The Baron

The Baron

1966
The Baron
The Baron

The Baron

7.1 | en | Drama

The Baron is a British television series, made in 1965/66 based on the book series by John Creasey, written under the pseudonym Anthony Morton, and produced by ITC Entertainment. It was the first ITC show without marionettes to be produced entirely in colour.

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Seasons & Episodes

1
EP30  Farewell to Yesterday
Apr. 19,1967
Farewell to Yesterday

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EP29  Countdown
Apr. 12,1967
Countdown

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EP28  The Man Outside
Apr. 05,1967
The Man Outside

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EP27  Roundabout
Mar. 29,1967
Roundabout

Mannering discovers that his Paris shop is being used as a front for drug trafficking.

EP26  The Long, Long Day
Mar. 22,1967
The Long, Long Day

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EP25  So Dark the Night
Mar. 15,1967
So Dark the Night

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EP24  Long Ago and Far Away
Mar. 08,1967
Long Ago and Far Away

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EP23  The Edge of Fear
Mar. 01,1967
The Edge of Fear

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EP22  Night of the Hunter
Feb. 22,1967
Night of the Hunter

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EP21  The Seven Eyes of Night
Feb. 15,1967
The Seven Eyes of Night

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EP20  The High Terrace
Feb. 08,1967
The High Terrace

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EP19  You Can't Win Them All
Feb. 01,1967
You Can't Win Them All

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EP18  A Memory of Evil
Jan. 25,1967
A Memory of Evil

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EP17  Time to Kill
Jan. 18,1967
Time to Kill

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EP16  The Island (2)
Jan. 11,1967
The Island (2)

With the ship arriving at the island to deliver its cargo, Mannering learns of the plot to steal an American space capsule. Via the ship's radio he alerts the US Navy of the plot. He and Cordelia escape and they must think up a plan to stop the robbery and hope that the Navy can get to them in time to assist.

EP15  Storm Warning (1)
Jan. 04,1967
Storm Warning (1)

The Baron and Cordelia are at the Macao docks checking a shipment of antiques. A missing crate leads to Cordelia witnessing a murder on baord a cargo ship. When she is held prisoner Mannering has to stow away on the ship. They meet an undercover CIA agent working as one of the crew who tells them about the ship's mysterious cargo and its secret destination. The CIA agent is killed and Mannering forced out into the open.

EP14  There's Someone Close Behind You
Dec. 28,1966
There's Someone Close Behind You

Mannering gets a tip-off that there will be a robbery at the Lynstead Collection. The police and the Baron lie in wait but one of the policemen is killed by the gang leader, Greg Wilde. Wilde is arrested for murder but his crooked solicitor tells him that all of the witnesses will be disposed of. Mannering escapes an attempt on his life but Wilde escapes from police custody and is out to get the Baron.

EP13  Portrait of Louisa
Dec. 21,1966
Portrait of Louisa

Louisa Trenton, an old friend of Mannering is in trouble. When she sells the Baron some rare family miniatures he offers his help but she declines. Later when she calls for his help he rushes to meet her in a London club only to find that she has been murdered. When he investigates he discovers that she was being blackmailed by her young lover. He is only the fall guy but as Mannering tries to find out who is the boss, more people are murdered.

EP12  The Maze
Dec. 14,1966
The Maze

Mannering stops up to pick up a petrified girl in a country lane, as they drive away they are shot at and crash off the road. When he comes to, he keeps having flashbacks that feature weird objects but the police simply think that he is suffering from concussion. As he tries to retrace his footsteps, he is watched by a man with a gun who is determined not to let him near the house in which the girl is held hostage.

EP11  Samurai West
Dec. 07,1966
Samurai West

The sale of a 5000 year old Samurai sword gives the Baron trouble. When the seller, Asano, bumps into an old enemy, Norman Sterling, at Mannering's apartment, Sterling promises to avenge the treatment of him and his brother in a Japanese POW camp. After Asano is murdered, the Baron has to protect Sterling from Asano's loyal servant is out for revenge.

