"The Persuaders!" (1971)TV series 1971-1972

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

18 September 1971 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure

Plot:

English Lord Brett Sinclair and American Danny Wilde are both wealthy playboys, they are teamed together...

Plot Keywords:

Aston Martin | Cult Favorite | British Lord | Farmer | Landlord

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Tony Curtis	...	Danny Wilde (24 episodes, 1971-1972)
Roger Moore	...	Lord Brett Sinclair / ... (24 episodes, 1971-1972)
Laurence Naismith	...	Judge Fulton (11 episodes, 1971-1972)

Also Known As:

The Friendly Persuaders (UK) (working title)

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Germany:12 | Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Incorporated Television Company (ITC)

Trivia:

The most ubiquitous firearm used in the series is a Model 1934 Beretta in 7.65 Browning (aka .32 ACP). It appears in almost every episode involving a handgun. When a revolver shows up, it is almost always a Colt Detective Special.

Quotes:

Felix Meadowes: I'm in trouble, Brett.
Lord Brett Sinclair: Money trouble?
Felix Meadowes: Woman trouble.
Lord Brett Sinclair: Oh. Well, if you're going to have trouble, that's the sort to have.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Familjehemligheter (2001)

Soundtrack:

The Persuaders

The opening credits made this show

This is one TV show in which the opening credit sequence was even better than the actual programme. To begin with, John Barry's theme music is still one of the best ever written for a TV show - a few years ago I heard it for the first time in nearly 20 years, and I absolutely stopped in my tracks! SO evocative. Then the montage, which begins by using images to tell the respective stories of the two main characters - Lord Brett Sinclair with his inherited wealth, his City career, his career as an English sporting gentleman, including being a Formula One driver (a superb quick archive shot of racing cars filmed in long zoom straight from the Golden Age of Grands Prix); Danny Wilde starting in poverty on the Lower East side in New York, but soon becoming an oil magnate (newspaper shot of a $9.6m dollar deal!). Then the next part of the sequence shows the two of them having a great time in various exotic European locations ... champagne bubbles, jewellry put round exquisite necks, the cars they drive, water-skiing, power boat racing, beautiful women in bikinis, and a shot of a roulette wheel. Everything you need to know about the programme, including the strong friendship between the leads, is to be found in this magnificent one-minute sequence.

I don't know what the German translations for the dialogue for Die Zwei were, but I'm sorry if the impression was given that the original didn't contrast witty dialogue with tense situations - because that's exactly what the original show *was* like. Anyway, this was never a show for worrying about what the plot was this week - it was a show for basking in the wonderful locations, the beautiful cars, the witty lines and the sexual banter. (Needless to say, both the main characters were depicted as irresistible to women).

For those in the UK who think it has gone away for ever, Granada Plus have recently reshown the whole series twice a day, and I've no doubt they will do so again. Also, I believe the shows are now available on video.