lena Haydon is a journalist intent on exposing Italian politician Mauro Carpiano as a man so ruthless that he murdered his own father, Antonio, in order to inherit his wealth. Lena is trying to track down Antonio’s close friend Paolo Morleiter, whom she believes is in hiding after faking his own death. Her contact Russi is badly beaten up by Carpiano’s men but he agrees to help her find Morleiter and sends word for her to meet a man named Carlo in a disused glass factory on the island of Murano. During a trip to Torcello with Harry and Caroline, Lena stops off at Murano, but she finds Carlo dead and Harry is attacked by the assassin in the factory shower room… Screenplay by Trevor Preston Directed by Don Leaver Additional Cast:
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| 6 |
Goodbye George American millionaire Cedric Parton retains Caroline to find out why his son Caspar, living as an artist in Venice, has suddenly started drawing large sums of money from an account that his late mother left him. Suspecting that Caspar is being blackmailed, she masquerades as an interested art buyer to question him about his close friend George Milworth who seems to have gone missing, but Caspar denies any knowledge of George’s whereabouts. Then Caroline trails Caspar as he makes another cash withdrawal from his account and passes it to a woman at a meeting in the Piazza San Marco… Screenplay by Bolan Clemens Directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg Additional Cast:
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| 7 |
Implicado Teenager Stephen Douglas waits in the car while his friend Raphael Santana receives a consignment of drugs on a building site in Madrid. Later, Santana plants the drugs in Stephen’s bag during a police raid at the Cafeteria Palma Real and Stephen is imprisoned on possession charges. Stephen’s mother asks Caroline to investigate the case and Stephen protests his innocence when she visits him in prison. Paul learns from the waiter at the café that Santana is the true culprit but when he introduces himself to Santana as a friend of Stephen’s, he comes under fire from Santana and his colleagues… Directed by Jeremy Summers Screenplay by Tony Barwick Additional Cast:
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| 8 |
The Last Frontier Dr Irena Gayevska, the USSR’s leading nuclear scientist, has been selected to chair the first international conference of Medicine for Peace in Salzburg. British junior minister John Eastbrook hires the Protectors to facilitate Irena’s defection to London where she can marry him, so Harry develops an elaborate escape plan. During an official party for the conference delegates at Anif Castle, Paul distracts the guards by appearing to escape across the castle moat with Irena in a motor boat, thereby enabling Caroline and Irena to simply walk out through the main gate. But as they catch a flight to London, Harry suspects that Eastbrook may not have told them the whole truth about Irena’s defection… Directed by Charles Crichton Screenplay by Jean Morris Additional Cast:
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| 9 |
Baubles Bangles And Beads A gang of jewel thieves are double-crossed when their colleague Bergen makes off with the Malvern collection after staging an ambush outside Copenhagen. The collection’s insurers receive an offer to return the jewels for ten per cent of the insurance value so Harry and Caroline are retained to deliver the payoff. Bergen has been badly injured by gunfire but is assisted by his daughter Katie, who meets Harry and Caroline at Kronborg Castle to issue instructions for the exchange. When she returns to the house where her father is in hiding, Katie is followed by one of the members of Bergen’s gang… Directed by Jeremy Summers Screenplay by Terry Nation Additional Cast:
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| 10 |
Petard Industrial espionage has already cost the IMA company over £2 million and managing director Wyatt is determined to prevent details of their new detergent being leaked to rival company Universal before the product is launched. Harry joins the company as a consultant with Caroline acting as his secretary. They bring in electronics expert Ludo Jones, who quickly discovers that the IMA offices are being bugged. He traces the source of the signals to a nearby office block, but industrial spies Scudder and Conway have vacated the premises by the time Paul gets there… . Screenplay by Tony Barwick Directed by Cyril Frankel Additional Cast:
First UK Broadcasts:
Repeat Broadcasts (ITV): Anglia
ATV Midlands / Central
Grampian
HTV
London Weekend
Scottish
Yorkshire
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| 11 |
Burning Bush Retained by millionaire Adam Ferris to find his daughter Anne, Harry and Paul have discovered that she has joined a religious community in London led by the mysterious Mrs Apsimon, a medium and spiritualist preacher. Ferris goes to the order’s premises but Anne begs him to leave her alone and Ferris becomes convinced that she has been brainwashed so that she will sign a will leaving all her money to Mrs Apsimon. To find out if this is so, Harry poses as a homeless alcoholic who is taken in as a probationary member of the community. Once inside, he witnesses a strange ceremony in which Mrs. Apsimon appears to become possessed by the spirit of Anne’s dead mother… Screenplay by Trevor Preston Directed by Don Leaver Additional Cast:
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| 12 |
