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ACTION
TV ONLINE EPISODE GUIDE
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Director : Gerard Glaister Script : N J Crisp Cast : Marius Goring (Kersten), Paul Young, Diana Beevers, Hamish Wilson, Larry Marshall, James Copeland, Arthur Boland, John Short, John Young, Charles Sim, David Kinnaird, James MacKenzie and Caryl Cruickshank. Publicity : The Revenue Men - The heroes of tonight's new adventure series come from the Investigation Branch of Customs And Excise: They greet us when we return from abroad - and we have to face them, with what gulps in the throat and what poundings of the heart being strictly dependent on our consciences and out contraband. It takes an Oscar Wilde to have "nothing to declare but my genius" though the whole trend of literature, from adventure stories to rollicking verses, has been towards the glorification of the smuggler, not those whose job it is to prevent him. For, romantically, the smuggler brings "brandy for the parson, baccy for the clerk", though Kipling added that amidst the "laces for a lady" there might also be "letters for a spy". In The Revenue Men the emphasis is new. This is a realistic series which does not find smuggling romantic, which presents the men of Customs and Excise as the guardians of purchase tax and exchange control regulations, as the collectors of vast sums in indirect taxation, as those who come to grips with the "cheaters" of international finance, with the traffic in illegal drugs, with whisky hi-jackers, and with the routing of strategic cargoes to forbidden countries. The series concentrates on the Customs men who form the Investigation Branch. Those we see at ports and airports are men of the uniformed Waterguard; those who belong to the Outdoor Branch, non-uniformed, as concerned with such tasks as checking on fuel and spirits tax. Both branches turn fast to I.B when they uncover or suspect any organized attempts to evade the regulations. I.B is the Third Force in Customs and Excise. Its members usually speak more than one foreign language; they are trained in the techniques of detection and interrogation. They have wide powers: they can arrest, and they can confiscate. They have a roving commission and can follow a case anywhere in Britain or abroad. Recruited from both the Waterguard and the Outdoor Branch, they serve a two-year probationary period in the I.B. Those who don't make the grade are returned to their own branch. It is they who unmask the smuggling rings and the big tax frauds. In an age of organized crime they are specialized crime fighters, and the stakes are often monstrously high. A road tanker can carry up to four thousand gallons of petrol. With tax at more than three shillings a gallon the rewards of evasion are tempting though the penalties are vast too. With so much at stake the revenue men have to be organized, intelligent, and courageous, for intimidation and violence is never far away. "Them that asks no questions isn't told a lie" runs Kipling's Smuggler's Song. The men of the I.B have to ask the questions, to detect the liues, and to act on their conclusions. For as the first episode tonight shows, not all "The Traders" are honest, and a source of strategic material has to be tracked down … Ewen Solon as Caesar Smith: A bachelor with a taste for sailing, and for jade - that is Caesar Smith, a dedicated man, tough and active, who is happiest behind the wheel of his sports car. He is played, in what must surely be the most welcome return of the year, by Ewen Solon, the faithful Lucas of Maigret and an actor of assurance, range and vitality. Smith came to I.B from the Outdoor Branch and after service with the New Zealand Forces during the war; he emigrated to New Zealand as a sort of protest against the ineffectuality of the huntin' and shootin' life his family led in Scotland. Now he is back there, but free to roam. He is fancy free too, and a stylish dresser. He is less of a politician than his chief Stuart Campbell (played by Callum Mill), but he has too much experience to buck all the rules. And he has had personal experience of the Far East. It was there that he got his taste for jade and his suspicion of permanent personal relationships. James Grant as Ross McInnes: Fresh from the Waterguard and only begging to present his credentials for I.B is Ross McInnes (played by James Grant). He too is a bachelor, but a younger one and rather showier. Family circumstances and pressures towards "a safe job" drove him into the Civil Service. He chose its most colourful branch. He is very much a man of the 1960s who believes that "We don't take too much account of class in Scotland". He can talk to anybody, and his money goes into expensive photographic equipment, a workbench, and the assembling of rather flash car kits. McInnes is at once less experienced and more impulsive than Smith, who he hopes will become his mentor. He is also liable to be more intolerant and more ruthless, for status beckons while ambition drives. He enjoys both the excitement and the prestige of the Investigation Branch - if he can contrive to join after his blundering among "The Traders" tonight. (Radio Times, March 23, 1967). Notes : The series was originally transmitted 8:05pm to 8:55pm on BBC 2.
