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Department S

1969
Department S

Seasons & Episodes

  • 1

EP1 Six Days Sep 09, 1969

LOCATION: Aboard Astair flight Golf-Alpha-Zulu-Echo-Bravo DATE: July 17th An airplane lands at Heathrow 30 minutes early, according to all indications on board. When the plane lands the crew is met by anxious airport officials, notifying them that they are not 30 minutes early, but six days overdue. Department S has a vested interest in the flight, because Sir Curtis was aboard. As they begin investigating, people start dying.

EP2 The Trojan Tanker Sep 16, 1969

LOCATION: Bedfordshire, England DATE: July 3rd A tanker is involved in an accident. A witness swears he saw a woman in the back of the tanker, but when the police look there is no one inside. The tanker, however, is not carrying fuel, but rather is elaborately rigged as a living space. A search for the missing woman leads Jason to an old friend, and eventually to France.

EP3 A Cellar Full of Silence Sep 23, 1969

LOCATION: London, England DATE: June 20th Four men dressed in various costumes are gunned down in a cellar. The gun of one had been fired, the bullet turning up in the body of a man found in the trunk of a submerged car. Stewart pays a call on a crime broker to see who hired the men and how the crimes relate to a house in St. John's Woods, where a woman is being kept sedated because she thought she saw four men wearing disguises committing a robbery in the house.

EP4 The Pied Piper of Hambledown Sep 30, 1969

LOCATION: Hambledown, Hampshire, England DATE: April 16th A woman goes to bed early, taking a sedative, to get enough sleep for a beauty contest. When she wakes up the next morning her entire village is deserted. The only clues Department S can find are a man with a shotgun in a home on the outskirts of the village and a freshly-painted mailbox post.

EP5 One of Our Aircraft Is Empty Oct 07, 1969

LOCATION: London Airport DATE: April 30th Sky Tripper 190 requests auto land clearance at Heathrow Airport in London. When boarded, the plane is totally empty. While investigating Stewart locates the body of the pilot, and Annabelle sees a reclusive industry CEO boarding the plane in a photograph.

EP6 The Man in the Elegant Room Oct 14, 1969

LOCATION: Islington, London, England DATE: May 12th A real estate agent, taking a man to see a warehouse, discovers a room constructed inside the warehouse. Worse, a dead body and a babbling man are locked inside the room. Stewart tries to interrogate the man, but he is killed before anything can be made of his babbling.

EP7 Handicap Dead Oct 21, 1969

LOCATION: Colindale Golf Course, Scotland DATE: June 6th Stewart attends a golf tournament in Scotland. The tournament leader is found dead near the course. The Department is unofficially involved until someone breaks into the dead man's living quarters and steals his golf clubs.

EP8 Black Out Oct 28, 1969

LOCATION: London, England DATE: May 26th A chef goes to the opera in London. Three days later he is found by Mexican authorities in the desert, still his formal attire, unaware of what happened after he left the opera. A case of mistaken identity, leading the Department to Jamaica for turtle in the shell while Sir Curtis is off to America to witness a rocket launching. How are they connected?

EP9 The Double Death of Charlie Crippen Nov 04, 1969

LOCATION: Bay of Naples, Italy DATE: August 14th Assassins attack a limousine with a land mine, but the “man” killed turns out to be a mannequin. Jason nicknames the mannequin “Charlie Crippen” while the Department sets to find out who did the attack, and who the real target is.

EP10 The Treasure of the Costa del Sol Nov 11, 1969

LOCATION: The Costa del Sol, Spain DATE: July 31st A man goes scuba diving while his friend waits in the car. The man returns from the dive with a fish, and his friend shoots him. Before he dies he is able to return fire with a spear gun, killing the shooter. A policeman happens upon the scene and finds the diver's catch: a plastic fish with $100,000 inside.

EP11 Who Plays the Dummy? Nov 18, 1969

LOCATION:The Sierra de Guadarrama, Spain DATE: September 12th A car, apparently out of control, rushes to its doom in a mountainous, uninhabited area of Madrid. And its only occupant is a tailor's dummy sitting at the wheel. The chief clue is the expensive tie on the dummy, a British-made tie that Jason notices on someone else in town.

