- Dick Turpin (TV series)
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For the legendary English rogue, see Dick Turpin.
Dick Turpin 
Genre Historical, Drama, Comedy Created by Richard Carpenter, Paul Knight and Sydney Cole. Starring Richard O'Sullivan, Michael Deeks, Christopher Benjamin, David Daker Theme music composer Denis King Country of origin United Kingdom Language(s) English No. of episodes 31 Production Producer(s) Paul Knight and Sidney Cole Running time 30 min. approx Broadcast Original channel ITV Original run 6 January 1979 – 6 March 1982 Dick Turpin is a British television drama series starring Richard O'Sullivan and Michael Deeks. It was created by Richard Carpenter, Paul Knight and Sydney Cole and written by Richard Carpenter, John Kane, Charles Crichton and Paul Wheeler, it was made by Gatetarn, Seacastle productions in-association with London Weekend Television between 1978 and 1980. 26 half hour episodes and one feature length episode were filmed on location at Maidenhead in Berkshire, England.
The series is loosely based on the adventures of the real 18th century highwayman Dick Turpin.
Contents
Synopsis
The series takes place in 18th century England. After Dick Turpin, the son of a farmer, returns to England after three years from military service in the Mediterranean, he discovers that he and his parents have been cheated out of their farm and his inheritance by the unscrupulous Sir John Glutton, and that consequently his parents have died of starvation. Turpin, who is now bitter and poor, becomes a Highwayman.
Cleverly, Richard Carpenter has the series take place after the real life Dick Turpin has been hanged in 1739; the series is set between 1739 and 1740, leaving his fictional TV incarnation to be an anarchic freedom fighter who has been badly ripped off by the establishment and suffered the tragic loss of his parents, a good moral starting point. This also meant the writers did not have to use any events from Turpin's real life in the series.
The TV story begins after the presumed death by hanging of Dick Turpin at York. It is made clear at the beginning of the series that the man who was hanged merely claimed the famous name. Captain Nathan Spiker, working for Sir John Glutton, threatens to evict Mary Smith and her son Nick from their inn 'The Black Swan' if they do not hand over 20 pounds. Meanwhile, the real Dick Turpin, while disguised as a doctor, is accosted by a highwayman who claims to be Dick Turpin himself. The real Dick Turpin humorously, as it turns out, says “I thought you were dead.” He then outwits the fake and reveals himself to be the real Turpin. The fake turns out to be Nick Smith, trying to get the money to pay Spiker. Dick lends him and Mary, an old acquaintance of Dick's, the money. However, a mix-up occurs when Turpin steals the money back from Sir John and Nick has to be saved from Glutton's Dungeon by Dick. This makes Nick an outlaw and Turpin takes him under his wing, giving him the name "Swiftnick".
Broadcast
There were two series both of 13 episodes made by Gatetarn, Seacastle productions for LWT and a feature length episode made in-association with RKO pictures in the US called Dick Turpin's Greatest Adventure which was shown in US cinemas. In the UK Series 1 was screeened as 13 episodes in 1979, the 1st 7 episodes of series two were shown in 1980, the remaining 6 episodes were shown in 1982 after a five part version of Dick Turpin's Greatest Adventure was shown in 1981, making 4 series on transmission.
The series (26 episodes) was screened on East German channel DDR1 (series 1:May–August 1980) & (Series 2:March–June 1981) with repeats of both series in 1983, French channel Antenne 2 screened all 26 episodes in the youth programme Recre A2 under the title Dick le Rebelle (a late afternoon slot) between (11/12/81 & 11/06/82) series 1 repeated (15/06/83-21/09/83),series 2 (18/09/85-11/12/85), Austrian channel ORF1 screened the series in 1982 & 1983, West German channel RTL Plus screened the series in 1985 and 1987/88. In May 1987 new French channel Canal+ screened 'new episodes' the five part version of Dick Turpin's Greatest Adventure on their encrypted service. Germany's WEST 3 screened the series in 1990/91 and Tele 5 in (1992). The last German repeats:ARD (tv film) in October 1993 and DFI western movies (pay Tv) in 1998. The series has not been repeated in the UK.
