The Champions - Talking Pictures TV

[vixen1700]

Just a heads up if anybody's interested.

Talking Pictures TV are starting the '60s sci-fi series The Champions from episide one tomorrow night (Sun 7th March) at 9.00pm.

Haven't seen it in many years, so no real idea if it's aged well or not, but has to be worth a look purely for the glorious Alexandra Bastedo.

[P5BNij]

vixen1700 said:

Just a heads up if anybody's interested.

Talking Pictures TV are starting the '60s sci-fi series The Champions from episide one tomorrow night (Sun 7th March) at 9.00pm.

Haven't seen it in many years, so no real idea if it's aged well or not, but has to be worth a look purely for the glorious Alexandra Bastedo.

Oh definitely the latter

Like other ITC series it can be a little cheesy here and there but I’d say give it a go, it has far more charm and warmth than a lot of today’s output. The guest actors, music, cars and locations make it worthwhile, and check out the white Alfa Giulia SS that William Gaunt drives in a few episodes for starters.

[vixen1700]

P5BNij said:

... The guest actors, music, cars and locations make it worthwhile, and check out the white Alfa Giulia SS that William Gaunt drives in a few episodes for starters.

That's me in telly heaven for an hour then.

[P5BNij]

vixen1700 said:

P5BNij said:

... The guest actors, music, cars and locations make it worthwhile, and check out the white Alfa Giulia SS that William Gaunt drives in a few episodes for starters.

That's me in telly heaven for an hour then.

Most of the episodes start with a teaser before the titles appear, one of them has Alexandra driving down a country lane in an Isis Blue MGB roadster and passing under a railway line, a clip which niggled away at my brain for ages because I was sure I knew the location, sure enough last year I twigged that it’s the Midland Mainline between Luton and Chiltern Green which I drive trains over (bridge number 128 to be geekily pedantic!). The two cottages you can see in the clip haven’t changed at all since 1968. It’s no surprise really considering Elstree is barely twenty miles away.

Edited by P5BNij on Saturday 6th March 17:08

[vixen1700]

I expected nothing less.

[SlimJim16v]

Thanks, set to record. Childhood nostalgia. They also have The Adventures of Robin Hood on earlier, another memory, especially the theme tune.

[coppernorks]

Alex Bastedo was rather ice cool, aloof, blonde and striking, yet strangely not that sexy.
I'm not sure of the premise of the show, did the three of them have special powers or something ?

Haven't seen William Gaunt in much lately, probably enjoying retirement as he should.

[P5BNij]

coppernorks said:

Alex Bastedo was rather ice cool, aloof, blonde and striking, yet strangely not that sexy.
I'm not sure of the premise of the show, did the three of them have special powers or something ?

Haven't seen William Gaunt in much lately, probably enjoying retirement as he should.

The first episode is a bit drawn out but it explains how they gained their powers when their plane crashed in the Himalayas. Just your normal, everyday stuff in the late '60s

[coppernorks]

P5BNij said:

The first episode is a bit drawn out but it explains how they gained their powers when their plane crashed in the Himalayas. Just your normal, everyday stuff in the late '60s

Yep, along with Randall and Hopkirk and The Prisoner , what were the ITC execs smoking back then ?

[P5BNij]

coppernorks said:

P5BNij said:

The first episode is a bit drawn out but it explains how they gained their powers when their plane crashed in the Himalayas. Just your normal, everyday stuff in the late '60s

Yep, along with Randall and Hopkirk and The Prisoner , what were the ITC execs smoking back then ?

Each other's stash, probably. Bizarre concepts and plots aside, I find just sitting back and watching them a pleasure, Lew Grade always said they were pure escapism and he was bang on, as ever. The cars, soundtracks, locations, guest stars, shooting style and atmosphere - all the right ingredients despite a bit of cringe here and there.



(Something that I've noticed - the villains are nearly always middle / upper class and often drive RR Silver Clouds or S Series Bentleys )

[vixen1700]

Didn't Jason King drive a Bentley Continental? Or am I just imagining that?

More re-runs we must be due. Jason King & Department S.

[Fundoreen]

Had to get this one out of the system as I missed the first ep before when it was show. bdos looked very easy on the eye.
They seem to have done a nice job restoring it like they have with a lot of these 60s series.
Good luck with all the shows from the 70s and 80s that were on video. A lot of pop groups must feel like right idiots now shooting concerts on Video. All that bulky expensive VT equipment and they could have used 16mm film cameras that would look super restored now.

[P5BNij]

vixen1700 said:

Didn't Jason King drive a Bentley Continental? Or am I just imagining that?

More re-runs we must be due. Jason King & Department S.

There were two, both owned by Peter Wyngarde himself, one was silver the other was RR regal red and both had false Swiss number plates. The red one also appeared in Randall & Hopkirk (with it's correct UK plates on) and in the background in one episode of The Persuaders, Jason King and the Persuaders were shot simultaneously and Wyngarde would often drop in on set or on location for a chinwag with Roger Moore....










Edit : yet more geeky pedantry! The red one was also used to chauffeur Tony Curtis to magistrates court when he was up on a 'naughty cigarette smoking' charge

Edited by P5BNij on Monday 8th March 19:55

[Halmyre]

vixen1700 said:

Just a heads up if anybody's interested.

Talking Pictures TV are starting the '60s sci-fi series The Champions from episide one tomorrow night (Sun 7th March) at 9.00pm.

Haven't seen it in many years, so no real idea if it's aged well or not, but has to be worth a look purely for the glorious Alexandra Bastedo.

Dammit, missed it. The first episode was the first programme I ever saw (or remember seeing) on a colour television!

[vixen1700]

P5BNij said:

There were two, both owned by Peter Wyngarde himself, one was silver the other was RR regal red and both had false Swiss number plates.

Oh my, that silver two door.