Emerging from the ever resourceful imagination of the late leminented televisionscript writer Dennis Spooner and technical film production wizard Monty Berman, THE CHAMPIONS contained totally original ground breaking innovations for an ITC film series by using multiple lead characters and larger than life telefantasy scenarios, encompassing the ever-popular espionage, crime and bizarre situations approach. These aspects were coupled into the extremely flexible, glossy ITC formula, offering diverse, up-market, internationally based storylines based around the exploits of three secret agents who possess truly remarkable powers. These powers naturally make their exploits compulsive viewing, grafting something completely different into this genre.Dennis Spooner started out in the entertainment business whilst undergoing his national service. He wrote and performed as a member of a concert party, even when stationed as far afield as Egypt, which in turn led to a stint as a stand-up comedian. However having always written his own material he turned towards writing as a full-time profession and teaming up with old friend Richard Harris began producing comedy scripts for Tony Hancock. This in turn led to solo work and a couple of scripts for the early videotaped adventures of THE AVENGERS and some work on the crime series NO HIDING PLACE. He then became acquainted with Gerry Anderson who used his abilities on eight puppet stories of FIREBALL XL5 followed by episodes of STINGRAY and THUNDERBIRDS. By 1964, another friend, Dalek creator Terry Nation, had suggested he be used on the first season of DOCTOR WHO, on which he would become Story Editor. Whilst working one day at the DOCTOR WHO production office he received a 'phone call from Nation who was working at Elstree Studios where he occupied the position of Script Supervisor on ITC's THE BARON. Officially the story goes that Nation offered Spooner a writing job on the series which he jumped at, obviously considering it a good career move to be involved with a 35mm film series. In reality THE BARON had struck difficulties part-way through production.
The scripts were less than impressive and producer Monty Berman felt he was not getting competent performances from his leading man Steve Forrest. This problem would later be solved by the hiring of director Cyril Frankel whose manner got the American to relax and give better results. Nation informed Spooner that both of them would only have to write half a dozen episodes each, although they ended up writing every remaining script except two. Dennis would help redefine the series by concocting a new pilot episode Diplomatic Immunity. He assisted greatly in getting the show back on the rails and assumed the role of uncredited Associate Script Supervisor but perhaps most importantly he met Monty Berman.Monty Berman arrived in the film television industry from a completely different direction having been heavily involved in feature film production in the Fifties, with his then partner Robert S. Baker. Together they had made THE VOICE OF MERRIL and PASSPORT TO TREASON. They anticipated and capitalised upon the late Fifties horror movie cycle with films like BLOOD OF THE VAMPIRE and THE TROLLENBERG TERROR before Baker pulled off the tremendous coup by obtaining the television rights to Leslie Charteris' literary hero THE SAINT. Finding themselves a backer in ITC they cast Roger Moore and produced seventy one black and white episodes before moving onto John Creasy's police detective Commander George Gideon of Scotland Yard and made thirty segments of GIDEON'S WAY. A solitary season ensued before the two partners went their separate ways, Baker to revive THE SAINT this time in colour and Berman to another of Creasy's creations THE BARON which he got underway much faster. Upon completion, Nation decided to depart to the United States for a time to attempt to sell one of the major networks his proposed Daleks TV series. Berman obviously impressed by Spooner's input offered him a fifty per cent stake in his Filmaker production company and the chance to make a new series.
THE CHAMPIONS's actual format was an amalgamation between two totally different ideas. Spooner wanted a superhero-type show, but insisted that everything be visually believable. Originally he had tentatively attempted to acquire the rights to 'The Amazing Incredible Wilson', a comic strip character from 'The Wizard' comic which he fondly remembered from his schooldays. Failing in this, he drew basic inspiration from various heroes and characters in the visual medium, where a single person could overcome overwhelming odds due to a mixture of exceptional luck plus incredible physical abilities and stamina. Thus Spooner saw his heroes in a similar light, experts at practically everything, and capable of bettering every Olympic record holder. Incorporated into this came Berman's concept of two children getting hopelessly lost in Tibet, returning some twenty years later. After some fundamental changes and final touches the project was presented before Lew Grade, the then head of ATV/ITC Entertainment. He enthusiastically sanctioned its production, since it broke away from the solitary hero series' which the company had specialised in, such as DANGER MAN, THE SAINT or THE BARON.Eventually, THE CHAMPIONS would chronicle the world-wide adventures of three operatives of Nemesis, an international organisation whose headquarters are based in Geneva, Switzerland. Nemesis are often assigned difficult and potentially cataclysmic world peace saving missions after other secret services have become completely baffled. They find themselves assisting NATO governments, sometimes in conjunction with their military forces. Ultimately, Nemesis also receives unconditional co-operation from all authorities, including Interpol, the FBI, CIA, MI5, MI6, DI5, DI6, the French Surete, all national police departments, and every branch of the free world's armed forces. During the course of their wondrous adventures, Craig Stirling, Sharron Macready and Richard Barrett, would encounter numerous mysterious events, investigate unexplained deaths, be called upon to arrest the advance of communism by averting the development of an enemy power's technological advancement and revolutionary weapons. They would also search out and trap international criminals, prevent assassinations and foil the plans of ex-Nazis determined to resurrect their beloved dreams of world conquest.
