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Post by dem bones on Dec 5, 2008 10:54:23 GMT
Geoff Tibballs - Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) (Boxtree/ ITC, 1994) Introduction
Foreword by Kenneth Cope
When The Spirits Move You: The Origins of Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)
The Smile Behind The Veil: Behind the scenes on The series
The Ghost Talks: Kenneth Cope
My Late, Lamented Friend And Partner: Mike Pratt
For The Girl Who Has Everything: Annette Andre
The Man From Nowhere: Dennis Spooner
Just For The Record: Complete Episode Guide"There's something different about this pair of private eyes ... one of them is dead!"
So ran the programme billing for one of the most popular series of the early 1970s, Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) - the show which introduced /television's first ghost detective. From the stable of Dennis Spooner and Monty Berman - the team behind The Champions and Department S - the quirky comedy/drama of Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) became a hit in 35 countries and still boasts its own fan club.
Revealed here is how Marty always managed to keep his white suit spotless and how, accidentally, he wore his wig backwards in two episodes!
Also included in this book:
Detailed synopses of all 26 episodes
Interviews with Kenneth Cope & Annette Andre plus profile of Mike Pratt
Behind-the-scenes stories about the making of the series
Over 100 photos, many previously unseen. A celebration of the lovable late 'sixties/ early 'seventies ghost detective series starring Kenneth Cope, Mike Pratt (R.I.P) and Annette Andre, and as fun to read as the 26 episodes are to watch. A later entry, Somebody Just Walked Over My Grave, first screened 9 January 1970, could well be the epitome of counter-culture man as imagined by a BBC straight: Nigel Terry, playing Harry, a reclusive hippy painter, is required to don the most outrageous afro wig and 'threads' so cringe-inducing they surely constitute a cruel and unusual punishment. This one has just about everything you'd hope for: A high speed car chase (involving a hearse), mini-skirted love interest, a sham haunting - they were even thoughtful enough to bung in some mild graveyard desecration. Jeannie, wife of the dead half of the partnership, as played by Annette Andre, is a poster girl for turn-of-the-decade fashions, and fortunately for all of us, these have worn slightly better than poor old Nigel's. Her catfight with Alexandra Bastedo in New Southgate cemetery ( Whoever Heard Of A Ghost Dying?) is a bit gurly, but she was good at being tied up every other episode and that's all you really need in these type of series. I'm not sure if she's still updating it but a young lady named Caz(!) has an R&H tribute site, and her self-deprecating account of her location spotting adventures are particularly worthy of your attention. caz's randall & hopkirk (deceased) website!!!
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Post by carolinec on Dec 5, 2008 12:03:08 GMT
I'm not sure if she's still updating it but a young lady named Caz(!) has an R&H tribute site, and her self-deprecating account of her location spotting adventures are particularly worthy of your attention. caz's randall & hopkirk (deceased) website!!!Good lord, that's a coincidence! It's definitely not me, but I AM a huge Randall & Hopkirk fan - had a bit of a thing about Kenneth Cope when I was younger (and when he was younger too!)  |
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Post by Johnlprobert on Dec 5, 2008 12:12:46 GMT
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I hugely enjoyed this series as a lad, watching it on Sunday lunchtimes on ITV. Seems it may still have an appeal to the older JLP as well.....
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Post by pulphack on Dec 7, 2008 21:11:17 GMT
funny enough, dem, i picked up a copy of this a couple of months back. nice little book, and a cracking series that still holds up. pauses for thought about anette andre...
i do love all those ITC series, and would recommend to anyone Robert Sellars' Cult TV: The Golden Age Of ITC, published by Plexus. this covers everything ITC did from William Tell to Sapphire And Steel and all points between. no series synopses here, but loads of detail about the making of the shows, the creative teams, and amazing machinations of Lord Lew Grade!
mike pratt, of course, wrote Little White Bull and other toons for Tommy Steele, and his son guy is dave gilmour's bass player (his autobiog came out a year or two back).
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Post by Michael Connolly on Mar 15, 2018 14:44:30 GMT
Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) is currently showing on True Entertainment every week day at 8.00pm. It starts again with the first episode next week.
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Post by dem bones on Aug 15, 2022 9:26:18 GMT
... I've started watching Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased), available on Y**t*be. It's quite entertaining; the late 60s fashions are a nice bonus. Created by Dennis Spooner, who was involved in Doctor Who, The (New) Avengers and others. There's just one season of 26 episodes.
