The Guardians | |
---|---|
Genre | Sci-fi Political thriller Drama |
Created by | Rex Firkin Vincent Tilsley |
Written by | various |
Directed by | various |
Starring | Gwyneth Powell Cyril Luckham David Burke Derek Smith Edward Petherbridge |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 1 |
No. of episodes | 13 |
Production | |
Producer | Andrew Brown |
Running time | 60 minutes |
Production company | London Weekend Television |
Original release | |
Network | ITV |
Release | 10 July – 2 October 1971 |
The Guardiansis a television political thriller series of 13 60-minute episodes made by London Weekend Television and broadcast in the UK on the ITV network (with the exception of Ulster Television) between 10 July 1971 and 2 October 1971.
The Guardians is a dystopian political thriller set in the 1980s. Following economic chaos, democratic government has been overthrown in a bloodless coup, the Royal Family fled into self-imposed exile and England is ruled autocratically by Prime Minister Sir Timothy Hobson. Hobson is initially a pawn of 'the General'; a military officer by the name of Roger, who later becomes the Minister of Defence. Hobson subscribes to an outwardly benevolent paternalistic fascism, based on the principle that "democracy is a form of group suicide." Political opposition is suppressed by a uniformed paramilitary force recruited from former policemen, soldiers and security guards and called "The Guardians of the Realm" (known for short as "The Guardians" or simply "The Gs"). Each episode begins with a column of Guardians marching through central London to a memorable theme tune composed by Wilfred Josephs.
The government, nominally headed by Hobson, is opposed by a fragmented resistance movement collectively named "Quarmby." The dominant group within Quarmby favours a strategy of provoking increased oppression by the state through the use of assassination and other forms of terrorism. The series avoided black and white scenarios by portraying moderate and extreme factions jostling within both government and resistance. Hobson represents the liberal element within government, attempting to outmanoeuvre the seldom-seen General and the polished Cabinet Secretary Norman.
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "The State of England" | Robert Tronson | Vincent Tilsley | 10 July 1971 | |
After a period of mass unemployment, chaos and a complete failure of the government, order has been restored in England. However, the price of this new stability is personal liberty. Dissenters soon appear, dedicated to the overthrow of the new regime. | |||||
2 | "Pursuit" | James Goddard | Hugh Whitemore | 17 July 1971 | |
An attempt has been made on the Prime Minister’s life, and an agent planted to root out Communists within the Guardians is shot dead. | |||||
3 | "Head of State" | Robert Tronson | John Bowen | 24 July 1971 | |
A delicate situation develops when the French President, due in London for talks, refuses to attend unless he can meet the real head of state. With the Queen in self-imposed exile and the Prime Minister little more than a pawn of the General, who is the real head of state? | |||||
4 | "The Logical Approach" | Tony Wharmby | John Bowen | 31 July 1971 | |
The new Home Secretary is perturbed to find out that, in a supposedly humane measure, prisoners under sentence of death are sedated and painlessly euthanised 24 hours before their scheduled executions. | |||||
5 | "Quarmby" | Robert Tronson | John Bowen | 7 August 1971 | |
The search continues for a sniper and the Prime Minister has had enough. He decides to disband the Guardians. But does he have the power to do so? | |||||
6 | "Appearances" | Mike Newell | Monty Poole | 14 August 1971 | |
Having killed a detective in cold blood, the state psychiatrist and Quarmby activist Dr Benedict returns to his routine of causing chaos for the Guardians and the government. Is it time for action to be taken? | |||||
7 | "This is Quarmby" | Brian Parker | Arden Winch | 21 August 1971 | |
There have been many strikes against the regime, but now the resistance launches a new campaign to persuade public opinion of the innate brutality of the government. | |||||
8 | "The Dirtiest Man in the World" | Derek Bailey | John Bowen | 28 August 1971 | |
An officer of the Guardians is being held at the rehabilitation centre and is making no effort to leave; Dr Benedict does not underestimate the officer’s value as a pawn in the struggle against the Guardians. | |||||
9 | "I Want You to Understand Me" | Robert Tronson | John Bowen | 4 September 1971 | |
When a kidnapped member of the Guardians is assassinated, the Prime Minister is sent an ultimatum: restore democracy or face more kidnappings and chaos. | |||||
10 | "The Nature of the Beast" | Mike Newell | Jonathan Hales | 11 September 1971 | |
Dr Benedict has problems when a man calling himself Quarmby drops into his office without an appointment, while Clare has her own problems with her drugged husband. | |||||
11 | "The Roman Empire" | Moira Armstrong | John Bowen | 18 September 1971 | |
The Prime Minister, fearing for his career, rigs a show trial after a Guardian commander kills three workers during a protest. | |||||
12 | "The Killing Trade" | Derek Bailey | Jonathan Hales | 25 September 1971 | |
Weston is alone after Clare reveals her love for Chris; any escape plan will now be difficult with such limited support. | |||||
13 | "End in Dust" | Robert Tronson | John Bowen | 2 October 1971 | |
Dr Benedict embarks on a high-risk mission, unaware that he is under surveillance. With anger growing in England, the time to take sides has come. |
The series was originally broadcast between 10 July 1971 and 2 October 1971 on all ITV stations with the exception of Ulster Television (UTV); since UTV served the Northern Ireland area, which was in the early stages of the Troubles, the Independent Television Authority decided that the series was unsuitable for broadcast there due to its political content such as depictions of terrorist activity from the terrorist's point of view, and due to a desire to avoid any unintended connection to the Republic of Ireland's Garda Síochána (whose name translates into "Guardians of the Peace", while the full name of the titular Guardians organisation is "Guardians of the Realm"). [1]
The series was released on DVD in the UK on 1 February 2010 by Network. [2] The full 13-part series was released as a 4-disc set. As of 2023 this set is out of print.