In the pilot episode, The Beginning, our heroes are engrossed in a desperate mission to steal advanced bacteria samples from an isolated outpost on the Chinese/Tibetan border. Escaping aboard their jet plane, under gunfire from the communist soldiers, their craft sustains damage causing Craig to lose control and crash into the snow covered Himalayan mountains. But the disaster has been observed, and they are quickly rescued by robed figures, inhabitants of a long forgotten civilisation who quickly administer medical attention. This involves some kind of operation with a bright light which incorporates the transplanting of special super powers into the three agents, and leaving golden scars which eventually fade. These powers are never fully defined, though frequently include immense improvement of all physical attributes and heightening of the senses; sight, hearing, touch, taste, strength, agility and stamina. This was Spooner's original intention, with other additions creeping in; ESP and telepathy talents, such as a sudden awareness of danger, not only to themselves but when another member of the trio was in imminent peril. Photographic memory, instant recall, plus strange powers of hypnosis and sixth sense intuition also surfaced from time to time.Forty-eight hours later they collectively recover at the crash site, with only Craig able to remember shadowy images of what has occurred. Eagerly pressing on, Craig and Sharron depart towards India with their precious samples, whilst Richard, curiosity more than aroused, searches for their mysterious benefactors, eventually meeting an old white-bearded man in robes, who answers his questions in mystic riddles. We learn that the ancient's civilisation has progressed parallel with humanity, hidden away in this relatively inaccessible region. Satisfied that they should keep their new powers and their source a guarded secret Richard rushes to rejoin his associates, as the mystic gradually fades away into thin air.
Realising that such an expensive extravaganza would require an American network transmission to warrant its existence, Berman and Spooner agreed that it was absolutely essential to have an American leading man. Top billing was therefore unanimously awarded to the virtually unknown Stuart Damon. He had a growing reputation as a singer, appearing in the West End musicals CHARLIE GIRL and MAN OF MAGIC where he portrayed the famous escapologist Harry Houdini. Previous television work included THE NAKED CITY in the United States and PLAY OF THE WEEK and MAN IN A SUITCASE in Britain. Settling here he would accumulate a collection of guest slots after completing THE CHAMPIONS, working on THE SAINT, The Ex-King of Diamonds, UFO, Mindbender, THE ADVENTURER, Poor Little Rich Girl and The Good Book as a semi-regualr, Vince, (Damon only made two episodes but he was bound by his original contract not to work on anything else until the series was finished), THE NEW AVENGERS, Trap, SPACE: 1999, Matter of Life and Death and The Bringers of Wonder, and achieving regular status on both YANKS GO HOME and the first season of WE'LL MEET AGAIN before returning to his native United States sometime in the mid-Eighties. Here he assumed a regular doctor role in the daytime soap; GENERAL HOSPITAL. In a slightly different vein, Damon released several records in the sixties including the album Stuart Champion Damon and the single Please in the mid-Seventies, which in turn led to singing appearances on STARS ON SUNDAY and THE GOLDEN SHOT. As alter-ego Craig Stirling, he was always an immaculately dressed ladies man, full of optimism and forever confident; a restless action man, possessing endless energy. The character's background had him being born in New York, December 1st, 1939, and undergoing extensive training with the United States Air Force, before serving in the CIA.There existed a muted sense of humour and respect between himself and friend and colleague, Richard Barrett, who together shared several interests; golf, weight training and judo.
The second lead was designated female, and after auditions, the producers screen-tested several women, from which the mighty American NBC network chose Alexandra Bastedo. Others in the running were Ilona Rogers and Australian, Annette Andre. Apparently Lew Grade had managed to obtain an extremely desirable amount from NBC, who scheduled THE CHAMPIONS in a primetime summer replacement position on the strength of the format and Grade's persuasive salesmanship. Bastedo's career began in the early Sixties with shows like COMPACT, before progressing into feature films with small roles in THE LIQUIDATOR, THAT RIVIERA TOUCH with Morcambe and Wise, and the Bond spoof CASINO ROYALE. Not wishing to neglect television, her presence graced a couple of instalments of THE SAINT, later guesting in other Spooner/Berman shows; DEPARTMENT S, RANDALL AND HOPKIRK [DECEASED], and THE ADVENTURER, before transferring across to the BBC for CODENAME and THE APHRODITE INHERITANCE in the Seventies. Between these she also found time to appear topless as the female Vampire, Carmilla, in the Spanish horror movie THE BLOOD-SPLATTED BRIDE (a.k.a. TILL DEATH US DO PART) and a British horror flick THE GHOUL, years later trying her hand in the western TV movie DRAW! taking third billing to Kirk Douglas and Anthony Coburn. Apart from appearing in BOON, her more recent work is really more of a lighter nature, such as panellist on THE HOLIDAY GAME, SCRUPLES, comparing MISS WORLD and helping judge the CORONATION STREET cat competition.Though only twenty-one years old, Sharron documents an impressive record with MI6, before being chosen for her initial Nemesis assignment, The Beginning, where naturally she is somewhat agitated and apprehensive. Attempting to forget her late husband's demise, she constantly enrolled in various different courses, amassing degrees in medicine, pathology and biology, as well as having numerous sporting interests; tennis, squash, golf and fencing. Her male associates regard her as a younger sister, though she is quite capable of defending herself should circumstances demand. Craig always calls her Sharron, whilst Richard, jokingly occasionally addresses her as 'sweetheart' or just plain Macready.