EP10  The Legions of Ammak
Nov. 30,1966
The Legions of Ammak

Mannering is asked by an eccentric millionaire to witness him purchase The Legions of Ammrak, a golden necklace that contains seven perfectly matched black pearls. The Baron identifies that they are genuine but David Marlowe notices that the seller, King Ibrahim, is wearing the wrong school tie. When Mannering realises that he's being duped, he has to recover both the money and the necklace.

EP9  And Suddenly You're Dead
Nov. 23,1966
And Suddenly You're Dead

The Baron and Cordelia are in Switzerland when they bump into Peter Franklin, an old friend of Cordelia. Franklin, who is a CIA agent, has stolen the latest strain in a deadly virus from the laboratory he was working in. When Franklin is killed, Mannering is in a race with Sorenson, the scientist who developed the virus, and Holmes, an unscrupulous character, to discover the whereabouts of the deadly bacteria.

EP8  The Persuaders
Nov. 16,1966
The Persuaders

David Marlowe is kidnapped from Mannering's shop. For his release he must sell a false Renoir to Sir Robert Ellacott. Mannering calls on Templeton-Green for help. The Baron follows his orders and sells the picture but whilst visiting he meets Sir Robert's nephew Roddy and becomes suspicious. When Marlowe is stabbed by Roddy as he attempts to escape, the other gang members become nervous. Mannering has to meet Roddy with the ransom money to ensure that Marlowe isn't killed.

EP7  The Killing (2)
Nov. 09,1966
The Killing (2)

The Baron has to convince Cordelia who he is, but he still has to play the part for his captors. He manages to get rid of Revell and the gang head to London. However, one of the gang is the best friend of the part Mannering is playing. After he's discovered, the Baron really has to steal the Crown Jewels.

EP6  Masquerade (1)
Nov. 02,1966
Masquerade (1)

Mannering is invited by Sir Frederick Alton to his country home. When he enters the house he hears a woman crying for help. As he goes to help he's knocked unconscious. He wakes up to discover that he has a twin double. Mannering manages to change places with the double and his captors kill the man they belive to be the Baron. They then let him in on their plans to steal the Crown Jewels only for Cordelia to turn up at the wrong moment.

EP5  Enemy of the State
Oct. 26,1966
Enemy of the State

An undercover British agent is caught in an Eastern Bloc country and names Mannering as his contact. The Baron and Cordelia are in the country to pass over some money. They are warner not to go to the rendezvous by Bradfield as it is a trap. Cordelia is caught and held by the police. Mannering has a plan to kidnap the head of the police but there is a double agent in the Bradfield house.

EP4  Red Horse, Red Rider
Oct. 19,1966
Red Horse, Red Rider

When Mannering gets a message to buy The Four Horsemen, he travels to Khakania, a country gripped in civil war. The Horseman are a famous statue worth over $1m. The money from the statue will help fund the rebel cause. The Baron tries to flee the country with the rebel leader's daughter and statue but is hounded by the secret police who are always one step ahead of him.

EP3  Something for a Rainy Day
Oct. 12,1966
Something for a Rainy Day

The Baron does a deal with a scheming insurance agent to recover a £ 100,000 Aztec mask from an ex-con. However the former crook's gang leader has a different idea and will even hurt his one-time friend's daughter to get the mask.

EP2  Epitaph for a Hero
Oct. 05,1966
Epitaph for a Hero

Mannering attends the funeral of Jim Carey, a former army colleague. After receiving a message that Carey is still alive, Mannering agrees to go undercover for Templeton-Green. An elaborate plan to steal a $ 1 m jewel is bad enough but becomes worse when Cordelia is used as a hostage to ensure that the Baron cooperates with Carey.

