 |
THE
MOGUL / THE TROUBLESHOOTERS APPRECIATION SITE A BBC Television Drama Production for BBC-1 devised and created by John Elliot. |
MOGUL
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TROUBLESHOOTERS -Production
Notes / Series
Overview / Episode
Guide / Character
Biographies / Cast
And Crew /
Cast Biographies / Merchandise
/ Links
Production
Notes / Series
Overview / Episode
Guide / Character
Biographies / Cast
And Crew / Cast
Biographies /
Crew
Biographies /
Crew
Biographies TROUBLESHOOTERS -
Production
Notes / Series
Overview / Episode
Guide / Character
Biographies / Cast
And Crew /
Cast Biographies / Merchandise
/ Links
| Episode
Guide |
| SEASON
ONE Originally transmitted between 8:00pm and 8:50pm on Wednesdays. All episodes made in black and white with a running time of 50 minutes. |
| Kelly's
Eye |
 | TX
: 7th
July 1965 Director : Michael Hayes Script : John Elliot Cast : Geoffrey Keen (Brian Stead), Ray Barrett (Peter Thornton), Philip Latham (Willy Izard), George Roderick (Frank Hardacre), Didi Sullivan (Valerie Tate), Billie Laine (Leonard), William Sylvester (Al Stevens), Alex Farrell (Dick), Jack Watson (Archie Turner), Frank Williams (Norman Reeves), John Dunn (Newsreader), Elizabeth Bell (Sheila), Terence Lodge (Wells), Arthur Pentelow (Managing Director), Robin Chapman (Interviewer), Edna Petrie (Neighbour) and Mary Chester (Jean Turner). |
Radio Times publicity : 1st July, 1965 - Mogul - Exciting stories about oilmen and the world they work in. The oilmen are everywhere. They walk in the corridors of power, drill wells in the desert, serve on the motorways. They sustain governments, dominate the Exchange, alter the face of the earth, and keep most of the human race on the move. Oilmen are prospectors, tearing across rugged country in huge trucks; they also work in offices and have pension schemes. Some are scientists, some politicians, some are engineers, and some are very rich - and every oilman with a major company like the `Mogul' corporation is a subject of a vast feudal kingdom. The work of Mogul's men (and women) is the essence of the new BBC television series which begins tonight. Backed by extensive filming in many unusual locations, it ranges far beyond the studios to follow the stories of those whose jobs in the most romantic, adventurous of modern industries take them all over the world, involving them in anything from Grand Prix racing to desert exploration and counter-sabotage. Many of the thirteen stories in the series have been written by John Elliot, who originated the idea and researched his subject at first hand, traveling to Nigeria, the Sahara, Greece, and Syria. Producer of the Sunday-night plays before leaving BBC television last year to concentrate on writing, he was also responsible for such notable documentaries as the War In The Air series and Henry Moore, which earned a Venice Film Festival award. His dramatized documentary about big business, The Golden Egg, won him a television `Oscar' in 1959, and his many scripts have included the two Andromeda serials. "Drilling for oil," he says, "is a vastly expensive business. One hole can cost over a million pounds, and any information gained, whether positive or negative, is extremely valuable to a company and to its rivals. All who work on a drilling rig are sworn to secrecy". Produced by Peter Graham Scott - who will be responsible for the entire series - and directed by Michael Hayes, Kelly's Eye introduces three characters who will be seen regularly. Geoffrey Keen plays Brian Stead and Philip Latham takes the part of company secretary Willy Izard, while Ray Barrett appears as Peter Thornton, who has worked his way up through the company and now finds himself in the unenviable position of having to cross-examine his friends. For as Stead warns him: "Everything we find in that bore hole is information bought at a high price … any man who divulges it is selling out on us, and if he does it once he'll do it again".
| Young
Turk |
 | TX
: 14th
July 1965 Director : William Slater Script : John Elliot Cast : Geoffrey Keen (Brian Stead), Barry Foster (Robert Driscoll), Philip Latham (Willy Izard), Frank Forsyth (Bajer), Cyril Luckham (Charles Andrews), Sandra Payne (Sue Andrews), Cicely Paget Bowman (Mrs Andrews), Barry Keegan (Grant), Tony Cyrus (Arab Interpreter), Robert James (Eldridge), George Roubicek (King), Neville Jason (Sheik), John Brandon (Reugen) and Naomi Chance (Laura). |
Trivia : Members of the cast and crew who worked on the series proudly displayed Mogul emblem stickers on their motor vehicle windshields.
