Sparky
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Post by Sparky on Jan 26, 2020 11:23:58 GMT
I can't sit through the Nesbitt episodes either. The George Sewell episodes are infinitely better, even if only because George Sewell is in them. Gene. Yes, definitely wasn't enough of GS on TV back in the 70s. He was one of the best bad guys in Sweeney and deserved his own series (not as that character) in some sort of authoritarian role. He popped up a bit in "UFO", but that was only really around 1969-1971. Did he do Theatre?
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Post by Gene Hunt on Jan 26, 2020 11:45:31 GMT
George made his debut as a copper at the Theatre Royal in the West End in the late 50's I think it was. I met him years ago with my family while filming of Home James was taking place. He was a great bloke. Very down to earth and easy to talk to. Just as he appears in the Sweeney DVD introduction he does.
Gene.
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Post by Dirty Epic on Jan 26, 2020 12:23:51 GMT
Special Branch is a great series. I'm not keen at all on the Nesbitt episodes but the George Sewell episodes are really good. Some fantastic locations on offer too throughout. Gene. I watched one the other night that had Jenny (?) from Tomorrow Man in it. Bloomin boring as hell. It was the earlier series with Nesbitt. Watched that one of my PVR the other day not a bad episode for the pre-Sewell and Mower series too.
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Vienna
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Post by Vienna on Jan 26, 2020 14:49:44 GMT
I watched one the other night that had Jenny (?) from Tomorrow Man in it. Bloomin boring as hell. It was the earlier series with Nesbitt. I can't sit through the Nesbitt episodes either. The George Sewell episodes are infinitely better, even if only because George Sewell is in them. Gene. Does anyone like the earlier B&W series? I couldn't sit through the earlier episodes either! Vi
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Three Litre
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Post by Three Litre on Jan 26, 2020 14:54:46 GMT
I can't sit through the Nesbitt episodes either. The George Sewell episodes are infinitely better, even if only because George Sewell is in them. Gene. Does anyone like the earlier B&W series? I couldn't sit through the earlier episodes either! Vi Couldn't agree more, black and white pussy!
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Sparky
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Post by Sparky on Jan 26, 2020 17:32:35 GMT
George made his debut as a copper at the Theatre Royal in the West End in the late 50's I think it was. I met him years ago with my family while filming of Home James was taking place. He was a great bloke. Very down to earth and easy to talk to. Just as he appears in the Sweeney DVD introduction he does. Gene. He used to knock about with the Kray Twins quite a bit in the 60s too - along with James Booth, Babs Windsor, Victor Spinetti, Ronald Fraser etc. I've seen quite a few photos of him at parties and charity events held by the Twins at their Clubs.
Another thing with the later Special Branch episodes, is that you got to see quite a bit more of Colet Court - a lot of it was shot using the derelict rooms.
Is there a fave episode from the Euston era - mine would be the first one I saw "Double Exposure" - with Stuart Wilson guesting.
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Post by Arthur Pringle on Jan 26, 2020 18:44:12 GMT
George Sewell's brother Danny did a bit of acting, he has a few lines in an Edgar Wallace film 'Partners In Crime', he sounds just like his brother, looks a lot like him too. He was a pro boxer, until, according to imdb, polio ended his career.
Apparently it was another Sweeney actor, Dudley Sutton, who persuaded George Sewell to get into acting. He became part of Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop group from which so many household tv acting names got their start.
