Adam Adamant Lives!
Who better to highlight the libertine atmosphere of the swinging sixties, than a dandy transported in time, from the early 1900's?
Devised by Dr Who creators Sydney Newman and producer Verity Lambert, Adam Adamant Lives! boasts a sci-fi springboard (Adamant is placed in suspended animation by his nemesis in 1902, and unfrozen when his body is discovered during a building project in 1966). Mosty, it's a satirical quasi-crime show.
Our hero carries a sword concealed in a walking stick. And while he is no Basil Rathbone when it comes to sword-play, he certainly is earnest in his protection of moral righteousness.
It only takes a couple of episodes for Adamant to be driving around modern London in a Mini-Cooper S, sporting a personalised number plate (AA 100), and once he's mobile, there's no stopping him. He's aided by a groovy sidekick chick who works in a "discotheque", whom he initially mistakes for a boy, given her androgynous appearance.
His observations and comments are humorous, as are the scoundrels he encounters. One of my favourites is a rather butch woman with a penchant for cigars and calling people "ducky". She is constantly flicking ash, but it looks as if she's throwing things. She also makes a telephone call from a car. Exactly how, is uncertain. Were there car phones back then?
Interestingly, while Adamant has retained his Victorian morals, he doesn't seem to hold the legal system in terribly high regard, as more rogues are dispatched than detained for trial.
Although Gerald Harper, the actor who played Adamant, did other TV work, many viewers are perhaps more likely to recognise him from his work in British films in the fifties and sixties.
The Collection includes all surviving episodes. There are pdf scripts of the twelve episodes that have been lost over the years. Once you get to know the character, it's not at all difficult to read through them and visualise them.
This is a fun show to watch in extended sittings. it would be fun to hold a few Adam Adamant Lives! marathons with friends - and cocktails! The brilliant Bond-like theme song, will bore its way into your brain. Like the show, It's a real cracker.