EP1  Diplomatic Immunity
Sep. 28,1966
Diplomatic Immunity

After a robbery in his london shop, antique dealer John Mannering a.k.a. The Baron, is persuaded by Templeton-Green to work for Diplomatic Intelligence. He travels behind the Iron Curtin and meets his contact Cordelia. They encounter a corrupt Party member who attempts to frame them for the murder of his lover, the London jewel thief.

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7.1 | en | Drama , Action & Adventure | More Info
Released: 1966-09-28 | Released Producted By: ITC , Incorporated Television Company (ITC) Country: United Kingdom Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website:
Synopsis

The Baron is a British television series, made in 1965/66 based on the book series by John Creasey, written under the pseudonym Anthony Morton, and produced by ITC Entertainment. It was the first ITC show without marionettes to be produced entirely in colour.

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Cast

Steve Forrest , Sue Lloyd , Colin Gordon

Director

Producted By

ITC , Incorporated Television Company (ITC)

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Reviews

jimpayne1967 I like the old ITC action series of the 60s and very early 70s. I am old enough to remember the later shows such as the Persuaders and Jason King from when they were first broadcast and can remember when I was 6 or 7 being allowed to stay up to watch Danger Man, The Prisoner and The Champions. By the mid to late 70s when colour TV became commonplace these old shows were re-broadcast and I became familiar with all of them. They were quick moving, had great punch ups and were suffused with then contemporary anxieties about the Cold War, hard drugs and the length of women's skirts. Most of the shows re-ran again - I think on the BBC- in the mid 90s and then in the middle of the noughties some turned up on ITV 4. There was one which did not ever seem to turn up again and that show was the Baron. I only caught up with the show in recent times when I caught a few episodes on You Tube. Most of the episodes I saw were enjoyable enough - even the Rome set one with Peter Arne as a Mafia Capo which gets a low rating here was a perfectly decent way to spend 50 minutes.The problem with The Baron is though that it is just a bit, well, unremarkable. The stories are fine but are less crisp than Danger Man or Man in a Suitcase or even Department S. It is nowhere near as ludicrous as Randall & Hopkirk or the Champions or as downright awful as Jason King but the lack of gimmicks or bad moustaches works against it's reputation. The theme music written by Edwin Astley is clever but not as memorable as the same composer's themes for the Saint or Department S. The title character is played by Dana Andrews' brother Steve Forrest and he's fine but he lacks the panache of Roger Moore's Templar even if he is a better actor. The premise is not a bad one - a Texan exiled called John Mannering lives in London where he runs a high class antique business and his business takes him round the world (and even to Scotland!) and in the early episodes he does work for British Intelligence with whom he enjoys an ambivalent relationship. These early episodes are pretty good as they usually feature Colin Gordon as the Baron's Intelligence handler. But from episode 9 onward almost until the end the connection with espionage is ignored and many of the episodes are pretty much interchangeable with the then contemporaneous The Saint. The early episodes feature an actor called Paul Ferris who plays Mannering's PA David Marlowe. The shows backers in the States apparently did not like Ferris/Marlowe and he is pretty much dropped from episode 8 onward to be replaced by Sue Lloyd's character Cordelia who is transformed from being a cog in the British intelligence machine (as presented in a couple of early episodes) to being Mannering's female PA. Lloyd was fairly hot property at that time after her performance in the classic The Ipcress File and she was a decent actress. She also looks great but that is pretty much all she does as there is not one episode where she could not have been replaced by any one of the numerous other talented, beautiful English actresses of the era. There seems no great chemistry between Mannering and his female PA - certainly less than there is between the Baron and David Marlowe- nor does she seem to be a romantic interest as Mannering seems to be still playing the field. In short in most of her appearances Lloyd is wasted.Forrest is fine though. Although he is, unlike Templar, always on the side of the Angels the character is street smart and convincingly tough with an almost noirish edge to him - unlike all the ITC heroes except Drake and McGill I get the impression Mannering is a man who exists away from his adventures - it's a pity we do not see more of his hinterland. And he drives a great car- the glorious Jensen CV8 that was one of my own favourites as wee boy.6 out of 10 is maybe a wee bit low - 6 2/3s seems about right. Not a classic show but better than its obscurity suggests it is