Cast
- Richard O'Sullivan — Dick Turpin
- Michael Deeks — Swiftnick
- Christopher Benjamin — Sir John Glutton
- David Daker — Captain Nathan Spiker
with:
- Alfie Bass — Isaac Rag
- Joan Rhodes — Big Nell
- Keith James — Davy
- Annabelle Lee — Poll Maggot (series 2)
- Jo Rowbottom — Mary Smith
Dick Turpin's Greatest Adventure (only);
- Mary Crosby — Jane Harding
- Oliver Tobias — Noll Bridger
- Patrick Macnee — Lord James Melford
- Susan Hampshire — Lady Melford
- Patrick Ryecart — Fytton
- Wilfred Hyde-White — Governor Sir Basil Appleyard
- Donald Pleasence — Ignatius Slake
Episode list
Season one
# Episode Title Airdate 1 Swiftnick January 6, 1979 2 The Capture January 13, 1979 3 The Champion January 20, 1979 4 The Poacher January 27, 1979 5 The Pursuit February 3, 1979 6 The Blacksmith February 10, 1979 7 The Impostor February 17, 1979 8 The Upright Man February 24, 1979 9 The Whipping Boy March 3, 1979 10 The Hero March 10, 1979 11 The Turncoat March 17, 1979 12 The Hostages March 24, 1979 13 The Jail-Birds March 31, 1979 Season two
# Episode Title Airdate 1 The Fox: Part 1 February 16, 1980 2 The Fox: Part 2 February 23, 1980 3 Blood Money March 1, 1980 4 Deadlier Than the Male March 8, 1980 5 The Elixir of Life March 15, 1980 6 The Thief-Taker March 22, 1980 7 The Judge March 29, 1980 Season three
# Episode Title Airdate 1 Dick Turpin's Greatest Adventure: Part 1 May 16, 1981 2 Dick Turpin's Greatest Adventure: Part 2 May 23, 1981 3 Dick Turpin's Greatest Adventure: Part 3 May 30, 1981 4 Dick Turpin's Greatest Adventure: Part 4 June 6, 1981 5 Dick Turpin's Greatest Adventure: Part 5 June 13, 1981 Season four
# Episode Title Airdate 1 Sentence of Death: Part 1 January 30, 1982 2 Sentence of Death: Part 2 February 6, 1982 3 The Godmother February 13, 1982 4 The Secret Folk February 20, 1982 5 The King's Shilling February 27, 1982 6 The Hanging March 6, 1982 DVD release
Cover of Network DVD release of Dick Turpin TV series
Dick Turpin Series 1 , Series 2 were released on DVD by Network in Region 0 in (2003) and (2004) and 'Dick Turpin's Greatest Adventure' (5 part version)(note:the end credits of part 5 are from the original feature version and list the full cast) was released on DVD in Region 2 in 2005 and a box set of the complete series was released in 2008 in Region 2, by Network. Network in association with Soulmedia have also released the series on DVD for the Dutch/Netherlands market(2007–2009) in English with subtitles in Danish, Swedish and Norwegian.
Dick Turpin Series 1 has been released on DVD in France (January 26) 2009 under the title Dick Le Rebelle, by RV Films. It has both French and English soundtracks, original series presentation, a history of the series on French tv and clips from Recre A2 the youth programme the series originally formed part of when broadcast in France. Series 2 released 26 April 2010, this features a censored version of 'The Hanging' as originally screened in France and the uncut version.
Koch Media have released series 1 on DVD, a Remastered collectors edition titled: 'Die Abenteuer des Dick Turpin' in Germany (September 4) 2010, a 3 Disc set featuring German and English soundtracks.
Audio and Books
A 7 inch single 'Dick Turpin'/'Belinda' (DB 9061) by Denis King and his Orchestra was released in 1979. A novel Dick Turpin (ISBN 00691554X) written by Richard Carpenter was published by Armada books, London in 1979, and included 8 colour photos from the tv series (128 pages for 60p) a second novel by Richard Carpenter called 'Turpin and Swiftnick' (ISBN 006917100) with b/w illustrations by Peter Archer was published by Armada books in 1980 (125 pages for 70p). Three annuals containing photographs, text stories, comic strips and features based on the series were published, two by Grandreams (1979 & 1981) and one by Purnell (1980). Look in magazine also ran a Dick Turpin comic strip drawn by Martin Asbury and written by Angus Allan in 1979 to tie-in with the series.
Trivia
In 2008, a sample from the show's musical theme from was used by the Danish pop duo The Benefits on their debut single, "Seize The Day". Before releasing the single, the duo was granted permission to use the sample by the original composer, Denis King.
References
- Zeta Minor website News Archive -Archived News -17th-23 May 2004 (info on RKO co-production and series 2 broadcast)
- TV Wunchliste (German/Austrian broadcast info)
- AnnuSeries.com (Dick le Rebelle/French broadcast dates)
- Dick Turpin 'Series 1/Series 2/Dick Turpin's Greatest Adventure' DVD releases (2003–2005)
- Look In - A Tribute to the Junior Tv Times website (interviews with Angus Allan and Martin Asbury)
- Trash Fiction website (review:Dick Turpin novel)
- Sound & Vision - March 1980 books to Keep.co.uk website (review:Turpin and Swiftnick novel)
External links
- Dick Turpin at the Internet Movie Database
- Dick Turpin at TV.com
Categories:- 1979 British television programme debuts
- 1982 British television programme endings
- ITV television programmes
- Period television series
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