Devised by Robert S. Baker, The Persuaders! ran for only one series between 1971 and 1972, but was among several ITC shows from the 1960s and 70s that have acquired cult status largely through repeated screenings down the years: The Champions, Danger Man, Department S and its spin-off Jason King, Man in a Suitcase, The Protectors, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), The Saint and Return of the Saint, and the greatest cult TV series of all time, The Prisoner.

The Persuaders! focuses on a pair of mismatched wealthy playboys who are coerced by a retired judge (Laurence Naismith) into taking a break from their constant drinking and sunbathing into solving a variety of crimes as way of staying out of jail following their trashing of a hotel bar. A memorable title sequence (with a score by John Barry) establishes their differences and their connections: Lord Brett Sinclair (Roger Moore) is educated at Harrow and Oxford and is a champion jockey and motor racing driver; Danny Wilde (Tony Curtis) has emerged from the New York slums to become a millionaire oil tycoon. What connects them is their taste for lazy high living, glamorous women, fast cars and casinos.

What remains most impressive about the series 40 years on is the amusing interplay and verbal sparring between Moore's dashing aristocrat and Curtis' pragmatic businessman, although the pair didn't always get along during filming, a fact that makes their performances such fun to watch. With an abundance of exotic locations and a wealth of talent both in front of and behind the camera, The Persuaders! became a big success and only came to a premature end due to ITC chief Lew Grade's inability to interest American backers. Moore's character can even be seen as an extension of his role as Simon Templar in The Saint from 1962 to 1969 and his debonair doppelganger in The Man Who Haunted Himself (1970), who also enjoys a womanising lifestyle (his interpretation of James Bond also owes a lot to Brett Sinclair).

The series as a whole is well worth watching, but the most significant episodes include The Gold Napoleon, directed by Roy Ward Baker, written by Val Guest and co-starring Susan George; Greensleeves, with Sinclair having to pose as himself in order to expose a group of political criminals who have moved in to his ancestral home; the double-themed Someone Like Me, directed by Baker and written by Terry Nation, which is one of the more bizarre episodes; The Man in the Middle, directed by Leslie Norman and featuring Suzy Kendall and Terry- Thomas; Five Miles to Midnight, directed by Guest, written by Nation and guest-starring Joan Collins, with the duo encountering the Mafia in Rome; and A Death in the Family, with Sinclair and Wilde investigating the mysterious deaths of a number of Sinclair's relatives (most of whom are played by Moore).

This new collection pulls out all the stops – it’s one of the most impressive box sets you’ll see. As well as new HD transfers and a 156 page book (which we haven’t seen), there are loads of extras – various commentaries, an alternate title sequence, vintage TV clips, a new documentary, script PDFs and the movies that were edited from the series. Spread across eight discs, it’s a jaw-droppingly complete release.

Essential!

LLOYD HAYNES

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