| Safety
Man |
 | TX
: 21st
July 1965 Director : David Proudfoot Script : John Elliot Cast : Geoffrey Keen (Brian Stead), Barry Foster (Robert Driscoll), Ronald Hines (Derek Prentice), Philip Latham (Willy Izard), Judi Dench (Gwyneth Evans), Edward Woodward (Ron Smith), Ray Mort (Jack Hartley), Elaine Montgomery (Marion Drew), Jean Marlow (Waitress) and Tom MaCaulay (Atkinson). |
| Radio Times publicity : 15th July 1965 - In a big oil refinery the Safety Officer carries a heavy responsibility, so when Ron Smith arrives at Portlea to take over the post, most of his new colleagues treat his pomposity with an amused tolerance. If he chooses to sound the fire alarm for practice on a Saturday afternoon - well, as he says, "conflagration is not predetermined. Emergency is always unexpected". If he insists on saying "one does not carry means of ignition inside the works area," when he means a box of matches, the fact remains that he is right. And with twelve years of experience behind him, his efficiency must be beyond question. But in tonight's Mogul story by John Elliot there are two people at Portlea who take a closer interest in Ron Smith (played by Edward Woodward). Personnel Manager Derek Prentice, comparing his odd behaviour with his confidential company record, is worried enough to send a report to Mogul's head office suggesting a medical check-up. Prentice's secretary, Gwyneth - Judi Dench - sees Smith as a lonely man who needs the understanding and sympathy she is prepared to give him. At head office in London they are too busy with preparations for a Royal tour of inspection at Portlea to pay much attention to apparently trivial personnel problems; but with the Royal party on the point of arriving at the refinery, this particular problem develops into a drama which could bring disaster. For Derek Prentice (Ronald Hines) it is the most testing moment of his career - and one which is to have far-reaching effects on his future. |
| Wild
Cat |
Director : William Slater
Script : John Elliot
Cast : Geoffrey Keen (Brian Stead), Barry Foster (Robert Driscoll), Ray Barrett (Peter Thornton), Philip Latham (Willy Izard), Joseph Layode (Nuka Ikedi), James Beck (Alan Boyd), Richard Marner (Carl), Bari Jonson (Sam Okeke), Jo Rowbottom (Kitty Boyd), Carmen Munroe (Adaku), Sally Lahee (Edna) and Rashidi Onikoyi (Johnny).
Radio Times publicity : 22nd July 1965 - In the oil industry, they gamble for high stakes. For five years the Mogul corporation has been exploring two areas of West Africa, spending thirty million pounds without finding a single commercially useful oilfield. Now it is time to abandon the swampy coastal region, and Peter Thornton is sent out from London to take charge of the operation. But Sam Okeke, an African geological expert, is still convinced there is oil in the swamps. Thornton accepts his judgement and orders a wildcat drilling operation - and then Sam begins to realize just what he has started. He has told Thornton he is sure the drilling will tap oil, but as the latter says, it's a case of being "about a hundred thousand pounds sure. More than a quarter of a million if we really get involved". For Sam, the exploration becomes a triple headache. He is now responsible for the fact that his friend Alan Boyd, already too ill to be in the unhealthy swamp area, will have to stay out there longer, while Alan's lonely wife, Kitty, seeks solace elsewhere; and if Sam's judgement proves wrong, it can mean the end of his career. John Elliot is the author of tonight's Mogul story in which Peter Thornton - who first appeared in the opening episode of the series - is played by Ray Barrett. The cast includes Barl Jonson as Sam, whose wife warns him: "If you're English or Scotch or American or German it doesn't matter if you make mistakes. They say `Bad luck, old man'. But if you're an African and you make a big mistake which costs them money, then they say: `I always knew he was no good…'".
