The episode opens with Simon Templar and Sandy Platt (Jenny Hanley) desperately racing across London to try and reach Sandy’s sister, Jane.  But they’re too late – when they get to her flat she’s dead (killed by an impure batch of heroin).

Sandy is naturally distraught, but her father, General Platt (Laurence Naismith), is even more so.  An old-school, but now retired, soldier, he vows to find and kill the pushers.  But he only serves to drive them underground.  So it falls to the Saint to risk his life by travelling to to Carmague region of France as he attempts to destroy the business at its source.

The Poppy Chain certainly has an arresting opening as Simon and Sandy discover Jane’s lifeless body.  It gives the episode a harder-edged feel than many of the others in the series.  Laurence Naismith’s pig-headed General Platt drives the action in the first half or so of the episode (with Simon trailing behind somewhat).  This plotline has the advantage of enabling the General to do all the spadework, but then allowing Simon to step in when things get really dangerous.

Along the way, the General tracks down the pusher who sold the drugs to his daughter.  A well-spoken, well-dressed man known as the Gent (Christopher Timothy).  He doesn’t get to kill him though, as the Gent’s wife intervenes (with a heavy object which knocks the General out).  It’s possibly just as well, since Simon tells the recuperating General that the pusher was just small fry – if you’re going to bring down the operation, then you need to aim for the head.

The Saint does this by posing as a member of the London connection, Rickman, and travels to France to meet the men responsible for supplying the raw drugs.  A change of location helps to keep the interest up and the different locale is quite interesting, as it’s probably not what might have been expected.  Scorbesi (Gregoire Anslan) and his son Dominic (Jonathan Burn) run the operation, but Scorbesi is an apparently friendly, gregarious chap and the patriarch of a village that appears to be happy and prosperous.  The fact that their idyllic lifestyle is founded on drug money is, no doubt intentionally, jarring.

Scorbesi’s realisation that he knew the General back in WW2, when Scorbesi was a Partisan, is a coincidence that’s possibly a little hard to take – especially since this revelation doesn’t really further the plot in any way.  Notwithstanding this, Anslan is good as the cheerful Scorbesi, although Burn is less impressive as his son.  I’m not quite sure why, it’s just a slightly off-key performance.

The best part of the second half of the episode is Simon’s infiltration of Scorbesi’s setup – although it’s rather bizarre that he takes no backup with him.  So it’s lucky that when the General learns about Simon’s efforts he makes the trip over and comes to the rescue.  It’s hard to believe that the Saint didn’t think that drafting in some younger assistance might have been a good idea, but this moment does allow the General a chance to prove that he’s not entirely over the hill.

I also like Ogilvy’s cockney accent when he’s pretending to be Rickman.  He makes a very effective criminal!

It’s a solid episode and rates three and a half halos out of five.

Simon is travelling through a remote area of Italy when he witnesses a murder – he sees a woman thrown off a cliff by two men.  When Simon reaches her, she’s mortally injured but manages to tell him to “warn Vincenzo” before she dies.

Father Vincenzo (Tony Calvin) is the priest of the local village, Santa Maria.  When Simon makes his way there, he discovers that Father Vincenzo is away and that nobody else is interested in offering assistance (including the police).  There’s a sinister menace that seems to hang over the town.  What is the secret that binds everybody together and how is it connected to the patrone of the village, Prince Lorenzo Castracano (Maurice Denham)?

As with Duel in Venice, part of the success of the The Village that Sold Its Soul is down to the location. Filming took place mostly in Sermoneta, a hill town in the province of Latina.  Thanks to its twisting streets, it was a location that offered director Leslie Norman plenty of scope for interesting and atmospheric shots.

It’s also an unusual episode since Simon has to mostly operate on his own.  Often, he’s paired up with an attractive female and can also count on official or semi-official help from his friends in high places.  But as Santa Maria is an isolated village there’s no help for him to call on.  There is an attractive female, Sophia Castracano (Katia Christine), but she’s a relatively minor character.

It’s a solid production, although there are a few mis-steps.  The body thrown off the cliff in the pre-credits sequence is clearly a dummy and later we see Simon desperately running away from an out-of-control cart.  But even if it had hit him, it’s difficult to imagine it causing him much of an injury!

The concept of a whole village that’s complicit in a series of murders is an intriguing one (although it maybe owes something to The Avengers episode Murdersville).  Maurice Denham adds a touch of class as the Prince and it eventually becomes clear that he holds the key to the mystery.

Because of the location and Maurice Denham, as well as a solid script from John Goldsmith, The Village That Sold Its Soul rates four halos out of five.

