Alias le Baron

Recently, I have been watching 'The Baron' episodes on DVD. 'The Baron' is actually better than I had expected. Many of the episodes were written by the same writers who wrote for 'The Saint', starring Roger Moore. Think of 'The Baron' as 'The Saint' with Steve Forrest playing 'The Saint' who has somehow acquired an American background and accent. So it is not surprising that this series appeals to Saint fans such as myself. Steve Forrest, the brother of famous American actor Dana Andrews, is quite good in this old British television series. He has a good screen presence and looks rugged and strong, despite being middle-aged when this series was made. The only criticism that I can make is that this show has no attractive female characters. In contrast, other British TV series such as 'The Saint', 'The Avengers' and 'Dangerman' regularly featured attractive actresses from that era.

I watched this series first time round and remembered it fondly, never got to see it again when it was last repeated in the '70's but am now trawling through the entire series on DVD. And it holds up well enough too filmed on the usual ITC shoestring budget, old fashioned though it must look to most now used to flashy nervous roving cgi camera techniques. I've only read one Creasey novel - can't even remember the title now, but I believe the series was based more upon the TV Saint, there certainly was a similarity. They both had great theme tunes as well!

"Diplomatic Immunity" broadcast 28.09.66: The first episode shown on UK ITV introduced us to Steve Forrest playing Captain John Mannering (not Mainwaring), and his London-centric world of antiques and cutting-edge British security issues. Over the eps plenty of gadgets cropped up for his use a la Bond, but post-digital they all look ancient enough to be made from Bakelite! Mannering is miffed when an expensive antique is stolen by an Iron Curtain (Pamaranea) state official and he decides (with UK Govt help) to get it back with no-holds barred. Sue Lloyd playing Cordelia is invaluable to him in this aim, but mainly to us as eye-candy. Nicely judged script, but along with most of the rest of the series unfortunately almost impossible to film in such a non-pc way nowadays - a lot of pre-'70's TV is in the same boat of course.

Forrest was very similar in his style to his brother Dana Andrews - chunky, chiselled and dependable, I thought the Baron suited him down to the ground and something he never bettered. Great memories of ye olde TV programme entertainment standards.

Many of the episodes look like they were filmed in a November, such is the dark moody atmosphere. In the worst episodes, the pace of some of the acting and stories might be considered plodding by today's standards? In fact the worst episodes can be narrowed down to the work of a couple of nonchalant shoddy directors doing the rounds of British TV at the time. However the editing, music and good use of early colour still give even these shows an appealing style. The best episodes were first rate at its premier (usually have good character actors) and still stand up well today. The title sequence with its beautifully cut 'in your face' visuals and punchy memorable theme tune, was a revelation in 1966. The Baron was premiered in the USA ahead of the UK, but did not make any waves and only 13 episodes were bought there.However it proved a very popular series in the UK and elsewhere.

'The Baron' series of novels was written/published between 1937 ('Meet the Baron') and 1979 ('Love for the Baron'), with a total of 47 books in the series. John Creasey also wrote the novels upon which 'Gideon's Way' was based, as well as several hundred other mainly detective novels, under a number of pseudonyms. They are all reprinted now under the authorship of John Creasey (when they ARE reprinted...)

It's curious that he's not credited here for The Baron series, as many of the character names and the basic plot are directly from the novels.

I.T.C. made 'The Baron' as a follow-up to 'The Saint' series starring Roger Moore. Terry Nation, Dennis Spooner and Brian Clemens ignored John Creasey's books and invented wholly original plots. Some such as 'Storm Warning/The Island' had a strong 'U.N.C.L.E./Avengers' flavour. The casting of Steve Forrest as 'John Mannering' worked because there were no previous screen incarnations to judge him by. As per the books, Mannering owned an antiques shop in London, but was now a part-time agent for British Intelligence, headed by John Templeton-Greene ( Colin Gordon ), hence the scope of the plots ran from crime to espionage to mystery. The presence of luscious Sue Lloyd ( as 'Cordelia' ) further distanced the show from the Moore series. While 'The Baron' failed to replicate the success of 'The Saint' in the U.S.A., it remains an enormously entertaining show and the only screen incarnation of the character to date. It also has one of Edwin Astley's best theme tunes!