| Tosh
And Nora |
 | TX
: 5th
August 1965 Director : Peter Cregeen Script : Mike Watts Cast : Geoffrey Keen (Brian Stead), Barry Foster (Robert Driscoll), Ronald Hines (Derek Prentice), John Tate (Tosh Brinkwater), Glyn Houston (Starkey), Jack Smethurst (Creamy Johnson), Joe Quigley (Jock), Iain Anders (Pete), John Noakes (Sammy), Jane Hylton (Nora), Jameson Clark (Doctor), Rita Webb (Mrs Priddle), Cleo Silvestre (Gert), Edward Jewesbury (Captain), Mary Miller (Lizzie) and Aleta Morrison (Miss Martin, Stead's Secretary). |
| The
Schloss Belt |
 | TX
: 12th
August 1965 Director : John Frankau Script : John Elliot Cast : Geoffrey Keen (Brian Stead), Barry Foster (Robert Driscoll), Philip Latham (Willy Izard), Kenneth Kendall (Newsreader), Charles Gray (Michael Rennane), Arthur Pentelow (Managing Director), Frieda Knorr (Sally), Judith Maserati (Mrs Driscoll), Nigel Stock (Herr Schilling), John G Heller (Herr Kuhn), Vladek Sheybal (Herr Lenz), Elizabeth Shepherd (Frau Lenz), Christa Graaf (Young Girl) and John Brandon (George Reugen). |
Trivia : Mogul was virtually the first BBC Television production to poach nearly its entire production crew from ITV (in particular ATV). In the same week that this episode was transmitted the BBC science programme Tomorrow's World devoted an entire episode to oil drilling operations in the North Sea. The episode, which was transmitted from 6:55pm to 7:30pm, was heralded in the Radio Times as `Raymond Baxter introduces film, outside broadcast, and studio reports on the men and the developments which are changing our way of life'. The programme was written by Gordon Thomas and Peter Stone, produced by Peter Bruce and Roy Battersby, and edited by Glyn Jones.
| Out
Of Range |
Director : Max Varnel
Script : John Elliot
Cast : Geoffrey Keen (Brian Stead), Peter Thornton (Ray Barrett), Philip Latham (Willy Izard), Terence Edmond (David Izard), Percy Herbert (Chris Darnley), Janet McIntire (Coral-Ann), Patrick McAlinney (Paddy), Robert Rietty (Guiseppe), Nancy Nevinson (Zetta), Helen Fleming (Fareen), Michael Peake (Ali) and Margaret Ward (Mrs Izard).
Synopsis : The desert is like the sea. It takes possession of a man's soul. For a young geologist seeking to prove himself it is exciting. But like the sea, the desert is dangerous.
Trivia : Theme music composer Tom Springfield was the brother of singer Dusty Springfield. Actor Ray Barrett was cast in Mogul following his impressive performance in the John Elliott produced BBC play Reunion Day (1962).
| The
Way It Crumbles |
Director : Shaun Sutton
Script : Kenneth Ware
Additional Cast : Geoffrey Keen (Brian Stead), Barry Foster (Robert Driscoll), Ronald Hines (Derek Prentice), Philip Latham (Willy Izard), John Meillon (Conway), Peter Madden (Humphreys), Wendy Gifford (Hilary Dawson), Keith Barron (Miles), Laurence Hardy (Bates), Ronald Leigh-Hunt (Ames), Aleta Morrison (Miss Martin, Stead's Secretary), Douglas Livingstone (Bowers) and Arthur Pentelow (Bishop).
Synopsis : Motor-racing means excitement: it also means danger. Driscoll (Barry Foster) faces personal risk when he opposes Stead and tries to steer Mogul into Grand Prix racing.
Radio Times publicity : 19th August 1965 - Geoffrey Keen appears again as Brian Stead in tonight's episode in which the company enters the chancy world of motor racing. One of the really familiar faces in British films; seldom seen in major roles, but always turning in distinctive, totally professional performances, often as very worth-while, very British characters. As a summary of Geoffrey Keen's film career - he has concentrated mainly on films since the war - this might be reasonably accurate and acceptable. But there is a good deal more to the acting life of the man who plays the shrewd and reasonable Stead in the Mogul series. His career could be said to fall into three parts - the stage first, then films, and now television. He was born in London in 1916 and emerged from RADA at the age of twenty with a gold medal. He appeared in Shakespearean roles at the Old Vic before the war, and then when hostilities opened and many of the theatres closed he became one of the Stars In Battledress. When everyone went back into mufti he went into British films. His debut was under Carol Reed's direction in Odd Man Out, and he also appeared in Reed's The Fallen Idol. Among his many other films are Seven Days To Noon, Doctor At Sea, Live Now, Pay Later, and the controversial Spare The Rod - in which he was a sadistic headmaster. However, he has no preference for any particular medium. "After the war it was film; now television seems to be the medium". Although he recently went to Spain to appear in the film Doctor Zhivago he now does mainly television work. He has been seen in Z Cars, the Detective series and The Flying Swan. But appearing regularly in a series is something quite new to him. "You have to act in terms of thirteen episodes - or however many there are". His wife, his four-year-old daughter, and the garden of his Richmond home have felt the effect of the series too. "At present I have no domestic life at all - you have to give yourself completely to a series".
| A
Job For Willy |
Director : Roger Jenkins
Script : James Mitchell
Additional Cast : Geoffrey Keen (Brian Stead), Ray Barrett (Peter Thornton), Ronald Hines (Derek Prentice), Victor Maddern (Rogers), David Andrews (Willy Murtagh), George A Cooper (Eddy Schofield), Roger Avon (Charge-Hand), Robert Pitt (Jack), Justine Lord (Mrs Thornton), Eileen Way (Mrs Murtagh), Tom Watson (Greer) and Alan Hockey (Lenny).