Making up the trio came William Gaunt, previously permanent in SERGEANT CORK, a Victorian detective series produced by ATV where he portrayed Detective Bob Marriott. He also had plenty of experience in PROBATION OFFICER, HARPERS WEST ONE, DEADLINE MIDNIGHT, OUT OF THIS WORLD, ABC ARMCHAIR THEATRE, THE AVENGERS, GHOST SQUAD and THE SAINT. After THE CHAMPIONS he did one of the BBC's MENACE plays, and has since enjoyed a career resurgence with the successful sit-com NO PLACE LIKE HOME, a role in the DOCTOR WHO serial Revelation Of The Daleks and more recently CAPSTICK'S LAW. Beating a number of other actors for the part (including Ian McShane), Gaunt endowed Richard with an easy going personality. He was the thinker and strategist, offering a comprehensive knowledge surrounding various diverse subjects, plus being revealed as a cypher expert in the episode The Gilded Cage. Born in 1938 in Salisbury, Wiltshire, Richard graduated to Nemesis from the United Nations security personnel.
The final regular character, Commander W. Lawrence Tremayne enigmatically referred to as just Tremayne, came to life courtesy of the late Anthony Nicholls. Already familiar through playing in other action/adventure series such as THE AVENGERS, THE SAINT and MAN IN A SUITCASE, and later materialised in shows like DEPARTMENT S and SPACE: 1999. Nicholls' features underwent extensive transformation, having hairpiece additions and a false beard to alter his looks. The background of the character contained a spell in the Royal Navy, before gaining recognition for undercover work in MI6, causing his eventual choice as overall controller of Nemesis. Crotchety and short tempered, he is easily aggravated whenever Craig and Richard insist on having the final word. Tremayne obviously holds affection for his star agents, though rarely shows any emotion. Regarding their tremendous success rate and good fortune at solving countless potentially disastrous situations, he is seen to harbour certain suspicions and occasionally asks probing questions, which Craig, Sharron and Richard unconvincingly answer.
Each episode except The Interrogation opened with a large world map (which is situated in Tremayne's office and rotates to reveal a large projection screen), with the camera suddenly zooming in to focus on one particular location, thus informing the viewers where the following pre-credit sequence was happening. The pre-credit teaser itself established the atmosphere for the story, with a dramatic, action-packed scene that enticed viewers to keep watching. This was followed by the basic, but slick opening titles, featuring the impressive Lac Leman fountain in Lake Geneva, though elaborately constructed around Tony Hatch's different, light orchestral theme. Although Hatch never supplied another ITC theme tune, he had already composed themes for OUT OF THIS WORLD and CROSSROADS. He also wrote the song, 'Got to Get Away', sung by his wife Jackie Trent, in the THE PERSUADERS! pilot episode, Overtuer. He and Jackie are best known now for being responsible for the NEIGHBOURS theme song after immigrating to Australia.Now came the opening tag/introductory scene, spotlighting one, two or even all three of THE CHAMPIONS, exhibiting their uncanny powers. The episode title, writer and director credits are quickly superimposed as a short scenario invented by Spooner begins to inform and remind the audience of our heroes' capabilities. The obvious exception to this is The Beginning where the producers did not want to give the game away. However only a certain number of these scenes were filmed, and towards the end of production some were re-used, in an edited form, accompanied with selected segments usually from The Dark Island to present a montage of all three characters. These usually come across as quite entertaining and amusing set-pieces, showing the general public's reactions to everyday occurrences for the Nemesis agents. One example is the hole-in-one golfing opener, filmed at Moor Park Golf Club, Anson Walk, Batchworth Heath in Hertfordshire. This introduction appears in The Dark Island, plus Shadow Of The Panther and The Interrogation.Another humorous example precedes The Invisible Man, when Craig and Richard are working out in the gym. Muscle bound Dave Prowse (Darth Vader in the STAR WARS trilogy) enters and shows off by lifting large weights. Watching this Craig casually hoists a heavy dumbbell up and throws it to Richard who catches it effortlessly and lowers it to the floor without flinching, much to the bodybuilder's astonishment. Incidentally, Prowse appears in another instalment, Desert Journey, where Sharron humbles him in a fight scene.There is also the memorable sequence from Full Circle, which was trimmed down for The Mission where Sharron picks up a couple of hitchhikers whilst out driving her MGB convertible (1644 PJ) through the countryside one sunny day. One of them touches her knee, just before the car enters a tunnel. The next sequence is only heard by the viewers with the camera positioned at the opposite end of the tunnel, as the car stops and Sharron forcibly evicts the trouble-makers, departing with a broad smile across her face. Her assailants emerge into the daylight, slightly dishevelled and wiser for their experience.
