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Callan was the title of a British action-adventure television series that aired on ITV broadcasters over four seasons spread out between 1967 and 1972. Independent Television (generally known as ITV but also as ITV Network or Channel 3) is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide competition to the BBC. ITV is the oldest commercial television network in the UK. Since 1990... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... Year 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The series starred British actor Edward Woodward as David Callan, a reluctant professional killer for a shadowy branch of the British Government's intelligence services known as 'the Section'. Edward Albert Arthur Woodward (born June 1, 1930 Croydon, Surrey) is an English stage, film and television actor and singer. ...

A Magnum for Schneider

Viewers first saw Callan in an edition of ABC television's celebrated Armchair Theatre strand in February 1967, in a play entitled A Magnum for Schneider by James Mitchell, (creator of the equally popular When The Boat Comes In in the 1970s). Callan is one of the largest towns in County Kilkenny in the Republic of Ireland. ... Associated British Corporation (otherwise known as ABC Television or ABC Weekend TV) was one of a number of commercial television companies set up in the 1950s by cinema chains in an attempt to safeguard their business by getting involved in television which was taking away their cinema audiences. ... For the album of the same name, see Armchair Theatre (Jeff Lynne album) Armchair Theatre was a British television drama anthology series, which ran on the ITV network from 1956 until 1968 in its original form, and was intermittently resurrected at various points during the 1970s. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... When The Boat Comes In is a British television drama produced by the BBC between 1976 and 1981. ...

Callan has been retired from the anonymous Government agency known only as "The Section" run by the calculating Colonel Hunter. ("Hunter" is a pseudonym for the current Section Chief, much like The Prisoner's (which aired the same year) Number Two. The Section specialises in removing those who are a danger to the innocent (whoever that may be) by whatever means necessary: persuasion, blackmail, extortion, or even death. The Prisoner is a 1967 UK allegorical science fiction television series, starring Patrick McGoohan. ...

David Callan was the Section's top operator - even though he mostly despised his work - and we learn he'd developed an inquisitive tendency to discover just what were his intended victims' crimes to deserve his administering them the ultimate punishment. This made him vulnerable, volatile and dangerous, hence his enforced lay-off to a dead-end book-keeping job for an ungrateful employer who simply believed he was doing Callan - an otherwise unskilled man with a criminal record - a favour.

Hunter describes Callan as "a dead shot, with the cold nerve to kill" and needs to call on the services of the man whom is far too useful to be allowed to retire and indeed, this first outing has Callan 'invited' back to the Section for what should be one last job as a favour to his old boss. Schneider's nefarious activities are known to the authorities but he is too clever to be caught by normal methods. The Section puts enemies of the British government out of action by whatever means possible, from energetic persuasion to blackmail and even death itself - and Schneider must be stopped. Hunter wants him eliminated but if Callan is to prove he has changed he must achieve this without help from the Section. In reality, with assistance from the eager-to-please Toby Meres, Hunter is setting Callan up to be framed for the murder.

Callan's problem is that he must know what his intended victim has done to deserve the final punishment and in Schneider's case discovers an extremely profitable sideline of large-scale gun-running. Satisfied, Callan determines his plan and calls on Lonely, a petty crook who needs a bath more than most, something which is more apparent when scared. Actor Russell Hunter played the recurring character Lonely who is unsure of Callan's true identity and motives but is dead-scared of him, so provides the goods - a Noguchi Magnum plus rounds. This is ironic as Callan has already discovered this weapon features in Schneider's sideline activities. Callan's "chance" meeting with Schneider ouside his neighbouring office allows the two men to find common ground in their passion for model soldiers and war games. Russell Hunter was a Scottish television actor born on February 18, 1925 who died February 26, 2004. ...

