Jonathan Bignell

The look of the stylish British spy and detective shows, filmed in
colour in the 1960s, results from where and how they were made, and pop
sensation [Cliff
Richard](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Richard) had a lot to do
with it. The musical [*The Young
Ones*](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055626/) (d. Sidney J. Furie),
starring Cliff, was shot at [Elstree
Studios](http://avengerland.theavengers.tv/studios/abcblot.htm) near
London in 1961, and a quite extensive backlot town was built for the
film. This exterior location within the studio complex was re-used to
provide a wide range of settings for the independent production
company [ITC's filmed action-adventure
series](http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/563524/), including *The
Saint* (1962-9), *The Baron* (1966-7), *The Avengers*(1966-9),* The
Champions* (1968-9), *Department S* (1969-70) and *Randall And Hopkirk
(Deceased)*(1969-70). These series feature detectives, spies and
millionaire adventurers, and they have commonalities between them
generically and also stylistically as part of an ITC brand. The studio
backlots shared with *The Young Ones *are an aspect of their distinctive
mise-en-scene, and link them to British popular cinema designed for
international audiences.

::: {.wp-caption .alignnone style="width: 510px"}
[![A backlot street in \'The Young
Ones\'](https://cstonline.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/YoungStreet4.jpg){decoding="async"
width="500"}](https://cstonline.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/YoungStreet4.jpg)

A backlot street in *The Young Ones*
:::

While *The Young Ones* was set in relatively anonymous West London
streets, the building facades were subsequently redressed and modified
to stand in for numerous British and overseas places. The Cliff Richard
film cycle went on with [*Summer
Holiday*](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057541/) (Peter Yates, 1963)
and [*Wonderful Life*](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058755/) (Sidney J.
Furie, 1964), each international in setting and alluding to the exotic
flâneurie evident elsewhere, like in the James Bond films that began
with [*Dr No*](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055928/) (Terence Young,
1962), using nearby Pinewood studios*.* Cliff crafted a transnational
look for himself too, borrowing his quiff hairstyle from [Tony
Curtis](http://www.biography.com/people/tony-curtis-9263844) and his
curled lip from [Elvis
Presley](http://www.biography.com/people/elvis-presley-9446466#synopsis).
Cliff, James Bond and ITC's action-adventure TV series were underpinned
by similar transnational cultural currents, especially transatlantic
ones.

::: {.wp-caption .alignnone style="width: 510px"}
[![Ursula Andress as Honey
Ryder](https://cstonline.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/WonlifeDrNo1.jpg){decoding="async"
width="500"}](https://cstonline.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/WonlifeDrNo1.jpg)

Wonderful Life alludes to Honey Ryder's (Ursula Andress) appearance in
*Dr No*
:::

The charismatic impresario [Lew
Grade](http://www.televisionheaven.co.uk/lew_grade.htm), who ran ITC,
had already exported the black-and-white filmed TV series *The
Adventures of Robin Hood* (1955-9) and *Danger Man* (1960-9,
a.k.a. *Secret Agent*) to the USA, and financed *The Saint* to develop
the market for British drama there.  Hour-long colour episodes sold best
to the American networks and local stations, so *The Saint* adopted this
format even though colour was not broadcast in the UK at that time.
Making *The Saint* used Elstree's cutting rooms, viewing theatres, prop
store, construction workshop and costume departments. The backlot town
built for *The Young Ones* provided settings for the episodes, including
the protagonist Simon Templar's (Roger Moore) apartment building.

::: {.wp-caption .alignnone style="width: 510px"}
[![Elstree Staff Car Park as
location](https://cstonline.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/ChampUGcarpark.jpg "Elstree Staff Car Park as location"){decoding="async"
width="500"}](https://cstonline.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/ChampUGcarpark.jpg)

The Elstree staff car-park used as a location in *The Champions*
:::

The backlot was dressed to represent different countries and regions,
from Paris to the tropics, in *The Saint*, *The Champions*, *The
Baron* and *Department S*. Its facades became the exteriors of foreign
embassies and police stations, and various European streets. It was also
the English town where the ghost of revenant private eye Marty Hopkirk
wandered in *Randall And Hopkirk* in 1969. Elstree's spatial resources
enabled *The Champions*' creators Spooner and Berman to cut costs by
shooting *Department S* and *Randall And Hopkirk (Deceased)* at the same
time during the latter half of 1968, sharing soundstages, props and
production staff. Studio buildings served as settings in both series;
the administration block represented an Interpol bureau and Heathrow
Airport in *Department S*, while the studio's underground car park
appeared in *The Champions* and seven episodes of *Randall and Hopkirk.*

