# "Spy series" from the ITC era **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [March 13, 2026, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-series-from-the-itc-era/1028414 "2026-03-13T00:43:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-series-from-the-itc-era/1028414/1 "2026-03-13T00:43:27Z")
I just discovered a whole slew of these posted on YouTube. The earliest ones I’ve seen (_ **Interpol** _ _ **Calling** _) date back to around 1959, but I initially thought they were made later, around the time of Roger Moore’s version of _ **The Saint** _ (1962). Series include _ **The Protectors** _ (not the color version with Robert Vaughn, at least I don’t think so), _ **Man of the World** _, _ **Ghost Squad** _, and _ **Man in a Suitcase** _, none of which I’ve ever heard of before. They all seem to be full-length and in good monochrome condition. Best of all, they include early episodes of _ **The Avengers** _ (“Toy Trap,” “Girl on the Trapeze,” and a surviving bit of the 1961 pilot “Hot Snow”) and a collection of other goodies about the series. There are also a couple of episodes of that ‘60s classic _ **Honey West** _ (!), and color shows extending into the ‘70s, like _ **Jason King** _. I’m including a link to the show I’m watching now, which should lead you to the long list of selections. Browse and enjoy! ![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/CZ5LP_eWO30/maxresdefault.jpg)https://www.youtube.com/embed/CZ5LP_eWO30?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&list=PLw6gg897HVfvTNJuSmONo7NkZidnnoje1 ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-series-from-the-itc-era/1028414/2 "2026-03-13T01:17:58Z")
A bunch of those titles appeared on a local UHF channel when I was a kid. _Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)_ AKA _My Partner the Ghost_ was the only one in color. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-series-from-the-itc-era/1028414/3 "2026-03-13T01:53:25Z")
I love watching old shows like these just to hear all those clipped British accents. They’re so much more classy than the colloquial American crap I have to endure today. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-series-from-the-itc-era/1028414/4 "2026-03-13T02:20:22Z")
I just now tried to figure out what the ITC era was. Apparently there was something called the Independent Television Commission in the U.K. It lasted from 1 January 1991 to 28 December 2003. It [license](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/license "Definition of licenses")d and [regulate](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/regulate "Definition of regulates")d all television services in the U.K. [apart](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/apart "Definition of apart") from the BBC. Is that what you mean? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-series-from-the-itc-era/1028414/5 "2026-03-13T02:56:47Z")
**Incorporated Television Company** > **[ITC Entertainment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITC_Entertainment)** > > The Incorporated Television Company (ITC), or ITC Entertainment as it was referred to in the United States, was a British company involved in the production and distribution of television programmes. > Television mogul Lew Grade set up the Incorporated Television Programme Company (ITP) with Prince Littler and Val Parnell in 1954. Originally designed to be a contractor for the UK's new ITV network, the company failed to win a contract when the Independent Television Authority felt that doing so... " ITC is best known for being the company behind many successful British [cult TV](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_television) filmed series during the 1960s and 1970s, such as _[The Saint](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Saint_(TV_series))_, _[Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randall_and_Hopkirk_(Deceased))_, _[Danger Man](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danger_Man)_, _[The Baron](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Baron_(TV_series))_, _[Gideon’s Way](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gideon%27s_Way)_, _[The Champions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Champions)_, _[The Prisoner](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prisoner)_, _[Thunderbirds](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbirds_(TV_series))_, _[Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Scarlet_and_the_Mysterons)_, _[Stingray](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stingray_(1964_TV_series))_, _[Joe 90](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_90)_, _[Interpol Calling](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpol_Calling)_, _[Man in a Suitcase](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_in_a_Suitcase)_, _[Strange Report](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange_Report)_, \*\*[Department S](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_S_(TV_series))_, [The Persuaders!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Persuaders!), [Jason King](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_King_(TV_series)), [The Adventurer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventurer_(TV_series)), [The Protectors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Protectors), [Space 1999](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_1999), and [Return of the Saint](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Return_of_the_Saint). Some ATV videotaped productions, usually recorded at [ATV Elstree Studios](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATV_Elstree_Studios), were produced as ‘international productions’ and distributed overseas with ITC branding - these included [The Muppet Show](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Muppet_Show), Brian Clemens’ [Thriller](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_(British_TV_series)) and [The Julie Andrews Hour](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Julie_Andrews_Hour), the latter of which was taped at ABC-TV studios in Hollywood."_ ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-series-from-the-itc-era/1028414/6 "2026-03-13T02:59:47Z")
I was referring to the period in which shows from ITC (Lord Lew Grade’s production company) pretty much dominated British TV (and exports to places like the US). I grew up watching a lot of these (my favorite was _ **The Saint** _ with Roger Moore), so it lasted at least from the 1960s through the ‘70s. In the US, a lot of shows like _ **The Protectors** _ (the color version with Robert Vaughn) and _ **The Champions** _ were usually aired late at night on local stations as fillers. When _ **Danger Man** _ switched from monochrome to color in 1965 or ‘66, it was retitled _ **Secret Agent** _ and aired under that name in the US, with the accompanying theme by Johnny Rivers. It was, of course, followed by _ **The Prisoner** _, also with Patrick McGoohan. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-series-from-the-itc-era/1028414/7 "2026-03-13T13:16:28Z")
While we’re on the topic of ITC’s productions I’m hoping someone can flesh out a vague childhood memory … I recall a kids’ space SF series that aired in the USA from the early 1960s that I _think_ was made by ITC or someplace similar. It was absolutely positively _ **not** _ the _Thunderbirds_. And IIRC was a couple years before _Thunderbirds_ came out, or at least before it came to the USA. I also know it was not _Stingray_ or _Space:1999_ from @Peter_Morris’s wiki list upthread. I _think_ it was a British, not US, production. I _think_ it was marionettes, not animated or live humans but I’m not sure. The name of the series or their spaceship might have been alphanumeric gibberish akin to RFX-3456. Anyhow every episode the heroic Captain and crew had space adventures and always defeated the bad guys or evaded the previously unknown space danger. What I recall most clearly, because I got the toy and played with it endlessly (for a couple months) was the ship vaguely resembled the _Seaview_ from _Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea_, which series was then still several years in the future. So my memory is not from VttBotS. So the ship was long and thin, flared front end sorta kinda phallic with fins. Not that a 5yo notices that connection. And of course details along the length of the hull and more fins and propulsion pods or whatever at the back end. The big feature of the show (and toy) was that the forward control room area (front ~15%-ish) could detach and operate independently from the main ship. And often did. So actually, sorta like the way a SpaceX Starship payload unit and Super Heavy booster look, but with lots more exterior detail and doodads sticking out. Does this ring a bell w anyone? Bueller? ETA: After 10 minutes of writing this up which triggered a subconscious trawl through my dusty musty memories the words “XL-somenumbers” and “fireball” magically popped up. Then “Fireball XL-5”. A quick Google and here we are: > **[Fireball XL5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fireball_XL5)** > > Fireball XL5 is a 1960s British puppet science fiction television series about the missions of Fireball XL5, a vessel of the World Space Patrol that polices the cosmos in the year 2062. Commanded by Colonel Steve Zodiac, XL5 defends Earth from interstellar threats while encountering a wide variety of alien civilisations. > Inspired by the Space Race, Fireball XL5 was created by the husband-and-wife team of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed by their production company AP Films (APF) for ITC E... Looking down thread, I also see @Peter_Morris knew it straight away. Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-series-from-the-itc-era/1028414/8 "2026-03-13T13:24:45Z")
[![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/6ifS2nP53Zs/hqdefault.jpg "Fireball XL5 - Start & Theme Song") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ifS2nP53Zs) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-series-from-the-itc-era/1028414/9 "2026-03-13T14:26:48Z")
The first ITC series I remember seeing was _ **Supercar** _, in the summer of 1963 or ‘62. I was in Joliet. IL, with my dad at the time, so it was probably broadcast out of Chicago as part of the early Saturday morning kids’ show lineup. I thought the Supermarionation was weird but kinda cool, and I picked up the catchy theme song right away: _Supercar! It travels on land, it travels on sea, it can journey anywhere….._ [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/HFXcirSidnY/maxresdefault.jpg "Gerry Anderson's Supercar (1961) - HD Opening Titles") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFXcirSidnY) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-series-from-the-itc-era/1028414/10 "2026-03-13T14:45:13Z")
