British TV crime drama series (1969–1974)
Special Branch Title card, series 2
Genre Police drama Starring Country of origin United Kingdom Original language English No. of series4 No. of episodes53 (list of episodes ) Production companies Network ITV Release 17 September 1969 (1969-09-17 ) – 9 May 1974 (1974-05-09 )
Special Branch is a British television series made by Thames Television for ITV and shown between 1969-1970 and 1973-1974. A police drama series , the action was centred on members of the Special Branch counterintelligence and counterterrorism department of the London Metropolitan Police . The first two series starred Derren Nesbitt , before the programme went through an overhaul, with George Sewell taking over as the new lead.
The first two series were shot mainly in a studio on videotape with filmed location inserts; a standard method of the time but one which suffered from jarring differences in picture quality between interior and exterior scenes.[ 1] The location scenes of some episodes were shot on outside broadcast cameras, leading to smoother transitions between location and studio work for those episodes. Series 1 and 2 starred Derren Nesbitt as Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Jordan, working for Detective Superintendent Eden (Wensley Pithey ) and subsequently Det. Supt. Inman (Fulton Mackay ). The episodes featuring Eden (the first nine of Series 1) were recorded in black-and-white , while all subsequent episodes were recorded on colour videotape.
The show was revamped in 1973 after Thames Television 's Euston Films subsidiary took over production using film, which allowed for a less studio-based series.[ 1] Euston Films had pioneered the technique of shooting action and adventure series entirely on location using 16mm film , for a more gritty and realistic look. These episodes starred George Sewell as DCI Alan Craven and Roger Rowland as DS Bill North. In series 3 episode 2, Patrick Mower debuted as Craven's colleague and often antagonist, DCI Tom Haggerty. By the 1974 series Bill North had been axed, having had a nervous breakdown, though he returned for one episode later in the run as a Detective Inspector in CID .
Representing the Ministry in the first two series was Moxon, and later Strand, who appeared in the fourth series. Played by Morris Perry and Paul Eddington respectively, Moxon and Strand were similar: supercilious civil servants who kept an unwanted eye on the detectives and their budgets. They sometimes manipulated them in order to pursue obscure matters of state, such as in the first series episode "Reliable Sources ", where Moxon connives to have Eden sidelined into a Home Office working party role.
The theme music for series 1 was by Norman Kay . For series 2, 3 and 4 it was by Robert Sharples under the pseudonym Robert Earley.[ 2]
The 1973/74 series of this police drama is notable for being the first production by Euston Films, later responsible for such series as The Sweeney and Minder .[ 3] The influence on The Sweeney is clear, although the rough-and-tumble nature of that show is fairly lacking in Special Branch .
Both Sewell and Mower later starred as villains in The Sweeney , while Sweeney star Dennis Waterman appeared in the 1974 Special Branch episode "Stand and Deliver" as a criminal.[ 4] Perry appeared occasionally in a role similar to Moxon as the political and manipulative Detective Superintendent Maynon. Mower later went on to star in the 1977–78 BBC police series Target .[ 5]
The 1973 and 1974 series have been released on Region Two DVD by Network, and both sets include an episode from the original Thames TV series. The 1969 series was released as a four-disc DVD set by Network in January 2007, and the 1970 series was released as a Website Exclusive in November 2007. All four series were released on DVD by Network in 2008, in a 16-disc box-set featuring all 53 episodes. The 1973 series was released on Region One DVD by Acorn, which labelled it "set one".
As with the later The Sweeney , the on-screen offices of Special Branch were located in Hammersmith .
