''Spyder's Web'' was a British

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

television series produced by ATV for

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

and broadcast in 1972. It starred

Anthony Ainley Anthony Ainley (20 August 1932 – 3 May 2004) was an English actor. He was the fourth actor to portray The Master (Doctor Who), the Master in ''Doctor Who''. Early life Ainley was born in Stanmore, Middlesex, the son of the actor Henry Ainle ...

as Clive Hawksworth and

Patricia Cutts Patricia Cutts (20 July 1926 – 6 September 1974)Patricia Cu ...

as Charlotte "Lottie" Dean as two

secret agents Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information (intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tangib ...

working for the mysterious Spyder organisation in the interests of the

British government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

Overview

In common with many other such series of the time, ''Spyder's Web'' adopted an ironic approach to its subject matter. The Spyder organisation used as its cover a down-at-heel film company, Arachnid Films, and only Dean and Hawksworth were in on the secret; the company's other employees, Wallis Ackroyd and Albert Mason, believed the cover to be genuine. Indeed, Dean claimed to have won awards for her documentaries. Hawksworth, the "action man," was a knowing caricature of the steely-eyed, jutting-jawed heroes of former times, and was alleged to have been "steeped in

Bulldog Drummond Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond is a fictional character, created by H. C. McNeile and published under his pen name "Sapper". Following McNeile's death in 1937, the novels were continued by Gerard Fairlie. Drummond is a First World War veteran who, ...

from an early age." (His response: "We were just good friends.") Five of the thirteen episodes were written by

Roy Clarke Royston Clarke Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 28 January 1930), usually known as Roy Clarke, is an English comedy writer best known for creating the sitcoms ''Last of the Summer Wine'', ''Keeping Up Appearances'', ''Open All Hours'' a ...

, who created ''

Last of the Summer Wine ''Last of the Summer Wine'' is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke and originally broadcast by the BBC from 1973 to 2010. It premiered as an episode of ''Comedy Playhouse'' on 4 January 1973, and the first series of episodes foll ...

''. The programme ran for just one series.

Home media

The series was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

by Network in 2011; eleven of the episodes do not survive in colour.

Cast

Patricia Cutts Patricia Cutts (20 July 1926 – 6 September 1974)Patricia Cu ...

– Lottie Dean *

Veronica Carlson Veronica Carlson (born Veronica Mary Glazier; 18 September 1944 – 27 February 2022) was a British actress who was known for her roles in Hammer horror films. In 2019, she was inducted into the Rondo Hatton Classic Horror Awards' Monster Kid ...

– Wallis Ackroyd *

– Clive Hawksworth *

Roger Lloyd-Pack Roger Anthony Lloyd-Pack (8 February 1944 – 16 January 2014) was an English actor. He is best known for playing Trigger in ''Only Fools and Horses'' from 1981 to 2003, and Owen Newitt in ''The Vicar of Dibley'' from 1994 to 2007. He later star ...

– Albert Mason

Episode list

References

External links

*
Spyder's Web episodes ranked from worst to best
1972 British television series debuts 1972 British television series endings 1970s British drama television series ITV television dramas 1970s British crime television series Espionage television series 1970s British television miniseries Television shows produced by Associated Television (ATV) Television series by ITV Studios English-language television shows {{UK-tv-prog-stub