Juliet Harmer

Infobox Person
name = Juliet Harmer


image_size =
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birth_date = 1943
birth_place = England
occupation = Actor
spouse = William Squire (deceased)

Juliet Harmer (born 11 May 1943 [This is the date usually cited, though the well-researched notes for the 2006 DVD of "Adam Adamant Lives!" gave May 1941. On BBC TV's "The Cult of ... Adam Adamant" (2006), Harmer herself remarked that she was 23 when "Adam Adamant Lives!" was filmed in 1966; therefore the date in the DVD notes was most likely a typographical error.] ) is an English actress who was best known in the role of Georgina Jones in the BBC TV series "Adam Adamant Lives!" (1966-7).

Early career

Juliet Harmer was a primary school teacher and artist who began acting on television in the mid 1960s, appearing in such series as "Emergency Ward 10" and "Danger Man". She played Jill Manson, the nominal headmistress of a deserted school in the village of Little Bazeley-on-Sea in the first episode of "The Avengers" (ABC, 1965) in which Diana Rigg appeared as Emma Peel [Episode, "The Town of No Return" (October 1965)] .

"The Peaches"

In 1963 Harmer starred in Michael Gill's short film, "The Peaches", written by his wife, Yvonne Gilan, which was shown at the Cannes Film Festival in 1964 ["Daily Telegraph", 26 October 2005] . This fantasy about a beautiful young woman's sensual passion for peaches was narrated by Peter Ustinov and included a minor role for Gill's son, Adrian, subsequently the journalist and critic A. A. Gill.

"Adam Adamant Lives!"

The original choice for the role of Georgina Jones in "Adam Adamant" had been Ann Holloway (later known as Karen Glover in the comedy series "Father, Dear Father"), who played the part in an untransmitted pilot in April 1966. However, Holloway’s performance was deemed "not to fit the series" [Andrew Pixley, "Adam Adamant Lives!" DVD viewing notes, 2006] and Harmer was cast at short notice from some 300 applicants. She did not even have a screen test and admitted over twenty years later that she had answered affirmatively when asked if she could ride a motor scooter, whereas, in fact, she could not ["Adam Adamant" convention, 1987: extract on 2006 DVD] .

Harmer as Georgina Jones

Georgina Jones was a trendy "mod" who dressed in the fashionable styles of the mid 1960s. She befriended Adam Adamant, an Edwardian adventurer, played by Gerald Harper, who had been frozen in time in 1902 under the direction of a villain named "The Face" (Peter Ducrow). His return to life in "Swinging London" was the signal for a succession of new adventures, in which Georgina, whom Adamant habitually referred to as "Miss Jones" and failed initially to comprehend, was usually in tow. As Harper put it in 2006, "if you have Adam Adamant from 1902 presented to Georgina who is wearing a mini-skirt which to him is appalling, you immediately have a confrontation and it’s amusing" ["SFX", August 2006] .

In an interview with Russell Twisk for the "Radio Times" in August 1966 ["Radio Times", 6-12 August 1966] , Harmer was described as "the Girl from Adam Adamant" (rather as Stefanie Powers was, later that year, "The Girl from U.N.C.L.E."). The article emphasised that Harmer sometimes used clothes from her own wardrobe for the part of Georgina Jones, thus pitching her as a trend setter in her own right. Harmer reflected in 2006 that most of her fan mail had been from 14 or 15 year old boys ["The Cult of ... Adam Adamant" (BBC TV, 13 November 2006)] .

"Adam Adamant" in retrospect

There were 29 episodes of "Adam Adamant", spread over two series (1966-7), but, although the show, produced by Verity Lambert, acquired something of cult following that lasted for many years, it did not achieve the heights, in terms of ratings, overseas sales or critical success, that the BBC had hoped for. Lambert regarded it in retrospect as a failure, while reflecting that it had possessed essentially all the same ingredients as the highly successful "Avengers" [Interview in 1983, quoted in DVD notes, 2006] . A third series was considered, but never commissioned.

Harper recalled Harmer as "a kooky, curious girl, but utterly beautiful and very nice" ["DreamWatch Bulletin", September 1989] . The two met again at Pinewood Studios forty years later as part of a documentary film ["This Man is the One" (2006)] to accompany the release on DVD of the 17 surviving episodes of "Adam Adamant".

Other work

Harmer married actor William Squire (1916-89) in 1967. After "Adam Adamant", she appeared in episodes of a number of other television series, including "Department S" (1969-70), "Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)" (1970), "The Persuaders!" (1971) (as a briefly recurring character named Prue) , "Bless This House" (1971) and "Jason King" (1972), a "spin off" of "Department S". Films included "Quest for Love" (1971), a science-fiction romance based on a story by John Wyndham; "Carry on Matron" (1972), in which she had a walk-on part; and "Paris by Night" (1988).

Harmer published several books, including children's stories and an illuminated manuscript celebrating the healing properties of herbs and flowers.

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