Director : Peter Cregeen Script : N J Crisp Cast : Edward Woodward (Bill Murray), Terry Bale, Stacy Davies, John Grieve, Suzanne Vasey, Willy Joss, Gordon Robb, Ted Webster, Gregory Byatt, Thomas Forbes, Robert Lawson, Anthony Baird, Michael Elder, Richard Finlay and Alex Allan. Synopsis : Ross, eager for work, acts on a tip-off meant for Smth, who lets him have his head - while keeping him on a long lead.
Director : David Andrews Script : Ian Kennedy Martin Cast : Glyn Owen (James Greig), Jean Jacques Oberlin, Francis Bordat, Patrick Westwood, William McCabe, Noel Coleman and Carole Boyer. Synopsis : Three million English cigarettes are hijacked in France. And the men of I.B go to work on the assumption that they could on their way back to this country - the problem is when and how - and who?
Director : Richard Argent Script : N J Crisp Cast : Roddy McMillan (Tom Macdonnell), Colette O'Neil (Meg Davis), Walter Jackson, Eric Wightman, Bill Henderson, Wally Campbell, Douglas Murchie and Glenys Marshall. Publicity : The Revenue Men - Diesel or gas? It's a matter for investigation tonight: The big long-distance lorries which carry so large a proportion of the nation's freight mostly run on diesel oil. However, it's possible to make them run on gas oil - and it's this little technicality which is at the centre of tonight's episode of The Revenue Men, written by N.J Crisp and called "A Tough Business". For while diesel fuel is taxed at a rate of about 3s, 7d. a gallon, gas oil carries duty of only about 2d. So a haulage operator who puts down in his books that he's using the expensive fuel when he's actually using the cheap sort can make an enormous, hidden, and illegal saving - that is, if he's running a big enough fleet. And Tom Macdonnell, the tough Scotsman who is Caesar Smith's "client" on this occasion, is certainly in a big way of business … He's played by Roddy McMillan, a character actor whose unmistakable Scottishness has won him parts in Doctor Finlay's Casebook and This Man Craig, as well as Comedy Playhouse. The regular team of Ewen Solon (Smith), Callum Mill (Campbell), James Grant (McInnes) and Claire Neilson (Luke) is also augmented by Colette O'Neil. Colette plays Meg Davis, a girl who once had the dubious privilege of being Caesar Smith's steady girlfriend: when the two meet again in tonight's story Meg finds that her emotions, her material interest, and her loyalties are all placed under a cruel strain. (Radio Times, April 13, 1967).
Director : Peter Cregeen Script : Jack Gerson Cast : Paul Daneman (Larry Hagan), Jennifer Wright (Patricia Hagan), Victor Maddern (Johnny Cain), Ann Morrish (Sylvia Matheson), Mitzi Rogers, Richard Findlay, Gerard Slevin, Aiken Vernon, Lindsay Brown, Alistair Hunter and Lena McGarvie. Synopsis : Larry Hagan is a good businessman: deserves all the trappings of success. Or so it seems; until Smith and Campbell take a closer look, and uncover a neat racket.
Director : Frank Cox Script : Hugh C Rae Cast : Alan MacNaughton (Captain Wright), Maurice Roeves (Private Bingham), John Robinson (Colonel Scoullar), Ted Webster, Bob Docherty, John Snedden, Bruce McKenzie, Martin Heller, John Bryans, Joan Fitzpatrick, Jeremy Chandler, Bryden Murdoch, Helen Norman and Jennifer Angus. Synopsis : The import duty on antique jewellery is high. So evasion on a valuable item can look like a way to easy money - and become a difficult trade for the men of I.B to put a stop to.