EP12 The Man Who Got a New Face Nov 25, 1969

LOCATION: Cap d'Antibes, France DATE: August 16th A man takes enormous risk by sneak onto the grounds of an estate. He steals nothing, taking the gamble instead to glue a classic theatrical comedy mask onto a sleeping man's face. The man wakes and sees the mask, dying of a heart attack trying to remove it. Since the man was a friend of Sir Curtis, he wants the Department to investigate who performed "this bad joke"--and why.

EP13 Les Fleurs du Mal Dec 02, 1969

LOCATION: Rome, Italy DATE: September 26th A small package has the key to the disappearance of $5 million taken in a robbery. The man charged with delivering the package to a man in Paris is curious, so he opens the package to find three flowers and a cryptic passage from a book. He does not know what the message means, only that people involved in the robbery are being murdered, including the prime suspect in the robbery.

EP14 The Shift That Never Was Dec 09, 1969

LOCATION: Stepney, London, England DATE: October 10th The police are called to investigate a manufacturing company manager’s claim that no one showed up for work on a Wednesday in spite of neighbors’ claims that everything at the plant appeared to be perfectly normal. The shift substitution somehow ties to the opening of a nuclear-powered generating station.

EP15 Dead Men Die Twice Dec 16, 1969

LOCATION: Southern France DATE: July 19th A man's home is invaded by armed intruders intent on killing him. He has a heart attack and dies before they can, however. The two men go to the morgue to see the body, where they put two bullets into the corpse. Department S investigate the shooting of the body of a man who bears a striking resemblance to a notorious criminal who allegedly died three years earlier.

EP16 A Ticket to Nowhere Dec 23, 1969

LOCATION: Heathrow Airport, London, England DATE: December 6th A pilot coming in for a landing spies a man on the runway. He is unable to miss the man, killing him. Jason, at the airport to fly to Paris, stumbles onto the situation by befriending the deceased's niece. In Paris, the Department is charged with the task of finding a missing scientist who has perfected an advanced form of brainwashing. When Jason finally arrives in Paris, he realizes the man discovered on the runway dressed in pajamas is their missing scientist.

EP17 Last Train to Redbridge Dec 30, 1969

LOCATION: London DATE: November 22nd A subway arrives at its final destination for the evening. A conductor finds a car filled with dead people, and he is overcome by something in the air and dies as well before he can leave the car or notify anyone. As Annabelle is escorting the widow of one of the victims from the morgue, the widow is abducted at gunpoint. Jason further complicates matters by being abducted by the people responsible, while Stewart and Annabelle try to figure out why the massacre happened and who was behind it.

EP18 The Ghost of Mary Burnham Jan 06, 1970

LOCATION: London DATE: January 4th John Burnham’s wife was murdered in the parking garage as they were leaving for the evening. However, John continues to see Mary and receive phone calls from her. Who killed Mrs. Burnham and why is a matter of utmost importance for the Department to solve, since, as Sir Curtis tells Stewart in giving him the case, “John Burnham is an important man to the world.”

EP19 The Man from X Jan 13, 1970

LOCATION: London, England DATE: February 2nd A couple, necking in a car, are shocked to find a man in a spacesuit coming at them. He falls dead before he reaches their car. The Department wants to know what a man in a spacesuit was doing in London at night, and how it might tie to a planned robbery.

EP20 Death on Reflection Jan 20, 1970

LOCATION: Bond Street, London, England DATE: January 18th Sir Curtis attends an auction. A mirror that he suspects is worth no more than £2,500 goes for £9,000. He is perplexed as to why, and even more concerned when the man who bought the mirror at auction is murdered.

EP21 The Perfect Operation Jan 27, 1970

LOCATION: City of Southwark Hospital, London DATE: October 24th A British government official suffers a brain hemorrhage. While in surgery, his surgeon is replaced by another man. Instead of killing the official, the substitute doctor completed the operation. The Department must find out why, while Jason disputes the official government records that state the official has never been to Istanbul.

EP22 The Duplicated Man Feb 03, 1970

LOCATION: Foreign Office, London DATE: February 16th. A plane carrying a British MI5 agent explodes over the English Channel. Witnesses on a boat crossing the Channel see the plane explode and are certain no one survived. Sir Curtis, however, is confident the agent jumped from the plane prior to the explosion, and sends the Department out to find the agent. The Department’s activity catches the interest of Russian agents, who are also certain the agent “who was also working for the Russians” is still alive.

