Theme Time: Edwin Astley - Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased)

It was fifty years ago this week that one of ITC's most enduring crime dramas Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) arrived on our screens.

Starring Mike Pratt and Kenneth Cope as Jeff Randall and Marty Hopkirk, private investigators who won't let a little thing like death get in the way of their business, whilst Annette Andre starred as Marty's widow, Jeanie.

Unlike much of its stablemates at ITC, Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) was, by its very nature, fantastical, and yet at the same time much more down-to-earth in its downbeat depiction of the then swinging London. Perhaps it's that slightly more recognisably real world vibe that has ensured it hasn't dated as much as Department S or Jason King say, whilst the fact that Reeves and Mortimer remade it for two series in the early '00s proved that this was a show that the public still had a lot of time for. 

And then there's that theme tune. A wonderfully evocative, atmospheric track from ITC composer supremo Edwin Astley. It's the sonic equivalent of a tingle running down your spine.

These Dangerous Years (1957)

I watched this one primarily for Carole Lesley (*sighs*) When one character is shown a photo of her, he sniffs 'there's dozens like her in Liverpool' Believe me, there ain't! Worst luck.

The lovely Lesley (a blonde bombshell of many a '50s and '60s British movie, who sadly died of a drug overdose at the age of 38 in 1974 when fame proved elusive) plays the love interest to Frankie Vaughan and These Dangerous Years is definitely a vehicle for the then popular Liverpudlian crooner. The plot tells the story of Dave Wyman, a young delinquent played by Vaughan, and his gang of 'Dingle boys' whose territory is the south Mersey foreshore known as the 'Cassy' (the Cast Iron Shore); the rust-red sands at Dingle Point, which has now been redeveloped as Otterspool Promenade.  This being the late '50s, England still has its National Service and it isn't long before Dave is conscripted into the forces to do his bit. 

Can the army tame this bad boy?

Well initially it seems like they can, as Dave defies all expectations and proves himself a natural soldier, despite his refusal to have his teddy boy haircut shaved off. He's soon promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal, much to the chagrin of Michael Ripper's barrack room bully who sets out to discredit Dave, with tragically fatal consequences. Facing court martial and possibly even the hangman's noose, Dave flees camp and returns to Liverpool, relying on his girl (Lesley) and his fellow tearaways (including Eddie Byrne and Kenneth Cope) for help or maybe even hindrance. But can the regimental Padre (George Baker), who believes in Dave, catch up with him and persuade him to face the music and prove his innocence? 

These Dangerous Years is quite a bit of fun to be honest, and if you're a fan of Vaughan's musical career I imagine it would be even more fun. I'm not really, so I may have fast forwarded through at least one of his shoehorned numbers, but the story surrounding it stands up rather well - indeed, they could have removed all the opportunities to showcase Vaughan's singing and it would have worked fine. The juvenile delinquency storyline is wonderfully evocative of the 1950s (all greased back quiffs, leather jackets, chain smoking and coffee bars) and is one that probably meant a lot to Vaughan who, as a kid, did run around with gangs in Liverpool before finding an outlet in the local boys' club and music. His commitment to ensuring others had the same escape as he did saw him establish the Easterhouse Project in Glasgow in the late '60s in an attempt to secure peace between the warring juvenile gangs of the Scottish city. 

Vaughan's acting may not be award winning, but he equips himself rather well in carrying the film and he's ably supported by the aforementioned Lesley and George Baker, who he shares top billing with, as well as Jocelyn 'Jackie' Lane (once touted as Britain's Brigitte Bardot, she went on to star opposite Elvis in Tickle Me, before retiring from acting in 1973 to marry Prince Alfonso of Hohenlohe-Langenburg), John Le Mesurier, Katherine Kath and, all too briefly, Thora Hird.

Captives (1994)

Captives is a solidly made credible human drama, the likes of which were typically made in the 90s either like here as a small British film, or on British television. Occasionally this feels like it could belong just as easily in the latter camp. I don't mean that as an insult, as I think our country did sterling work through one off drama and plays in the 90s, though I do feel some of the score for this at least screams TV; its opening theme in particular being very dated.

I do wish we could make more thought provoking intense little human dramas like thus now though.

At Captives core is the truly electrifying and sensual chemistry between its two leads Tim Roth and Julia Ormond, they both excel and convince completely in their roles. The supporting cast often feels like a who's who as it is littered with familiar faces including Keith Allen (playing somewhat against the character as written it feels to interesting effect) Colin Salmon, Annette Badland, Tony Curran, Peter Capaldi, Siobhan Redmond and a young Mark Strong. There's even a brief appearance from Kenneth Cope looking like a Halloween exhibit!

The London of the film is dour, overcast and dark, often only illuminated by the neons of tubeway caffs and insalubrious pubs. In other words, it's London! And as someone who has worked in prisons on a visitor/regular basis like Ormond's character I can say that those scenes of the inside are rather realistic, helped in no small part by shooting in an actual HMP. I would quibble slightly at some of the protocols; I don't think they'd let Ormond through without a routine search and they normally keep the wing closed off when showing a new person around, but these are things that may have been done differently in the 90s or indeed in different HMPs.

Watching films from this era though can be an eye opening experience as it does make one feel a little old. Little things like seeing pubs displaying signs like 'Open All Day', phonecards and boxes and the design of Coca Cola/Pepsi on vending machines...stuff that if you don't properly think about it feels like yesterday and/or still the norm come crashing down on you as you realise it is nearly twenty years ago. Frig.

In short I loved Captives and it seems a shame it is so little seen (I recall it in the BBC1 schedules late night some years back but it seems to have dropped out of circulation now) it's an engrossing 90 minutes although I'm not totally convinced by the ending. Nevertheless it's probably the ending one wants.