Man in a Suitcase

For the song by The Police, see Man in a Suitcase (song).

Man in a Suitcase
Format	Action Drama
Created by	Dennis Spooner Richard Harris
Starring	Richard Bradford
Opening theme	Ron Grainer
Composer(s)	Albert Elms
Country of origin	UK
Language(s)	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	30 (List of episodes)
Production
Producer(s)	Sidney Cole
Running time	49mins
Production company(s)	ITC Entertainment
Distributor	ITC Entertainment
Broadcast
Original channel	ITV
Picture format	Film 35mm 4:3 Colour
Audio format	Mono
Original run	27 September 1967 – 17 April 1968

Man in a Suitcase is a 1967 television series produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment.

Origins and overview

Man in a Suitcase was effectively a replacement for Danger Man, whose production had been curtailed when its star Patrick McGoohan had decided to create his own series, The Prisoner. Many of the Danger Man production crew moved over to the new series, which was initially to be titled McGill after its lead character. Like several ITC productions, the series would use an American star in an attempt to boost the show's sales in the US. An early choice was Jack Lord, but the part of McGill eventually went to Richard Bradford, a method actor who was spotted after appearing opposite Marlon Brando in the 1966 movie The Chase. The series was created by Richard Harris and Dennis Spooner. Neither writer had any further involvement with the series - Spooner was mostly involved with producing his own series, The Champions - and the lead character changed somewhat from their original conception of a hard-boiled, wise-cracking detective.

McGill was a former US Intelligence agent, who had been forced to resign from the service six years prior to the opening episode, practically accused of treason. Unable to clear his name or return to the USA, McGill makes ends meet by working as a travelling private detective and bounty hunter, based in Britain, living out of his suitcase (hence the title). His cases generally took him to different parts of Europe (and on a couple of occasions Africa.)

A distinctive feature of the show was the theme tune composed by Ron Grainer, a catchy, jazzy number. This was later appropriated by Chris Evans as the theme for his entertainment show TFI Friday. The incidental music was supplied by Albert Elms.

Story and style

In the Pilot episode, 'Man from the Dead' we discover the reason for McGill's disgrace. During an assignment six years previously, he discovered that a top Western scientist called LeFarbe was preparing to defect to the USSR. Though he planned to intercept the defector, he was ordered to stand down by his superior Harry Thyssen. Shortly afterwards, LeFarbe went over to the Russians. Accused of complicity in the defection, McGill was unable to call on Thyssen to clear his name, as his superior had been drowned in a sailing accident, and he was forced to resign from the service amid much negative publicity. Six years on, McGill discovers that Thyssen is still alive, his death having been faked. He is now working as a sailor on a Russian freighter, in which capacity he acts as a courier of secret information from LeFarbe. The scientist is in fact a double agent, now highly placed in the soviet scientific community to provide valuable intelligence. As McGill's diligence nearly blew open this important operation, his superiors had no choice but to make him a very public scapegoat, in order to maintain the illusion of the LeFarbe defection as genuine. On the series first broadcast on ATV Midlands 'Man From The Dead' was screened as the sixth episode, 'Brainwash' thought to be a stronger tale was in fact broadcast first.

Building on this foundation, Man in a Suitcase was a series very much about betrayal, mistrust and deceit. Because of his unofficial, semi-legal status, McGill often found himself being hired by unscrupulous clients and unwittingly used for criminal ends, or set up as a fall guy. On several occasions, characters from his past with US Intelligence drew him into dangerous situations; and he could also be blackmailed or tricked into participating in espionage missions, as he was the perfect deniable operative. A number of the series writers were new to ITC, and this resulted in a show that was markedly different from the usual light-hearted adventure and espionage fantasy of such series. It highlighted character-based drama grounded in a cynical view of the real world, making it more akin to the spy novels of John le Carré and Len Deighton.

As developed by Bradford, the characterization of McGill was complex. As a man who felt betrayed by life and his country, he could appear outwardly as surly, moody and uncommunicative. But this masked a sensitive interior. McGill felt compassion for those who were the victims in his cases, and would try to help them, often to his own cost.

The level of violence portrayed in the show was unprecedented for an ITC series. This was partly because of Bradford's concerns that the stories and characters should remain real. Unlike most TV action heroes of the time, McGill would not get cleanly knocked unconscious and then recover without effect - Bradford took great pains to depict the character as wounded and concussed. In addition to beatings, McGill is several times shot and stabbed, and ends more than one episode recovering in hospital.

One gimmick of the show is that McGill's first name is never revealed, though some close friends know him as "Mac".

As with the other ITC series of the era, although the plots took McGill far and wide around the world, in reality the majority of filming was done in and around Pinewood Studios. The series was unusual in its use of night-time filming (as opposed to the day for night approach common at the time). Actual locations included London's South Bank and White City Stadium (Demolished 1985) from "Man from the Dead", Albert Bridge from "The Bridge" and Kingston-upon-Thames from "Day of Execution", the latter a setting for a remarkable (for its time) night-time car chase.