::: {.wp-caption .alignnone style="width: 394px"}
[![A backlot street in The
Champions](https://cstonline.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/ChampBlot1.jpg "A backlot street in The Champions"){loading="lazy"
decoding="async" width="384"
height="288"}](https://cstonline.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/ChampBlot1.jpg)

A backlot street in *The Champions*
:::

*The Champions* made the greatest use of Elstree's backlot town and the
surrounding studio site. Its premise particularly suited the simulation
of place, travel and virtual movement between places. The three
protagonists are international agents working for Nemesis, a global
security organization attached to the United Nations. Their tasks, of
foiling despotic dictators, assassins, and operatives of shady espionage
agencies mean traveling the world rather more often than ITC's other
spies and adventurers. They also have special powers that make further
spatial movement and linkage between spaces possible. In the opening
episode, 'The Beginning' (1968) they crash their aircraft in Tibet after
a successful operation. Rescued by a lost tribe, they are endowed with
superhuman powers that they gradually learn to use. As well as
exceptional strength and agility, they now possess enhanced sight and
hearing, and telepathic communication with each other. These powers,
especially telepathy, transform their relationships with space by
enabling them to traverse it virtually, to hear over a great distance or
to receive a message from a fellow agent far away. This motivates
cross-cutting from one setting to another in the story, and linking
different places together within the same scene.

::: {.wp-caption .alignnone style="width: 392px"}
[![Tibet on an Elstree soundstage in The
Champions](https://cstonline.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/ChampSoundStage.jpg){loading="lazy"
decoding="async" width="382"
height="287"}](https://cstonline.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/ChampSoundStage.jpg)

Tibet on an Elstree soundstage in *The Champions*
:::

Production of filmed television series kept Elstree (and other nearby
studios such as Pinewood) in business because they used the backlots and
soundstages for up to eighteen months at a time, whereas the occasional
British cinema project might only shoot for five or six weeks. Elstree
worked like a Hollywood studio, with offices, editing suites, a film and
music library, back projection, a large water tank, an exterior
cyclorama, a cafeteria and storage vaults all on the same site. This
facilitated industrialised television production for domestic and
international sales.

::: {.wp-caption .alignnone style="width: 510px"}
[![Diving into Rotterdam docks (Elstree\'s water
tank)](https://cstonline.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/ChampTank.jpg "Diving into Rotterdam docks (Elstree's water tank)"){decoding="async"
width="500"}](https://cstonline.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/ChampTank.jpg)

Diving into Rotterdam docks (Elstree's water tank)
:::

Studio buildings also served as locations themselves, for scenes shot
around the exteriors of the soundstages and office blocks, roads,
gateways, water tanks, the underground car park and of course the
backlot town. This saved money on transport and saved time in setting up
equipment. The gateways of the studio were dressed to become, for
example, the entrances to a naval base and an army installation in *The
Champions*. Elstree's large water tank behind the soundstages became the
dock of a naval base, and also represented the port of Rotterdam. Set
dressing and camera position might prevent even attentive viewers from
noticing the repeated occurrence of these settings, but continuity of
visual style over long runs of action series episodes derives in part
from the use of these same places over and again.

Drawing on facilities set up for Cliff Richard in *The Young Ones*, the
TV series made at Elstree could transform place, to represent British
and international settings, and to dramatise travel and movement. The
films and TV episodes could represent international modernity,
associated with the USA, just as their makers used Hollywood film and TV
production techniques for making them. The British series adapted
versions of US industrial organization, and also US television formats
like the episodic adventure series, to make programmes that would be
saleable to US networks. If not for Cliff and the legacy of *The Young
Ones*, ITC's golden age would (literally) have looked very different.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Jonathan Bignell** is [Professor of Television and
Film](http://www.reading.ac.uk/ftt/about/staff/j-bignell.aspx) at the
University of Reading. He leads the AHRC-funded research project
'[Spaces of
Television](http://www.reading.ac.uk/ftt/research/Spacesoftelevision.aspx):
Production, Site and Style', and first wrote about Elstree and ITC
series for [*Media
History*](http://centaur.reading.ac.uk/17666/1/Transatlantic_Spaces.pdf) in
2010. His publications are listed and some can be downloaded [from
here](http://centaur.reading.ac.uk/view/creators/90002167.html).


The look of the stylish British spy and detective shows, filmed in colour in the 1960s, results from where and how they were made, and pop sensation Cliff Richard had a lot to do with it. The musical
<em>
 The Young Ones
</em>
(d. Sidney J. Furie), starring Cliff, was shot at Elstree Studios near London in 1961, and a quite extensive backlot town was built for the film.

Messaggi di Rogue Scholar

CLIFF RICHARD AND THE SPACES OF 1960s TV