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ACTION
TV ONLINE EPISODE GUIDE
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Director : David Cunliffe Script : Mervyn Haisman and Henry Lincoln Publicity : Ryan International - Stardom? "I'd rather be happy," says Kieron Moore: I remember Kieron Moore as an incisive, clean-cut young blade who always administered Irish charm, in turtleneck sweater and sports coat, among post-war British films. In those austere days he looked a solid bet for stardom. Why the years in the wilderness? "Well, that's one of those question I jus don't know the answer to," admits Moore, now grizzle-haired, lean, and infinitely less gauche than he ever appeared on the screen. "One thing I know is that I'm glad it happened that way. I'm glad things didn't work out the way I wanted them; if they had, and I'd been a so-called star, it would have been bad for me, as a person. Success at any time is dangerous; at nineteen it would have been disastrous". What happened, instead of stardom, was that Moore married, raised four children, and bought a home in Madrid, where for several years past he has been making films for American and Continental consumption. He has returned to make Ryan International because the series offers a tailor-made leading role. Ryan, the lawyer hero of the new series, is a fair replica of the urbane, multilingual Moore, except that the fictional character has suffered tragic bereavements, whereas Moore on the other hand is a comfortable head of a comfortable family. He explains: "The point is that a man has to suffer to have a broad, sympathetic understanding of life, and human frailty. I have suffered in different ways from this character. There's been a lot of joy in my life, but there's also been suffering, and I wouldn't have wanted things any different. You can turn out to be an awful human being unless you've been walloped". (Radio Times, September 10, 1970 - Article by John Hall). Cast : Amanda Walker (Maid), Guy Standeven (Doctor), Kevin Brennan (Jean-Pierre Grimaud), Margaretta Scott (Helen Grimaud), Peter Bowles (Alain), Barbara Leigh-Hunt (Yvonne Brogniard), Richard Armour (Hotelier) and William Lucas (Guilbert). Synopsis : A man dies. He leaves fifteen million francs - to a dead man. Notes : Episodes were originally transmitted 9:50pm to 10:40pm on BBC 1.
Director : Jonathan Alwyn Script : David Henderson Cast : Colette O'Neill, John Bennett, Margaret Rawlings, Michael Forrest, Edwin Finn, Lucy Griffiths, Mavis Walker and Maeve Leslie. Synopsis : A lot of evidence can be hidden or lost in twenty-five years. It is not made easier when the client has been dead for twenty-five years, and is now alive but speechless.
Director : Peter Cregeen Script : Hugh Forbes Cast : Kathleen Breck, Clive Morton, Gwen Cherrell, Matthew Robertson, Grahame Mallard, David Garth and John Line. Synopsis : To a person once stateless, a passport is life. The threat to have it taken away is a death sentence.
Director : David Cunliffe Script : Paul Wheeler Cast : Frederick Jaeger, Norman Shelley, Ingrid Hafner and Raymond Farrell. Synopsis : A priceless work of art is deliberately destroyed. Ryan must find out why. Where did it come from and who rightfully owns it?
Director : Ben Rea Script : Martin Worth Cast : Angela Baddeley, Thomas Heathcote, Robert Pitt, Frank Duncan, Alfred Hoffman, Jack Lambert, Cyril Shaps, David Munro, Hilary Mason and Ann Curthoys. Synopsis : An eccentric stowaway, a circus of the 1920s and some stone bananas caused Bersac to travel from port to port.
Director : Peter Cregeen Script : Tom Clarke Cast : Michael Bates, Valerie Gearon, Barry Dennen, Paul Eddington (Monsieur Blanck), Robert John, Barry Dennen and Nadim Sawalha. Synopsis : What looks like a simple case of fraud takes some sinister turns when Ryan finds he is being used as the "fall-guy".
Director : David Cunliffe Script : Donald Ford and Derek Ford Cast : Richard Caldicot, George Pravda, Petra Markham, Bridget Espinosa, Sabina Maydelle, Tom Marshall, Gillian Hills, Lockwood West and Christopher Banks. Synopsis : A plane crash, a neutronics firm and a willful ballerina make Bersac's life a difficult one.
Director : Ben Rea Script : David Hopkins Cast : Avril Elgar, Alan Macnaughton, Alethea Charlton, Ann Penfold, Patrick Westwood, John Moore, Alan Gerrard and Ray Grover. Synopsis : A libelous story? Ryan doesn't want to know - until a murder is committed and Bersac's client becomes chief suspect.
Director : Jonathan Alwyn Script : Derek Ingrey Cast : Billy Nagy, Jean Bendetti, John Franklyn Robbins, Bruce Boa, Robert Sansom, George Pensotti, Dougal Fraser, Anthony Collin, Jean St.Clair, Joan Sterndale Bennett, James Ottaway, Simon Cain, Damaris Hayman and Barbara Bolton. Synopsis : The French have perfected the weekend as a time for stopping work - even in an emergency.
Director : Ben Rea Script : Martin Worth Cast : Angela Baddeley, Thomas Heathcote, Robert Pitt, Frank Duncan, Alfred Hoffman, Jack Lambert, Cyril Shaps, David Munro, Hilary Mason and Ann Curthoys. Synopsis : An eccentric stowaway, a circus of the 1920s and some stone bananas caused Bersac to travel from port to port. |
 Kieron Moore lead the cast in Ryan International, an action-adventure series which he devised and created for BBC Television. Moore played Hugh Ryan, a Paris-based lawyer who became embroiled in the affairs of other people and became, as in the mould of Simon Templar in The Saint, a problem-solver with a keen eye on justice for the wronged whilst strategically navigating his way around the law.  He was assisted in his legal bureau by Henri Bersac (Cyril Luckham) and Ursula Howells (Madame Bersac), whilst Michelle Corbon (Susan Sheers) was his recurring female companion throughout the short-lived series. The production of the series had been plagued with problems, most notably the lack of workable storylines provided by a wide range of prominent writers - Michael J Bird submitted two scripts which were rejected. This is in part due to the fact that the series had a particularly vague concept and a leading character for whom writers and audiences were unable to latch onto any firm characteristics, foibles or traits with which they could identify or sympathise with. The series can essentially be regarded as a reworking of The Saint concept with an element of Perry Mason thrown in for good measure, ostensibly a figure of authority who worked outside the law to seek justice for victims and brought those responsible to book. The programme became somewhat eclipsed by the arrival of more popular fare such as The Onedin Line and Colditz in the early 1970s, and has disappeared into the mists of time as a result. The series was successfully exported but never commercially released. Text © Matthew Lee, 2004.
The
series was devised and created by Kieron Moore. The series was produced
by Eric Price and script edited by Donald Tosh.
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