Callan (TV series)
| Callan | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Starring |
Edward Woodward Russell Hunter |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of series | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 44 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 50 minutes per episode approx. (60 with adverts) |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV |
| Original release | 8 July 1967 – 24 May 1972 |
Callan is a British action/drama television series created by James Mitchell, first airing between 1967 and 1972. It starred Edward Woodward as David Callan, an agent of a state secret service dealing with internal security threats to the United Kingdom. Though portrayed as having responsibilities similar to those of the real-life MI5, Callan's fictional "Section" has carte blanche to use the most ruthless of methods. In the storylines interrogation is by means of torture, while extrajudicial killings are so routine they have a colour-coded filing system. With the possible exception of La Femme Nikita, no TV series has ever presented a Western government agency in so sinister a light as Callan. Despite being an assassin who stays in the socially isolating job because it is the only thing he is good at, Callan is a sympathetic character by comparison to his sadistic upper-class colleagues and implacable superior. The downbeat cover for the Section's headquarters was the scrap metal business of "Charlie Hunter" (a reference to the Richardson Gang). Produced by ABC Weekend Television and Thames Television, the programme proved extremely popular; as well as four series between 1967 and 1972, there was a film in 1974.
The series pilot episode aired in February 1967, in a play entitled A Magnum for Schneider by James Mitchell. Mitchell was later responsible for creating the equally popular When the Boat Comes In (1976–81). The haunted character of Callan caught the public's imagination to such an extent that a six-episode series was commissioned and broadcast, later in the same year. A further series of 16 followed, though with both ABC and Associated Rediffusion (broadcasters in the London region) going through the process of merging, by the time the second series was broadcast in 1969 it was attributed to Thames Television (the result of the merger).
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