Director : Richard Argent Script : John Pennington Cast : Leonard Rossiter (Oremerod), Gerard Slevin Junior, Larry Marshall, Harry Hankin, Katie Gardiner, Nancy Gilmour, Patricia Heneghan, Paul Dawkins and Paul Kermack. Synopsis : Easy money is the usual lure in smuggling. But there can be other motives, as Smith and McInnes discover when they dig into the past of a man who seems to have everything money can buy.
Director : David Andrews Script : Donald Bull Cast : John Welsh (Locker), Philip Bond (White), Declan Mulholland (Barney McQuarry), Mary Small, Edmund Sulley, Robin Thomson, Emma Chapman, Dudley Stuart White, Kalman Glass, William McCabe, Douglas Cummings, Moira Briody, Jack Lambert, Norman Mitchell and David Kinnaird. Synopsis : One case leads to another, and Smith discovers the makings of a fraud that neither I.B nor the police can do anything about - until someone gets hurt.
Director : Peter Cregeen Script : John Gould Cast : Eddie Byrne (Straker), David Gordon, Barry Linehan, Ken MacKenzie, Kathleen Donnelly, Petra Markham, James Cosmo, Tom Conti, Betty Henderson, Charles Lamb and Clem Ashby. Synopsis : Some contraband can kill, and when this happens Smith and McInnes need to go a step further than the police to cut the pipeline.
Director : Frank Cox Script : Pat Dunlop Cast : Rio Fanning (Charlie Coburn), Jennifer Daniel (Jean Maynard), Robert MacLeod (Bill Maynard), Hugh Evans, Francis Harvey, Maxwell Modie, Brian Carey, Phil McCall, Hugh MacRoberts, Ian Richardson, Ronald Muirhead, Michael Elder, Richard Kane and John Mulvaney. Synopsis : When whisky disappears from a bonded warehouse Smith and Ross become involved in a very ingenious plan to defraud the Revenue.
Director : Richard Argent Script : John Pennington Cast : Adrienne Corri (Helen Carlisle), George A Cooper (Henry Carlisle), Neil Stacy (Colin McEvoy) and John Shedden. Synopsis : Smith is investigating a firm of importers but when he becomes involved with the owner's daughter he finds himself in a most invidious position.
Director : David Andrews Script : Willaim Emms Cast : Jack Gwillim (Howes), Mahmoud Hamza, Sabbah Latif, Ian McCulloch, Ewan Bell, Matt McGinn, Ezzat Atteya, Oliver MacGreevy, Norman Wynne, Bruce McKenzie and Clem Ashby. Synopsis : A child is shot by terrorists, and the rifle used was made in Britain. Smith becomes emotionally involved in the case of illegal arms deals because of his personal experience of terrorists. But then - who are the terrorists?
Director : Peter Cregeen Script : Norman J Crisp Cast : Guy Rolfe (Paddy Sullivan), Juliet Mill (Jill Lacey), George Johnson, John McBride, James Caffrey, Kenneth Orr, David Enger, Jackie Farrell, Jon Croft, Richard Wilson, Patrick Laewsley, John Joyce, Peter Fox, Eric Wightman, Walter Jackson, Alistair Colledge and Bill Lockhart. Synopsis : When plastic explosives are used by the so-called IRA, it becomes obvious that their supplies are coming into Eire from Britain. Ross and Smith investigate and find that even the most charming of men can be dangerously irresponsible.