Toby Meres is the current top-dog at the Section and is less than pleased to find Callan returning to the fold. His exuberant youth and constant niggling of Callan eventually proves Meres' undoing: At Schneider's house where Callan and his host engaged in war games from the American Civil War Meres breaks in to ensure Callan carries out his job on time but blunders by distracting Callan, just as the Police arrive. This was Hunter's little ploy to ensure Callan was caught red-handed; Schneider is now suspicious and uncovers Meres' presence and holds the two men at gunpoint. Callan is searched and is clean, however the Magnum is secreted in his sock of all places and while sitting on the floor a distracted Schneider is shot clean dead.

Meres is still intent on manufacturing Callan's demise, however the tables are turned when Callan knocks Meres unconscious. After leaving the safe open for the Police to discover, Callan phones a guardedly pleased Hunter and then informs his erstwhile boss that he will not bring Meres out and quits, having had enough. Thus aggravated, Hunter orders Callan's file to be changed from a standard yellow folder to a red one - the colour for those who are to be deemed a danger to the innocent, whose removal from society will be by whatever means necessary.

ABC Series

Callan was human, but not necessarily a nice human, who could kill in cold blood with the best of them. Nevertheless the memorably haunted lead character caught the public's imagination to such an extent that he was brought back in a six-episode season which followed later that year, and which built on the strengths of the characters involved, the claustrophobic atmosphere cleverly eked out by inventive directors despite being shot on stark monochrome videotape within the confines of a television studio, with a few filmed inserts for good measure. The series proved popular with audiences, and consolidated Edward Woodward's position as a bona-fide TV star.

Thames series

By 1969, ABC television had lost its ITV franchise and had been replaced as service provider for London and the south-east of England by Thames. Thames decided to continue making Callan, and a second season of fifteen episodes followed. This run ended with "Death Of A Hunter" in which the Section chief meets his demise, and Callan is shot - perhaps fatally. It had not been decided whether the show would return for a third series, so this device was used to leave open either the possibility of more stories in the future, or a way of winding-up the show. Two endings were taped, in which Callan either lived or died. In the end, Thames decided to bring the programme back for the 1970 series, this time in full colour. Independent Television (generally known as ITV but also as ITV Network or Channel 3) is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide competition to the BBC. ITV is the oldest commercial television network in the UK. Since 1990... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday. ...

A final set of thirteen episodes was broadcast in 1972. This saw Callan develop further than before. An unsuccessful mission meant Callan was exchanged to the Russians for one of their agents and now he was known, he was a liability. What to do with the Section's top agent was solved by promoting him into the role of Hunter - a post he disliked as much or even more that actually serving under a Hunter but which he was eventually relieved of by his predecessor when the danger had all but passed. The final three episodes were a trilogy based around the defector Richmond (and sub-titled "The Richmond Files"), at the end of which he pleads for Callan to kill him instead of capturing him- you know what they do to people like us. Having disobeyed orders to help A Man Like Me (Final episode title), Callan finally walks out of the Section. Year 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

A feature of the series was its ability to attract a good class of actors which helped its reputation no end: successive Hunters were played by Ronald Radd, Derek Bond, Michael Goodliffe and William Squire. The latter's steely exterior and ice-cold decisive nature was often the match for Callan and is probably the best remembered of all the supporting actors. Toby Meres was brought to life by Anthony Valentine (Peter Bowles in the pilot) and when he departed for a posting in the US (in truth, to appear in the series Codename on the rival BBC network) in came the young, brash, and unpredictable Cross (played by Patrick Mower) who was just as arrogant and who needed teaching a lesson more than once in a while by his experienced teacher. Ronald Radd (22 January 1929, Ryhope County, Durham, England - 23 April 1976, Toronto, Canada) was a British television actor. ... Derek Bond MC (26 January 1920 – 15 October 2006) was a popular English actor. ... Michael Goodliffe (1914-1976), British actor. ... William Squire (29 April 1916 - 3 May 1989) was a British actor of film and television. ... Anthony Valentine is a British actor. ... Peter Bowles (born October 16, 1936) is a British actor. ... Codename on the cover of Radio Times magazine. ... Patrick Mower (born 12th September 1940, Oxford, England) is an English actor well known for many television parts. ...

