Secret Agent (1964–1966)
"Danger Man" (original title)

Three years after the original "Danger Man" series concluded, it was revamped and continued in a longer format. (1 hour/episode instead of 30 minutes). John Drake was now a Special Security... See full summary »

Stars:

Patrick McGoohan, Peter Madden, Earl Cameron

Cast

Series cast summary:
Patrick McGoohan	...	John Drake (47 episodes, 1964-1967)

Storyline

Three years after the original "Danger Man" series concluded, it was revamped and continued in a longer format. (1 hour/episode instead of 30 minutes). John Drake was now a Special Security Agent for MI9, getting his exotic assignments exclusively from Her Majesty's Secret Service. This version of the series introduced far more Bond-like gadgets, from exploding tie-pins to tape-recording shavers, and emphasized fast action.

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Plot Keywords:

gadget | eurospy | sequel | spy | espionage

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

3 April 1965 (USA)

Also Known As:

Secret Agent aka Danger Man

Filming Locations:

MGM British Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Incorporated Television Company (ITC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

49 min 49 min (47 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White (seasons 1-3) Color (season 4)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The nationality of John Drake is a matter of some debate. In the original Danger Man series, he was portrayed as an American. In the 1964 series, he appeared to be British. Patrick McGoohan was born in the US but based in Europe, and in one episode of the 1964 series, John Drake says he is Irish. McGoohan's next series, The Prisoner is considered by many to be a spinoff of "Danger Man" and many believe that show's main character, Number 6, is John Drake. Indeed at least one character from "Danger Man" (Potter) appears in an episode of "Prisoner." However, McGoohan has since 1967 been adamant Number 6 is not John Drake.

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Crazy Credits

Episode titles appear at the end of the episode opening credits, rather than at the beginning.

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Connections

Referenced in My Name Is Earl: My Name is Alias (2009)

User Reviews

Saved for video

I agree 100% with the previous comments. A nice departure for this series was that the hero wasn't forever slobbering over women - in fact Drake remained impervious to their charms - a sort of 1960s Sherlock Holmes - without an Irene Adler!. Only 2 episodes were made in colour, and these were to form part of the 1967 series, but after the two episodes were filmed PMcG wanted to drop the series and make 'The Prisoner' which is another story. It is probably because they are in black and white that domestic UK TV has not rebroadcast these stories, but the UK satellite channel Granada Plus has the rights to the ITC catalogue, which made Danger Man, but they seem reluctant to repeat B/W adventure series, though they do repeat B/W comedy shows like the earlier series of 'On The Buses' and 'Nearest and Dearest' etc. Perhaps if enough people contacted them they might think again?.

At least one videotape is available commercially of Danger Man, I have seen it recently in a store in London, as there are 4 episodes on one tape I assume that these are from the 1960 series, when the stories ran for 30 minutes. In the early days of Channel 4 (1982) they rebroadcast all 39 episodes of the original series twice a week.