EP23 The Mysterious Man in the Flying Machine Feb 10, 1970

LOCATION: Paris, France DATE: March 8th A man murders another man on a flight. He then orders no one to move and opens the airplane door, jumping -- to the floor of a warehouse. Other men aboard the ""plane"" chase and shoot the killer in the warehouse. The Department is called in to learn who would build such an elaborate set in order to murder someone.

EP24 Spencer Bodily Is Sixty Years Old Feb 17, 1970

LOCATION: London, England DATE: May 8th A man commits suicide beneath a tree in a park. He has no identification and is completely untraceable. To complicate matters, the coronor's report indicates the dead man is 60 years old -- even though his physical appearance makes him appear to be in his 20s. Before the Department can question the autopsy, the corpse is stolen.

EP25 A Fish out of Water Feb 24, 1970

LOCATION: Beruit, Lebanon DATE: March 22nd The body of an Interpol agent is found near the shore shortly after he arrives in Beruit for vacation. Stewart is upset, not because the man was a friend, but because Sir Curtis accepts the report that the death was accidental. Stewart rejects that, claiming his friend was an expert diver. Stewart must control his emotions and work around his supervisor's order to not work on the case in order to discover the truth.

EP26 A Small War of Nerves Mar 03, 1970

LOCATION: Wiltshire, England DATE: April 20th Greg Halliday is fed up with his work as a chemical engineer creating weapons that can obliterate the population of large cities. He leaves his job with a canister of the deadly chemical. The Department is out to find him before others who want the chemicals get to him -- or before Halliday uses the weapon himself.

EP27 The Bones of Byrom Blain Mar 10, 1970

LOCATION: Marling Dale, Cheshire, England DATE: April 4th When a chauffeur opens the door for his passenger, a diplomat named Byrom Blaine, he discovers a skeleton instead. The Department is called in, but they cannot stop other diplomats from turning into skeletons -- including Sir Curtis.

EP28 The Soup of the Day Mar 17, 1970

LOCATION: Liverpool, England DATE: May 2nd Department S is called upon to investigate a most unusual burglary: four men break into a warehouse and break through a stone wall, all to steal one crate of Portugese fish soup. The crime becomes more confusing when the stolen soup cans are found discarded less than a day after they are stolen.
7.2| 0h30m| en| More Info
Released: 09 September 1969 Ended
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Country: United Kingdom
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Synopsis

Department S is a United Kingdom spy-fi adventure series produced by ITC Entertainment. The series consists of 28 episodes which originally aired in 1969–1970. It starred Peter Wyngarde as author Jason King, Joel Fabiani as Stewart Sullivan, and Rosemary Nicols as computer expert Annabelle Hurst. The trio were agents for a fictional special department of Interpol. The head of Department S was Sir Curtis Seretse.