Director : Terence T Wheeler Script : Tony Williamson Cast : Barry Keegan (Joe Purvis), Jack Smethurst (James A Carter), Paul Kermack, Maev Alexander, Joan Craig, Claire Jenkins, Francis Ghent, W H D Joss and Robin Lefevre. Publicity : The Revenue Men - Return To Do Battle With Those Who Don't Pay Up: While there are revenues to be collected there will always be those who think they can avoid paying up. And while the traffic in such things as drugs continues to offer vast illegal profits there will be those who engage in it. Ranged against these people are the men of the Investigation Branch Customs and Excise - the Revenue Men - and tonight they return to carry on the battle in a new series. The first episode written by Tony Williamson is called "The Waiting Game", and in it Smith - played by Ewen Solon - finds himself having to learn all about the complexities of the direct-sale business. It all starts when Drayton, a perfectly normal and respectable businessman, is suddenly sacked from his job as general manager of the Dynaflow Company after only four weeks in office. The company has been bought out by a Mr Purvis - and the price is suspiciously low. Drayton passes on his suspicion to the revenue men, and it doesn't take Smith long to realize that a colossal purchase tax swindle is in the making. The trouble is, how to prove it? And that's where Smith has to start playing the waiting game … The regular team of James Grant (Ross McInnes), Callum Mill (Campbell), and Claire Nielsen (Luke Fraser) are all involved in the investigation, and two guest stars turn up among the opposing forces. They are Barry Keegan, who plays the brash, thrusting, and apparently supremely confident Joe Purvis, and Jack Smethurst, playing Carter, Dynaflow's super-smooth sales manager. He's not as tough as Purvis, but Carter has a trick or two of his own … (Radio Times, August 24, 1967). Notes : The second season was originally transmitted 9:55pm to 10:45pm on BBC 2.
Director : Peter Cregeen Script : Dick Sharples Cast : With Michael Sulver, Sidonie Bond, Graham Rigby, Bob Docherty, Victor Carin, Bruce MacKenzie, Marjorie Dalziel and Ken MacKenzie. Synopsis : The Customs men at a Continental car ferry become suspicious when a man makes too many trips through their port.
Director : Prudence Fitzgerald Script : Elwyn Jones Cast : David Knight (Dick Graham), Jennie Linden (Sheila Graham), Powys Thomas, Hamish Wilson, Geoffrey Palmer (Bill Mitchell), Donald Eccles, Bill Ross and Gilly McIver. Publicity : The Revenue Men with Ewen Solon as Smith: Lying to the customs men - whether about that extra packet of cigarettes or an expensive gold watch - causes more trouble than it's worth. Sheila and Dick Graham (played by Jennie Linden and David Knight) find this out when they lie about a valuable microscope found in their luggage, and set Ross and Smith off on an investigation. (Radio Times, September 7, 1967).
Director : Michael Currer-Briggs Script : Ian Stuart Black Cast : David Langton (Sir John Dolan), Manning Wilson, Melissa Stribling, Charles Tingwell, Walter Carr, Margaret Bent, Griffith Davies and Nina McCarty. Synopsis : Sir John Dolan and Stuart Campbell are close friends. And we all need friends - don't we?
Director : Peter Cregeen Script : Elwyn Jones Cast : Larry Marshall, Andrew Robertson, Annie MacKinnan, Lennox Mune, John Mulvaney, Leslie Blackater, Bill Henderson, Bill Treeby and Kara Wilson. Synopsis : Ross McInnes learns that a good I.B man must think of the department above all things - even above friendship.
Director : David Proudfoot Script : Jack Gerson Cast : Leonard Maguire (Sebastian Penman), Jameson Clark (Detective Sergeant Lomond), Iain Agnew, Richard Findlay, Paul Young, Francis Harvey, James Maguire, Alex Allan, Alex Norton, Glen Michael, Shenah Dougals, Helen Brennan, David Kinnaird and Eric Wightman. Synopsis : When Penman's flat is broken into by a young man, a chain of strange events leads I.B into a macabre and dangerous case.
Director : Geoffrey Nethercott Script : John Gould Cast : John Paul (Whiteman), Brian Pettifer, John Carlin, Nancy Mitchell, Robert Cartlan, Gerard Slevin, John Grieve, Charles Morgan, Ida Schuster and Stuart McGugan. Synopsis : Smith arrests two old clients and oversteps the mark. The two he has accused insist he should be investigated.
Director : Prudence Fitzgerald Script : Tony Williamson Cast : Ralph Michael (Paxton), Veronica Strong (Susan Mellor), Tom Criddle (Brinton), Arthur Boland and Clement McCallin. Synopsis : Fortunes can be made from a leak of information from a Customs Office. Smith and Ross attack the problem from two sides, both with equal application.
Director : Terence T Wheeler Script : Max Marquis Cast : Annette Andre (Jane Quest), Michael Barrington (Robert Quest), Bill McCabe and Douglas Murchie. Synopsis : Perhaps to be a good I.B officer one should have no emotions at all. Ross finds this out the hary way.