Synopsis : Trouble erupts around Mogul's new North Sea Oil rig when a few unguarded words open old wounds in a Tyneside shipyard.
Radio Times publicity : 26th August 1965 - Ray Barrett of Mogul. The sea beating round Mogul's oil rig holds no fears for Ray Barrett: he used to go ocean-racing from his native Australia and he still sails across the Channel whenever he can, gradually exploring all the parts and harbours of Brittany and their restaurants - "I'm mad about sea food". Barrett is five feet eleven and thirty-seven years old, a man from Brisbane slightly concerned now that he may be getting "a bit set in my ways". He came here seven years ago, from Sydney. He took a "boomerang fare" and had just about enough money to last twelve months. Within one he was working, and though he clambers into a sheepskin jacket at the first hint of autumn and stays in it well through spring, he has no plans to return to the Australian sun. On the contrary, he has just bought a cottage in Richmond which he hopes to make habitable before the end of the year, and then he will be able to play golf oftener. For he already belongs to Richmond Golf Club, and is more proud of having won the match-play championship of the Stage Golfing Society two years ago, of having gone round the Richmond course three weeks ago in 67 (which is equal to the amateur course record), and of having reduced his handicap from 16 to 8, than of any of his acting achievements. These achievements are considerable, certainly in their range: from Emergency Ward Ten to the BBC-2 serial version of The Brothers Karamazov and including such North-country parts as the criminal gang-leader in Alun Owen's The Strain and a blind ex-detective-sergeant in Z Cars. Barrett has never been bothered with the problem of accents. He can, but does not often, sound Australian, and in ordinary conversation slips swiftly and easily through broad Cockney to Welsh with the practiced skill of an actor who got his basic training in radio: he first broadcast when he was eleven, and was an announcer, an actor, and a disc-jockey in Brisbane when he was sixteen. He came here to "have a bash at the world market" and to test his standards by those of London. His have not been found wanting. Ray Barrett collects Victorian glass, and he sings. His major current ambition is to appear in a musical, though playing Mogul's Thornton keeps him pretty busy. This week he is responsible for the re-fitting of the rig after its battering in the storm. The job is urgent, but he has to be diplomat as well as man of action, for there are the unions to deal with, and his wife is not enjoying her stay in the North-East.
| Meet
Miss Mogul |
 | TX
: 9th
September 1965 Director : Michael Hayes Script : John Elliot Additional Cast : Geoffrey Keen (Brian Stead), Barry Foster (Robert Driscoll), Ronald Hines (Derek Prentice), Philip Latham (Willy Izard), Suzy Kendall (Sandra), Brian Rawlinson ("Instant" Turner), Reg Lye (Mr Spratt), Guy Standeven (Mogul Representative), Anna Cropper (Pat), David Hemmings (Colin), Peter Halliday (Major Rigby-Lowther), John Scott (Horace), Margery Withers (Gran), Leon Thau (Mackhausen), John Carlin (Actor) and Junia (Mogul). |
Trivia : Peter Graham Scott considered Meet Miss Mogul to be the worst episode of the first series, branding its content as nothing more than "a flippant beauty contest trifle", however this has been cited by many fans as one of the best remembered episodes of the first season, perhaps in part to the presence of a young Suzy Kendall and David Hemmings in the cast. Peter Halliday had previously starred in the science fiction series A For Andromeda and The Andromeda Breakthrough produced and co-written (with Fred Hoyle) by John Elliot.