1990 – A similar series broadcast in 1977–1978 about a dystopian Britain set in 1990
ITV, legally known as Channel 3, is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network. It is branded as ITV1 in most of the UK except for central and northern Scotland, where it is branded as STV. It was launched in 1955 as Independent Television to provide competition, eliminating what had hitherto been the monopoly of BBC Television. ITV is the oldest commercial network in the UK. Since the passing of the Broadcasting Act 1990, it has been legally known as Channel 3 to distinguish it from the other analogue channels at the time: BBC1, BBC2 and Channel 4.
ITV1 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for the central and northern areas of Scotland where STV provides the service.
Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broadcast from 09:25 Monday morning to 17:15 Friday afternoon at which time it would hand over to London Weekend Television (LWT).
UTV/ITV1 is the ITV region covering Northern Ireland, ITV subsidiary and the former on-air name of the free-to-air public broadcast television channel serving the area. It is run by ITV plc and is responsible for the regional news service and other programmes made principally for the area.
World in Action was a British investigative current affairs programme made by Granada Television for ITV from 7 January 1963 until 7 December 1998. Its campaigning journalism frequently had a major impact on events of the day. Its production teams often took audacious risks, and the programme gained a solid reputation for its often-unorthodox approach. The series was sold around the world and won numerous awards. In its heyday, World in Action drew audiences of up to 23 million in Britain alone, equivalent to almost half the population.
Sharpe is a British television drama series starring Sean Bean as Richard Sharpe, a fictional British soldier in the Napoleonic Wars, with Irish actor Daragh O'Malley playing his second in command, Patrick Harper. Sharpe and Harper are the heroes of the Sharpe series of novels by Bernard Cornwell; most, though not all, of the episodes are based on the books. Produced by Celtic Films and Picture Palace Films for the ITV network, the series was filmed mainly in Crimea, with recordings of other episodes in Turkey, England, Portugal and Spain. The two final episodes were filmed in Jaipur, India.
Cyril Alexander Garland Luckham was an English film, television and theatre actor. He was the husband of stage and screen actress Violet Lamb.
The history of ITV, the United Kingdom and Crown Dependencies "Independent Television" commercial network, goes back to 1955.
Please Sir! is a British television sitcom created by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey and featuring actors John Alderton, Deryck Guyler, Penny Spencer, Joan Sanderson, Noel Howlett, Erik Chitty and Richard Davies. Produced by London Weekend Television for ITV, the series ran for 55 episodes between 1968 and 1972.
Peter Taylor, is a British journalist and documentary-maker. He is best known for his coverage of the political and armed conflict in Northern Ireland, widely known as the Troubles, and for his investigation of Al Qaeda and Islamist extremism in the wake of 9/11. He also covers the issue of smoking and health and the politics of tobacco for which he was awarded the WHO Gold Medal for Services to Public Health. He has written books and researched, written and presented television documentaries over a period of more than forty years. In 2014, Taylor was awarded both a Royal Television Society lifetime achievement award and a BAFTA special award.
UTV Live is a Northern Irish television news service broadcast and produced by UTV.
The media in Northern Ireland are closely linked to those in the rest of the United Kingdom, and also overlap with print, television, and radio in the Republic of Ireland.
Kelly is a regional talk and variety show, hosted by broadcaster Gerry Kelly and broadcast on UTV from 1989 to 2005.
STV Group plc is a media company based in Glasgow, Scotland. Beginning as a television broadcaster in 1957, the company expanded into newspapers, advertising and radio; after completing a restructuring in 2010, STV Group is active in broadcast television, video-on-demand and television production. The company is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index.
Virgin Media Three, also called Virgin Three, is an Irish free-to-air television channel owned by Virgin Media Television.
This is a timeline of the history of the British broadcaster Scottish Television. It provides the ITV network service for Central Scotland.
This is a timeline of the history of Ulster Television. It provides the ITV network service for Northern Ireland.
This is a timeline of television in Northern Ireland.
This is a timeline of the history of regional news on the British television network ITV.