Director : Peter Cregeen Script : N J Crisp Cast : Peter Wyngarde (General Daniel), Barbara Shelley (Renee), Peter Barkworth (Captain Brett), Patrick Cargill (Paul), Denis Carey (Raban), John Shedden, Martin Heller and John Young. Synopsis : When Paul Valery, an international con-man, has a mysterious visitor, the I.B become involved with a very undersirable alien.
Director : Terence T Wheeler Script : Jack Gerson Cast : Jan Conrad (Paul Hasek), John Scobbie, April Wilding, Geoffrey Hibbert, Clare Richards, Ian Halliburton, Hamish Wilson, Ken MacKenzie, Larry Marshall, Ian Hoskins, Anthony Marlowe, Jamie Lawrie and Gertan Klauber. Synopsis : When Paul Hasek, a foreign diplomat, is caught in a compromising situation, his privileged position is used as a cover for smuggling.
Director : Ben Rea Script : Tony Williamson Cast : Peter Jeffrey (Milo Benedict), John Cater (Jepp), Alethea Charlton, Hugh Evans, Ray Marioni, Francis Ghent, Katy Gardiner, Katy Wild and Margaret Courtenay. Synopsis : AAny way of reducing the price of mink coats would be welcomed by some women, even if it means depriving the country of revenue.
Director : Prudence Fitzgerald Script : Elwyn Jones Cast : Stella Tanner (Jesse Filby), David Hutcheson (Geoffrey Mason), Paul Young, Larry Marshall, Louise Pajo, George Waring, John Graham, Martin Cochrane, Louise McLaren, Michael Beint, Raymond Platt, Christopher Donald and David Hayman. Synopsis : When a man collapses in a Customs Hall he is found to be carrying a large quantity of gold.
Director : Terence T Wheeler Script : Elwyn Jones Cast : Sean Caffrey (Bill McIlroy), Barry Keegan (Kevin O'Malley), Rio Fanning, Paddy Joyce, Lindsay Brown, Bill Henderson, Karen Ford, Douglas Murchie, Patrick McAlinney, Patrick Lewsley, John McBride, Anne Kidd and Ronnie Christie.
Director : Terence Williams Script : John Pennington Cast : Andrew Keir (McGeely), Charles Baptiste, Richard Wilson (The Waterguard Officer), Derek Benfield (Fender), Matthew Long, Clem Ashby (Reynolds), James Donnelly, Ken Watson, Kevin Brennan, Jacqueline Anders, Irene Sunters, Peter Mason, Charles Sim, Francis Ghent and Andrew Byatt. Synopsis : A man called McGeely arrives in Scotland but cannot leave his ship because he has no papers. He claims he comes from Glasgow and mentions Sauchiehall Street as proof. But as the customs men point out, everyone all over the world has heard of Sauchiehall Street. Smith and McInnes are after some smugglers who are bringing high quality jewellery into the country in small quantities. McGeely is given a piece to smuggle ashore, but when he vanishes from the ship the smugglers have about as much idea of where to find him as the Revenue men. Who gets there first …? Notes : The third season was originally transmitted 8:20pm to 9:05pm on BBC 2.
Director : Ian MacNaughton Script : N J Crisp Cast : Terence Alexander (Logan), Richard Findlay, Billy Stenhouse, Alex Norton, Douglas Murchie, John Mulvaney, Carol Ann Dunigan, Jean Taylor Smith, Jackie Morna, David Kinnaird, Eric Wightman, Walter Jackson and Gerard Slevin. Synopsis : The investigation branch are confronted by a case of "the worst kind of smuggling" in the two-part story beginning tonight. Campbell puts Ross McInnes on the trail of "the client" concerned. Ross traces him as far as the Inner Hebrides, but arrives too late. It seems he cannot pursue the case any further; it's a dead end. He returns to report his failure to a furious Campbell …
Director : Prudence Fitzgerald Script : Nick McCarty Cast : Ewan Hooper (Clark), David Munro (Johnnie), Phil McCall (Wal Mason), Alex Norton, David Gallagher, Alison McKenzie, Mairhi Russell, Effie Morrison, Ross Campbell, David Kinnaird and Walter Jackson. Synopsis : Last week Logan's death brought Ross to a halt. This week Smith resumes the search for the man who supplies the peddlers.
