Did You Know?

Nine episodes were directed by star Roger Moore. These were: The Saint: Sophia, The Saint: The Miracle Tea Party, The Saint: The Contract, The Saint: The Man Who Could Not Die, The Saint: The Old Treasure Story, The Saint: Escape Route, The Saint: Invitation to Danger, The Saint: The House on Dragon's Rock, and The Saint: Where the Money Is.

A version of the car story seen elsewhere says that Jaguar were indeed requested to supply the (then new) E type as an ideal "typically British" steed for Simon Templar, also typically British in the early sixties, Jaguar were bedeviled with strikes and parts supply, and could not deliver on time. Commencement date was looming and finally Roger Moore volunteered his personal car, the now famed Volvo P1800, although stylish it was hardly the racy image needed (post production gave it the exciting exhaust note). For Volvo it was a godsend - the P1800 had been selling sluggishly in the UK, suddenly it was "cool" and sales rocketed and as a result production was extended past the formerly planned finish date. On the rare occasions the vehicle was actually on location on "real" streets it was technically illegal as the "ST 1" licence plate was registered to another vehicle (the cops turned a blind eye).

Among the actors offered the role of Simon Templar was Patrick McGoohan. McGoohan turned down the role owing to his disapproval of Simon Templar's womanizing (he also turned down James Bond in Dr. No for much of the same reason).

Leslie Charteris guarded the rights to his creation closely, and earlier attempts to televise his stories had come to nothing. Producers Robert S. Baker and Monty Berman were recommended by John Paddy Carstairs, who had befriended the writer whilst directing The Saint in London (and who would direct The Saint: The Arrow of God and The Saint: The Romantic Matron for this run); Lew Grade proposed a budget of £30,000 per filmed episode which also helped convince Charteris that Templar was in safe hands.

According to Roger Moore in his autobiography, producer Robert S. Baker never gave Leslie Charteris script approval. He only had the right to comment on them. The short stories that many of the episodes were based on had a first and third act, but the show's writers had to go back and add a second act in order to fill the entire hour.

Roger Moore said that when filming scenes that were supposed to be in countries where they drove on the other side of the road, they would simply flip the film in the camera.

In a foreshadowing of things to come, Lois Maxwell, who played Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond Films, made two guest spots. Maxwell and Roger Moore were classmates at RADA.

Roger Moore was originally told that the series was going to be a half hour. It wasn't until they held a press conference to announce the series that he found out it was going to be a one hour series.