Cast

Richard Bradford is the only regular actor in the series. Guest stars include some ITC stalwarts such as Stuart Damon, Jane Merrow, Basil Dignam, Ed Bishop, Anton Rodgers, George Sewell, Philip Madoc and John Gregson; and such actors as Barbara Shelley, Rodney Bewes, Felicity Kendal, Rupert Davies, Colin Blakely, Ray McAnally, Bernard Lee, Jacqueline Pearce and Donald Sutherland.

Episode list

Airdate is for ATV Midlands ^[1] ITV regions varied date and order.

Ep #	Prod #	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original airdate
1	106	"Brainwash"	Charles Crichton	Francis Megahy and Bernie Cooper	27 September 1967
2	115	"The Sitting Pigeon"	Gerry O'Hara	Edmund Ward	4 October 1967
3	110	"Day of Execution"	Charles Crichton	Phillip Broadley	11 October 1967
4	108	"Variation on a Million Bucks Part one"	Pat Jackson	Stanley R. Greenberg	18 October 1967
5	109	"Variation on a Million Bucks Part two"	Robert Tronson	Stanley R. Greenberg	25 October 1967
.
6	101	"Man from the Dead"	Pat Jackson	Stanley R. Greenberg	1 November 1967
7	103	"Sweet Sue"	Robert Tronson	Phillip Broadley	8 November 1967
8	120	"Essay in Evil"	Freddie Francis	Kevin B. Laffan	15 November 1967
9	107	"The Girl Who Never Was"	Robert Tronson	Donald Jonson	22 November 1967
10	102	"All That Glitters"	Herbert Wise	Stanley R. Greenberg	29 November 1967
11	118	"Dead Man's Shoes"	Peter Duffell	Edmund Ward	6 December 1967
12	105	"Find the Lady"	Robert Tronson	Phillip Broadley	13 December 1967
13	104	"The Bridge"	Pat Jackson	Robert Muller	20 December 1967
14	116	"The Man Who Stood Still"	Peter Duffell	Raymond Bowers	27 December 1967
15	122	"Burdon of Proof"	Peter Duffell	Edmund Ward	3 January 1968
16	119	"The Whisper"	Charles Crichton	Morris Farhi	10 January 1968
17	121	"Why They Killed Nolan"	Charles Crichton	Donald Jonson	17 January 1968
18	113	"The Boston Square"	Don Chaffey	Wilfred Greatorex	24 January 1968
19	117	"Somebody Loses, Somebody...Wins?"	John Glen	Jan Read	31 January 1968
20	112	"Blind Spot"	Jeremy Summers	Victor Canning	7 February 1968
21	125	"No Friend of Mine"	Charles Crichton	John Stanton	14 February 1968
22	114	"Jigsaw Man"	Charles Frend	Stanley R. Greenberg and Reed de Rouen	21 February 1968
23	111	"Web with Four Spiders"	Robert Tronson	Edmund Ward	28 February 1968
24	126	"Which Way Did He Go, McGill?"	Freddie Francis	Francis Megahy and Bernie Cooper	6 March 1968
25	124	"Property of a Gentleman"	Peter Duffell	Wilfred Greatorex	13 March 1968
26	127	"The Revolutionaries"	Peter Duffell	Jan Read Story by Kevin B. Laffan	20 March 1968
27	123	"Who's Mad Now?"	Freddie Francis	Roger Parkes	27 March 1968
28	128	"Three Blinks of the Eyes"	Charles Crichton	Vincent Tilsley	3 April 1968
29	129	"Castle in the Clouds"	Peter Duffell	Jan Read	10 April 1968
30	130	"Night Flight to Andorra"	Freddie Francis	Jan Read and Reed de Rouen	17 April 1968

The two part story Variation on a Million Bucks was edited into a feature film for theatrical release in Europe, entitled To Chase a Million.

DVD

The entire series has been released on DVD in Britain as a digitally re-mastered box set by Network DVD. There are 8 discs (Region 2 UK) Extras consist of commercial bumpers both US and UK a music only track on one or two episodes and an interview with series star Richard Bradford where he sometimes vehemently describes the working conditions and former producers of the show.

Prior to this, Carlton Video had released a single disc with the first two episodes.

The series is also available in Australia from Umbrella Entertainment in a box set.

Acorn Media released the first 15 episodes in a 4 disc, Region 1 box set in 2010.

Other media

British sludge metal band GZR released an eponymous homage to the series as the first track on their 1997 album Black Science.

British "alternative" stand-up comedian Ted Chippington's 1986 debut album on Birmingham's Vindaloo record label was also entitled "Man in a Suitcase".

References

1. ^ Before 1968 ATV transmitted weekdays in the Midlands and weekends in London. See History of ITV

External links

• Fan site claiming to be "The first and only Man in a Suitcase website to be officially acknowledged by Richard Bradford".
• Man in a Suitcase at the Internet Movie Database
• Cast lists for each episode
• Man in a Suitcase: fansite with episode guide and background information
• British Film Institute Screen Online