Who Pays the Ferryman? (1977) User Reviews

One of the better television series of the 1970's

[myriamlenys · 9/10 · 16 May 2020]

Very glad I've got the opportunity, once again, to write a short review, as I've found myself at the receiving end of one of the side-effects of the corona crisis. So it's been hectic, and not in a good way. But brighter days are sure to come along...

Currently there are but few reviews about the series, but this seems to be caused mainly by availability problems. Certainly most people who were lucky enough to watch the series when it aired, remember it with admiration and fondness.

In "Who pays the ferryman ?" a middle-aged widower loses the ship yard business that meant so much to him. In an attempt to take stock of his life he returns to Crete, where he spent three years of his youth helping the Greeks fight the Nazis. An old comrade tells him that his then lover, the beautiful Melina, bore him a child. The news comes as a complete surprise, since he never knew of her pregnancy. For some reason or another, their respective letters went astray...

"Who pays ?" is a fine, well-made series that mixes suspense, intrigue and romance. The pace is deliberate but not slow or boring. Gradually, the story builds up to the kind of finale that will have you discussing it with friends and colleagues for weeks. The Greek setting adds a lot of charm and interest. However, beware of the theme tune : while a nice piece of music, it has a tendency to burrow into your brain...

A superior drama serial

[DPMay · 9/10 · 30 September 2022]

This 8-part BBC Television drama was one of a number of offerings from the pen of the late Michael J Bird, all of them well-crafted exercises in intrigue and suspense with character-driven plots in an exotic foreign setting. Sometimes Bird's works veered off into the realms of fantasy, but Who Pays The Ferryman, perhaps his most acclaimed piece, is very much grounded in reality.

Jack Hedley stars as Alan Haldane, a successful boat designer who is effectively forced to retire a little earlier than he was expecting when his brother sells out the business against his wishes. A widower now without any ties, the embittered Haldane decides to finally return to Crete, where he fought heroically during the Second World War and where he met and loved a local girl whom he has never forgotten, but who never answered the letters he wrote to her when he returned to the UK.

Little does Haldane know what took place after he left Crete or what sequence of events will be triggered now that he has returned. The plot takes many turns, building up to an intense finale, and covers themes such as love, comradeship, bigotry, jealousy, greed, blood ties and the generational differences in clinging on to old customs and values. Along the way, the episodes treat us to many glimpses of Cretan life.

Betty Arvaniti is the second lead as Annika, the Cretan woman with whom Haldane develops a new romance, the path of which is obstructed by secrets from the past. Neil McCarthy demonstrates a reminder of his often overlooked talent and versatility in playing Haldane's old comrade (and now respected legal expert) Babis Spiridakis, whilst Takis Emmanuel, perhaps best remembered by British viewers for playing Tom Baker's sidekick in the 1974 film The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, is the rival who soon finds himself on a mission to see Haldane dead. Pulling the strings is the old matriarch Katerina Matakis, given suitable venom by Patience Collier. For me, however, it is Stefan Gryff who really steals the show in the role of The Major, the senior police official. An eloquent, dignified, principled and calm man, he gets most of the best lines with his thoughtful insights, and is to all intents and purposes the same character Gryff played in an earlier series by Bird, The Lotus Eaters.

Although essentially a serial, there are some episodes which deviate from the main story arc to present a self-contained plot, though this is quite effective as these particular episodes still advance the relationship between Haldane and Annika, as well as highlighting the passage of time as Haldane remains on Crete. They also give the opportunity for some welcome guest spots including a turn from Patrick Magee, an actor who specialised in unpleasant characters and he's very much playing to type here.

Overall, Who Pays The Ferryman is a well-paced, well-balanced drama with an opening episode that really hooks the viewer. The characters and their motivations are believable, and the series shows much of Crete as it was back in the 1970s. There are a few minor niggles, such as inevitable moments when Greek characters needlessly converse in English, or the obvious jumps between location film and studio, and curiously the main character Haldane doesn't have a single line of dialogue for the latter half of the final episode even though he features throughout.

Much praised in its time and with its theme music even riding high in the UK pop charts, Who Pays The Ferryman has been shamefully overlooked by the BBC since the 1970s, but it's a bona-fide classic of its time that deserves to be checked out.

Aegean nostalgia

[paaskynen · 8/10 · 28 October 2022]

This ten-episode TV series was a great hit in the Netherlands in 1978. Pretty much the whole country stayed home to watch it and the theme music climbed the hit charts.

