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Was Ogilvy's The Return of the Saint based on Charteris at all?
The Judas Game was the first episode of The Return Of The Saint, and in many ways signified the direction the series was going to take. This Saint lives in a complicated, political world, and while in many ways he is still a knight in shining armour, he is also a hardened professional – almost like a mercenary. In this episode Templar is coerced by MI6 into undertaking a dangerous mission. The white knight element is still there, because Templar has had a relationship with the girl (Judy Geeson) he is sent to rescue, but also it is suggested that Templar is the best man for the job, which in fact suggests his skills are better than all of the agents on the MI6 payroll.
The Judas Game starts on a cliff-face and Simon Templar is doing some mountaineering with his climbing partner, Algernon.
It quite interesting how similar this scenario seems to the PTS in The Living Daylights that was filmed 9 years later.
This pilot episode truly is amazing and I am tempted to put it as my No 1 even of all the 24 episodes. Duel In Venice, or The Arrangement may challenge that once I get to re-watch them.
Judy Geeson is a cult favourite actress of mine. There is a, I think, little known cult show called "Star Maidens", a German/British co-production. It's a Sci-Fi show and Geeson has the female lead in it. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
The Judas Game is solid entertainment, with some nice location footage filmed in Monte Argentario in Italy. The action sequences too, are expertly handled, with some Bondian fireworks, where Templar opens the gate to the inpenetratable fortress with a bazooka. Score high marks for adventure and fun. What more can a fan ask for.
Leslie Charteris himself can be seen a few seconds in the double episode Collision Course which was later released as the the movie the Saint and the brave Goose.
My favorites are Duel in Venice and Black September.
The French network M6 co-financed the productions along with a number of other partners (including LWT). And the Saint was more popular in France than in the UK, which is one of the reasons why there are forty books that were published in French and Dutch but never in English, and ultimately why M6 invested in the show.