Cinema Film

A mildly successful cinema film followed in 1974, directed by Don Sharp and simply entitled "Callan", the bigger budget allowing much more location work and action set-pieces, but at the expense of the atmospheric close-ups which were a big part of the original series. It was an expanded re-working of the original pilot, "A Magnum For Schneider" which was the basis of the novel A Red File for Callan, also by James Mitchell. Meres was again re-cast, this time being played by Peter Egan (better known at the time as a trendy gangster from a controversial TV series Big Breadwinner Hog - now better known for sitcoms such as Ever Decreasing Circles). 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Peter Egan (born September 28, 1946) is a British actor best known for playing smooth neighbour Paul Ryman in 1980s sitcom Ever Decreasing Circles. ... Big Breadwinner Hog was a television thriller series devised by Robin Chapman portraying the ruthless rise through the criminal underworld of the trendy young London gangster Hogarth (Peter Egan). ... A sitcom or situation comedy is a genre of comedy performance originally devised for radio but today typically found on television. ... Ever Decreasing Circles was a British sitcom which ran on BBC1 for four series from 1984 to 1987. ...

Wet Job

Callan was last seen in the 1981 feature-length television story made by ATV, entitled Wet Job which while felt by some fans to not quite be up to the standard of the series, was nevertheless felt to be a welcome final appearance for both characters of Callan and his odoriferous helper Lonely who - ironically - was probably the most human of all the characters in the entire run. In Wet Job, Lonely has become a dapper gent, engaged to be married, and with enough self-confidence to defy Callan's request for help. In the (satisfying) end, Callan completes the task, survives, but was last since flying away in an aeroplane, destination unknown. Year 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Gregorian calendar). ...

The appeal of the deadly secret service agents have been recyled over the years but the haunted character of David Callan endures in the mind of those who saw him arguing with his superiors and wrestling with his conscience; yet he continually saw off young upstarts of his profession with his inbuilt ability to kill coldly and efficiently.

The Equalizer

In the 1980s, Woodward would go on to star in the American series, The Equalizer, playing a conscience-stricken former secret agent who becomes a protector of people in need, yet finds himself being called back into service by his former employers from time to time. There are many noted similarities between this series and Callan to the point where it is speculated that Robert McCall (Woodward's Equalizer character) may in fact be David Callan (which would relate to the final scene in the last episode of Callan, where by Callan was flying away to another country). For the professional wrestler known as The Equalizer, see Bill Dannenhauser. ... Secret Agent is a 1936 British film directed by Alfred Hitchcock based on a novel by W. Somerset Maugham. ...

Callan in the archives

The Armchair Theatre play exists as a film recording of the original black & white video broadcast. The first two series (or seasons) were recorded in black and white video, with filmed inserts, and several episodes from these have been lost or wiped.

All of the colour episodes exist, and the 1970 series was released on DVD in 2001. Unfortunately the episodes were edited to remove captions which would have lead into the commercial breaks in the original transmission. This resulted in some awkward visual & audio jump cuts.

The UK DVD release of the movie includes an interview, recorded in 2000, with Edward Woodward.

Other Regular Characters

• 'Lonely' - Russell Hunter.
• Toby Meres - Peter Bowles ('A Magnum for Schneider' only), Anthony Valentine, Peter Egan (film only).
• 'Hunter' - Ronald Radd, Michael Goodliffe, Derek Bond, William Squire, Eric Porter (film only).
• Cross - Patrick Mower.
• Liz, Hunter's Secretary - Lisa Langdon, Veronica Lang (film only).
• Snell - Clifford Rose.

