# Weird British TV Shows (1950's-Shown In The USA) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 14, 2013, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-british-tv-shows-1950s-shown-in-the-usa/655678 "2013-04-14T14:07:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-british-tv-shows-1950s-shown-in-the-usa/655678/1 "2013-04-14T14:07:04Z")
I was just watching a really strange British TV show (“The Invisible Man”-ca. 1958). Apparently, this show was on for some years in the USA. Pretty strange-its about a detective who is invisible. There was also Robin Hood"-which did quite well in the USA (it was made before videotapes-the “Electronicam” films were flown to the USA by TWA). Is there a good website where I can find all of these TV shows? The UK and USA are two peoples “separated by a common language”-yet there has actually been a lot of stuff coming from across the pond-anybody know a good website devoted to this? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-british-tv-shows-1950s-shown-in-the-usa/655678/2 "2013-04-14T15:02:22Z")
The US networks in the 50s and 60s saw UK shows as a cheap way to fill programming. Another one of the 50s was \*\*[The Bucanners](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Buccaneers_(TV_series)) \*\*, starring Robert “Jaws” Shaw. The most successful imports in the 60s were **The Avengers** and **The Prisoner**. One of the last to be aired on a network was the 1968 series **[The Champions](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Champions)**, about super-powered superspies. It did not do well. **The Saint** (with Roger Moore) remained syndicated for some time after that. ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-british-tv-shows-1950s-shown-in-the-usa/655678/3 "2013-04-14T16:36:45Z")
This is a cracker - from 1960: The Strange World of Gurney Slade: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/MWxb1KkXy5c/hqdefault.jpg "The Strange World of Gurney Slade - Official Trailer") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWxb1KkXy5c) ---
**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:** [April 14, 2013, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-british-tv-shows-1950s-shown-in-the-usa/655678/4 "2013-04-14T17:02:41Z")
> **[Ivanhoe (1958 TV series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivanhoe_(1958_TV_series))** > > Ivanhoe is a British television adventure series first shown on ITV network in 1958–1959. The show features Roger Moore in his first starring role, as Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe, in a series of adventures aimed at a children's audience. The characters were drawn loosely from Sir Walter Scott's 1819 novel Ivanhoe. > The series is set in England during the 12th century reign of King Richard the Lionheart, who had gone to fight in the Crusades and failed to return. In his absence, power had been taken... ---
**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:** [April 14, 2013, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-british-tv-shows-1950s-shown-in-the-usa/655678/5 "2013-04-14T17:21:12Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > The US networks in the 50s and 60s saw UK shows as a cheap way to fill programming. Another one of the 50s was \*\*[The Bucanners](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Buccaneers_(TV_series)) \*\*, starring Robert “Jaws” Shaw. > > The most successful imports in the 60s were **The Avengers** and **The Prisoner**. One of the last to be aired on a network was the 1968 series **[The Champions](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Champions)**, about super-powered superspies. It did not do well. > > **The Saint** (with Roger Moore) remained syndicated for some time after that. I was about 11 when the Bucaneers was on, and I had major pre-adolescent hots for Captain Dan Tempest. In college when The Avengers was on and adored it. Always searching for signs that Steed and Mrs. Peel were Doing It. Anyone have an opinion on that-- were they? As for The Prisoner: “Be seein’ ya.” ---
**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:** [April 15, 2013, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-british-tv-shows-1950s-shown-in-the-usa/655678/6 "2013-04-15T05:59:47Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > In college when The Avengers was on and adored it. Always searching for signs that Steed and Mrs. Peel were Doing It. Anyone have an opinion on that-- were they? _ **The New Avengers** _ came out when I was living in England in '76–'77. A special commemorative magazine was issued that covered every incarnation of the series all the way back to _ **Police Surgeon** _ with Ian Hendry (not to be confused with the Canadian series of the same name). The magazine was written in the voice of Patrick MacNee, who said (I’m quoting from memory here) “With Emma Peel, the sex thing was taken for granted, and we just never dwelled on it… For years, I’ve been asked if Steed and Emma slept together; now you know.” (I would give anything to have my copy of that magazine back! ☹ ) ---
**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:** [April 15, 2013, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-british-tv-shows-1950s-shown-in-the-usa/655678/7 "2013-04-15T06:02:49Z")
**NB:** The correct spelling of the series mentioned above is “Buccaneers.” That is all. Carry on! ---
**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:** [April 15, 2013, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-british-tv-shows-1950s-shown-in-the-usa/655678/8 "2013-04-15T06:07:57Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > [Ivanhoe (1958 TV series) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivanhoe_(1958_TV_series)) Correcting the above: > **[Ivanhoe (1958 TV series)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivanhoe_(1958_TV_series))** > > Ivanhoe is a British television adventure series first shown on ITV network in 1958–1959. The show features Roger Moore in his first starring role, as Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe, in a series of adventures aimed at a children's audience. The characters were drawn loosely from Sir Walter Scott's 1819 novel Ivanhoe. > The series is set in England during the 12th century reign of King Richard the Lionheart, who had gone to fight in the Crusades and failed to return. In his absence, power had been taken... Here is a video link: https://www.youtube.com/embed/L6NJfmLQj20?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque ---
**Author:** ![Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boulter_s_Canary)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2013, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-british-tv-shows-1950s-shown-in-the-usa/655678/9 "2013-04-16T23:03:52Z")
[Adam Adamant Lives](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtIvh7R6Y6Q) [Sky](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLy4EN28tgg) [Children of the Stones](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWMjegykSSg) [The Changes](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYkkfBMK-7c) ---
**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:** [April 17, 2013, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-british-tv-shows-1950s-shown-in-the-usa/655678/10 "2013-04-17T01:45:05Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > In college when The Avengers was on and adored it. Always searching for signs that Steed and Mrs. Peel were Doing It. Anyone have an opinion on that-- were they? No, I don’t think so. The back story was that her husband had gone missing, fairly recently. She was still hoping he was alive, somewhere. At the end of her last episode, he did in fact [turn up alive](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lt_BCLtLZfw). While there was certainly an attraction between them, any suggestion of them acting on it would have been inappropriate. > [@terentii](#): > > The magazine was written in the voice of Patrick MacNee, who said (I’m quoting from memory here) “With Emma Peel, the sex thing was taken for granted, and we just never dwelled on it… For years, I’ve been asked if Steed and Emma slept together; now you know.” I’ve heard a similar comment, but I’m pretty sure it was Cathy Gale he was talking about. ---
**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:** [April 17, 2013, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-british-tv-shows-1950s-shown-in-the-usa/655678/11 "2013-04-17T02:02:33Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > I’ve heard a similar comment, but I’m pretty sure it was Cathy Gale he was talking about. No, he was speaking specifically about how they worked to make his relationship with Emma completely different from his one with Cathy. I’ve only seen a few of the Mrs Gale episodes, but in every one she was the center of attention and Steed was a kind of smarmy character lurking in the shadows (her “control,” as I recall). I have a hard time imagining them together. I don’t think the missing Peter Peel was mentioned in any episode prior to “The Forget-Me-Knot.” His rescue was entirely a plot device to explain Diana Rigg’s leaving the series after she agreed to do _ **On Her Majesty’s Secret Service** _. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2013, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/weird-british-tv-shows-1950s-shown-in-the-usa/655678/12 "2013-04-17T14:14:44Z")
I think the implication was clear the Steed and Mrs. Peel were more than just friends. This being 60s TV, you couldn’t say more. Mrs. Peel believed her husband was dead. (Trivia: her maiden name was Emma Knight).