Dick Turpin

I loved this series when it was first transmitted and recently reacquainted myself with the series on DVD. Is it still worth watching?

First of all, this Dick Turpin is presented as an adventurer, friend of the poor, chivalrous to women, the voice of wisdom to his young sidekick Swiftnick.

Impeccably cast, Richard O'Sullivan has a whale of a time as the highwayman, and is hugely entertaining to watch. Michael Deeks (whatever happened to him?) is endearingly dumb as Swiftnick, while Christopher Benjamin is the blustering baddie, although more of a Lestrade than a Moriarty to O'Sullivan's Holmes!

The prints currently available on DVD really are awful though for a series which is less than thirty years old; this aside, if you are in the mood for some boy's own adventure, this is the series to watch. Enjoy.

I remember flash moments watching this show when I was around 7-10 years old. Something stuck with me so decided to watch them again. I'm glad I did.

Every episode in this 4 part series is a rip-roaring swashbuckling adventure fit for "just about" all ages, but series 3 is something special with a few major star appearances. Donald Pleasance (the biggest star) is particularly terrifying in his single appearance in the penultimate episode and...I can't spoil it for you but it's a true horror first half moment with a spectacular finale which just leaves you with chills. But it's one of the show's most memorable moments. Series 3 is different to its mostly episodic series format, and told in parts as one feature length movie.

Firstly, we learn from the pilot episode (and wiki) that Richard O'Sullivan's fictional Dick Turpin is set straight after the real life Turpin from old English folklore is hanged in 1739. This fictional version separates itself from the real highwayman. So in this show's universe it is believed that Richard O'Sullivan's version to be the genuine famous outlaw whilst our real life Turpin only falsely claims to be him. Flipping it around. He is more of a heroic Zorro character with an English accent in this, and all stories are fictional and is portrayed more as a brave outlaw with a cause. Popular amongst the locals whilst becomes the enemy of the redcoats & gentry. The real outlaw's life remains mostly unknown, so this is not created as a historical account, but to entertain.

This is by far O'Sullivan's best role and his acting completely shines through in this. He always seemed to be tied down to family comedy sitcoms before and since. He should have received far more episodes.

Michael Deeks plays Turpin's sidekick Swiftnick, nicknamed by Turpin after taking him under his wing. Swiftnick was also a famous English highwayman who had died in 1684, which is 55 years before this is set. We can assume that Turpin nicknamed him after the real outlaw. He is Britain's fictional version of Billy the Kid, and the comrade chemistry between him and Turpin makes for a really entertaining show.

The episodes are mostly episodic. The swordfighting & fistifcuff scenes are well choreographed. The location settings are realistic and the characters are always kept interesting. It really gives off a small sense of what times were like back then also, although more sanitised (except for Donald Pleasance's moment who is completely frightening). At only around 25 minutes long per episode, the great storylines moves along at incredible pace with plenty of action. The acting is first class from all the main characters, and the main villains are excellently portrayed.

It has plenty of genuinely funny moments but has plenty of interesting drama too. The storylines are excellent. The dramatic toe-tapping instrumental theme tune (hey diddly dee) fits the show wonderfully.

It is a proper swashbuckler adventure like Robin Hood & Zorro, fictionally based on two olde English legends and not to be taken too seriously. I really don't understand why this isn't more popular. It has aged brilliantly and probably beats most if not all of these dull period dramas today (as well as others). They're becoming too decadent nowadays. Dick Turpin & Swiftnick always treats their ladies with chivalry & respect. Not to say that they won't gently bring any down who mischievously crosses them.

It is a shame that they didn't go onto making anymore episodes. Fortunately it is all on a DVD boxset though. This really needs remastering and repeated on TV again.

Anyway, this gets a solid gold ten.

So simple. Napoleon's blockade in the early 1800s. British smuggler swashbuckling in Normandy and Kent. English officers are the baddies (I don't remember seeing any French baddies).

All episodes are the same: escape from the British police, save the idiotic young sidekick, get the girl aka barmaid, kick the captain's butt, the captain is humiliated by the commander, kick the captain and the commander's butts. end.

So... what was so great ? ha ha ha the music of course ! The theme is completely amazing. It's been 20 years and the only reason why I remember this crappiest of all piece of ol'rubbish British TV from the late seventies is the music.

The French counterpart of this series is called Schulmeister, l'espion de l'Empereur, and it takes place during the same period of history with a former smuggler from Alsace, a fat version of Asterix, turned into an Imperial Commissioner (wow) and enforcing Napoleon's way all over Europe. Much more fun. Jacques Fabri is Schulmeister and Roger Carel is Hamel the sidekick.

But the music sucked. Big time.

The first film made by RKO Pictures, together with London Weekend Television, the film version also starred Mary Crosby, who had just finished shooting "JR" in the TV series DALLAS.

Not a wonderful movie, but RKO had just gotten started and could only co-produce in the early years. The terrific experience working with LWT led RKO to establish its post-production and international distribution headquarters in London. In fact, RKO hired several people from LWT and staffed its London office completely with people from the British film industry. For many years, the British contingent at RKO ran production and international sales.

I used to watch this series on TV back in the day when I was a kid, sometime during the 1980s. And I do actually remember it as being a good series and entertaining, especially for a young boy. And thus, as I had the opportunity to revisit the series here in 2024, of course I did so without a second thought.

The storyline told over the four seasons is a well-written and entertaining one. It is a storyline of highway robbery and swashbuckling, mixed with a light sense of comedy and some interesting characters. I have to say that I was genuinely entertained throughout the course of the four seasons. One thing about the seasons did puzzle me though, why the series started out with 13 episodes in season one, then was drastically reduced to 7, 5 and 6 episodes in seasons 2, 3 and 4 respectively. Nevertheless, the episodes proved entertaining as the story progressed.

Richard O'Sullivan did a great job in portraying the highway man Dick Turpin, as did Michael Deeks as Swiftnick. There are some good performances and a couple of familiar faces on the cast list as well, with the likes of David Daker, Mary Crosby, Patrick Macnee and Donald Pleasance.

If you enjoy period dramas and swashbuckling, then "Dick Turpin" is definitely a series well-worth sitting down and watching. And for a series that ran from 1979 to 1982, I have to say that the show actually still holds up today, which is a great testimony to the production value and the effort put into creating the series back then.

There is a good amount of fencing in the series, and it was performed quite nicely on the screen. And also a fair amount of gunfights, so the series definitely has some action elements to it as well.

It was definitely worth the effort of sitting down and revisiting it here in 2024. However, it would have been nice if they had at least ensured a proper ending to the series, and not leave the audience hanging - no pun intended.

My rating of "Dick Turpin" lands on a well-deserved six out of ten stars.