Multiple episodes of Special Branch used Ennismore Garden Mews, SW7, as a filming location.[ 6]
Derren Nesbitt as Detective Chief Inspector Elliot Jordan (27 episodes, 1969–1970)
Wensley Pithey as Detective Superintendent Eden (9 episodes, 1969)
Fulton Mackay as Detective Chief Superintendent Alec Inman (18 episodes, 1969–1970)
Morris Perry as Charles Moxon (22 episodes, 1969–1970)
David Garth as Deputy Commander (7 episodes, 1969–1970)
Keith Washington as Detective Constable John Morrissey (15 episodes, 1969–1970)
Sandra Bryant as Christine Morris (6 episodes, 1969–1970)
Jennifer Wilson as Detective Sergeant Helen Webb (6 episodes, 1969)
Anne Rutter as Detective Constable Jane Simpson (4 episodes, 1970)
George Sewell as Detective Chief Inspector Alan Craven (26 episodes, 1973–1974)
Roger Rowland as Detective Sergeant Bill North (14 episodes, 1973–1974)
Patrick Mower as Detective Chief Inspector Tom Haggerty (16 episodes, 1973–1974)
Paul Eddington as Strand (11 episodes, 1974)
Frederick Jaeger as Commander Fletcher (8 episodes, 1974)
Sheila Scott Wilkinson as Pam Sloane (7 episodes, 1973)
Paul Antrim as Detective Sergeant Maguire (7 episodes, 1974)
Richard Leech as Chief Superintendent Knight (5 episodes, 1973–1974)
Susan Jameson as Detective Sergeant Mary Holmes (4 episodes, 1974)
Peter Jeffrey as Chief Inspector Pettiford (1 episode, 1973)
Notable actors appearing included: Paul Darrow ("Smokescreen "), Dino Shafeek and Windsor Davies ("The Promised Land "), Garfield Morgan and Rula Lenska ("Something About a Soldier "), Jacqueline Pearce ("Catherine the Great "), Cyd Hayman ("Rendezvous "), Susan Jameson as Detective Sergeant Mary Holmes ("Date of Birth ", "Intercept ", and "Downwind of Angels "), John Bindon ("Intercept "), Peter Bowles and Janet Key ("Downwind of Angels "), Nicolette McKenzie ("Diversion "), Denis Lill ("Diversion "), Kenneth Colley ("Date of Birth "), Valerie Leon ("Sounds Sinister ") June Brown ("Entente Cordiale "), Annette Crosbie ("The Other Man "), Michael Gambon and Nadim Sawalha , ("Hostage "), Dennis Waterman and Stephanie Turner (as brother and sister in "Stand and Deliver "), Stephanie Beacham ("Threat "), Richard Marner ("Polonaise "), Roger Lloyd Pack ("Red Herring "), Gareth Thomas ("Alien "), Tony Haygarth ("You Won't Remember Me ") and Walter Gotell ("Intercept ").
Series
Start date
End date
Episodes
1
17 September 1969
17 December 1969
14
2
11 August 1970
4 November 1970
13
3
4 April 1973
4 July 1973
13
4
14 February 1974
9 May 1974
13
Episode #
Title
Transmission Date
Writer
Director
Guest cast
1
Troika
17 September 1969
George Markstein
Mike Vardy
Sandra Bryant , Ivor Danvers , Roger Rowland , Donald Pelmear , John Livesey, Brian Ellis , Richard McNeff , Ray Barron
2
Smokescreen
24 September 1969
George Markstein
James Goddard
Sandra Bryant , Paul Darrow , John Dunbar , John Robinson , Edina Ronay , Donald Pelmear
3
The Promised Land
1 October 1969
Trevor Preston
Dennis Vance
Geoffrey Bayldon , Windsor Davies , Arnold Peters , Dino Shafeek , Martin Wyldeck , Mary Healey , George Lee , Arnold Diamond
4
A Date With Leonidas
8 October 1969
Scott Forbes
Dennis Vance
Brenda Cowling , Michael Harding , Joan Hooley , Kenneth Gilbert , Michael Keating , Damien Thomas , Robert Webber , Jon Croft
5
The Kazmirov Affair
15 October 1969
Emanuel Litvinoff
Mike Vardy
John Bailey , Edward Burnham , Ros Drinkwater , Patricia Lawrence , Gerald Sim , Ray Smith
6
A New Face
22 October 1969
Tom Brennand & Roy Bottomley
Peter Duguid
Tom Chadbon , John Levene , Doreen Mantle , Nicola Pagett , Tony Rohr , Anthony Sagar , Frances Tomelty , David Simeon
7
You Don't Exist
29 October 1969
Anthony Skene
Dennis Vance
Mel Martin , Harry Meacher , Clive Merrison
