Wet Job

There were some great episodes of that classic TV series, Callan. And there was the odd one that was a little disappointing. This follow-up show is one of the latter unfortunately.

Edward Woodward is intense, as usual, in his old role of David Callan. Russel Hunter is brilliant in his return as Lonely (damn that man was a fine actor).

Where it mainly fails is that the story meanders, and never quite develops a consistent plot. It's almost as if the writers didn't care where it was going, because they knew there'd be enough loyal Callan fans out there to ensure good ratings anyway.

Also, production quality was poor, even for those of us who grew up on British TV of that era, and are used to seeing things like stage lights reflecting in people's glasses. The soundtrack and incidental music are almost amusingly bad.

For a Callan fan, it's still worth watching. Just don't expect a classic.

"Callan: Wet Job," was supposed to have led to another T.V series. Luckily, this didn't happen due to the poor ratings this episode received. The plot is dull, confusing and uneventful. The only scenes worth seeing, are those with Callan and Lonely. It is worth it to see these legendary characters together one last time after all the years that had elapsed. The chemistry of Edward Woodward and Russell Hunter is still in evidence as Lonely secures Callan another gun. When asked if he needs any further help, Callan pauses for a couple of seconds and answers in the negative. He urges Lonely to leave his shop immediately and that is it. Lonely walks off into the distance and we see the final curtain come down on one of British television's leading partnerships. There isn't any action or incident to speak of, just a meandering story.

This is a one-off "reunion" play made some 9 years after the end of the series "Callan". Edward Woodward and Russell Hunter from the original show appear, along with George Sewell as the guest star. The creator of Callan, James Mitchell, is credited as the script writer.

This production looks like a student job from some early 80's film school, with the directors 14 year old brother responsible for the music. I am not exaggerating. The production values are so poor, they are way below the average standards of 1981 British television. The script is weak and contains some embarrassingly clumsy dialogue. The original novel was written by James Mitchell, yet i suscpect he never wrote the awful screenplay for this. After all, his scripts are of a different class. The screenplay for the movie "Callan" he wrote just 7 years earlier is great. Well, maybe he wrote this sick or busy or something. The direction is clumsy and the music deserves a special mention as one of the worst soundtracks ever.

I feel sorry for the stars. Woodward and Sewell sleepwalk through the film, Hunter at least tries his best. His scenes with Woodward sometimes actually work, and they are the only reason for watching this lackluster turkey. The actors playing the new Hunter and his replacement-Meres are utterly forgettable. The original Meres is written off with a clumsy joke.

I am sorry if i sound pessimistic and dreary, I wanted to like this, but this really is an extremely poor movie. I would like to know the full story behind this failure. What on earth was going on with Mitchell? I recommend all friends of the Callan series to consider the final episode from 1972 to be the end to the saga. Skip this.

Kind of a bummer this was the last time we get to see Callan! The whole episode seemed to have been pretty thrown together. You'd think the producers would have gone all out with the writing and bringing back more core characters for this comeback episode. It's not all bad at least. Getting a little bit of Lonely was a treat for sure. The main gripe was the terrible music that hits you over the head at the wrong times in volume and tone of the melody, except for the end part when David is going into the country house. The video production is no better or worse than the colour episodes of the old show. Overall not super, but definitely worth watching if you're a fan of the REALLY great TV show. The 1974 film is a better send off of the character than Wet Job.

Just a note to one of the other reviewers (rev-584-459122), Wet Job is NOT a remake of the original play A Magnum for Schneider, which formed the basis of the Callan movie. This is a sequel to the original popular TV series in which an aging Callan has been forcibly retired from the security services, but is reactivated for yet another job. Though the performances of Edward Woodward and Russell Hunter and some others aren't bad, it's very poorly made with a tenuous plot, frequently incompetent camera-work, and irritating incidental music. Having watched it when it was first shown and again recently on DVD I suspect the production was hurried and with a smaller budget than it should have had.