| The Protectors | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Production | |
| Released by | ATV |
| Producer | Gerry Anderson & Reg Hill |
| Directed By | John Hough, Don Chaffey, Jeremy Summers, Roy Ward Baker, Cyril Frankel, Harry Booth, Michael Lindsay-Hogg & Robert Vaughn |
| Director of Photography | Brendan J. Stafford & Frank Watts |
| Art Director | Bob Bell |
| Music Director & singer | John Cameron
Theme Music & Lyrics by Mitch Murray & Peter Callender Rerelease vocals by Tony Christie |
| Special Effects | |
| Script Editor | Tony Barwick |
| Details | |
| Medium | Colour |
| Episodes | 52 |
| Duration | 25 Minutes |
| Original Air Date | 1971 |
| Series Guide | |
| Previous | Next |
| UFO | Space:1999 |
The Protectors is the second live action thriller television series created by Gerry Anderson, Produced by ITC Entertainment in 1971 -1973 and aired from 1972 - 1974. Guest appearances were often made by prominent actors of that period. Lew Grade gave Anderson the outline to create a series, the first series of 26 episodes was successful and Anderson was tasked with a second, which also ran for 26 episodes, each show ran for 25 mins; a third series was on the table at some stage, but was withdrawn.
Regular Cast[]
- Harry Rule - Robert Vaughn
- Contessa Caroline di Contini - Nyree Dawn Porter
- Paul Buchet - Tony Anholt
- Chino - Anthony Chinn
- Suki - Yasuko Nagazumi
- Protector Yanos - Anthony Stambouliech
- Protector Carter - Sherwood Price
- William Arthur McKay - Prentis Hancock
- Monica Davies - Jill Townsend
- Cable Car Attendant - Rudolf Barry
Not all regulars were in every episode and Vaughn was absent from at least one.
Synopsis[]
Three inexplicably affluent international private detectives/troubleshooters who were charged with ensuring the protection of innocents. They belonged to an organization called The Protectors and were based in London. Harry lead the group, The Contessa lived in Italy (when she wasn't working with Harry); She ran her own detective agency that specialized in exposing art frauds and recovering stolen art. Paul Buchet worked out of Paris, and was the group's researcher and gadget specialist. Adventures ranged from simple kidnapping to convoluted cases of international intrigue. These characters were all wealthy and drove exotic cars of the era including the Citroën SM and Jensen Interceptor. >
Episode List[]
Season 1[]
Series 1 episodes are 30 minutes each, and originally aired on Fridays with commercial breaks in the UK.
- 2000 ft To Die
- Brother Hood
- See No Evil
- Disappearing Trick
- Ceremony For The Dead
- It Was All Over In Leipzig
- The Quick Brown Fox
- King Con
- Thinkback
- A Kind Of Wild Justice
- Balance Of Terror
- Triple Cross
- The Numbers Game
- For The Rest Of Your Natural...
- The Bodyguards
- A Matter Of Life And Death
- The Big Hit
- One And One Makes One
- Talkdown
- Vocal
- ...With A Little Help From My Friends
- Chase
- Your Witness
- It Could Be Practically Anywhere On The Island
- The First Circle
- A Case For The Right
Series 2[]
Series 2 episodes are 30 minutes each, and originally aired on Fridays with commercial breaks in the UK.
- Quin
- Bagman
- Fighting Fund
- The Last Frontier
- Baubles Bangles And Beads
- Petard
- Goodbye George
- WAM Part One
- WAM Part Two
- Implicado
- Dragon Chase
- Decoy
- Border Line
- Zeke's Blues
- Lena
- The Bridge
- Sugar And Spice
- Burning Bush
- The Tiger And The Goat
- Route 27
- Trial
- Shadbolt
- A Pocketful Of Posies
- Wheels
- The Insider
- Blockbuster
Regular Locations[]
- Edgwarebury Hotel, Elstree, Hertfordshire, UK.
- Barnet Lane, Elstree, Hertfordshire
- High Canons, Well End, Hertfordshire, UK
- 2 Courtfield Mews, Sth Kensington, London, UK
Home Release[]
- Released to region 2 VHS & DVD in 2003
- North American DVD
- Season 1 September 2003
- Season 2 May 2004.
Trivia[]
- The series was shot on 16mm film rather than the usual 35mm, despite its exotic capital and major city locations, as well as its affluent characters.
- The series was unusual for Anderson in that it did not entail any significant Sci-fi or special effects. In fact, it was only his second foray outside sci-fi or fantasy after the 1960 film Crossroads to Crime - and his last.
- Nyree Dawn Porter's role was originaly to have been a male character.
- The series' theme song, "Avenues and Alleyways" became very popular in its version sung by Tony Christie.
- This was the first Gerry Anderson TV production to not involve composer Barry Gray.
Alleged Dissent[]
- Anderson claimed Vaughn acted like a Hollywood prima donna and refused to get on with the other actors.
- Vaughn claimed that he felt the series was "tasteless junk", and that he couldn't understand the scripts either before or during shooting.
- Vaughn was given the opportunity to direct one episode himself - #23 in production order, Grade called it the worst episode he'd ever seen of anything.
References[]
| Preceding series: | The Protectors | Following series: |
| UFO | The Investigator |