Another opening seen in Operation Deep-Freeze, and reused in part for The Interrogation, sees Richard driving his white Alfa Romeo Guilietta SS (3366F), through a peaceful country village, when, without apparent reason, his sixth sense warns of immediate danger. Breaking heavily, the sports car comes to a halt as a young child suddenly runs out into the road. This intro was shot on the slightly hilly, cobbled backlot village, presumably left over from a feature film at Associated British Studios, as seen THE BARON, THE SAINT and other film series' and would be utilised in other episodes such as The Search, A Case Of Lemmings and Get Me Out Of Here!.According to William Gaunt, the firefighting footage present in the intro for Happening came about when someone reported a large fire raging somewhere in Borehamwood. Halting production, Berman dispatched the second unit to film proceedings, as Spooner confidently envisaged writing something in which the footage could be used, and this led to Richard's spectacular escape from a burning building. Several firefighters and an appliance were hired from Borehamwood Fire Station which stood directly beside the studios (before the recent demolition work) for the final scene where Richard picks himself up having easily jumped from several storeys without sustaining injury. The actual fire footage appears again some years later in the RANDALL AND HOPKIRK [DECEASED] episode Just For The Record. A narration would accompany these scenes, delivered uncredited by veteran actor David Bauer, who also appears as Doctor Glind in The Experiment. Obviously the exact wording differed, depending on whichever character(s) were displaying their prowess, but with slight variation the intros concluded thus... "The Champions: Craig Sterling, Sharron Macready, and Richard Barrett, the possessors of fantastic skills and qualities, both mental and physical. Powers bestowed upon them when their plane crashed in Tibet, and they encountered the lost people of the hidden civilisation. Powers that are a secret to them. Powers that they are able to use to their best advantages as The Champions of law, order and justice!"Although offering an original and brilliant format, Spooner and Berman quickly realised that they would have to be just as ingenious and resourceful as THE CHAMPIONS themselves to successfully make the final product look presentable.
Approximately half the storylines involved foreign exteriors, which would have to be achieved without actually visiting the countries in question. Besides exotic locations throughout Europe, such diverse places as Australia, Antarctica, South America, Burma and the South Pacific cropped up. This would give the series international appeal, assisting in promoting overseas sales, hence recouping production costs. The problem was overcome with a variety of technical effects and clever illusions, notably the use of stock footage; already existing filmed material edited in wherever necessary. This could be practically anything, which, for the necessity of efficiency and financial restrictions, the production team bought in, aerial views of world capitals, snow capped mountains, formations of jet fighters, aircraft carrier at full steam, deserts, low flying helicopters and even tropical island sunsets. Berman became notorious for buying scenic and hardware footage, which he considered, might be worked into a script, as long as it was colour, and storylines would be altered accommodating these additions. Fortunately THE CHAMPIONS warranted high-grade 35mm film, making it in some cases difficult to detect added 'stock' which was obtained from film clearance houses, military sources and World Backgrounds film library conveniently situated in Borehamwood. Whilst other shot sections of 'stock' used in episodes such as The Dark Island and The Ghost Plane was actually monochrome and easy to pinpoint.Another method of enforcing illusions was back projection; a simplistic method of playing film onto a screen behind an actor, who performs in close up, giving the impression of actually being where the background is. This could be a busy street in Rangoon or against a mountain range backdrop. The backlot also served the team well when visits to foreign locales were essential, such as the episode Autokill where it doubles as Geneva. Apart from this, the team concentrated their combined efforts on improvisation using isolated areas and quiet country roads. Sometimes they decined to use a special location at all, but employed another saving on expenditure by filming between the sound stages at Elstree studios, to simulate warehouses, docks and utility buildings.
Other sections of the now mainly demolished studios also appear 'on screen', the studios' middle gateway on Shenley Road undergoes military redecoration when it becomes the main gate of Holy Loch naval base in The Silent Enemy and The Search. This episode also witnesses several frogmen diving into the larger of the two concrete lined Elstree tanks, large expanses of water which were situated in the South-West corner of the land behind the sound stages. This also doubles as the dockyard in The Ghost Plane and it is also where Craig escapes the effects of the micro transmitter in The Invisible Man. Returning momentarily to the middle gateway; the black Ford Executive holding the two men Tremayne has instructed to follow Sharron in The Experiment, drive out through this gateway, stopping beside a red telephone box situated on the corner of the studio driveway and Shenley Road. A large tree virtually obscures all vision of the studio building in the background, though the camera angle offers an excellent view of Shenley Road - the Borehamwood high street, including All Saint's Church prominent in centre screen.The pre-credit to The Fanatics involves more gateway footage, leading to the terrorist attacking the VIP motorcade, at what was the rear of the studios. Several years later this area was slightly redeveloped with the construction of a state of the art, fully equipped gigantic sound stage, and later in 1991 totally demolished. Another example of using studio buildings arises in Autokill where Nemesis headquarters is actually the studio administration block, with the underground car park safety railings and entrance clearly visible in several shots. Thrifty usage of this asset also contributed towards saving valuable time and money in the climax of To Trap A Rat, when Craig's hideous torture of being chained between a concrete pillar and a slowly reversing Jaguar, takes place here.