Russell Hunter was a Scottish television actor born on February 18, 1925 who died February 26, 2004. ... Peter Bowles (born October 16, 1936) is a British actor. ... Anthony Valentine is a British actor. ... Peter Egan (born September 28, 1946) is a British actor best known for playing smooth neighbour Paul Ryman in 1980s sitcom Ever Decreasing Circles. ... Ronald Radd (22 January 1929, Ryhope County, Durham, England - 23 April 1976, Toronto, Canada) was a British television actor. ... Michael Goodliffe (1914-1976), British actor. ... Derek Bond MC (26 January 1920 – 15 October 2006) was a popular English actor. ... William Squire (29 April 1916 - 3 May 1989) was a British actor of film and television. ... Eric Porter as Professor Moriarty in Granada Televisions The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1985) Eric Porter (April 8, 1928 - May 15, 1995) was a distinguished English actor who appeared on stage as well as in cinema and television. ... Patrick Mower (born 12th September 1940, Oxford, England) is an English actor well known for many television parts. ... Clifford Rose is a classical actor born October 24, 1929 in Herefordshire, England. ...

Episodes

Pilot Episode

• Armchair Theatre: 'A Magnum for Schneider' (4 February, 1967)

Series One

• 'The Good Ones Are All Dead' (8 July, 1967)
• 'Goodbye, Nobby Clarke' (15 July, 1967)
• 'The Death of Robert E Lee' (22 July, 1967)
• 'Goodness Burns Too Bright' (29 July, 1967)
• 'But He's a Lord, Mr Callan' (5 August, 1967)
• 'You Should Have Got Here Sooner' (12 August, 1967)

Series Two

• 'Red Knight, White Knight' (8 January, 1969)
• 'The Most Promising Girl of Her Year' (15 January, 1969)
• 'You're Under Starter's Orders' (22 January, 1969)
• 'Little Bits and Pieces of Love' (29 January, 1969)
• 'Let's Kill Everybody' (5 February, 1969)
• 'Heir Apparent' (12 February, 1969)
• 'Land of Light and Peace' (19 February, 1969)
• 'Blackmailers Should Be Discouraged' (26 February, 1969)
• 'Death of a Friend' (5 March, 1969)
• 'Jack-On-Top' (12 March, 1969)
• 'Once a Big Man, Always a Big Man' (19 March, 1969)
• 'The Running Dog' (26 March, 1969)
• 'The Worst Soldier I Ever Saw' (2 April, 1969)
• 'Nice People Die at Home' (9 April, 1969)
• 'Death of a Hunter' (16 April, 1969)

Series Three

• 'Where Else Could I Go?' (8 April, 1970)
• 'Summoned to Appear' (15 April, 1970)
• 'The Same Trick Twice' (22 April, 1970)
• 'A Village Called G' (13 May, 1970)
• 'Suddenly - at Home' (20 May, 1970)
• 'Act of Kindness' (27 May, 1970)
• 'God Help Your Friends' (3 June, 1970)
• 'Breakout' (10 June, 1970)
• 'Amos Green Must Live' (24 June, 1970)

Series Four

• 'That'll Be the Day' (1 March, 1972)
• 'Call Me Sir!' (8 March, 1972)
• 'First Refusal' (15 March, 1972)
• 'Rules of the Game' (22 March, 1972)
• 'If He Can, So Could I' (29 March, 1972)
• 'None of Your Business' (5 April, 1972)
• 'Charlie Says It's Goodbye' (12 April, 1972)
• 'I Never Wanted the Job' (19 April, 1972)
• 'The Carrier' (26 April, 1972)
• 'The Contract' (3 May, 1972)
• 'The Richmond File: Call Me Enemy' (10 May, 1972)
• 'The Richmond File: Do You Recognise the Woman?' (17 May, 1972)
• 'The Richmond File: A Man Like Me' (24 May, 1972)

Reunion Episode

• 'Wet Job' (2 September, 1981)

The Novels

• A Magnum for Schneider - also published as Red File for Callan and Callan - (1969)
• Russian Roulette (1973)
• Death and Bright Water (1974)
• Smear Job (1975)
• Bonfire Night (2002)

External links

• British Film Institute Screen Online