Jason King: The Complete Series

Jason King was the sequel to the series Department S. (If you liked Department S you will like this too, although I personally prefer Department S.) If you have not seen Department S, I recommend you try that first. (for story consistency and character development) This series is another classic ITC series that's fun and glamour. After Department S was made and screened on TV from 1968-1970, one of the main characters got his own series. The character of course is Jason King. The series was created around 1971 to 1972. There were 26 episodes in total.The series featured the further adventures of the title character who had first appeared in Department S. In that series he was an author working as part of a team of investigators. They worked on many unusual cases and the fact that Jason was an author was just part of his character and didnt distract from what the team were doing as investigators for Department S. In this sequel series Jason King, Jason, has left the service as a member of Department S and is concentrating on writing adventure novels. These novels follow the adventures of the fictional Mark Caine, (which the Jason King character was also writing about in Department S) who closely resembled Jason King in looks, manner, style, and personality. None of the other regular characters from Department S appeared in this series.Jason King visits international locations as part of his research for his books but always gets involved in adventure. There is always crime, action and women, The first episode has King retelling a Mark Caine novel to a television executive. Subsequent episodes feature King trying to write his novels and being hassled by his publisher Nicola Harvester about deadlines. King, however, is often tricked by Ryland of the British Government into assisting the Government in international political matters. All of his adventures, later find themselves written into the adventures of the fictional novel of Mark Caine that King has just been working on. Jason always has loads of attractive girls around him. Although looking at it now he is a bit over the top with his Caftan, His hair style and his medallions around his neck. He is a handsome guy that women seem to worship. (Although for me Peter Wyngard (who played Jason King) lookeded more handsome in any other character he played other than Jason. I would even venture to say he is a bit cheesy or camp. However this is the character we are talking about here) You can see clearly that Jason is a bit of an influence or inspiration on the Austin Powers character from the Austin Powers films. (Thinks a lot about himself, flamboyant clothes and hairstyle, medalians and women drooling over him) However this was the early seventies and it is all just a load of fun. You cannot take the stories seriously they are just light TV fun. Peter Wyngarde is excellent and despite my earlier comments the series and the character are very original and unique. There is nothing else like it. There are some very good extras on the final disc and this edition has been re packaged and Network has done a fantastic job on the product. This is a great slice of seventies nostalgia. And a good insight into seventies TV culture. There are some interesting special guest appearances by other famous actors and actresses throughout the series. The series was created by Dennis Spooner and like its predecessor, Department S, was made by Lew Grades ITC Entertainment production company (which had become successful with such series as Danger Man, The Saint, Champions, Randall and Hopkirk, The Prisoner, Man in a suitcase, Strange Report, and the Persuaders.Great series, Great product.

Rather annoyingly the running order of each disc is not in chronological order as broadcast. So... here it is.JASON KING - 1971 / 1972Date broadcast Name of episode / Disc Number15th Sep 1971 Wanna Buy a Television Series? - 4 : 422nd Sept 1971 A Page Before Dying - 3 : 36th Oct 1971 Buried in the Cold ,Cold Ground - 2 : 413th Oct 1971 A Deadly Line in Digits - 1 : 320th Oct 1971 Variations on a Theme - 2 : 310th Nov 1971 As Easy as A.B.C. - 3 : 117th Nov 1971 To Russia with ... Panache - 5 : 21st Dec 1971 A Red Red Rose For Ever - 4 : 18th Dec 1971 All That Glisters... part one - 5 : 315th Dec 1971 All that Glisters... part two - 5 : 429th Dec 1971 Flamingoes Only Fly on Tuesdays - 1 : 45th Jan 1972 Toki - 5 : 112th Jan 1972 The Constance Missal - 4 : 319th Jan 1972 Uneasy Lies the Head - 4 : 22nd Feb 1972 Nadine - 1 : 19th Feb 1972 A Kiss for a Beautiful Killer - 3 : 216th Feb 1972 If It's got To Go - It's Got To Go - 2 : 23rd Mar 1972 A Thin Band of Air - 1 : 210th Mar 1972 It's Too Bad About Auntie - 3 : 417th Mar 1972 The Stones of Venice - 6 : 424th Mar 1972 A Royal Flush - 6 : 231st Mar 1972 Every Picture Tells a Story - 6 : 17th Apr 1972 Chapter One : The Company I Keep - 2 : 114th Apr 1972 Zenia - 6 : 321st Apr 1972 An Author in Search of Two Characters - 7 : 128th Apr 1972 That Isn't me, That's Somebody Else - 7 : 2Thanking youSafe HomeDrive CarefullyMay Mr King be with you

I confess I had a smile on my face all the way through viewing this series. I just find Peter Wyngarde's portrayal of Jason King one of the great comic creations of 70s TV. He doesn't play it for laughs, but the character is so entertainingly preposterous that it's impossible not to enjoy every scene he appears in or yearn to spend endless hours inhabiting his flamboyantly surreal world. For me, I think giving King his own show and dispensing with the supporting characters of 'Department S' really works, and that's solely down to Wyngarde himself; he gets away with it, despite some odd continuity, when some of the location filming sees him strolling around Europe wearing his own curly hair, only for him to be wearing King's long, bushy wig in the studio! But such strange errors, along with glaring back projection and familiar stock footage, seem to add to the distinctive charm of the series rather than detract from it.The absence of the cinematic sheen that characterised the look of the 60s ITC series (and gave an equally glossy shine to the show that was being made more or less simultaneously with this, 'The Persuaders') doesn't spoil the viewing experience for me; the 16mm film used as a cost-cutting exercise is, to me, a very minor quibble and after a couple of episodes, I barely noticed. Curiously, considering the shameless, albeit tongue-in-cheek, mysogynistic aspects of the series (something you have to accept from the off), an attitude I thought dated the programme even more than the gloriously camp wardrobe was the episode when King thinks nothing of hunting, killing, and then mounting the head of, a rhino! Otherwise, lose yourself in a unique moment of western civilisation, when a leading man was as far from macho as it's possible to imagine. In an age when a Real Man can be defined by a shaved head and moobs, that seems incredibly refreshing!

Would have been nice to see it get the high quality transfer to blu-ray as its predecessor, Department S, although this was only 16mm film, rather than 'S's 35mm. With Network gone, along with its founder, this isn't likely though.

Interesting British TV show from the 70's. Reminder this DVD disc set is coded for REGION 2.

ai pas acheter la bonne zone, mais suisheureux de l`avoir

Ganz bewußt hab ich diese englische Dvd Version gekauft,denn ich liebe die Originalstimme von Peter Wyngarde,und für mich war das damals eine klasse Serie,gespickt mit dem typischen britischen Humor.Als Bonus gibt es auf DVD 8 noch die drei Folgen der schwarz-weiß Serie The Crossroads mit Peter Wyngarde ohne Pornobalken.

Satisfait bien que la série ne fut pas rénové digitalement comme Département S !

Habe diese englischsprachige DVD von Jason King nur bestellt, um zu sehen, ob die Bildqualität besser ist als bei den deutschsprachigen extrem miesen DVDs. Wurde jedoch enttäuscht, die Bildqualität ist nicht viel besser!!!Hoffe auf ein Remastering.