Border Line Actress Ilona Tabori has been refused permission to bury her father Janos, a Hungarian freedom tighter, in his home country so she turns to the Protectors to help her smuggle the body into Hungary for a private ceremony. Harry agrees only on the condition that there will be no publicity or political speeches at the burial service, as this could jeopardise their safe return. After they arrive in Salzburg, Tabori’s coffin is hidden in the boot of the Contessa’s new Mercedes and Harry and Caroline meet Tabori’s old friend Zoltan Kolas, who initially misunderstands their intentions for Tabori’s body. The next morning, Harry and Ilona set off for the Hungarian border but when they get there, the border guards insist on seeing inside the boot of the Mercedes… Screenplay by Anthony Terpiloff Directed by Charles Crichton Additional Cast:
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| 13 |
WAM Part One Monica Davies’s father believes that she has fallen in with bad company and is involved in some sort of racket after she has told him that she will soon have all the money she will ever need. Paul follows Monica to Victoria Station where she changes into hippy clothes before boarding a train to Vienna. Then Harry tails her from Vienna as she hitch-hikes to Salzburg and checks into the city’s most expensive hotel. While Paul follows Monica to a shop where she buys a tape recorder, Caroline searches her hotel room and finds a note that reads, “Thanks for the goodies – WAM is on.” But what is WAM? Screenplay by Tony Berwick Directed by Jeremy Summers Additional Cast:
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| 14 |
WAM Part Two Unknown to those at the base of the mountain, the appearance of armed hi-jackers holding tourists at gunpoint on the plateau is being cleverly faked by one man, William Arthur McKay, who makes a ransom demand for $10 million. Commissioner Braun suspects that the whole thing is a bluff, but McKay uses Monica’s taped performance as a frightened hostage to convince him to pay the ransom. After the money is collected by Monica, McKay reveals the con and the tourists are released, but Harry realises that the hi-jacker must be among those on board the cable car when it arrives at the terminus… Screenplay by Tony Barwick Directed by Jeremy Summers Additional Cast:
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| 15 |
Dragon Chase London publisher Lockier has smuggled Russian writer Nickolai Ivanov into Britain to enable him to write his new book about Soviet politics free from interference. Harry is safeguarding Nickolai at Lockier’s country house Dragon Chase when a group of students, led by their Marxist political science tutor Devlin, barge in and kidnap them both, imprisoning them aboard a barge. Caroline arrives at the house the next morning to find it deserted but when Lockier returns and realises what has happened, he throws her out. However, she recognises that Lockier deduced who was responsible as soon as he saw that his dog had been fed, so she and Paul tail him to Oxford… Screenplay by John Kruse Directed by Charles Crichton Additional Cast:
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| 16 |
Zeke's Blues Harry collects Caroline from the Cunter Hotel to go and see his old college friend Zeke Daley, who is performing as the pianist at the Condor Club off Old Compton Street in London. As they leave the club after Zeke’s final set, a car tries to run Zeke down in the street, but he brushes the incident off as an accident. Harry invites Zeke to stay with him at his apartment, but something is clearly preying on Zeke’s mind. The owner of the Condor Club, Kasankas, has paid off a large debt for Zeke, so the pianist is obliged to cooperate when Kasankas orders him to place a homing device on Harry’s Jensen, leading Kasankas to where his former book-keeper Bradley is in hiding… Screenplay by Shane Rimmer Directed by Jeremy Summers Additional Cast:
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| 17 |
Decoy Harry receives a coded message from private investigator Jerry Butler, inviting Harry to join him in Venice. During the flight to Italy, Harry explains to Caroline that Butler is on the trail of the Mulhaney diamonds, stolen in an armed raid in 1967 by Butler’s best friend Nick Archer, who was killed in an explosion during the raid. However, by the time they arrive at his hotel, Butler has been assassinated. Then Harry is approached by a man named Marcus who claims to have information about who killed Butler and why, but he leads Harry to a derelict house where he is attacked and left for dead… Screenplay by Brian Clemens Directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg Additional Cast:
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| 18 |
A Pocketful Of Posies As she prepares for an important comeback performance, international singing star Carrie Blaine is terrorised in her own home by a series of strange incidents which appear to be some sort of hallucinations. Her husband Mario Toza fears that she is losing her sanity and this appears to be confirmed when Harry fails to find any evidence that Carrie is in any physical danger. Then Harry notices that the contents of Carrie’s coffee cup have solidified into a gel and when he has them analysed, he discovers that Carrie has been drugged by stimulants which can induce hallucinations… Screenplay by Terry Nation Directed by Cyril Frankel Additional Cast:
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| 19 |
Shadbolt Professional hitman Shadbolt receives notification of his next contract together with a train ticket. His target is Harry Rule, who is travelling on the same train from Waverley Station, Edinburgh to King’s Cross, London. Shadbolt strikes up a conversation with Amelia Benwell, a librarian travelling in his first-class compartment, but she rejects his advances and leaves the train at Retford. There, Shadbolt finds an envelope waiting for him which contains his payment and instructions to proceed with the contract. As the train sets off again, he joins Harry in his compartment and holds him at gunpoint… Screenplay by Tony Barwick Directed by John Hough Additional Cast:
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| 20 |
