''Return of the Saint'' is a British action-adventure television series that aired for one series in 1978 and 1979 in Britain 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 ...

, and was also broadcast on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

in the United States. It was co-produced by

ITC Entertainment The Incorporated Television Company (ITC), or ITC Entertainment as it was referred to in the United States, was a British company involved in production and distribution of television programmes. History Incorporated Television Programme Compan ...

and the Italian broadcaster

RAI RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...

and ran for 24 episodes.

Premise

''Return of the Saint'' is a revival/updating of ''

The Saint The Saint may refer to: Fiction * Simon Templar, also known as "The Saint", the protagonist of a book series by Leslie Charteris and subsequent adaptations: ** ''The Saint'' (film series) (1938–43), starring Louis Hayward, George Sanders an ...

'', a programme based upon the stories of

Leslie Charteris Leslie Charteris (born Leslie Charles Bowyer-Yin, 12 May 1907 – 15 April 1993), was a British-Chinese author of adventure fiction, as well as a screenwriter.Roger Moore as

Simon Templar ''The Saint'' is the nickname of the fictional character Simon Templar, featured in a series of novels and short stories by Leslie Charteris published between 1928 and 1963. After that date, other authors collaborated with Charteris on books un ...

(the character, in turn, had been introduced by Charteris in a series of novels and short stories dating back to 1928). The new series starred

Ian Ogilvy Ian Raymond Ogilvy (born 30 September 1943) is an English actor, playwright, and novelist. Early life Ogilvy was born in Woking, Surrey, England, to Francis Fairfield Ogilvy, brother of advertising executive David Ogilvy, and actress Aileen ...

as Templar, an independently wealthy, somewhat mysterious 'do-gooder' known as 'The Saint'. Templar is shown travelling around Britain and Europe, helping out the people he encounters, though he is also often summoned by past acquaintances. The series borrowed a few storytelling elements from its predecessor. Once again, each episode began with Simon narrating an introduction to set the scene for viewers, and each pre-credit sequence ended with an animated halo appearing above Templar's head as he was identified. ''Return'' also made a recurring reference to the 1930s–40s film series, and the 1940s radio series that starred

Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wal ...

as Templar: just before the opening credits begin, a short musical phrase is heard that is not part of the theme music for the ''Return of the Saint'', but is the character's signature theme from film and radio. Unlike the film series, and occasional episodes of the Roger Moore series, Ogilvy's series did not feature any recurring characters besides Simon. Other than these cosmetic touches, there is no continuity implied between the Ogilvy and Moore series.

Production

One major difference between the two series is that the original was mostly filmed in British studios and locations (although set in various places around the world), while many episodes of ''Return'' were filmed on location throughout Europe. The music was written by John Scott and, like the last colour series of ''The Saint'', incorporated Leslie Charteris' own theme, which had previously been used in films and on radio. For the French version, Scott's music was replaced with a theme incorporating vocals (as had happened to previous ''Saint'' composer Edwin Astley with ''

Danger Man ''Danger Man'' (retitled ''Secret Agent'' in the United States for the revived series, and ''Destination Danger'' and ''John Drake'' in other overseas markets) is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again b ...

''), but Charteris' eight-note theme remained.

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

seized promotional opportunities with ''Return of the Saint''. A decade and a half earlier, Jaguar had turned down the producers of ''The Saint'' when approached about the E-Type; the producers had instead used a

Volvo P1800 The Volvo P1800 (pronounced ''eighteen-hundred'') is a 2+2, front-engine, rear-drive sports car manufactured and marketed by Volvo Cars between 1961 and 1973. Originally a coupé (1961–1972), it was also offered in a shooting-brake configuratio ...

. In ''Return'' Templar drives an XJ-S with the number plate "ST 1". Miniature versions were made by

Corgi The Welsh Corgi ( or Corgi, plural Corgis, or occasionally the etymologically consistent Corgwn; ) is a small type of herding dog that originated in Wales. The name ''corgi'' is derived from the Welsh words and (which is mutated to ), mean ...

and proved popular. According to

Burl Barer Burl Barer (born 1947 in Walla Walla, Washington) is an American author, literary historian and radio host. He is best known for his writings about the character Simon Templar. Career Fiction ''The Saint'' ''The Saint: A Complete History in ...

in his history of ''The Saint'', the series was originally conceived as ''Son of the Saint'', with Ogilvy's character identified as the offspring of Simon Templar. As production neared, it was decided to drop the relative angle and make the series about the original character, albeit updated to the late 1970s. Unlike the earlier series, ''Return of the Saint'' did not adapt any Charteris stories; however, several teleplays (such as "The Imprudent Professor" and "Collision Course") were adapted as novels that were credited to Charteris but written by others. A number of Saint books were reprinted with covers depicting Ogilvy as Templar as a tie-in with the series; these collectable volumes carried the ''Return of the Saint'' title. The adaptation of "Collision Course", retitled ''

Salvage for the Saint ''Salvage for the Saint'' is the title of a 1983 mystery novel featuring the character of Simon Templar, alias "The Saint". The novel was written by Peter Bloxsom, based on the two-part ''Return of the Saint'' episode "Collision Course" by John ...

'' was published in 1983 (several years after the series ended) and was the 50th and final Saint book to be published in a series of publications dating back to the 1920s. The two episodes of "Collision Course" were also edited together to form the syndicated TV-movie, ''The Saint and the Brave Goose''.

Legacy

Ogilvy became very popular in Britain and Europe because of the series and in the early 1980s was considered a major contender for replacing Moore as

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

. Ogilvy never got the role but did record a series of popular

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

adaptations of the Bond novels in the late 1970s and played a Bond-like character for a 1980s TV commercial. Broadcasts of the series on

, which lasted into 1980, sparked a revival of interest in Moore's original series.

Robert S. Baker Robert Sidney Baker (27 October 1916 – 30 September 2009) was a British film and television producer, who at times was also a cinematographer and director. Born in London and serving as an artillery man in the British Army, he was posted to Nor ...

, who developed and produced the earlier ''The Saint'' series for Roger Moore, performed the same duties with ''Return of the Saint''. Years later, Baker was also executive producer of the 1997 Saint film starring

Val Kilmer Val Edward Kilmer (born December 31, 1959) is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer found fame after appearances in comedy films, starting with ''Top Secret!'' (1984) and ''Real Genius'' (1985), as well as the military action film ...

as Templar. ''Return of The Saint'' is now seen as the last of the action/adventure television series produced by

Charteris cameo

Saint creator Leslie Charteris makes an

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

-style walk-on cameo appearance in the "Collision Course" two-parter.

Episodes

External links

*
Episode guide to The Saint on TV on saint.org
{{The Saint 1970s British drama television series 1970s British crime television series 1978 British television series debuts 1979 British television series endings CBS original programming Television shows shot at EMI-Elstree Studios Television series by ITC Entertainment ITV television dramas The Saint (Simon Templar) Television shows based on British novels Espionage television series English-language television shows Television series reboots