The Baron (TV series)

British television series (1965 66)

The Baron is a British television series made in 1965 and 1966, based on the book series by John Creasey (written under the pseudonym Anthony Morton) and produced by ITC Entertainment. Thirty episodes were produced, and the show was exported to the American ABC network.

The show starred an American actor, Steve Forrest, as John Mannering, an antiques dealer who drives a Jensen C V8 with 'BAR 1' as the distinctive, personalised number plate. 'The Baron' is portrayed as an occasional undercover agent working in an informal capacity for the head of the fictional British Diplomatic Intelligence, Templeton Green (Colin Gordon) assisted by Cordelia Winfield (Sue Lloyd) and David Marlowe (Paul Ferris). By contrast, in Creasey's original novels, Mannering is British and, after the first few novels, married. By transforming the character into an eligible bachelor and casting a Texan in the role, the producers decided that 'The Baron' would be nicknamed after the cattle ranch once run by his grandfather, described as being "200,000 acres [809.371 km2] 300 miles from Dallas". In the books he is a reformed jewel thief (the first few novels describing Mannering's "career" from his deciding to steal to his going straight) whose criminal ties served him well in investigating jewel, art, or antiques oriented mysteries. For the TV series, Mannering's persona is depicted as absolutely straight with no suggestion of past criminality, a fact underlined by his being co opted by British intelligence. In the episode "Red Horse, Red Rider", it is revealed that Mannering had been a US Army Captain during the Second World War, serving in the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program where he recovered art works from the Nazis. Following the war, he owned three antique stores and was a "charter member of the jet set". The original series of 'The Baron' was last repeated and broadcast in colour by London Live (local TV channel) in 2023. The show did not do well enough on ABC and was syndicated midway through its run, which effectively ensured that no second series would be made. The Baron's car was a silver Jensen CV 8 Mk II with the registration BAR 1. Unlike the Volvo driven by Simon Templar, the exclusivity of the car meant the series did not generate the same sales boost as The Saint had done for Volvo. Cordelia drove a considerably less upmarket DAF Daffodil 33. The episode "Something for a Rainy Day" featured shots of a white Jaguar plummeting over a cliff. This footage, apparently filmed for this episode (from several angles), reappeared in several other episodes and series, in an attempt to render its high cost worthwhile. The episode "Portrait of Louisa" was a reworking by Terry Nation of his earlier script "Lida", written for (and produced as) an episode of The Saint. The Baron was the first ITC show without marionettes to be produced entirely in colour. (ITC marionette series Stingray and Thunderbirds had been filmed in colour; the last fourteen of the thirty episodes of The Adventures of Sir Lancelot in 1956 57 had been shot in colour, as had the 1962 pilot episode of Man of the World).

Two films were put together for international cinema distribution by ITC; these were compiled from the two part episodes. Mystery Island is a re edit of the episodes "Storm Warning" and "The Island", while The Man in a Looking Glass is a combination of "Masquerade" and "The Killing". This led to further European releases in the 1960s of ITC films re edited from episodes of The Saint, Danger Man, The Champions and Man in a Suitcase.

Episodes were filmed between July 1965 and October 1966, on location and at Elstree Studios. Although filmed in colour, all episodes were broadcast in the UK in black and white, colour transmissions on ITV not commencing until November 1969. Airdate is for ATV Midlands. ITV regions varied date and order.

The series was released by Network Video on Region 2 and by Umbrella Video (Australia) on Region 0 DVD. Commentaries were recorded by Sue Lloyd, Johnny Goodman and Cyril Frankel, among others. Entertainment One released the complete series on Region 1 DVD on 10 March 2009.