The **Endeavour** episode [season 6/episode 2] entitled _Apollo_ makes reference to a similar program. [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8700002/?ref\_=ext\_shr](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8700002/?ref_=ext_shr) From the trivia section on the IMDb for that episode: > Apollo (2019) > > Heavyside Studios and their Moon Rangers show clearly a nod to Gerry Anderson’s Century21 TV shows such as Thunderbirds (1965) and Stingray (1964). > > ["Endeavour" Apollo (TV Episode 2019) - Trivia - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8700002/trivia?item=tr4405707) * * * * * * I adored _The Avengers_ with Diana Rigg and Patrick MacNee when I was in high school, and I was mesmerized, as only a virginal schoolgirl could be, by the chemistry between Emma Peel and John Steed. (Steed? Why not go ahead and call him _stud_, with his cane and his bowler?) Would they or wouldn’t they? Had they or hadn’t they? You never knew for sure, but there was such a spark between them that I decided they had and they did. Often. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-series-from-the-itc-era/1028414/11 "2026-03-13T15:01:06Z")
I was living in England when _ **The New Avengers** _ debuted in early ‘77. I had a copy of the commemorative Sunday supplement that was issued, in which Patrick Macnee said they took it for granted that Steed and Emma were sleeping together and thus never dwelled on the topic. In at least one episode, Emma had to prove she was not an impostor by whispering something only she would know into Steed’s ear. If you watch very carefully, it’s clear that she says “We sleep together.” ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-series-from-the-itc-era/1028414/12 "2026-03-13T15:02:34Z")
Hehe. That’s very satisfying to know. 😎 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-series-from-the-itc-era/1028414/13 "2026-03-13T15:07:02Z")
An interesting documentary on _ **Supercar** _ and the start of the Gerry Anderson phenomenon: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/l412qlmBJxI/maxresdefault.jpg "Gerry Anderson Primer: Supercar") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l412qlmBJxI) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-series-from-the-itc-era/1028414/14 "2026-03-13T15:12:09Z")
This webpage lists 79 television series produced or distributed by ITC from 1954 to 1998: > **[Category:Television series by ITC Entertainment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Television_series_by_ITC_Entertainment)** > > Notable television and film productions/distributions of ITC Entertainment. > Stub articles in this subcategory should be tagged with {{ITCDistributions-stub}} > This category has the following 6 subcategories, out of 6 total. > The following 79 pages are in this category, out of 79 total. This list may not reflect recent changes. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-series-from-the-itc-era/1028414/15 "2026-03-13T15:22:58Z")
Jeez, how come we never built spacecraft like that in the 1950s? 😭 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-series-from-the-itc-era/1028414/16 "2026-03-13T16:32:12Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Hehe. That’s very satisfying to know. > 😎 You’ll probably also be satisfied to know that this younger boy had exactly the same thoughts as you were having. But about the oh-so-sexy Mrs. Peel. Upon some research just now the odd thing to me is that Diana Rigg / Mrs. Peel was with Steed for just 2 years of the original _Avenger’s_ 8 year run. And she was his third sidekick and the second female one of the eventual three women he worked with. _New Avengers_ still had Macnee / Steed but during that show’s 2-year run Steed had two new sidekicks: one male, one female. So all told two men and four women accompanied Steed on his decade of adventures. But to me Rigg/Peel is the one and only. The rest are at best pale imposters and at worst, just a waste of screen time and space. If asked I’d have said she appeared in 75+% of all episodes. Not the actual ~20%. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-series-from-the-itc-era/1028414/17 "2026-03-13T16:45:51Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > But to me Rigg/Peel is the one and only. Absolutely! > [@LSLGuy](#): > > The rest are at best pale imposters and at worst, just a waste of screen time and space. I don’t think I even bothered to watch more than a couple of those. * * * Diana Rigg’s daughter, Rachel Stirling, is just as gorgeous as her mom. Looks a lot like her, too: [![](https://i.imgur.com/jIbcjbv.jpeg) ](https://i.imgur.com/jIbcjbv.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-series-from-the-itc-era/1028414/18 "2026-03-13T16:50:18Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > ETA: After 10 minutes of writing this up which triggered a subconscious trawl through my dusty musty memories the words “XL-somenumbers” and “fireball” magically popped up. Then “Fireball XL-5”. A quick Google and here we are: Let me see of this posts correctly [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Tsjj-_NB3es/hqdefault.jpg "Craig Ferguson Fireball XL5 7/21/09") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tsjj-_NB3es) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-series-from-the-itc-era/1028414/19 "2026-03-13T17:22:54Z")
My first ITC series was _The Champions_, and that was definitely on weird spy series. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-series-from-the-itc-era/1028414/20 "2026-03-13T18:12:52Z")
Steed had another female sidekick before Cathy Gale was firmly established: nightclub singer Venus Smith, played by Julie Stevens. She figured prominently in six episodes, but she never really seemed to _do_ much. After Ian Hendry left the series, Steed was paired with a replacement, Dr Martin King, but that lasted only three episodes. Everything you probably want to know about _ **The Avengers** _ can be found at this website: [Welcome to The Avengers Forever!](http://theavengers.tv/forever/) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-series-from-the-itc-era/1028414.md?page=2)