Public Eye

They don't come any better than "Public Eye." It is one of the more realistic kinds of British television with a leading character who most viewers were rooting for. The series made the name of Alfred Burke, who easily made the character of Private Inquiry Agent Frank Marker his own. The tone and the style of the series never changed in the 10 years it was broadcast and that was the correct decision. It is a bit difficult in reviewing the episodes of "Public Eye" that were made from 1965 to 1968 as most of them are missing from the archives. Only about 4 exist. However, the episodes made from 1969 to 1975 all exist in their entirety. Amen to that! The very best of this series, are the episodes from 1969 til 1973. We are treated to some vintage television drama, the writing and the acting being of a high calibre. Frank Marker invariably finds himself on the receiving end of some decidedly dishonest and unlawful people in his line of work. It can be put down to an occupational hazard of a sort as he encounters dishonesty and corruption in almost of all his cases. There are times when Marker fails to be even paid for his troubles when his client is revealed to be less than genuine in many ways. It is a rather harsh and uncompromising world that he inhibits and this is magnified in that most of the police look down upon Marker. The moment he stumbles upon a case which perhaps includes something serious like murder or extortion, the police soon make themselves known to him. Frank Marker was based in different areas across England. To begin with, he set up a practice in Birmingham. Then after being sent to prison for something he hadn't done, he relocated to Brighton. The 1969 series covered his time there. For the 1971 series, Marker moved to Windsor. You would think that being based in such a prosperous area would mean he could make a respectable living. Not so as he is still struggling to make ends meet, financially speaking. For the rest of the series, he operated in the Surrey area. Alfred Burke is certainly playing the character as being downtrodden and someone who is usually lead up the proverbial garden path. For all of this, Marker still manages to maintain his own self-respect, honesty and integrity. Even so, he is quite a guarded person when it comes to trusting anyone and with good reason. The viewers never dispute why he doesn't take many people into his confidence. A rare exception to the rule was when Marker was living at the guest house in Brighton. His landlady was someone decent and honest but someone he could talk to. During the 1971 series, he befriended a local police officer. This character actually tolerated Marker more than most of his colleagues. This is a landmark television series, the kind of quality that is a thing of the past.

This is a quite exceptional, but sadly neglected, British series. There have been many detective series, most located squarely in a world of glamour or serious crime. "Public Eye" was exceptional in breaking this cliche. The programme centred upon private enquiry agent Frank Marker. Marker was a middle-aged man,of modest appearance, operating out of the most modest of offices. His cases were undertaken for minimal fees and usually centred upon mundane matters - missing persons, character checks, divorce, chasing debts. If crime was involved it was usually of a petty, often seedy, nature - no high-profile murder enquiries. The mundane nature of the investigations and the settings might make one think that this would be a very prosaic affair. Quite the opposite. It was refreshing to see stories set in the real world, with realistic people facing realistic problems. Superb acting, characterisation and clever story-telling made this a marvellously engaging series. The best example of this was the role of Marker, brilliantly played by Alfred Burke.

Marker was a thoroughly decent man, struggling to earn a crust, regularly disillusioned by the tales of misery, dirt and deception he engaged in. Like many detectives he was a loner but not in the confrontational sense of many others. He did not allow closeness, but was not aggressive. He was sharp and socially skilled but did not have unblemished success. He could make mistakes. The best example of this was in "The Man Who Said Sorry". In this extraordinary episode, which is almost entirely a two-hander, Marker has a frustrating dialogue with a man (Paul Rogers) who threatens both suicide and the murder of his estranged sons. The man, dogged by self-pity and indecision, does not convince Marker who gives him little sympathy. Later Marker has doubts and hears the sirens that confirm his error - the man has thrown himself under a train. Unlike many other detectives Marker is sometimes the victim, including taking a terrible beating from some gangsters in "Nobody Wants To Know". His painful, self-pitying recovery is superbly documented. Despite this he doesn't shirk a case. The show ended in 1975. As a video series it is unlikely to be repeated, certainly on terrestrial television. However it won new admirers when broadcast on "UK Gold" some years ago and just possibly it may return again.