Sugar And Spice Industrialist Sir Charles Standish hires the Protectors to safeguard his ten-year-old daughter Vicky for six days, as his competitors have threatened her life if he proceeds with a series of international mergers. Vicky must not know that she is in danger, so Harry takes her out of school on the pretext of providing her with special history tuition. With Harry posing as a tutor, Paul as a chauffeur and Caroline as the housekeeper, Vicky is taken to a remote farmhouse, but the Contessa discovers a homing device attached to Vicky’s bag and the farmhouse soon comes under siege from a group of assassins… Screenplay by David Butler Directed by Charles Crichton Additional Cast:
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| 21 |
Blockbuster Harry accepts an assignment from Ben Doyle whose security firm faces bankruptcy after a series of van hi-jackings in which the thieves have escaped with shipments of platinum. After the latest robbery the previous day, the police have cordoned off the entire area, but there is no sign of Doyle’s distinctive blue van. Harry visits Bailey’s Car Breakers on Thames Street and although owner Glen Bailey is uncooperative, Harry learns that a van was crushed there the previous day, although it was white, not blue. Then the Police Inspector in charge of the case confirms that a witness saw the van being resprayed white after the robbery, but there is still no indication as to what has become of the platinum… Screenplay by Shane Rimmer Directed by Jeremy Summers Additional Cast:
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| 22 |
Wheels A dispatch case containing confidential details of numbered Swiss bank accounts has been obtained by Manning who offers to return it for $2 million. To enable a consortium of Swiss banks to confirm which accounts are affected and then expose Manning’s contact in Switzerland the Protectors are assigned to acquire the case and photograph the contents without Manning’s knowledge. Harry plans to break into Manning’s safe, switch the case with an identical one and then replace the original in Manning’s car as he drives to a rendezvous with consortium representative Sneider, but this plan relies on split- second timing and a hair-raising cross-country rally drive against the clock… Screenplay by Tony Barwick Directed by David Tomblin Additional Cast:
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| 23 |
The Tiger And The Goat Drawn to a derelict house under false pretences, Caroline meets Commander Whiting of British Intelligence, who questions her about her old friend David Barsella, She tells him that she has not seen Barsella for some time and has no idea where he is. Whiting eventually reveals that Barsella has been working for British Intelligence for the last 12 years and is believed to be the next target of a psychotic assassin who has killed eight experienced agents in the last 20 months. Whiting intends to leak information that Barsella has renewed his relationship with the Contessa so that Caroline can act as bait for the assassin at Harry’s apartment… Screenplay by Trevor Preston Directed by Jeremy Summers Additional Cast:
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| 24 |
The Insider When the master negatives of a new movie are stolen from a film studio and the only print is destroyed by a fire in the editing room, the producer Chambers calls in Harry. As Chambers briefs Harry, a man who calls himself Smith walks into the office, hands over one of the reels and demands £10,000 for each of the ten remaining reels. Harry tries to tail Smith as he leaves, but the man seems to vanish after boarding the elevator. Harry puts together a photo-fit picture of Smith so that Caroline, Paul and other agents can watch for him when he returns for the first instalment of the ransom, but no-one sees him either arrive or leave again after he collects the money from Chambers… Screenplay by Trevor Preston Directed by Don Leaver Additional Cast:
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| 25 |
Trial Anne Gordon retains the Protectors to find her husband Arthur, who has gone missing. She fears he may be suffering from stress induced by the trial of their son John, who is accused of murder. The trial judge, Justice Cronin, collapsed before his summing-up and is recuperating at a nursing home when Gordon turns up and attacks him. Harry locates Gordon in his local pub where the man reveals his belief that Cronin has been unfairly biased during the trial, but when Harry follows him back to the office of his building firm, Gordon knocks him out and goes into hiding again. Then Harry discovers that Gordon has taken components from the office that will enable him to build a time bomb… Screenplay by Robert Banks Stewart Directed by Charles Crichton Additional Cast:
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| 26 |
Route 27 After being found shot and left for dead on a rubbish tip, Harry recovers in hospital, his life saved by a bullet-proof jacket. In the morgue, he identifies the body of drugs courier Leo Cléman and explains to Inspector Bergen how he tailed Cléman from Marseilles along Route 27, a favoured route for smugglers that ends in Copenhagen. Cléman was carrying 40lbs of pure heroin, but shooting broke out when he met the buyer. However, Cléman hid the heroin beforehand and as Harry is the only person who knows where it is, he realises that he must set himself up as a target to learn the identity of the buyer… Screenplay by Terry Nation Directed by Don Leaver Additional Cast:
First UK Broadcasts:
Repeat Broadcasts (ITV): Anglia
ATV Midlands / Central
Channel
London Weekend
Scottish
Ulster
Westward / TSW
Yorkshire
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| Cast List | |
|---|---|
| Harry Rule | Robert Vaughn |
| Contessa Caroline di Contini | Nyree Dawn Porter |
| Paul Buchet | Tony Anholt |