The principal Nemesis building, standing on stilts, and glimpsed in most establishing shots usually with a blue Volkswagen Beetle (GE 70701) in the foreground is really Barnet House, situated at 1255 High Road, Whetstone, near East Barnet. The impressive structure was always shot from certain angles, avoiding surrounding buildings with the Lac Leman fountain optically printed into the picture.London, the solitary world capital within striking distance, would have some essential famous landmark and suburban material shot by the second unit. This was a small mobile camera crew, who normally augmented the main production team by filming the majority of outdoor locations; establishing shots, motor vehicle footage, etc. There was no sound provision and this would be applied later at the editing stage from the studios extensive sound effects library. John Hough supervised this unit, being replaced by ex-stuntman Ray Austin at about half distance, after becoming a fully fledged director on the Linda Thorson season of THE AVENGERS. Surprisingly, Austin never occupied the stunt arranger position on the show, allowing Bill Sawyer to handle the potentially dangerous thrills and spills with Frank Maher assuming the post towards the end of production. For Project Zero, the central characters travel to Whitehall, London, SW1. Craig and Sharron monitor Richard's conversation with the fake government official, eventually following his car in their white Vauxhall Cresta PC (LXD 948E) down into Parliament Square, via Parliament Street, SW1. The square, complete with the famous Big Ben and Houses of Parliament in the background, feature extensively towards the closing finale of The Fanatics, again with THE CHAMPIONS on location. Stock footage of the Vauxhall (LXD 948E) parked alongside the ministry building in Whitehall (Project Zero) is reused as a brief clip in Nutcracker. Gresham Street, The City, EC2, and the surrounding area sees exterior usage in The Invisible Man. This is when the banker, Sir Frederick, frantically attempts to escape his invisible tormentor, though the final sequence when he collapses was shot on the backlot.The most location laden central London instalment is the visually pleasing To Trap A Rat. Besides using the backlot, American actor/director, Sam Wanamaker, enjoyed getting out and about. Our intrepid heroes tail a suspect through Regents Park Zoo, NW1, and also end up trailing the female garage assistant, from the garage on Regent's Park Road, back to her apartment block, situated on St John's Wood High Street, NW8. This is actually the same block where Jeff Randall's apartment exteriors in RANDALL AND HOPKRIK [DECEASED] would be shot a year or so later. The small park and ornate gardens opposite is where the amusing pre-arranged fight between Craig and Richard takes place whilst the girl is walking her dog. Kate O'Mara's flat is just opposite Macclesfield Bridge and overlooks the zoo, whilst her shoplifting spree takes place at Whiteley's department store, situated in Queensway, Bayswater, W2,.
Other roads seen in this episode include Prince Albert Road, Avenue Road and St John's Wood Road, all in St John's Wood, NW8. Although undoubtedly a lavishly produced extravaganza, To Trap A Rat caused problems as it overran on both factors of time and allocated budget, having finally to be taken out of Wanamaker's hands and completed by the second unit. The forays into London had proved expensive and time consuming, taking five weeks as opposed to the usual two to fully complete.Sometime later, finding it imperative to conserve their ITC allowance and striving to bring things back on schedule, Spooner carefully concocted The Interrogation. Filmed inexpensively on just four sets including the permanent Tremayne's office set, this episode had a solitary supporting performer in the late Colin Blakely. Reducing costs even further, the episode contained numerous flashbacks from previous episodes, three from The Beginning and single extracts from A Case Of Lemmings, The Invisible Man and Operation Deep-Freeze. Dennis sometimes visited the now demolished MGM Borehamwood studios, about half a mile from Associated British Elstree, where he apparently sat-in on production discussions for THE PRISONER. This was allowed with permission of his friend, the late George Markstein, and this is very probably where inspiration for The Interrogation stemmed from. The actual plot has Sharron and Richard concerned about Craig's whereabouts after he has mysteriously vanished after investigating a case in Hong Kong. Unknown to them, he is being held against his will somewhere in Nemesis headquarters, under constant badgering by the organisation's security chief. He considers Craig a security hazard, figuring that anyone who is so constantly successful in so many different fields of operation must obviously be a double agent. However, Craig escapes confinement, and confronts Tremayne, understandably bitter towards his superior for his unjust treatment, but also upset that Sharron and Richard stood idly by (though safeguarding their combined secret!) whilst he underwent extreme mental torture and physical discomfort. Though since this was an episodic film series, the status quo was suitably restored, without repercussions, for the next episode.
Spooner gathered quite an impressive writing force together, besides himself, he commissioned old friends, Terry Nation, Tony Williamson and later in Autumn 1967 Brian Clemens, who was between contracts at ABC after the colour Diana Rigg segments of THE AVENGERS. The then virtually unknown Donald James submitted The Invisible Man script, which was appreciated enough to gain him regular status. Ralph Smart and Philip Broadley were inherited after the demise of DANGER MAN as both were still under contract to ITC. Mild-mannered Broadley had been tried out on THE SAINT but found the loud script editor, the late Harry W. Junkin impossible to work with, hence he was given a move onto THE CHAMPIONS, whilst another ex-SAINT co-writer and once mainstay script writer on DIXON OF DOCK GREEN, Gerald Kelsey, also found himself accepted, as did freelancer Ian Stuart Black who had previous experience on series' like H.G. WELLS' INVISIBLE MAN, THE SENTIMENTAL AGENT, ADAM ADAMANT LIVES!, DOCTOR WHO and Granada's THE MAN IN ROOM 17.Cyril Frankel was also brought in, assuming the post of creative consultant to generally offer input, set the style of the show and become the in-house director, commanding action for nine episodes. Graduate of the Crown Film Unit and director on numerous fifties movies produced at Elstree he established his name in filmed television by directing several instalments of THE BARON. Another who had worked under Berman on both THE SAINT and THE BARON was the experienced Johnny Goodman. He became associate producer only to be replaced towards the end of production by Geoffrey Haine, whose position was redefined as production supervisor.
