As usual, I do not own the copyright on any of the links in any part of this blog. They will be removed if required. Or they might just vanish in their own right as the owners ask Youtube to pull them.
Welcome to the next 5-minute installment of the weird and wonderful world of a hard-working scientist. So let us begin.
Every government has its secret service branch. America, CIA; France, Deuxième Bureau; England, MI5. NATO also has its own. A messy job? Well that's when they usually call on me or someone like me. Oh yes, my name is Drake, John Drake.
So begins the TV series, "Danger Man," also known as Destination Danger or Secret Agent. I didn't watch these and I have yet to start collecting non-region 2 DVDs: There is no way I remember this from the original as I was a babe in arms at this time. I remember it from a later series, still in black and white but with this Edwin Astley theme tune and different opening credits. I must have watched it by mum's side, it was one of her favourites too. Note the guitars!
Anyway, to the substance of the TV series:
John Drake worked for NATO in the early series, I seem to remember. He is contemporary with Bond but, unlike 007, only worked with a handful of gadgets. He used brain over brawn, he did not treat women as "bed-warmers". He seemed to be somewhat of a loner and only reported to his bosses directly, on the whole.
You need to remember that it was, in today's parlance, "of its time". Actors blacked up, stereotyped behaviours and accents. To paraphrase Star Trek's Scotty - the whole kit and caboodle. Put a turban on a blacked-up actor, throw in a load of beggars, a train station sign saying "Karachi" and "Boom!" you're in Pakistan.
You can find more in this wiki link and this one. There were 4 series of this TV show going from 1960 to 1968 with an odd gap. It started in black and white and moved to colour.
What I really enjoy about it, is that, unlike more modern shows, there are no real story arcs, each show pretty much stands on its own. That does have its drawbacks, John Drake's accent changes, his superiors change, his employers change.
Unlike 70s offerings of similar material, these shows are not overly violent. OK, they start off with some sort of death or killing but, then, so does Columbo (maybe more of him later). The deaths are not bloody, violent affairs. No beheadings, knifings, no blood and gore putting you off your tea.
As I said above, it is off its time. The usual suspects are the baddies, Commies of all shades, Central and Southern Americans with mustaches and sombreros, middle eastern power crazed rulers (sans keffiyeh or fez)....you get the picture.
I'll finish here but I'll leave with this question for you:
Did John Drake become Number 6 from The Prisoner?
Until next time, cheerio!
No comments:
Post a Comment