Garry Halliday

Here's a name from the past. Given a seven-year-old's preference for aeroplanes over football any day (and 48 years later, nothing's changed) 'Garry Halliday' was the most important part of my week and a blessed antidote to the endless combovers, long shorts and sheepskin coats of its immediate Saturday evening predecessor.

Favourite moment? Pretty much the only one I can remember, actually: the one where The Voice's gofer Traumann, presumably having failed yet again to deal with the accursed Halliday, was finally offed by his exasperated guv'nor. "It won't happen next time, Voice", stammered Traumann to The Unseen One; "There isn't going to be a next time, Traumann", came the dismembered, mittel-European reply, followed by the silenced automatic pistol nosing shakily in from screen right and dispatching the hapless bagman to join the great supporting cast in the sky. (You could tell Traumann was the bad guy because of the shades - but I swear he reappeared a few years later playing lead with Adam Faith & The Roulettes).

Other than The Voice the true star, of course, was the DC3: an aircraft just made for Boys' Own adventures and a design triumph, with more personality in its tail-fin than could ever be mustered by a dozen Wolverines or Men-in-Black. 'Garry Halliday' was a pop-cultural milestone that should have been preserved in perpetuity; it remains yet another good reason for consigning the wipe-happy pygmies of 60s/70s broadcasting to the same nether regions as Sgt Traumann.

Compulsive Saturday evening viewing, Garry Halliday represented the perfect seamless transition from boys own adventures such as 'The Lone Ranger' at 5pm, to the later more adult evening shows such as 'Dixon of Dock Green' and er... The Billy Cotton Band Show'. Halliday was indeed slick, fast paced, suspenseful and an acknowledgement by the BBC that 'kids' TV did not have to be ropey costumed dramas or feature Billy Bunter. I always knew when serious action was about to start on GH when video tape or live transmission changed to film about 10 seconds before a fight commenced. Presumably action sequences had to be prerecorded on film.

The Voice was far more frightening than those later multi handled dustbins called Daleks. I remember the shock and disbelief I felt during the last series when the Voice suddenly changed appearance, Dr Who like, from one actor to another, following the death of Elwyn Brook Jones. The BBC could have handled this much better. The series , for me, lost all credibility at this point and maybe represented the loss off a certain innocence. I still have the Justin Blake book 'Garry Halliday and the Disappearing Diamonds' my Mum gave me at Christmas 1960! Good that Terence Longdon and Bill Kerr are still going strong and God bless Terence Alexander who died in 2009.

Like the other contributors I eagerly sat waiting for Gary Halliday to start on a Saturday evening - the spot later occupied by Dr Who.

At the time, very few young children ever had an opportunity to fly and therefore Gary Halliday seemed to have such an exciting and glamorous life.

During the series I had an opportunity to fly to Guernsey in a Douglas DC3 (the ubiquitous Douglas Dakota) from a grass field in Portsmouth. I remember getting on the plane imagining the two Terences were up front in the cockpit.

It's very sad that only one episode survives and I would certainly like to see it.

It's good to see that the two Terences are still around - I wish them well and hope they are enjoying retirement.

Anyone who remembers Gary Halliday would enjoy the late Gavin Lyall's early flying novels such as The Wrong Side of the Sky, The Most Dangerous Game, Shooting Script and Judas Country. They were set in the same era and everything to do with the aircraft and flying is meticulously described. It would be well worth seeking out copies.

For some reason this series popped into my head this morning... I was thinking back to early experiences that may have influenced my own writing! Saturday evenings were 'Garry Halliday' (just as Friday evenings were 'Dr Kildare'). I was always anxious to get home to watch and staying for tea at Granny's inevitably meant I would miss an episode in the days before video recorders! Terence Longdon must have been my first TV heartthrob - it was probably the uniform, although possibly having a much older brother who was doing National Service in the RAF may have been a factor too! I was so enthralled that we even used to recreate the action in the garden until the next episode came along! So pleased to see that I am not the only one who remembers this exciting series!

This series was (I believe) broadcast live during the late 50s and early 60s. It featured a "Biggles" type character who flew into all kinds of excitement with his faithful co pilot played by Terence Alexander. Their sinister adversary "The Voice" was only ever seen from the mouth to the chin and seemed to be in constant radio contact with the flight deck of Halliday's aircraft. As a ten year old watching childrens tv, I found it deeply disturbing but unmissable! I hope some tapes remain so future generations can enjoy this series.