Abdul Hakim (Garrick Hagon) is a leading member of the Black September terrorist group.  It’s rumoured that he’s in London and is being pursed by his own people.  The Israelis are also desperate to pick him up and interrogate him (Hakim knows the names of all the top operatives in the organisation).

Simon Templar, due to his knowledge of London, is regarded by the Israelis as the ideal man to partner their leading counter-terrorist officer in a race against time to track Hakim down before his former friends find him.  Simon is initially reluctant, but when he learns that the officer is an attractive young woman (Prunella Gee playing Captain Leila Sabin) he becomes much more interested …..

One Black September is a slightly uneasy mix of real world politics and the usual escapist fare of an ITC adventure series.  For a modern audience, their name might not be instantly recognisable, but in 1978 they would have been very familiar.   Just six years earlier, Black September killed eleven Israeli athletes and a German police officer during the Munich Olympics.  During the early to mid seventies they also carried out numerous other attacks (and copycat activities were also attributed to them) which ensured that their name often featured in the headlines.

It’s the decision to use a real terrorist organisation that ensures One Black September has a slightly off-key feel, which is reflected in the attitudes of Simon and Leila.  Simon is his usual relaxed, flippant self whereas Leila is humourless and completely focused on the mission.

Matters come to a head later on, when Simon tells her she’s forgotten that she’s a woman (mainly because she seems to have no interest in sleeping with him!)  Leila counters this by telling Simon that her entire family were murdered by terrorists, so until Hakim is captured she cannot afford to let her concentration slip for even a moment.  Immediately prior to this, both Simon and the camera spend a little time ogling her shapely bottom as she bends over a map of London.  Both this, and Simon’s unsubtle efforts to romance her, mean that this is very much of product of its time.

Dodgy politics (both political and sexual) aside, this is a decent run-around.  Hakim’s former colleagues are led by Masrouf (Stephen Grief) and Rahaman (Nadim Sawalha).  Like everybody else, they’re lightly sketched characters, so the actors have to put the meat onto the bones (Grief is particularly effective with this).

Eventually Simon is able to pick Hakim up – but Leila is captured by Masrouf and the others.  Masrouf suggests a trade, which the Israelis strongly resist, but Simon gets his way.  In real life, of course, it’s impossible to imagine they would have acceded so readily to Simon’s request (he threatens to expose their illegal capture of Hakim, but it’s doubtful whether that would have really worried them).

Naturally, the Saint is able to extract Leila and keep Hakim – and in exchange for a plane ticket out of the UK Hakim gives the Israelis the names they need.  Leila bemoans that fact that a man like Hakim, responsible for countless murders, is simply going to get away.  But Simon has seen Rahaman in the airport terminal and makes no attempt to raise the alarm.

It’s another example of the Saint’s ruthless nature, which comes to the fore occasionally.  He knows that Black September will execute Hakim and is content to stand by and let it happen.  It’s a powerful moment and would have worked very well as the final scene (alas, a more conventional tag scene is added – with Simon and Leila heading off on holiday).

Although it’s not perfect, One Black September still rates three halos out of five.

Simon, together with the beautiful Gayle (Kathryn Lee Scott), is enjoying a weekend in Paris.  On the way back to their hotel room, he’s distracted by a series of screams from a nearby room.  The occupant is an Italian woman who tells Simon that she’s had a nightmare which foretold her husband’s death.

In her dream, they’re both riding in an open-top carriage in London (by her description, it’s clear that they’re travelling through Parliament Square).  She then hysterically tells Simon that during the journey her husband is shot dead.  Amongst the details she remembers is that the assassin has very blonde, almost white, hair.  When Simon learns that her husband is Dr Bernardo de Vallesi, Italy’s new ambassador to Britain (who is due to travel to the UK shortly) it appears that there may be some truth in her strange story.

The Nightmare Man is an odd one.  At first it seems that Mrs de Vallesi’s nightmare is simply a clumsy way of ensuring that the Saint takes an interest in the story.  But when Simon meets Dr de Vallesi, he’s introduced to his wife (who isn’t the woman from the hotel room) so the plot thickens.  But the main problem with the story is that all the action takes part in the last ten minutes or so and it’s a long slog to get there.

The real reason for the presence of the assassin is frankly bonkers and makes no sense at all.  It’s been organised by Colonel Ramon Perez (John Bennett).  He’s a bitter and vengeful man who lives for one reason only – to make the man responsible for his downfall pay.  That man, of course, is Simon Templar (but why he chose this plan is anybody’s guess).