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samsmith81 One in a series of many ITC shows during the 1960s and 70s, "Department S" was one of the highlights. Entrusted with especially baffling cases that other agencies had failed to solve, this elite department of Interpol had to find solutions to the seemingly unsolvable.Interestingly enough, and somewhat ahead of its time, the official head of he Department was black. Sir Curtis Seretse (Dennis Alaba Peters) was a high-ranking diplomat from some (never named) African country (to whom early script versions simply referred to as "the African diplomat"). A little like M in the Bond movies, he would brief Stewart Sullivan on the case at hand and then leave it to the Department to solve it. Occasionally, he would later reappear and sort of supervise.The American Stewart Sullivan (Joel Fabiani) was the field team leader. A former FBI agent, practical, pragmatic and professional, with a no-nonsense attitude, who solved cases with a stubborn insistence that there MUST be a logical explanation. He was also ready to use his fists when he had to, and to put his life on the line when it was called for. He would give chase while dodging bullets and cars bearing down on him, knock out a couple of bad guys single-handedly, and then emerge calm and cool and looking neat as ever in his three-piece-suit. For 'inspirational' input he always turned to the writer King.A bestselling novelist, Jason King (Peter Wyngarde) had a galloping imagination. He solved cases by trying to imagine what Mark Caine, the hero of his novels, would do. On the other hand, he also used the Department's cases as inspiration for his books (much to the dismay of his colleague Annabelle Hurst), so it worked both ways. Eccentric to the core, sometimes Jason's input proved very helpful, or, as Stewart remarked, "he has a nasty habit of scoring near misses". At other times, his 'theories' strayed far away from the bull's eye, or, in the words of Annabelle, "he has a nasty habit of making wild generalizations that cover just about anything!"The computer expert Annabelle Hurst (Rosemary Nicols) was the exact opposite: analytical and only interested in data, data, data, which she would then feed into her computer, "Auntie". While at times she appeared interested in little else than her work, at other times it was clear that there was some kind of romantic relationship between her and Stewart. The fact that this was never directly shown or openly stated, yet often subtly hinted at, was one of the many strong points of the show.The chemnistry between the principals was definitely there, and the teamwork was a major factor in the success of "Department S". The acting was excellent, as was most of the writing. The cases were intriguing, and the stories usually very interesting: an airliner that vanished in midair, a passenger plane that landed completely empty, a man in a spacesuit dropping dead in the midst of London, or an entire village seemingly abducted over night. Some episodes were better than others, but most of them were very good. All in all, a real highlight of an era of television that will never come back.Although, like many of the ITC shows, the series only ran for a year, it was syndicated worldwide, ran very successfully internationally, and has long since achieved its well deserved cult status. It's available worldwide on DVD in various versions (US, UK, Australian...), including special editions. The 40th Anniversary Special Edition (UK) is great, with lots of vintage bonus material. You can take your pick. This show is definitely well worth (re)watching. 10 out of 10
ubercommando With all due respect to Joel Fabiani and Rosemary Nicolls and their characters, Department S will be forever associated with Peter Wyngarde's Jason King.Most people remember him as this camp, flamboyant and debonair womaniser cum detective in the mould of Austin Powers but that will do a disservice to the character: He's far more nuanced than that.Jason King is lazy (he often lets Stewart fight all the bad guys and only chips in at the end), he is egotistical (his appreciation of people is based on whether they've read his novels or not), a lot of his detective work is speculation without facts to back them up and he sulks whenever Annabelle is right...and she often is. He's clearly a man having a mid-life crisis and drink drives but.......Jason King is brilliant. If Wyngarde had played him purely as a dashing hero, it wouldn't have worked but he shows King often as a paper tiger, led by his libido, love of finery and prone to grandstanding (and it gets in the way of his detective work at times) but he has some of the best lines and put downs in TV history. And by not playing him as whiter-than-white, the chemistry and interactions between the three lead characters is all the better for it.Watching it again on DVD recently, you get to see just how much depth Wyngarde put into Jason King.
The_StarWolf Like NIGHT STALKER and then X-FILES, the show set up a fantastic situation and the main characters had to sort it out. Unlike these, the hero(es) weren't left holding an empty bag at the end. They had usually tangible results. It was also made clear that the 'good guys' were in a dirty profession where they occasionally had to pull some nasty things. Imagination, wit, acting which didn't always take itself too seriously ... I miss it. One reason being, I'm hard pressed to think of too many shows - BANACEK aside - which did as good a job of taking the viewer and grabbing their attention right off the bat. The writers excelled at setting up hugely improbable, if not downright impossible situations which the characters then had to find an explanation to. explanations which often took 90 degree turns into the clearly unexpected yet, for all that, still made sense. Too, I agree with another reviewer that the Anabelle character was somewhat underused, but when she was on screen, it wasn't just for eye candy. She was quite competent in her own right and stood up to the two male leads when she felt the point she was making warranted it. A rarity in those days. Sullivan? If he wasn't in the Department, he'd be working for the KGB or CIA. He's that sort of coldly efficient, ruthless type. He knows how the world works and realizes what it can take to get the job done. King? It's clearly a game to him. One he excels at and which he parleys into ideas for the detective/spy novels he writes as his ostensible 'real' job. He's probably the most fun to watch of the three, although they all have their moments and often, too. I do agree that the eventual spin-off series featuring only his character lacked the interest of the original, however.
SteveGreen Spawned by the same Monty Berman / Dennis Spooner partnership which produced The Champions and Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) - the latter retitled My Partner the Ghost for the US market - Department S remains a classic example of the action-adventure series which the UK produced in bulk during the late 1960s. Like those two shows, its internal dynamic of two guys and a girl might seem to indicate a progressive attitude towards equality (Dept S also has a black superior), but it's mostly facade: the launch episode, "Six Days", is barely halfway through before Rosemary Nichols is called upon to parade around in bra, panties and one (yes, one) stocking in order to extricate herself from a dodgy situation. Still, it's an interesting time capsule, even if the appalling fashion sense of Peter Wyngarde's character (which, amazingly, degenerated even further in the spin-off series Jason King) should definitely have remained buried.