No sensationalism, no mindless action, no mediocre plot twists for shock value, no condescending preaching, no axes to grind and no ham fisted attempts to push political agendas. This show is a revelation for us mired in this loathesome modern world.

The show conveys more reality to what life is really like than reality television ever did which is not so ironic given how phony and jaded reality tv is. Television during the era of Public Eye was theatrical and this show, shot almost entirely on video instead of the then standard, video in studio/film on location is no different.

Alfred Burke is an actor I barely saw in other shows. He makes Frank Marker all his own and he seems to have had no trouble doing it. Frank Marker is a likable but seedy inquiry agent, a title he prefers instead of private detective. It's the work that makes him seedy. Unglamorous realistic plot lines. Sometimes Marker gets more trouble than he expects but alot of the trouble you would not expect to see other fictional private eyes to get into in old movies or novels. Marker's character is fully fleshed out as well as the many characters that come and go over the course of the series. Edward Woodward once noted that television during this era was written in a way where you get a complete picture of all the characters in each show because they are fully realized in the writing. They aren't ciphers for the actors to fill in the blank based on their lines. That detail in writing is lost in 95% of today's television which is a shame.

The show moves about and has some interesting locations. The Thames series began in 1969 with Marker in Brighton, then Windsor, Walton and later Chertsey. During the ABC years, it was London and Birmingham.

The '69 season has a story arch for the Marker character instead of being focused mostly on a case per episode like the rest of the series. Much of the focus before '69 went to the supporting characters since the details of each case unfolds through their time on screen. The series returns to this format for all of the remaining episodes from '71 to '75. The cases are believable and the endings are often unique and surprising. There is one episode where Marker is hired to discover who is blackmailing a woman. She is threatened to have some secret about herself revealed to her husband who travels alot for his work and is not around. Much of the episode, we as the viewer try to guess what could be her secret since the woman isn't sure herself. We also follow Marker playing a cat and mouse game with the people he suspects are behind it all. It turns out her husband was an excon and the blackmailer knew him from prison, saw he had done well financially since his release and decided to pretend to have something on his wife to get some money out of them. Marker and the husband learn this after setting up a payoff and staking out the dropoff to see who picks up the money. The husband, feeling the anticipated anger also feels conflicted given that the wouldbe blackmailer is a fellow excon who clearly was not doing well since being released. An unexpected act of kindness occurs instead of an expected act of violence. Conflicted sums up how many of these episodes end. Like life, not much is cut and dry. These stories are no different.

The Thames television episodes are out of print on DVD but are probably still in rerun and on streaming sites somewhere but the ABC series during the first 4 years are almost entirely gone. That is roughly 40 episodes which were on tapes that were wiped as per the policy in those days for much of British television and unlike Doctor Who or the Avengers, I think it unlikely these missing episodes will turn up in some dusty film cans in an abandoned TV studio in Bangladesh or Tanzania. Appreciating what still exists from this series isn't difficult. As I said, entertainment is not of this quality anymore. So much focus is centered on everything EXCEPT what's most important, the quality of the story.

Alfred Burke deserves to be ranked with Sean Connery, Edward Woodward and Roger Moore for his portrayal of Frank Marker in Public Eye. This was the detective story from the council estate, and at the time in the UK, there were no better writers nor better actors. Burke plays the poor man's private eye, operating in an environment where there is neither money not glamour. He needs his fee to pay the rent and light, but often does not collect anything other than a beating. His cases are not the stuff of Sam Spade, but Marker is the right stuff nonetheless.

I missed the UK Gold reruns, but will not miss them again. If you watch no other '60s specials, watch this.

I really wish the first 3 seasons of this were available today as the rest are an understated, measured joy, especially season 4.

Really, it is all down to Alfred Burke (well, and Pauline Delaney in season 4) who puts in an understated, measured performance that is a joy to watch. Frankly, at the moment, I can't think of a better low rent police/crime TV star. OK, there are dud episodes. OK, the foils after Pauline Delaney are never as good But Burke just keeps on giving.

I think a lot of credit must go as well to the creators/writers who set a just so mood. Even down to perfectly matched theme music.

Thoroughly deserves t better known than it is.