The last couple of episodes, Happening and Desert Journey, carry neither credit.Direction-wise Monty Berman hand-picked quite a number of professional film directors who boasted both feature film and filmed television expertise; the late John Gilling, Freddie Francis, Roy Ward Baker and the BBC's film critic, Barry Norman's father, Leslie. Gilling had established himself an almost unique reputation as both a writer and a director and it was not uncommon for him to gain the satisfaction of directing his own work, though not on this occasion. Francis (also deceased) had gained filmed television experience on THE SAINT and MAN IN A SUITCASE and would go onto form his own production company with his son Kevin (also a director), in Tyburn Films. Whilst Baker went on to become one of the all-time great British film TV directors having previously worked on various series' including THE HUMAN JUNGLE, THE AVENGERS, THE SAINT, GIDEON'S WAY and THE BARON, and he was also in demand on features such as Hammer Film's, QUATERMASS AND THE PIT. Leslie Norman also had a fair pedigree when it came to large screen productions but had made the transition over to the smaller format with Berman's shows, THE SAINT, GIDEON'S WAY and THE BARON.John Moxey or John Llewellyn Moxey as he now known, had done several horror movies before cutting his teeth on MAN OF THE WORLD and the three earlier Berman ITC series'. Nowadays he is based in the United States and has enjoyed some commercial success within feature films though he has mainly been employed on TV movies including the pilots for both KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER (THE NIGHT STALKER) and CHARLIE'S ANGELS. Robert Asher was another to have done MAN IN A SUITCASE and was fresh from THE AVENGERS, whilst methodical ex-actor Don Sharp had arrived via GHOST SQUAD. The exception to the rule appeared to be the then unknown quantity Paul Dickson who began his film series' career with the show.Production commenced on the 8th February 1967, with The Dark Island, an adventurous romp set upon a remote Pacific island, followed by The Gun-Runners, again using the tropical jungle set. This allowed the regulars a chance to really become acquainted with their characters before filming The Beginning, which took approximately four weeks to shoot. This was double the usual turnaround time, despite having very little actual exterior shooting. Two examples of this episode exist, one running a couple of minutes longer with an additional scene at its beginning (where Richard decides to inform Tremayne what occurred to them in Tibet by making an audio tape) and another scene at the conclusion (where they decide against giving the tape to Tremayne.... for the time being). This was shot primarily for the Australian market, but also meant that the episode could be placed anywhere in a screening run - not necessarily as the first transmitted. Great speculation surrounds the proposed seventy-four minute version of The Beginning, but research reveals that this only exists in script form.
The musical director credit on The Beginning goes to Robert Farnon, a well respected provider of incidental soundtracks for feature films, such as THE ROAD TO HONG KONG. Along with composers Ron Grainer and Albert Elms, he was part of a musical package from Chappell's Music, intended to create exciting themes and background music for ITC products. It is believed that Farnon never actually worked on THE CHAMPIONS, and his appearance on the closing credits is for one passage of music only. This is a western sounding mixture reminiscent of THE BIG VALLEY and THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN, which was originally intended as the theme to THE PRISONER. Patrick McGoohan and producer, David Tomblin had rejected this immediately, so Farnon returned to film work. The track went into ITC's extensive music library until presumably the musical editor for this episode, Deveril Goodman came across it and slotted it in as a stopgap measure as the series was between musical directors. Talented music man, Albert Elms, laid down incidental sounds onto the first two episodes to undergo editing, The Invisible Man and The Search. Theer overwork may have caused him to relinquish THE CHAMPIONS and concentrate on his other responsibilities, MAN IN A SUITCASE and THE PRISONER. However, several of his tracks are used on many other episodes. Hence, that dependable workhorse, Edwin Astley, assumed control for the remainder of production.The next episode in production order was Operation Deep-Freeze which is the first adventure to have one of the regulars written-down, with Sharron only appearing in a solitary scene within Tremayne's office. This practice ensured that production kept to its strict schedule and allowed the major performers an occasional well earned rest, and from time to time all the main characters took it in turn to hardly feature in the proceedings. Like The Beginning, this story had footage done on the unrealistic snow set and the corridors of Scott Base would reappear painted a different colour for Project Zero. Throughout April The Silent Enemy and The Search were filmed on the intricately assembled nuclear submarine set. The Search incorporates some stock footage of Heathrow Airport, originally shot for THE BARON, with John Mannering's silver/grey Jensen CV8, clearly visible pulling out into traffic from behind a motor coach. This footage would appear again, trimmed to just a wide-angled establishing shot for The Experiment augmenting newly filmed material of Alexandra Bastedo on location, leaving the terminal building.