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Post by Dirty Epic on Jan 27, 2020 6:42:20 GMT
I can't sit through the Nesbitt episodes either. The George Sewell episodes are infinitely better, even if only because George Sewell is in them. Gene. Does anyone like the earlier B&W series? I couldn't sit through the earlier episodes either! Vi The pre-Euston Film's series are passable and do have some half-decent moments, but for me if they were the only Special Branch episodes made I'd probably not have bothered with it being honest. The B&W episodes probably don't help it's cause even though Colour was available for that again a legacy of making things more cheaply in B&W. Jordan (Derren Nesbitt), Moxon (Morris Perry) and Inman (Fulton McKay) are reasonably alright and played fairly well by the actors. Not so sure on Eden (Wensley Pithey) but Pithey does a half-decent job and is no better/worse than any other TV actor from that period. IMO. As I may have said before what probably affects the pre-1973 series was the way the Christine Morris (Sandra Bryant) storyline got spread thinly (very thinly) throughout the 1969-70 series when perhaps it might have been worth 2-3 episodes at most and I think even including the Euston series Special Branch seemed to have a bit of a ID crisis as to be whether it was a crime or political intrigue drama.
The Sewell & Mower episodes just come together/have much more chemistry although even these aren't perfect, have a few clunkers and one character who didn't really work for me was Sgt North (Roger Rowland) who seems wooden as when playing him, interestingly enough Rowland's character in the earlier episodes gelled better than North did.
Still all in they're the roots of The Sweeney, The Pro's and much else that followed and the entire series as a whole is worth watching - if perhaps not religiously.
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Post by Dirty Epic on Jan 27, 2020 8:54:56 GMT
George made his debut as a copper at the Theatre Royal in the West End in the late 50's I think it was. I met him years ago with my family while filming of Home James was taking place. He was a great bloke. Very down to earth and easy to talk to. Just as he appears in the Sweeney DVD introduction he does. Gene. He used to knock about with the Kray Twins quite a bit in the 60s too - along with James Booth, Babs Windsor, Victor Spinetti, Ronald Fraser etc. I've seen quite a few photos of him at parties and charity events held by the Twins at their Clubs.
Another thing with the later Special Branch episodes, is that you got to see quite a bit more of Colet Court - a lot of it was shot using the derelict rooms.
Is there a fave episode from the Euston era - mine would be the first one I saw "Double Exposure" - with Stuart Wilson guesting.
Good episode that one Sparky, especially with the way Haggerty has to double crosses Stuart Wilson's character gets involved with his sister and puts Haggerty in the awkward situation of his job, before his private life, his relationships and having to betray all these in the end.
The Special Branch episodes I like in no real order are:
Assault
Alien Jailbait Timebomb
Red Herring
Catherine The Great Inside
Polonaise Double Exposure
Stand And Deliver Borderline Case Intercept
You Won't Remember Me
Round The Clock A New Face
Sounds Sinister
That would be my compilation for Special Branch, although sure some of you might like some of the other episodes and series and perhaps might not like all these but for me they're just about right and are a bit of a mix of all the series made by Thames and Euston too.
Got to admit before the recent TP repeats I hadn't really re-visited Special Branch for a good 5-6 years so been good to see them again. It will be interesting to see if TP show the 1973-74 episodes uncut as the few I caught on Forces TV had approx 5-minutes chopped out of them.
George Sewell's brother Danny did a bit of acting, he has a few lines in an Edgar Wallace film 'Partners In Crime', he sounds just like his brother, looks a lot like him too. He was a pro boxer, until, according to imdb, polio ended his career.
Apparently it was another Sweeney actor, Dudley Sutton, who persuaded George Sewell to get into acting. He became part of Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop group from which so many household tv acting names got their start.
Interesting stuff Arthur, never knew George's brother acted too and the link George had with Dudley Sutton too.
I knew about George - and many other faces from the 60's acting/showbiz world, mixing with (perhaps very friendly with) The Kray's and on the whole I don't consider that a good or bad thing just something which might have been necessary to get into the business back then. It went on before then, carried on after then and will keep carrying on in the future for sure.
Might explain why John Bindon got a part in one of the Special Branch episodes too, I don't think he had to act in that one either.
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Lord Emsworth
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Post by Lord Emsworth on Jan 27, 2020 13:08:42 GMT
Not sure I have any real memories of Special Branch, save for the title
Would you say it's best to buy the Complete Series DVD?
Or just get the two separate DVDs - one devoted to 1973 and one to 1974?
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