jc-osms I know that my mark is nostalgia-influenced, but I really can't mark down any of the 60's ITC escapist adventure series as they were such a fun part of my childhood, watching classic shows like The Avengers, The Saint, Randall & Hopkirk Deceased, The Champions, Man In A Suitcase, Department S, The Persuaders and this.Yes, The Baron is a minor-league Simon Templar, a globe-trotting adventurer with an unlikely cover as an antiques dealer who invariably ends up in some foreign intrigue, yes, the production values are fairly low, with studio-bound sets and stock footage of international airports dropped in to futilely attempt to convince the audience the locations are authentic but it's all shot briskly and efficiently, routinely delivering 50 minutes of easily digestible thrills and spills before the stirring theme music comes around again to signal the end (almost every ITC show and certainly the ones I mentioned above all had memorable theme tunes).Steve Forrest, brother of Dana Andrews, lacks his sibling's personality and charisma but otherwise makes for an acceptable, well-dressed, chisel-jawed leading man while Sue Lloyd provided the glamour, parading the fashions of the day with no little humour, although she invariably is reduced to playing the damsel in distress, no Emma Peel her.The Baron is a somewhat derivative and fairly light entertainment and probably wouldn't appeal much to anyone who doesn't, like me, remember first watching it on a black and white TV as a child in the mid-60's. But that child was me and decades later, I still can't bring myself to criticise it too much for all its derivation and lack of originality.
Spondonman I watched this series first time round and remembered it fondly, never got to see it again when it was last repeated in the '70's but am now trawling through the entire series on DVD. And it holds up well enough too filmed on the usual ITC shoestring budget, old fashioned though it must look to most now used to flashy nervous roving cgi camera techniques. I've only read one Creasey novel - can't even remember the title now, but I believe the series was based more upon the TV Saint, there certainly was a similarity. They both had great theme tunes as well!"Diplomatic Immunity" broadcast 28.09.66: The first episode shown on UK ITV introduced us to Steve Forrest playing Captain John Mannering (not Mainwaring), and his London-centric world of antiques and cutting-edge British security issues. Over the eps plenty of gadgets cropped up for his use a la Bond, but post-digital they all look ancient enough to be made from Bakelite! Mannering is miffed when an expensive antique is stolen by an Iron Curtain (Pamaranea) state official and he decides (with UK Govt help) to get it back with no-holds barred. Sue Lloyd playing Cordelia is invaluable to him in this aim, but mainly to us as eye-candy. Nicely judged script, but along with most of the rest of the series unfortunately almost impossible to film in such a non-pc way nowadays - a lot of pre-'70's TV is in the same boat of course.Forrest was very similar in his style to his brother Dana Andrews - chunky, chiselled and dependable, I thought the Baron suited him down to the ground and something he never bettered. Great memories of ye olde TV programme entertainment standards.
skoyles One of the better British formulaic series with the near mandatory American lead actor. Steve Forrest portrayed a charming very Texan antique dealer/undercover agent living in England. Forrest provided a solid presence that allowed the show to appeal to the US audience but somehow The Baron did not gather the anticipated audience. Somehow in SWAT Forrest never seemed as complete a character as he did playing Mannering. I recall envying Mannering his wealth, sophistication but most of all I envied him the real star of this show: the unique, incomparable lead *car*. Mannering drove a Jensen Interceptor. It was years later that I saw in real life this wonderful Chrysler V8 powered Aston-Martin competitor and saw that The Baron and his car were perfectly matched, much more so than The Saint (Roger Moore) and his Volvo or The Saint (Ian Ogilvey) and his Jaguar XJS. Besides, these were commonplace compared to a powerful and elegant Jensen Interceptor.