Crane (TV series)
| Crane | |
|---|---|
| Created by |
Patrick Alexander Jordan Lawrence |
| Starring |
Patrick Allen Sam Kydd Gerald Flood Laya Raki |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 39 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Jordan Lawrence |
| Running time | 60 min. |
| Release | |
| Original network | Associated-Rediffusion |
| Original release | 2 April 1963 – 25 January 1965 |
Crane is a British black and white adventure series that aired on ITV from 1963 to 1965. It was shown on Monday nights at 8 PM.
The series was based around Richard Crane (Patrick Allen) who was a successful city businessman who was tired of the big city rat race. He took his money and retired to the sun drenched shores of Morocco, near Casablanca, investing his money in a beach side café and boat.
Having let it be known that his services were available for import and export assignments, he soon found himself involved in minor smuggling activities (tobacco and alcohol, but no drugs, although the series never explained how he made a profit smuggling in a country where cigarettes over the counter are already a minimal fraction of the usual price elsewhere and Casablanca is over 300 km from the nearest border by sea). However, this brought him to the attention of the local chief of police, Colonel Mahmoud (Gerald Flood). The pair developed a healthy respect for each other and there were times when they would join forces against a common enemy. Colonel Mahmoud was assisted by Inspector Larbi played by Bruce Montague.
Crane's only real friend was an ex-Foreign Legionnaire named Orlando O'Connor (Sam Kydd), who became his trusted confidant. The glamour in the show was Halima (Laya Raki), a young Arab girl Crane employed to run the bar in his café.
The location filming was shot in Morocco, whilst the interior filming was studio-bound and filmed in the studios at Wembley in London.
The series was originally planned as a 'midsummer filler programme', only to last one season of 13 episodes, but it proved so popular that it returned for a second season of 13 episodes and even a third one of 13 episodes.
It spawned another series, this one aimed at children and called Orlando, based on one of its characters. This ran for 76 colour episodes of 30 minutes, running from 1965 to 1968 (one show ended January 1965, the other started April 1965). Orlando stars Sam Kydd.
1. A Death of No Importance. When a friend of Crane's is killed, he hunts the man through the streets of Casablanca. Michael Robbins as Jennings, Jennifer Browne as Margot, Guy Deghy as Primo, Gábor Baraker, James Bree.
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