Another problem with the story is the choice of Joss Ackland as the assassin, Gunther.  Ackland is an actor of many qualities, but this part doesn’t play to his strengths.  Gunther’s a cruel and psychotic man, but there’s never any sense of menace from Ackland.  The tone is set from his opening appearance – it’s hard to fear a man with such an obvious wig and flapping flared trousers!

There’s some other unlikely casting too – the diminutive Welsh actor Roy Evans as a supplier of guns and Stanley Lebor as a mercenary.  Although in Lebor’s case, this may be because now he’s probably best known for the Richard Briers sitcom Ever Decreasing Circles (back in the seventies he did play his fair share of heavies).

His encounter with the Saint is rather amusing.  He’s holding court in what’s supposed to be a rather rough pub (in which Simon is obviously meant to stand out).  In fact, it doesn’t really look too threatening at all – social realism was never a strong point of Return of the Saint.

Some nice location shooting in London apart, there’s not much to recommend in this one.  Two and a half halos out of five.

When I was a child, I was always disappointed that the animated stick-figure who appeared in the opening credits wasn’t the one who had the adventures (Ian Ogilvy was obviously a rather poor substitute!)  Time is a great healer though and I’m now reconciled to the fact that Ogilvy is the star of the show, rather than the stick-man.

ROTS was the last gasp for the ITC adventure series.  It follows their other 1970’s shows such as The Persuaders! and The Zoo Gang in having the luxury of foreign location shooting (something their 1960’s counterparts had to do without) and it’s easily the strongest series in this genre since The Persuaders!  Although it’s rather variable in quality (like many of the ITC series) at best it’s a cracking little show that’s still very enjoyable today.  I’m going to take a look at the early episodes and blog a brief, capsule review of each – as well as awarding them a mark out of five.

Simon Templar’s holiday in Italy is brought to an abrupt end, courtesy of MI6.  Led by Dame Edith (Mona Bruce), they want Simon to undertake a dangerous rescue mission.  They seem sure he’ll agree, since the kidnapped woman is an old flame of Simon’s – Sarah Morell (Judy Geeson).

Sarah has been kidnapped by a group of revolutionaries who wish to use her knowledge of counter-intelligence to train their terrorists to operate even more effectively.  Simon reluctantly agrees and with the aid of Vlora (Olga Karlatos) manage to infiltrate the heavily guarded fortress.  But a surprise awaits the Saint …..

The Judas Game has a slightly stodgy opening.  Rather obvious dubbing (a trait of many ITC series) is a little distracting in the early scenes (it’s very obvious with Mona Bruce, for example).  But once Simon snorkels his way to the island, things pick up – especially when he runs into the lovely Vlora.  Whist Judy Geeson might be the nominal female lead, Olga Karlatos has more screen time and she and Ian Ogilvy make a very effective team.  She’s remarkably easy on the eye too, especially when dressed in uniform!

If bad dubbing is always an intermittent problem with ITC series, then day-for-night filming is the other regular irritant.  It’s bizarre that even a series like ROTS, which enjoyed extensive overseas shooting, couldn’t afford to film at night.  Instead, a filter is placed over the camera to give the impression that it’s night-time, although the blazing sky is a dead-giveaway.  Alas, this rather saps the tension out of Simon and Vlora’s escape from the beach.

Happily, they infiltrate the fortress during the day-time and Simon is easily able to rescue Sarah.  Suspension of disbelief is required here – as he single-handedly has to make his way past numerous guards and then has to carry the unconscious Sarah back to Vlora and the van.  Why is Sarah unconscious?  When they meet, she tells him that she wasn’t kidnapped – she defected.

At this point, there’s an interesting edit.  We cut away from them and what appears to be a punch is heard.  When we cut back, Sarah is unconscious and the clear inference is that Simon’s knocked her out.  It’s a slightly clumsy edit, so it might be that after the scene was shot it was felt it wasn’t a good idea to show Simon hitting a woman (even though it’s obvious what’s happened).  I also love the way they make their escape, with Simon blowing up the fortress gate with a rocket launcher!  It’s pure James Bond.

Sarah and Vlora don’t get on, mainly because Vlora regards her as a traitor and wants to shoot her.  When the guards catch up with them, Simon seems to be of the same opinion.  “It’s quite simple Major, she’s insane. Now why don’t you just treat her as a mad dog and put a bullet through her head?”

There’s a further twist to the tale though (as well as the reveal that one of the MI6 agents is a traitor).  Overall, this is a strong episode and it’s easy to see why it was chosen as the first to air in the UK.  It’s got action, foreign filming and two attractive female co-stars for Ian Ogilvy to tangle with.  The bad-guys don’t make much of an impression, but all in all this rates four halos out of five.