8
The Children of Delight
5 November 1969
Adele Rose
Peter Duguid
John Abineri , Tony Caunter , Sheila Fearn , Howard Goorney , Arnold Ridley , Heather Emmanuel
9
Reliable Sources
12 November 1969
Tom Brennand & Roy Bottomley
Dennis Vance
Tony Britton , David Collings , Norman Claridge
10
Short Change
19 November 1969
George Markstein
William G. Stewart
Sandra Bryant , Tommy Godfrey , Maurice Good , Peter Thornton
11
Exit a Diplomat
26 November 1969
C. Scott Forbes
Voytek
Hamilton Dyce , Cheryl Hall , Barbara Leigh-Hunt , Gary Watson , Donald Bisset , Hugh Morton , David Joyce , Billy Milton , George Pravda
12
Care of Her Majesty
3 December 1969
Robert Banks Stewart
Jonathan Alwyn
John Bryans , Angela East , John Franklyn-Robbins , Hilary Dwyer , Geoffrey Lumsden , Alec Ross
13
Visitor from Moscow
10 December 1969
Paul Wheeler
Dennis Vance
Alan Browning , Alan Haines , Ronald Magill , Claire Nielson , Jack Shepherd , Raymond Westwell
14
Time Bomb
17 December 1969
David Gordon
Voytek
Edward Atienza , Harold Kasket , Aubrey Richards , Mohammad Shamsi
Note: Episodes 1-9 were made in black & white, colour from episode 10 onwards
Episode #
Title
Transmission Date
Writer
Director
Guest cast
1
Inside
11 August 1970
Trevor Preston
Guy Verney
Michael Goodliffe , Constantine Gregory , Kenneth Watson , Wendy Gifford , Hayden Jones , Michael Goldie , David Jackson
2
Dinner Date
18 August 1970
George Markstein
William G. Stewart
John Rolfe , Arnold Diamond , Arthur Cox , John Bailey , Frederick Jaeger , David Hargreaves
3
Depart in Peace
25 August 1970
Alun Falconer
Mike Vardy
David Langton , Bryan Marshall
4
Miss International
1 September 1970
Tom Brennand & Roy Bottomley
James Goddard
Jasmina Hilton , Marc Boyle , Richard McNeff
5
Warrant for a Phoenix
8 September 1970
Stewart Farrar
James Goddard
Paul Stassino , John Bennett , Stephen Greif , Clifford Rose
6
The Pleasure of Your Company
16 September 1970
George Markstein
William G. Stewart
Bruce Boa , Peter Arne , Derek Murcott
7
Not to Be Trusted
23 September 1970
Martin Worth
Guy Verney
William Lucas , Alethea Charlton , Emrys Jones , Ania Marson , Denis Goacher
8
Borderline Case
30 September 1970
Lewis Greifer
Tom Clegg
Richard Davies , Richard Durden , Tony Caunter , Leon Lissek , Georgina Simpson , Davyd Harries
9
Love from Doris
7 October 1970
C. Scott Forbes
John Russell
Alister Williamson , Mona Hammond , Hugh Futcher , John Woodnutt , James Marcus , Georgina Hale , Kevin Stoney , Dermot Tuohy , Ray Barron , Ken Barker
10
Sorry Is Just a Word
14 October 1970
Michael Chapman
James Goddard
Sheila Raynor , Gabrielle Drake , Sarah Thomas , James Cossins , Gary Watson , Robin Wentworth
11
Error of Judgement
21 October 1970
Peter Hill
Guy Verney
Basil Dignam , Robert Aldous , Gabrielle Blunt , Miranda Connell , Michael Lynch , Joseph O'Connell
12
Reported Missing
28 October 1970
Louis Marks
Dennis Vance
Nicola Pagett , Brian Wilde , Milos Kirek , Sheila Ruskin
13
Fool's Mate
4 November 1970
George Markstein
Dennis Vance
Sandra Bryant , Simon Lack , David Graham
Episode #
Title
Transmission Date
Writer
Director
Guest cast
1
A Copper Called Craven
4 April 1973
Roger Marshall
William Brayne
Peter Jeffrey ,Tony Selby , Barry Jackson , Patrick Connor , Frank Jarvis
2
Round the Clock
11 April 1973
Tom Brennand & Roy Bottomley
Douglas Camfield
Patrick Fyffe , Maurice Quick
3
Inquisition
18 April 1973
Trevor Preston
Mike Vardy
Alan Downer , Keith Anderson , Clifford Rose , Clement McCallin
4
Assault
25 April 1973
Tom Brennand & Roy Bottomley
Douglas Camfield
Bob Keegan , Richard Vernon , Angus MacKay , Roger Avon , Rod Beacham , John Owens
5
Polonaise
2 May 1973
Allan Scott & Chris Bryant
Mike Vardy