Another legacy used on THE BARON, dating back to Edwin Astley's uncredited work on season two of H.G. WELLS' INVISIBLE MAN, is the oscillating sound effect heard whenever Craig, Sharron or Richard, faced sudden danger, or practised their super hearing. It can also be heard in the two semi-supernatural instalments of THE BARON, So Dark The Night and The High Terrace.Towards the end of the month the initial locations episode The Invisible Man went before the cameras, visiting Elstree Aerodrome which materialises briefly as the character's Hallam and Sumner depart in a Mercedes from a Dutch airport. With the advance of summer and plenty of decent weather, the crew speedily scheduled episodes containing mainly exteriors vital to the screenplay; To Trap A Rat, The Experiment and The Night People. The latter two along with others including A Case Of Lemmings and The Final Countdown witness the same red floral design wallpaper set, which could be reassembled in many different permutations giving the impression of different rooms and corridors. Later on in production some effort is made to disguise this, as the design becomes blue for The Body Snatchers, and black for The Mission. There was also a twin layer staircase and hallway set which would also undergo frequent redressing by the studio prop shop operatives to avoid looking the same two weeks running. The Fanatics took things to late July and would have Damon and Gaunt back on location for a short sequence in central London at Parliament Square, NW1.Shortly after these came Get Me Out Of Here! which introduced viewers to another of THE CHAMPIONS powers, the ability to see in the dark. After causing a power failure at a police installation, Craig and Richard, carefully avoid foreign personnel as they stumble about in total darkness. This effect, simulating the darkness was achieved by filming using monochrome film, with a filter over the camera lens. The picturesque village seen in another summer instalment, Project Zero, is actually Denham in Buckinghamshire. It may be no coincidence that ITC's headquarters, at the time was, Cullum House, is in the village. The stock of the exploding plane used to great effect at the episodes' conclusion surfaces again in the pre-credit of The Duplicated Man segment of the team's next series DEPARTMENT S.For The Gilded Cage Richard is seen at his apartment, 376 Carlton Buildings, Kaida Bray, Geneva, though by and large the 'Champions' were rarely witnessed at their homes. Terry Nation's The Body Snatchers displayed a macabre scene, where Bernard Lee (the first M, in the Bond movies) flicks a lit match onto an elderly newspaperman covered in petrol! Although nothing untoward is actually seen, the malevolent suggestion was chilling in the extreme, and as powerful as anything around at the time. The building doubling as the Mellion Research Centre which the episode revolves around is in fact the Grim's Dyke Hotel, Old Redding, near Harrow Weald.
The climactic car chase starts here, just like it does in The Mission though completely different camera angles are employed to give the appearance of two different places. Reply Box No.666 and Shadow Of The Panther were completed towards the end of the year, with the former looking very much like an unused DANGER MAN script and the latter being shot completely on interiors. Another imaginative escapade is Nutcracker. In this episode Nemesis are summoned by M7, a branch of her majesty's secret service responsible for the well-being of confidential NATO documents. Theyare to investigate why Lord Mauncey, who had security clearance, should impulsively attempt to steal the top secret 'F' file. The files are stored in a high security vault hidden beneath the cover of a quality gents outfitters. Upon an exchange of pre-arranged dialogue, an assistant in the shop hands over a special motifed bow tie, helpfully suggesting that the contact try it on in the privacy of a changing cubicle. The cubicle is really an elevator that descends into the vault. Between them, THE CHAMPIONS decide to test security measures, and Richard elects himself to pilfer the 'F' file. However, once inside the vault, there are other puzzles to overcome. Richard encounters a sophisticated light-covered board with switches that have to be switched on in a certain sequence. There is also a musical keyboard on which Richard has to repeat several bars of a well known tune. Finally he reaches the last obstacle, another metal door that can only be opened by correctly aligning the eight combination locks. However to fool the opposition Richard does not remove the file but merely scans the pages, and remembers the entire contents. The sequences involving the keyboard were actually performed by musical director, Edwin Astley who simply wore the jackets of the actors involved and had his forearm and hand shot in close-up. When Mauncey enters its 'Sing A Song Of Sixpence', whilst Richard has to repeat 'Le Marseillaise'.Nutcracker underwent filming early 1968, like Autokill. This is affectionately remembered for its graphic and violent fight scene climax, complete with liberal amounts of blood! The villains, led by a man called Barka, hatch a cleverly designed scheme to systematically demoralise and destroy Nemesis from within. Setting himself up, Richard falls into the enemy's clutches, whilst Craig and Sharron frantically search for him. This is the only time their authority is questioned throughout the entire series, after a Swiss police officer proves uncooperative, and Craig produces his credentials, a yellow Nemesis ID card.