The story breathes the relative idyllic atmosphere of Greece in the late 70s. The military dictatorship had been overthrown in 1974 and the country was opening up to foreign tourism like never before. The future appeared bright, though at the same time the memories of the Second World War remained fresh as many had lived through it.

This is the background against which the story is set. Inside scenes were filmed in the UK, but all outside sequences were filmed on Crete with lots of local extras, which lends the story a lot of authenticity. The fact that the main Greek characters are played by British actors does not take away from that. They do an excellent job.

While referencing Greek mythology, especially in the episode titles, the story remains grounded in real life intercultural and interpersonal conflicts. It builds up over the episodes to a magnificent climax at the end. I cannot but recommend this series.

The village of Elounda, featured prominently in the series, became something of a tourist magnet as a result and grew into a major seaside resort on Crete.

Mystery, war, romance, tension, great

[PaulBS · 2 December 2004]

A former UK officer returns to the island of Crete where he played a roll in the resistance movement after the nazi's occupied the island and the British forces where overrun. It's however more as just a vacation meeting old friends, visiting the places from the past, there is a mysterious history involved, he has an old romance but also made enemies from the past. Film is set on Crete in Greece and was for a good part actually filmed on the island. Colorfull TV series which I've seen in 1977 and never since but still can remember vividly, can't wait for it to finally come out on DVD!

Superb, all told

[blacknorth · 10/10 · 15 April 2010]

Who Pays The Ferryman is a seminal BBC television series, transmitted in 1977. The programme was a major success, watched by millions, the theme tune made the top ten and Michael J Bird established himself as one of the leading screenwriters of the time. The script and acting are of a quality rarely seen since on UK TV, the plot of the series reaching the unbearable pitch of a genuine Greek tragedy by the stunning final episode. Not surprising, as the series is set on Crete and uses local history and lore to move the story along to this extraordinary climax.

Jack Hedley plays Alan Haldane, a British ex-serviceman and boat-builder who takes early retirement and returns to Crete to look up the friends he had made while fighting with the partisans there during the war. He finds he had unknowingly fathered a daughter and determines to stay on the island to assure her future as best he can. Unfortunately, his daughter's clan is headed up by Patience Collier, a classic Greek dowager, who intervenes to settle old scores. Much pain and tragedy ensue.

This story is told over eight episodes. Several episodes only touch on the main plot, having stand-alone stories of their own (the Gareth Thomas episode is especially good), and throughout all of them Haldane has an on-off love affair with a local woman who is unaware of his full history - she is played with great depth, gentleness and sympathy by Betty Arvaniti. Other performances of note are Stefan Gryff as the seemingly nonchalant police inspector who seems to act as a moral oracle arbitrating between Cretan traditions and his duties as a modern policeman. And Neil McCarthy as Haldane's oldest friend - an actor of great character with a fantastic ravaged face.

I can't praise this series highly enough - it's everything that good television should be. More than that - it's event television - a series so good that it captured the public imagination regardless of its complex structure and classical references. Unfortunately, the BBC never bothered to release it on video, so it has faded from living memory. But recently it was issued on DVD in Holland - it is worth tracking down a copy to see just how good, how pure, how brilliant, once casual entertainment was on British television. We have fallen a long way since then. Who pays the ferryman, indeed.

An Excellent TV Series

[rdc-20959 · 9/10 · 26 March 2021]

I recall watching it each week in New Zealand. At times it seems to meander along a bit and the second episode I didn't like. However, it captures the Greek culture nicely and builds to quite a finale.

Rickety, with a tremendous ending

[wolfstar_imdb · 7/10 · 17 December 2023]

This summery romance series set in 1970s Crete bumbles along amiably enough for the first six episodes, then shifts up a gear into a fully realized Greek tragedy for the final two. The finale in particular is a thing of wonder - everything comes together in a way that's very satisfying, propulsive and brave. It's the kind of masterful, thrilling writing that's very rare in series finales today, and the whole cast get a chance to shine. No punches are pulled.

Before we get to the end though, there are a lot of filler episodes - in particular, episodes 2, 4 and 6 are less strong than the rest and are let down by weakly performed guest stars.

While leads Jack Hedley and Betty Arvaniti do the heavy lifting, what really makes the series work is the strong scaffolding provided by supporting characters like the Major (Stefan Gryff) and Babis (Neil McCarthy), who come into their own over the course of the series. By episode 4 I was ready to quit because the show was starting to feel soapy and lightweight, but I'm so glad I stuck with it - the destination is worth it, because those final two episodes make the series and are what everyone remembers.