Richard Marner , André Morell , George Pravda , David Weston , Bernard Archard , Michael Culver , Madeleine Christie , John Bailey , Milos Kirek
6
Red Herring
9 May 1973
Peter Hill
Mike Vardy
Norman Jones , Roger Lloyd Pack , Diana Quick , Linda Regan , Leslie Schofield , Leon Eagles , Trevor Martin , Charles Pemberton , John Abbott
7
Death by Drowning
16 May 1973
John Kershaw
Dennis Vance
Gwen Watford , Doreen Mantle , Bruce Montague , Drewe Henley , Dennis Chinnery
8
All the King's Men
23 May 1973
Trevor Preston
Dennis Vance
Geoffrey Bayldon , Ursula Howells , John Gregg , James Bree , Aubrey Richards , Paul Greenwood , Jenny McCracken , Deborah Brayshaw
9
Threat
6 June 1973
Tom Brennand & Roy Bottomley
William Brayne
Jack Hedley , Stephanie Beacham , Robert James , Keith Anderson
10
The Other Man
13 June 1973
Roger Marshall
Dennis Vance
Annette Crosbie , John Arnatt , Malcolm Terris , John Cazabon , Neal Arden , Seymour Green
11
You Won't Remember Me
20 June 1973
Anthony Skene
John Robbins
Michael Latimer , Mary Maude , Renee Houston , Tony Haygarth , Billy Milton , Tony Thawnton
12
Hostage
27 June 1973
John Kershaw
David Wickes
Ann Lynn , Michael Gambon , Mark Eden , Nadim Sawalha , Nigel Lambert , Elisabeth Sladen , Stacy Davies , Keith James , John Flint , Peter Laird
13
Blueprint for Murder
4 July 1973
Peter Hill & Ian Black
William Brayne
Kenneth Warren , William Modisane , Alex Scott , Louis Mahoney , Patrick McAlinney , Edward Jewesbury , Ronald Leigh-Hunt , Arne Gordon , Michael Godfrey
Episode #
Title
Transmission Date
Writer
Director
Guest cast
1
Double Exposure
14 February 1974
Michael J. Bird
Don Leaver
Gabriella Licudi , Stuart Wilson , Terence Bayler , Kenneth Watson , Ralph Watson , John Gill
2
Catherine the Great
21 February 1974
John Brason
Douglas Camfield
Jacqueline Pearce , Tony Beckley , Michael Sheard , Tommy Eytle , Neville Barber
3
Jailbait
28 February 1974
Michael Chapman
William Brayne
Paul Shelley , Clive Morton , Walter Sparrow , Fredric Abbott , Cyril Appleton , Olaf Pooley , Charles Morgan , Colette O'Neil , Stephen Greif , Arnold Peters , Jon Croft , Rod Beacham
4
Stand and Deliver
7 March 1974
Michael J. Bird
Tom Clegg
Ronald Radd , Dennis Waterman , Stephanie Turner , Christopher Benjamin , Edwin Apps , Charles Farrell
5
Something About a Soldier
14 March 1974
Michael J. Bird
William Brayne
Garfield Morgan , Godfrey James , Rula Lenska , Ivan Beavis , William Marlowe , Jack Lambert , Dave Carter
6
Rendezvous
21 March 1974
Tony Williamson
Terry Green
Cyd Hayman , Geoffrey Chater , Barbara Kellerman , Anthony Nicholls , David Webb , Richard Steele
7
Sounds Sinister
28 March 1974
David Butler
Terry Green
John Carson , Stanley Meadows , Claire Nielson , John Clive , Valerie Leon , Antony Webb , Vi Delma , Peter Cleall
8
Entente Cordiale
4 April 1974
John Kershaw
William Brayne
George Murcell , Al Mancini , Peter Halliday , June Brown , Neil Hallett , Jonathan Adams , Richard Beale , William Marlowe , Alec Linstead , Charles Pemberton , Graeme Eton
9
Date of Birth
11 April 1974
Lewis Greifer
Don Leaver
Bruce Boa , Suzanne Roquette , Kenneth Colley , Richard Beale
10
Intercept
18 April 1974
Ian Kennedy Martin
William Brayne
Walter Gotell , Maxwell Shaw , Patrick Duggan , John Bindon , Peter Miles , Arnold Diamond
11
Alien
25 April 1974
Ray Jenkins
Douglas Camfield
Ann Firbank , Keith Buckley , Patrick Troughton , Gareth Thomas , Peter Cellier , Donald Eccles , Michael Guest
12
Diversion
2 May 1974
Peter J. Hammond
William Brayne
John Cairney , Denis Lill , Nicolette McKenzie , Keith Marsh
13
Downwind of Angels
9 May 1974
Peter Hill
Tom Clegg
Peter Bowles , Janet Key , Seretta Wilson , Peter Blythe , Vicki Hodge , Antony Carrick