''Top Secret'' is a British TV spy series broadcast in two seasons on

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 ...

in 1961-1962 which was produced by

Associated-Rediffusion Associated-Rediffusion, later Rediffusion London, was the British ITV franchise holder for London and parts of the surrounding counties, on weekdays between 22 September 1955 and 29 July 1968. It was the first ITA franchisee to go on air, ...

. It starred

William Franklyn William Leo Franklyn (22 September 1925 – 31 October 2006) was a British actor, perhaps best known for voicing the "Schhh... You Know Who" adverts for Schweppes from 1965 to 1973. He also performed on stage, film, television and radio, t ...

as suave secret agent Peter Dallas, over a total of 26 black-and-white episodes, each filling a 60 minutes slot. All episodes also featured

Patrick Cargill Patrick Cargill (3 June 191823 May 1996) was an English actor remembered for his lead role in the British television sitcom ''Father, Dear Father''. Career Cargill was born to middle-class parents living in Bexhill-on-Sea, Sussex. After educati ...

as wealthy businessman Miguel Garetta, and

Alan Rothwell Alan Rothwell (born 9 February 1937) is an English actor and television presenter. He played David Barlow in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' as a regular from 1960 to 1961, and again from 1963 to 1968. His other acting credits include p ...

as Dallas's nephew Mike.

Outline

The series was produced by Associated-Rediffusion Television. The directors were Adrian Brown and

Raymond Menmuir Raymond Edward Menmuir (10 September 1930 – 26 March 2016) was a British-Australian director and producer. His career included producing 44 episodes of ''The Professionals (TV series), The Professionals'' and directing 12 episodes of ''Upstairs ...

, and the main writer was Cedric Wells. The series was set in South America, and was filmed partly in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, with the interior sets in a London studio. The main theme music - '"

Sucu Sucu "Sucu Sucu" is a dance and a song written by Tarateño Rojas from Bolivia, who recorded his version in 1959. It became very popular in the 1960s and many singers and bands from all over the world made their own version of the song often in their own ...

" - was composed by

Tarateño Rojas Rigoberto Rojas Suárez (January 4, 1917 – August 7, 2001), better known as Tarateño Rojas, was a Bolivian singer, musician and composer based in Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argen ...

and performed by

Laurie Johnson Laurence Reginald Ward Johnson, (born 7 February 1927) is an English composer and bandleader who has written scores for dozens of film and television series and has been one of the most highly regarded arrangers of instrumental pop and swing ...

and his orchestra. Laurie Johnson was part of the worldwide trend that was covering this song in many different languages. It was a minor hit and entered the UK pop music charts.

List of episodes

Episode titles are given below, with original broadcast dates in brackets. Series 1 * Episode 1: "Destination Buenos Aires" (11 August 1961) * Episode 2: "Death on Wheels" (18 August 1961) * Episode 3: "The Dead Village" (25 August 1961) * Episode 4: "Merchant of Death" (1 September 1961) * Episode 5: "The Inca Dove" (8 September 1961) * Episode 6: "Stranger in Cantabria" (15 September 1961) * Episode 7: "Vendetta" (22 September 1961) * Episode 8: "The Disappearing Trick" (29 September 1961) * Episode 9: "After the Fair" (6 October 1961) * Episode 10: "X" (13 October 1961) * Episode 11: "The Little One Is Dangerous" (20 October 1961) * Episode 12: "The Men from Yesterday" (27 October 1961) * Episode 13: "Shakedown at Saramino" (3 November 1961) * Episode 14: "Festival of Fear" (10 November 1961) Series 2 * Episode 1: "Threat from the Past" (9 May 1962) * Episode 2: "The Man from Carataz" (16 May 1962) * Episode 3: "The Burning Question" (23 May 1962) * Episode 4: "The Death of Stefano" (30 May 1962) * Episode 5: "The Second Man" (6 June 1962) * Episode 6: "Maggie" (13 June 1962) * Episode 7: "The Eagle of San Gualo" (20 June 1962) * Episode 8: "Vengeance at La Vina" (27 June 1962) * Episode 9: "The Life Stealers" (4 July 1962) * Episode 10: "Dangerous Project" (11 July 1962) * Episode 11: "Dance for Spies" (18 July 1962) * Episode 12: "Escape to Danger" (25 July 1962) According to the lostshows.com website, no recording of any of the episodes is known to survive due to the fact all programmes were broadcast live, no recordings were made"Top Secret"
lostshows.com (See

Wiping Lost television broadcasts are mostly those early television programs which cannot be accounted for in studio archives (or in personal archives) usually because of deliberate destruction or neglect. Common reasons for loss A significant prop ...

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0162119, Top Secret 1961 British television series debuts 1962 British television series endings 1960s British drama television series Television shows produced by Associated-Rediffusion Black-and-white British television shows