Drake takes the place of a defector and goes behind the iron curtain to find out what is happening when foreign agents reach England. When he gets there he finds a replica English village, which is a...
An international financier has come to the notice of M9, as he is believed to be an extortionist and murderer. When some important people are found dead, Drake goes undercover as a butler at the ...
The Jolly Roger is pirate radio station on an old sea fort. A DJ is killed just as he sends a message saying that the station is sending coded messages to foreign submarines. Drake goes undercover as...
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Title: Secret Agent (1964–1967)
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Coming at approximately the same time as James Bond, ITC's Danger Man (known as Secret Agent in the states) is the complete antithesis, with the calm, icy-cool demeanour of British M9 agent, John Drake (Patrick McGoohan). Whereas Bond's all flash, Drake (who never carries a gun, he felt them to be "noisy, and they can hurt someone") used his brain, instead, and is very adept at defending himself with his hands, as well. He also eschewed having the "babe of the week", or even having Drake involved with a woman. The show (which had initially been a half-hour series, also under the Danger Man (1960) title, and character name, but was brought back slightly "retconned" and became a series with hour-long episodes) became an world-wide hit, and helped propel series' lead, Patrick McGoohan to international fame (in fact, Mr. McGoohan was twice offered the role of James Bond, and twice refused. The first time, he declined, but recommended a friend of his; Sean Connery). Unlike many other spy ...
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Believe it or not, I did not see any of this programme until 1992-93. It was shown one per night on CBC-Windsor at difficult to establish late hours. In spite of the inconvenience, I made it my business to see as many as possible; my first was when Drake had a car crash, blacking out . . . and you will just have to see it.
It was well cast with well-crafted supporting characters. I had no idea it was the progeny of an earlier show about a NATO operative, a few episodes of which I saw in 1961 (and none since). One notes comment that SECRET AGENT was inspired by the 007 films, which is beyond dispute, but I respectfully disagree that it was as "gadgety" as the Bond films, and furthermore it was devoid of the latent camp. Exception: "Would You Like Some Wine" (if memory serves). Perhaps it was the b.&w. presentation that made it more -- pardon the cliche -- gritty.
Most of the episodes were good. It seems some of the later ones (did the series run into 1967?) were the weakest: Far-fetched and in a few cases ridiculous without being tongue-in-cheek. I cannot say whether SECRET AGENT came to an end because it ran out of petrol or because the more ambitious THE PRISONER was on the drawing boards. All said, I agree that one should make every attempt to see the series, and no, being period piece does not distract for those able to make a mature adjustment to such.