| Stoneface |
 | TX
: 16th
September 1965 Director : Peter Cregeen Script : John Lucarotti Additional Cast : Geoffrey Keen (Brian Stead), Barry Foster (Robert Driscoll), Peter Carlisle (Chef), Bruce Boa (Godin), Jerry Stovin (Eddie), Ewen Solon (Mojida), Roy Stephens (Joe), Christina Taylor (Katie Merrigan), Norman Bowler (John Slade), John Downey (Sam), Warren Stanhope (Hotel Clerk) and Edward Bishop (Mr Kramer). |
Radio Times publicity : 9th September 1965 - Ewen Solon stars as Stoneface, a Canadian Indian in tonight's story. "It's a real break, and this is a `cracker' of a script". This was how Ewen Solon described his part and tonight's Mogul episode. The role of the Canadian Indian Mojida, whom Driscoll crosses the Atlantic to assess for a job as a Mogul trouble-shooter, is Solon's first for BBC television since he received his last orders from the patron in Maigret. Since then Solon has been taking stock. He feels that great success in a single very individual role can slow down an actor's development. So he has been diversifying. In the period since Maigret he has gone back to the live theatre in Shakespearean roles - Claudius at the Bristol Old Vic and Macbeth at Cheltenham. He was in The Golden Rivet in the West End, and he has made an industrial film about steel. Even now, though, it is hard for him to get away from Maigret. Daily he is getting fan letters from Germany where the series is being shown at present. A knowledge of French - which he has been carefully preserving by attending conversation classes and visiting France - is another legacy of Maigret. Solon came to Britain with a drama bursary from the New Zealand Government after serving in the Eighth Army. He now lives at Addlestone in Surrey, and is becoming "as English as the English will allow me to be". He hates collars and ties, likes mixing concrete, and enjoys being physically fit. He certainly looks it.
| Driver
Of The Year |
Director : Max Varnel
Script : Mike Watts
Additional Cast : Geoffrey Keen (Brian Stead), Barry Foster (Robert Driscoll), Ray Barrett (Peter Thornton), Ronald Hines (Derek Prentice), Bernard Cribbins (Chas Wilson), Alastair Hunter (Foreman Hopkins), Justine Lord (Steve Thornton), Christopher Wray (Nobby), Julie Martin (Polly Higginbottom), Diana Ashley (Diana), Rosemary Wootten (Joan), Earl Green (Man At Party), Jonathan Drew (George Applethwaite), Robin Hunter (Roberto), Katy Wild (Daphne), Tracy Rogers (Bobbie) and Sally Lewis (Eileen Wilson).
Synopsis : Freedom is very desirable. But when Peter Thornton envies the life of a Mogul tanker-driver, he finds no man is as free as he seems.
Trivia : The programme was successfully exported to Australia and the United States of America. Actor Philip Latham had previously appeared in The Andromeda Breakthrough which was produced and co-written by John Elliott.
| Borrowed
Time |
Director : John Frankau
Script : John Elliot
Additional Cast : Geoffrey Keen (Brian Stead), Barry Foster (Robert Driscoll), Ray Barrett (Peter Thornton), Ronald Hines (Derek Prentice), Philip Latham (Willy Izard), Douglas Wilmer (Martin Lister), Richard Coe (Computer Operator), Philippa Gail (Jane Webb), Marjorie Wilde (Mrs Taylor), John Nicholas (Pipeline Manager), Arthur Hewlett (Company Doctor), Arthur Pentelow (Managing Director), Ian Anderson (Barman) and Michael Gover (Company Director).
Synopsis : A beautiful girl and a heart attack combine to make Brian Stead want to retire. But attacks from within Mogul rouse his fitghting instincts, and complicate his decision. When Stead collapses while inspecting a pipeline in the Middle East, temporary secretary Jane Webb is sent out to look after him. Together, they begin a slow journey home and in her company Stead takes stock of his life. Upon returning to London, he is faced with a fierce boardroom challenge from Martin Lister, but Stead puts his knowledge of Lister's affair with Jane to good use and defeats the motion to reclaim Mogul Oil.
Radio Times publicity :23rd September 1965 - When a doctor warns the company's acting Deputy Managing Director to take it easy, it provokes a wave of intrigue at head office. At its centre is Martin Lister - played by Douglas Wilmer in tonight's story, Borrowed Time. "Death," mused Lord Tennyson, "is the end of life - ah why should life all labour be?". Sound enough sense when applied to the lives of most people, but senior executives in a company like Mogul Oil find it less easy to lay down the burden of labour because in doing so they must also relinquish power. Tonight's story - the last in the present series - has been written by John Elliot, and it mainly concerns Brian Stead (Geoffrey Keen). Stead is the widowed fiftyish executive who, besides being Head of Operations for the company, is its acting Deputy Managing Director - a post in which he has yet to be confirmed. He has just embarked on a business trip scheduled to take him almost round the world, and Jane Webb (Philippa Gail) is flown out to join him as his secretary. But the business trip turns abruptly into an enforced rest-cure when a doctor delivers the warning heard by so many businessmen of Stead's age: "Take it easy - or else". Back at head office in London the news of Stead's illness provokes busy activity in the corridors of power. At the centre of the head office intrigues is Martin Lister, a board member with a brilliant if equivocal political record. He is played by this week's guest star Douglas Wilmer, who besides personifying Sherlock Holmes in the recent successful series has appeared in television productions as diverse as Citizen James and The Ides Of March.