Director : Antony Kearey Script : Jack Gerson Cast : Victor Maddern (Johnny Cain), Jonathan Newth (Martin Gregory), Arnold Yarrow, Eric Wightman (Sammy Farnham), Lisa Daniely, Gabor Baraker, David Murray, Ilona Ference, Bob Docherty, David Kinnaird and Paul Kermack. Synopsis : Johnny Cain is back again and Smith's holiday in Switzerland develops into another case for the investigation branch.
Director : Terence T Wheeler Script : Jack Gerson Cast : Harry Fowler (Barney Ashton), Pardy Jones, Willy Joss, Dorothy Paul, Alex McIntosh, Kevin Stoney (George Simpson), Gerald C Lawson, Jamieson Clark, Iain Agnew, David Gallagher, Harry Walker, Rosalie Westwater, Ross Campbell and Robert Docherty. Synopsis : A labourer is taken to hospital having been poisoned by a bottle of illicit whisky. Ross investigates.
Director : Terence Williams Script : William Emms Cast : Alex Scott (Harris), Alan Tilvern (Inspector Singh), Glen Michael, Robert Fyfe, Julian Sherrier, Bakshi Prem, Ida Schuster and Marne Maitland. Synopsis : Smith is faced with a very difficult moral problem when he is informed that there are several illegal immigrants working at the docks.
Director : Prudence Fitzgerald Script : Ian Stuart Black Cast : Isobel Black (Stella Bruce), Kenneth Farrington (Jeremy May), Michael Deacon, Michael Lees, Jeremy Burnham, Edward Evans, Gary Hope and Margaret Leslie. Synopsis : The Investigation Branch are called in to assist when the Waterguard are being annoyed by the activities of Miss Stella Bruce, a rich young playgirl.
Director : Ben Rea Script : Willaim Emms Cast : Roddy McMillan (Detective Inspector Brayford), Harry Walker, John Shedden, Malcolm McIlraith, Jack Short, Anthony Collin, David McKail, Michael Harrigan, Norman Rough, Del Henney, Alistair Hunter and Ivan Dally. Synopsis : A huge combine is selling smuggled goods in working-men's clubs, but there seems to be no way for either the I.B or the police to break the organization.
Director : Ben Rea Script : Willaim Emms Cast : William Dexter (Joe Dwyer), Karin Fernald (Josie), Brian Peck (Tom Carson), John Woodnutt (Hughes), John Bown, Hilary Mason, James Maguire, Richard Cunningham and Ronald Gilchrist. Synopsis : Pressure on a colleague leads the Investigation Branch to examine the sport of kings.
Director : Prudence Fitzgerald Script : Dick Sharples Cast : Ralph Michael (Andrew Finlayson), Sylvia Kay (Dorothy Munro), Tom Watson, James Copeland, Kathleen Martin, Sophie Stewart, Isobel Begg, Helena Gloag and Leonard Maguire. Synopsis : A family reunion sets Smith off on the trail of an illicit brew.
Director : Antony Kearey Script : Pat Dunlop Cast : Liam Redmond (Jimmy O'Donnell), P G Stephens (Michael O'Donnell), Ken Henderson, Stuart Mungall, Nell Brennan, Harry Hankin, Gerard Slevin, John Young, Jameson Clark, James Gavigan, Katy Gardiner, Isobel Gardner, Jamie Lawrie and Edith Ruddick. Synopsis : "Pull up the ladder, Jack" could well be The Big Fellar's family motto.
Director : Terence T Wheeler Script : John Pennington Cast : Jack Hedley (Abel Hammond), Ellen McIntosh (Sarah Hammond), Jack Smethurst (John Henry James) and Roddy McMillan (Detective Inspector Brayford). Synopsis : A dangerous man escapes from jail and Smith becomes involved. |
The series was produced by Gerard Glaister. Text © Matthew Lee, 2006. |
