The Top Secret Life of Edgar Briggs

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The Top Secret Life of Edgar Briggs
The Top Secret Life of Edgar Briggs.jpg
GenreComedy
Written by Bernard McKenna
Richard Laing
Directed byBryan Izzard
Bruce Gowers
Starring David Jason
Noel Coleman
Michael Stainton
Theme music composer Sam Fonteyn
Opening theme"Defective Detective"
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13
Production
Producer Humphrey Barclay
Production company London Weekend
Original release
Network ITV
Release15 September (1974-09-15) –
20 December 1974 (1974-12-20)

The Top Secret Life of Edgar Briggs is a 1974 British television comedy series created by Bernard McKenna and Richard Laing and produced by Humphrey Barclay for LWT. [1] It was directed by Brian Izzard/Bruce Gowers and starred David Jason as the inept Edgar Briggs, personal assistant to the Commander of the British Secret Intelligence Service [2] who, in spite of his cluelessness, manages to solve case after case. It ran for one series of 13 25-minute episodes on the ITV network.

Contents

In 2026 the series was shown on the British TV channel Rewind TV. [3]

Cast

Episodes

Episode #Episode title
1-01The Assassin
1-02The Defector
1-03The Leak
1-04The Escape Route
1-05The Abduction
1-06The Exchange
1-07The Courier
1-08The KGB
1-09The Traitor
1-10The Drawing
1-11The President
1-12The Appointment
1-13The Contact

Reception

According to David Jason's biographers, Edgar Briggs was not a ratings success in Britain but proved popular in overseas markets. Nevertheless, Jason reportedly vetoed repeat screenings of the series for many years on the grounds that he "[knew] how raw he looked in those days" and was "not at all anxious to share that with his public." [4]

DVD release

The complete series was released on DVD in March 2015. [5]

References

  1. ↑ "The Top Secret Life of Edgar Briggs". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  2. ↑ Dave Rogers, The ITV Encyclopedia of Adventure, page 564, ISBN   9781852832179, pub 1988 by Boxtree Ltd for TV Times Publications, somewhere in the UK.
  3. ↑ "The Top Secret Life of Edgar Briggs". tv-guide-listings.co.uk. Retrieved 19 January 2026.
  4. ↑ Hildred, Stafford; Ewbank, Tim (2012). Sir David Jason - A Life of Laughter. John Blake Publishing. pp. 95–96. ISBN   9781782190721.
  5. ↑ "The Top Secret Life of Edgar Briggs: The Complete Series". Amazon.co.uk. 2 March 2015.
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