Jason King (TV series)

*Jason King*
Jason King
Genre	Crime thriller; Action/adventure; Spy fiction
Created by	Dennis Spooner; Monty Berman
Starring	Peter Wyngarde
Theme music composer	Laurie Johnson
Composer	Laurie Johnson
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	26
Production
Producer	Monty Berman
Running time	50 mins
Production company	ITC Entertainment
Original release
Network	ITV (ATV)
Release	15 September 1971 –; 28 April 1972
Related
	Department S

Jason King is a British television series starring Peter Wyngarde as the eponymous character. It was produced by ITC Entertainment and had a single season of 26 one-hour episodes that aired from 1971 to 1972. It was shown internationally as well, and has been released on DVD in the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and Germany.^{[citation needed]}

Overview

The series featured the further adventures of the title character who had first appeared in Department S (1969). In that series he was a dilettante dandy and author of a series of adventure novels, working as part of a team of investigators. In Jason King he had left that service to concentrate on writing the adventures of Mark Caine, who closely resembled Jason King in looks, manner, style, and personality. None of the other regular characters from Department S appeared in this series, although Department S itself is occasionally referred to in dialogue.

In the course of visiting international locations as part of his research, or through being summoned by people needing assistance, King would be frequently embroiled in adventure stories featuring glamorous women, exotic locations (for the era), menacing villains, political turmoil, or espionage intrigue.

The first episode depicted King's retelling of a Mark Caine novel to a television executive, alternating between King's interpretation of events, and the television executive's version. King's version showed style and class, while the executive's version featured added suspense, more cliches, and had the women in more revealing costumes. In the footage representing both men's vision of the novel adapted for the screen, Mark Caine was portrayed by Wyngarde.

The titles of the Mark Caine books often consisted of four short words, in the manner of some of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels. The Mark Caine title mentioned most often in the series was Index Finger Left Hand; another was To China Yours Sincerely (parodying Fleming's From Russia With Love).

Subsequent episodes featured Wyngarde playing King trying to write his novels and being pressured by his publisher Nicola Harvester about deadlines. King, however, was usually distracted by women and the adventures of his normal life, and was sometimes tricked by Ryland of the British Government into assisting the Government in international political matters: all of which later found their way into the adventures of the fictional Mark Caine.

Cast

Peter Wyngarde as Jason King
Anne Sharp as Nicola Harvester
Ronald Lacey as Ryland
Dennis Price as Sir Brian

Production

The series was created by Dennis Spooner and like its predecessor was made by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment production company (which had become successful with such series as The Saint and Danger Man). However, unlike previous ITC series which were shot on 35mm film, Jason King was filmed on 16mm to cut costs. Episodes were written specifically to include travel to various European locations to which Peter Wyngarde had, before the series, been brought for outdoor location filming; these shots were then included within the filmed narratives.

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
01	"Wanna Buy A Television Series?"	Roy Ward Baker	Dennis Spooner	15 September 1971 (1971-09-15)
02	"A Page Before Dying"	Jeremy Summers	Tony Williamson	22 September 1971 (1971-09-22)
03	"Buried in the Cold, Cold Ground"	Jeremy Summers	Philip Broadley	6 October 1971 (1971-10-06)
04	"A Deadly Line in Digits"	Jeremy Summers	Tony Williamson	13 October 1971 (1971-10-13)
05	"Variations on a Theme"	Cyril Frankel	Philip Broadley	20 October 1971 (1971-10-20)
06	"As Easy as ABC"	Jeremy Summers	Tony Williamson	10 November 1971 (1971-11-10)
Guest stars: Nigel Green, Michael Bates
07	"To Russie With... Panache"	Paul Dickson	Tony Williamson	17 November 1971 (1971-11-17)
08	"A Red, Red Rose Forever"	Cyril Frankel	Donald James	1 December 1971 (1971-12-01)
09	"All That Glisters (Part One)"	Cyril Frankel	Philip Broadley	8 December 1971 (1971-12-08)
10	"All That Glisters (Part Two)"	Cyril Frankel	Philip Broadley	15 December 1971 (1971-12-15)
11	"Flamingoes Only Fly on Tuesdays"	Jeremy Summers	Tony Williamson	29 December 1971 (1971-12-29)
12	"Toki"	Jeremy Summers	Tony Williamson	5 January 1972 (1972-01-05)
Guest star: Felicity Kendal
13	"The Constance Missal"	Jeremy Summers	Harry W. Junkin	12 January 1972 (1972-01-12)
14	"Uneasy Lies The Head"	Cyril Frankel	Donald James	19 January 1972 (1972-01-19)
15	"Nadine"	Cyril Frankel	Philip Broadley	2 February 1972 (1972-02-02)
Guest star: Ingrid Pitt
16	"A Kiss for a Beautiful Killer"	Cyril Frankel	Gerald Kelsey	9 February 1972 (1972-02-09)
17	"If It's Got To Go, It's Got To Go"	Cyril Frankel	Dennis Spooner	16 February 1972 (1972-02-16)
18	"Thin Band of Air"	Cyril Frankel	Harry W. Junkin	3 March 1972 (1972-03-03)
19	"It's Too Bad About Auntie"	Jeremy Summers	Harry W. Junkin	10 March 1972 (1972-03-10)
20	"The Stones of Venice"	Jeremy Summers	Donald James	17 March 1972 (1972-03-17)
21	"A Royal Flush"	Roy Ward Baker	Philip Broadley	24 March 1972 (1972-03-24)
22	"Every Picture Tells A Story"	Cyril Frankel	Robert Banks Stewart	31 March 1972 (1972-03-31)
23	"Chapter One: The Company I Keep"	Cyril Frankel	Donald James	7 April 1972 (1972-04-07)
24	"Zenia"	Roy Ward Baker	Philip Broadley	14 April 1972 (1972-04-14)
25	"An Author in Search of Two Characters"	Cyril Frankel	Dennis Spooner	21 April 1972 (1972-04-21)
26	"That Isn't Me, It's Somebody Else"	Roy Ward Baker	Dennis Spooner	28 April 1972 (1972-04-28)

Legacy

King's choice of fashion was named by Mike Myers as an inspiration for his popular movie character Austin Powers.^[1]

He is also one of the inspirations (especially his clothes) for Kim Newman's psychic crime fighter and secret agent Richard Jeperson.^[2]

Parody

The Two Ronnies performed a sketch entitled 'Jason King', with Ronnie Corbett putting on all the airs and graces of King and Ronnie Barker playing a suspect in a murder investigation, during their third series in 1973.

Jason King was also the basis for Jason Bentley, played by Peter Richardson in the Comic Strip Presents episode Detectives on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown (1993). Wyngarde said in a BBC television interview when this episode was originally transmitted that he was flattered by the affectionate parody, but insisted that Jason King would never wear crushed velvet.

References

^ Higgs, John (2015). Stranger Than We Can Imagine: Making Sense of the Twentieth Century. Soft Skull Press. p. 208. ISBN 9781619026803.
^ Jones, Stephen, ed. (1999). Dark detectives: adventures of the supernatural sleuths. F&B Mystery. p. 219. ISBN 9781878252357.