Created by Dennis Spooner and produced by Monty Berman, 'Department S' was another international crime drama - basically 'The Champions' without the super-powers - concerning the exploits of an offshoot of Interpol, based in Geneva, whose brief was to solve baffling mysteries. If a plane landed at Heathrow with no-one aboard, if a man was found wandering around London in a space-suit, if the passenger of a Rolls Royce suddenly transmogrified into a skeleton, if a train pulling into a tube station turned out to contain dead commuters, 'Department S' was called in to sort things out.
Berman's previous shows 'The Baron' and 'The Champions' both featured American leads, but here Joel Fabiani's conservative 'Stewart Sullivan' took second place to Peter Wyngarde's 'Jason King', a flamboyantly dressed crime novelist ( author of the 'Mark Caine' books ) whose fertile imagination helped crack many of the bizarre cases. King caught the public's fancy, and later landed a spin-off show. He was ably assisted by the delectable computer genius 'Annabelle Hurst' ( Rosemary Nicols ). In a brave casting move, the department was headed by a black man - 'Curtis Seretse' ( the late Dennis Alaba Peters ). 'The Avengers' undoubtedly was a major influence, along with 'Mission: Impossible'. The colourful titles were by Chambers & Partners, and are worth tuning in for alone. This was the last I.T.C. series to boast music by the talented Edwin Astley. His powerful 'Department S' theme ranks among the best television signature tunes of all time.
As an economy-saving measure, the show was shot back-to-back with 'Randall & Hopkirk ( Deceased )'. Many guest stars had appeared in other I.T.C. shows. An exception was Sir Anthony Hopkins, who appeared in 'A Small War Of Nerves'!
There was very little merchandising for the show, not even a Pan Books paperback or World Distributors Annual. However, the 'T.V. Century 21' comic ran a black and white strip from March 1969 to September of that year, comprising a total of four stories. There was also a six page strip in the 'Thunderbirds' Annual 1971, entitled 'The Silent Ones', in which defecting Eastern bloc scientists are kidnapped from a safe house in Turkey and replaced by wax dummies.
If 'The Champions' was the precursor to 'The Six Million Dollar Man', then 'Department S' must be seen as the forerunner to the B.B.C.'s 'Jonathan Creek'.
Berman's previous shows 'The Baron' and 'The Champions' both featured American leads, but here Joel Fabiani's conservative 'Stewart Sullivan' took second place to Peter Wyngarde's 'Jason King', a flamboyantly dressed crime novelist ( author of the 'Mark Caine' books ) whose fertile imagination helped crack many of the bizarre cases. King caught the public's fancy, and later landed a spin-off show. He was ably assisted by the delectable computer genius 'Annabelle Hurst' ( Rosemary Nicols ). In a brave casting move, the department was headed by a black man - 'Curtis Seretse' ( the late Dennis Alaba Peters ). 'The Avengers' undoubtedly was a major influence, along with 'Mission: Impossible'. The colourful titles were by Chambers & Partners, and are worth tuning in for alone. This was the last I.T.C. series to boast music by the talented Edwin Astley. His powerful 'Department S' theme ranks among the best television signature tunes of all time.
As an economy-saving measure, the show was shot back-to-back with 'Randall & Hopkirk ( Deceased )'. Many guest stars had appeared in other I.T.C. shows. An exception was Sir Anthony Hopkins, who appeared in 'A Small War Of Nerves'!
There was very little merchandising for the show, not even a Pan Books paperback or World Distributors Annual. However, the 'T.V. Century 21' comic ran a black and white strip from March 1969 to September of that year, comprising a total of four stories. There was also a six page strip in the 'Thunderbirds' Annual 1971, entitled 'The Silent Ones', in which defecting Eastern bloc scientists are kidnapped from a safe house in Turkey and replaced by wax dummies.
If 'The Champions' was the precursor to 'The Six Million Dollar Man', then 'Department S' must be seen as the forerunner to the B.B.C.'s 'Jonathan Creek'.