Meanwhile, having been affected with some revolutionary brainwashing drug, Richard mercilessly seeks revenge against Craig, whom he vehemently believes responsible for the death of his father and non-existent brother. Thinking that he is effecting a rescue, Craig finds himself battling defensively, quickly realising that he will need all his endowed superior skills and strength to overcome Richard, his equal. With Sharron's timely assistance, he beats Richard almost unconscious, loath to keep striking his friend and reluctantly defeating him. This is without doubt the strongest dramatic sequence presented throughout the entire series!Car-wise THE CHAMPIONS chopped and changed almost every single episode, except Richard's Alfa Romeo, which, besides appearing in the previously mentioned intros, graced the screen for The Night People, The Final Countdown, Nutcracker, and Autokill as well as being used by him and Sharron in The Invisible Man. Craig apparently uses a metallic green Mercedes Benz 220 S 4-door saloon (GE 20838), when on home ground in Geneva in the instalments, The Gilded Cage and Autokill. Otherwise, vehicles were seemingly hired for an episode's duration, resulting in an ever-changing mixture of Jaguars, Mercedes, Fords and Vauxhalls, plus a couple of Land Rovers, and isolated outings for a Fiat, Peugeot and Jensen. Sharron meanwhile preferred the open-topped wind-in-the-hair MGB convertible. Besides 1164 PJ, another example, (BWH 921B) is her transport in The Night People, whilst the intro of The Gun-Runners involves a couple of helpful drunks attempting to manhandle her Mini (GE 7725) into a position where she can drive away after a couple of parked cars have blocked her in. Totally engrossed in their task, they fail to notice when she casually moves it herself.As previously stated NBC targeted their most prestigious primetime slot on American TV, making it the summer replacement for the incredibly successful ROWAN AND MARTIN'S LAUGH-IN. Therefore, someone had the foresight to place a trio of strong episodes for starters, beginning with the controversial To Trap A Rat on 10th June 1968. However, only a third of the instalments received complete networking, and only a successful re-scheduling into the winter timetables by NBC could have brought about a second season. Surprisingly enough, The Beginning was never networked, though amalgamated together with The Interrogation in 1981, it formed the TV movie LEGEND OF THE CHAMPIONS for the US/Canadian market.Initial British transmissions got underway, 25th September 1968 on ATV, with the majority of regions following suit albeit several weeks behind. Both Anglia and Yorkshire were a month adrift, though Thames withheld the series until November 1969, when colour broadcasts got underway, thus gaining maximum value from the fact that the public could actually watch it in glorious colour. The show managed repeat runs extremely quickly in some areas, and completed the usual ITC film series procedure of two repeats, being phased out in early 1974, although Yorkshire mysteriously showed Autokill purely as a one-off in 1977.
When ITC material became available to the network again, THE CHAMPIONS found itself instantly chosen, travelling the airwaves again in 1984 (after being sold to the regions as a package with (RETURN OF THE SAINT), and amassing a whole new generation of enthusiasts.There had been no problems with censorship on any of the storylines in the sixties, but now a couple were considered to have disturbing scenes. The Fanatics sees Richard effecting an escape whilst being kept prisoner in a room by placing a couple of fingers into a light socket and blowing all the buildings fuses, hence throwing everything into darkness. His super metabolism could easily withstand the shock but HTV saw this as potentially tragic if copied by children and they cut the scene completely. Meanwhile Central took great offence to The Experiment, even if the other regional companies found it harmless. The sequence involves drug induced super humans attacking Craig and Richard with scalpels, which they throw with precise accuracy. This practise was considered to be excessive violence and all the shots where the scalpels actually fly through the air and then stick into someone were edited out. Other cuts did occur such as Yorkshire TV's removal of the pre-credit on Autokill, though this was done for timing reasons.
Memorabilia associated with the series was meagre in the extreme compared to other series'. There was a short-lived comic strip in Joe 90-Top Secret and its corresponding annual. Another item was the somewhat rare John Garforth paperback novel 'The Sixth Sense Is Death' published by Hodder in 1968. This utilised both the scripts of The Experiment and The Beginning, relaying the latter in flashbacks and coupling it to original material involving ten mentally sub-normal soldiers all named Tommy Atkins. Unfortunately the novel fails to really capture the true spirit of THE CHAMPIONS and Garforth's input is extremely poor. However Hodder cannot reprint this as, due to the passage of time, the rights have passed back to the author. Both this and the ultra rare colouring book were licensed through Gerry Anderson's Century 21 merchandising arm, and Gerry was known to be greatly impressed with certain aspects of the series. On top of this there was also a collection of bubble gum cards available, although chances of finding a complete set over twenty years later are remote.Undoubtedly Spooner and Berman's creativity was simply bubbling away with tremendous verve and enthusiasm, and THE CHAMPIONS, like so much British television of the sixties, was stylish and influential, really paving the way for the later Spooner and Berman shows, and other multi-character ITC series; DEPARTMENT S, RANDALL AND HOPKIRK [DECEASED], STRANGE REPORT, THE PERSUADERS!, THE PROTECTORS, THE ADVENTURER, and THE ZOO GANG. Likewise, THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN and THE BIONIC WOMAN, which Spooner always considered to be highly financed copycats of THE CHAMPIONS, inheriting many of its traits.Breaking out of prison cells by forcibly twisting the bars to make the concrete crumble, knocking out adversaries with a solitary punch, kicking down doors with just enough exerted effort, although undeniably equipped with formidable advantages, THE CHAMPIONS were basically human and vulnerable , frequently falling prey to evildoers' malevolent plans. They were far from infallible, misjudging circumstances, being systematically outmanoeuvred, or overwhelmed by opposing numbers. Quite a number of their undercover operations called for going in blind without knowing the true extent of their enemy's strength or potential, usually getting themselves discovered and occasionally facing horrendous torture, like Richard's lie detector treatment in The Fanatics. Nevertheless, the exciting scripts, joined with the pioneering avant-garde style and constantly interesting bizarre situations, made absolutely enthralling viewing. Generally THE CHAMPIONS was good wholesome escapist television, tailored to the requirements of the sixties, offering straight-forward ideals of good versus evil, which is just as relevant today. As the narrator would say...."THE CHAMPIONS of law, order and justice...!"