Thanks for that tip, Scarlett! I had some of those on disc years ago--would enjoy seeing more. Ironically Mike Pratt who played Randall, the partner who was still alive, died young a few years after this show was shot. I think the cause was cancer. H. There was a Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) Appreciation Society, began life in the late 'eighties, founded by a lady named Vanessa Bergman, who edited their newsletter. I learned of them via The Bizarre Leisure Book, applied for details, and received a very charming letter explaining, sorry, the R&H[D]AS had folded, and "please accept the enclosed photocard of Jeff, Marty and Jeannie with my compliments." Vanessa also put me on to the Geoff Tibball's book at top of page. Always thought it was a shame that, unlike so many late 'sixties/ early 'seventies to series, Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) was overlooked when it came to tie-in paperback novels/ novelizations. Far as I know, no annual, either? Did you know?. Dave Allen was originally considered to play Jeff before the producers settled on Mike Pratt! #FabFact |
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Post by Swampirella on Aug 15, 2022 11:03:22 GMT
Darn it, I searched for a "Randall & Hopkirk" page but didn't find it. No wonder, since it's under "Geoff Tibballs" (whoever he is/was). Thanks for all the fun facts, Dem. How nice to get a postcard!
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Post by helrunar on Aug 15, 2022 19:20:42 GMT
Love those images. Thanks Dem!
Best, Hel.
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Post by helrunar on Aug 16, 2022 2:11:18 GMT
Just viewed that episode featuring Nigel Terry as a strung-out agoraphobic would-be hippie painter Dem described so winningly in the long-ago launch of this thread.(I hope someday Nigel's reading of "A Wizard of Earthsea" on a week of Jackanory surfaces, if it survives at all.) The most amusing moments of that story for me were provided by my beloved Patricia Haines, beguilingly smirking her way through a role that most would have left as a barely noticeable flirt of tits and bum. Her agent should have been able to get better work for her at that point but I can't say I regret her presence in this story, not in the least.
I'll have to check out the other episode you mentioned since I'd watch the late Alexandra Bastedo read aloud from the London A to Z. I sat through the entirety of the otherwise forgettable Blood-Spattered Bride just for Bastedo's performance. She recited the most mind-numbingly absurd dialogue in that one with a degree of commitment that should be an inspiration to aspiring artistes everywhere.
cheers, Hel.
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Post by dem bones on Aug 16, 2022 5:35:35 GMT
 Harrow Observer, 8 January 1992. I'll bet the newsletters were a joy. Sadly, Caz's R&H tribute site referred to in initial post, has since gone the way of Vanessa's trailblazing Appreciation Soc. The better news for fans of the show is that they are well looked after by the team behind the snazzy Randall & Hopkirk Declassified site. |
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Post by helrunar on Aug 16, 2022 15:13:13 GMT
She didn't have "a very long phone call" with Kenneth Cope (who is still with us at 91, it seems--bravo!). But he was lovely nonetheless. Good show.
Love this, from an entry on the Internet Movie Database: Kenneth Cope infamously (and accidentally) wore his wig back-to-front in the first few stories.
cheers, H.
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Post by Swampirella on Aug 16, 2022 16:29:22 GMT
That was a wig? I hadn't noticed!
I have noticed that a lot of the backdrop is the same; rooms painted the same shade of green; a painting of a rather scary old gentleman appearing in at least 2 episodes, other paintings with thin gold frames, icons on the walls, etc.
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Post by helrunar on Aug 16, 2022 16:38:48 GMT
I hadn't noticed the wig either, but once it was mentioned, oh yes I am noticing it.
George Murcell's elaborate hairpieces and beard-pieces were almost as distracting as poor Nigel Terry's insane 'fro--which really deserved its own billing in that episode about Marty's grave.
Great fun!
Steve
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Post by Shrink Proof on Aug 17, 2022 6:33:47 GMT
I have noticed that a lot of the backdrop is the same; rooms painted the same shade of green; a painting of a rather scary old gentleman appearing in at least 2 episodes, other paintings with thin gold frames, icons on the walls, etc.
It's not a backdrop. At the time the programme was filmed, all the rooms in England had to decorated that way by law. In Scotland the law was different, all rooms had to be decorated in tartan. Since then the rules have changed and all rooms throughout the UK have to be beige. |
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Post by Swampirella on Aug 17, 2022 10:53:16 GMT
I have noticed that a lot of the backdrop is the same; rooms painted the same shade of green; a painting of a rather scary old gentleman appearing in at least 2 episodes, other paintings with thin gold frames, icons on the walls, etc.
It's not a backdrop. At the time the programme was filmed, all the rooms in England had to decorated that way by law. In Scotland the law was different, all rooms had to be decorated in tartan. Since then the rules have changed and all rooms throughout the UK have to be beige. I guess Woburn Abbey, which appeared yesterday in one of the episodes, was an exception. To look on the bright side, nothing clashes with beige. |
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