UPDATE: Callan: The Monochrome Years (Network DVD, 2010) For decades fans of Callan have been shown on TV and on video/DVD the colour 1970s series. Now the rest of it is available, or apparently what hasn't been erased, in a four disc set – entitled Callan: The Monochrome Years. Back in the 1960s and 1970s, owing to agreements with unions designed to discourage the broadcast of repeats over new material, a British television drama made largely in the studio would be typically broadcast once and then re-run several months later within two years. Since it was rare that anything was shown again after that, since it would require renegotiation of contracts, television companies felt safe in erasing much of their library stock, even the popular material. Luckily, part of the first series and all of the second have survived, though Network DVD have edited one episode for this set that only existed in unedited form.
Callan was a highly regarded and very popular television drama about the seamy side of espionage – more Le Carre than Fleming. The protagonist is a professional killer – ex-army, ex-convicted criminal. He's good at his job, but he hates to kill. He is employed – variously freelance or on the staff – by a shadowy organisation called the Section, which does the state's dirty work up to and including murder. Somehow, probably due to the spot-on casting and acting of the principals and the quality of the writing, the series struck a chord with television audiences in Britain and around the world. It was directly through fans of Callan that Edward Woodward managed to get some of his most admired work: with Laurence Olivier's Old Vic in the theatre, as Breaker Morant in film, as The Equalizer on TV etc This compilation is principally for the show's existing fans, but it's a fascinating look at how British television drama developed over what is often referred to as a golden age. The first series of Callan, produced by ABC Television, was developed from the Armchair Theatre play A Magnum for Schneider, which is included here, which itself was a heavily cut-down version of James Mitchell's novel. The early episodes seem to be very plot heavy, with little time to develop character, and heavily influenced by film, with the theme often played distractingly over every scene without dialogue. You can see the basic themes of the series developing: in the first episode proper, Callan's boss Hunter (Hunter #1, played by Ronald Radd) threatens him with death if he won't do a job. Once you've gone there you can't go back, but it's quickly seen that the producers have painted themselves into a dramatic corner, and subsequent Hunters motivate him in other, more subtle ways. Sometimes there's a bit of 1960s surrealism, as in one episode particularly memorable for Callan's employment of various hats – this kind of whimsy soon is dumped. By the time the second ABC series and the colour third series, produced by Thames TV, appears, there's more character development, more scenes highlighting the relationship between Callan and the other characters, more drama through dialogue, less running about, less gunplay. However, several of these episodes, notably "Death of a Hunter", in which Callan is tortured with mind altering drugs, Ipcress File-style, to think that his boss is a double agent, are very satisfying. (Incidentally, particularly here the character of Toby Meres seems a lot more sympathetic than in the better known later episodes, more vulnerable, not so much an upper class sadist, and genuinely upset at having to shoot Callan.) Network DVD can only be praised for putting out this very good compilation. However, there's little restoration of the material, which is a shame as Network did such a good job with this on the Public Eye series. Sadly also there are no subtitles – important when the sound is so primitive. I'm very glad they've left in the ad break separator cards that were such a good feature of older British TV. (Incidentally, there's a number of reminders that modern TV is vastly technically superior to the old – I was fascinated that the studio clock card is now visible behind the ABC Television ident at the beginning of the programmes. I'm also wondering if there may be other Callan tapes floating around: I've seen a section of another black and white episode on YouTube. The search goes on.
Callan was a highly regarded and very popular television drama about the seamy side of espionage – more Le Carre than Fleming. The protagonist is a professional killer – ex-army, ex-convicted criminal. He's good at his job, but he hates to kill. He is employed – variously freelance or on the staff – by a shadowy organisation called the Section, which does the state's dirty work up to and including murder. Somehow, probably due to the spot-on casting and acting of the principals and the quality of the writing, the series struck a chord with television audiences in Britain and around the world. It was directly through fans of Callan that Edward Woodward managed to get some of his most admired work: with Laurence Olivier's Old Vic in the theatre, as Breaker Morant in film, as The Equalizer on TV etc This compilation is principally for the show's existing fans, but it's a fascinating look at how British television drama developed over what is often referred to as a golden age. The first series of Callan, produced by ABC Television, was developed from the Armchair Theatre play A Magnum for Schneider, which is included here, which itself was a heavily cut-down version of James Mitchell's novel. The early episodes seem to be very plot heavy, with little time to develop character, and heavily influenced by film, with the theme often played distractingly over every scene without dialogue. You can see the basic themes of the series developing: in the first episode proper, Callan's boss Hunter (Hunter #1, played by Ronald Radd) threatens him with death if he won't do a job. Once you've gone there you can't go back, but it's quickly seen that the producers have painted themselves into a dramatic corner, and subsequent Hunters motivate him in other, more subtle ways. Sometimes there's a bit of 1960s surrealism, as in one episode particularly memorable for Callan's employment of various hats – this kind of whimsy soon is dumped. By the time the second ABC series and the colour third series, produced by Thames TV, appears, there's more character development, more scenes highlighting the relationship between Callan and the other characters, more drama through dialogue, less running about, less gunplay. However, several of these episodes, notably "Death of a Hunter", in which Callan is tortured with mind altering drugs, Ipcress File-style, to think that his boss is a double agent, are very satisfying. (Incidentally, particularly here the character of Toby Meres seems a lot more sympathetic than in the better known later episodes, more vulnerable, not so much an upper class sadist, and genuinely upset at having to shoot Callan.) Network DVD can only be praised for putting out this very good compilation. However, there's little restoration of the material, which is a shame as Network did such a good job with this on the Public Eye series. Sadly also there are no subtitles – important when the sound is so primitive. I'm very glad they've left in the ad break separator cards that were such a good feature of older British TV. (Incidentally, there's a number of reminders that modern TV is vastly technically superior to the old – I was fascinated that the studio clock card is now visible behind the ABC Television ident at the beginning of the programmes. I'm also wondering if there may be other Callan tapes floating around: I've seen a section of another black and white episode on YouTube. The search goes on.