 Randall
and Hopkirk (Deceased) Menu - Return
The series was originally created by Dennis
Spooner. Mike Pratt starred as Jeff Randall, Kenneth
Cope as
Marty Hopkirk and Annette
Andre as Marty's widow Jeannie. 26
episodes of one-hour each (just under 49 minutes running
time) were made by ITC Entertainment.
The Irish stand-up Dave
Allen was
considered for the part of Randall as Tony Williamson's early scripts were written with
the comic in mind.
"Dennis
Spooner was responsible for the first
script and the general idea, and I was brought in
at a very early stage in relation to casting. It
was already clear who was going to play Randall.
We all knew Mike Pratt, he was all right. He
was a very truthful actor - a bit of a wild man
in his private life, but a lovely man."
- Cyril
Frankel |
| |
"He
was the first to be cast, he had just the touch
we needed for the character of Randall."
- Monty
Berman |
The episodes were
screened on ITV in the U.K.. In 1974 they were syndicated
to the U.S.A. where they appeared as "My
Partner The Ghost", because audience
research suggested that Americans would not understand
the word "deceased". In Peru it was called
"El Detective Fantasma". Except for
some brief exterior scenes in the pilot episode and
original opening titles, all of the scenes featuring the
principal cast were shot in the studio. Exterior scenes
were either simulated using blue screen or shot using
body-doubles.
Filming began at Elstree Studios at the end of May
1968. The permanent sets built in the studio were Jeff's
flat, Jeannie's apartment and the Randall and Hopkirk
office. The episodes were shot on a two week turnaround.
The pilot/first episode was "My Late Lamented Friend
And Partner", this was directed by Cyril Frankel. The episode was
shot on location throughout London with several scenes
filmed at Hanover Square, Brook Street, and Fore Street.
There was around a 14 day production schedule for each
episode. The entire series took fourteen months to
complete. The Adam's Furniture Fabric offices in Harrow
(no longer there) were used for the outside of the
Randall and Hopkirk offices. The theme tune was composed by Edwin
Astley
(1922-1998) (who was the father-in-law of The Who guitarist Pete Townshend). He composed the theme music for
many of the ITC television series. In 1970 the theme
was issued as a single on the Polydor
label (56375) by Norrie
Paramour.
The opening titles and closing
credits were devised by Chambers and Partners.
A company who had produced previous ITC title sequences on Department
S.. and The
Baron.
"Mike
Pratt's consummate performance as the
hang dog, slightly seedy, resolutely world-weary,
Jeff Randall. An ordinary man plunged into an
anything but ordinary situation."
- www.televisionheaven.co.uk |
It
was produced for ITC by Scoton (Monty
Berman and Dennis
Spooner's production company). It was produced by Monty
Berman. It was originally conceived as a possible
vehicle for comedian
Dave
Allen. First broadcast in September 1969 by ITV
network ATV
Midlands. "Randall and Hopkirk
(Deceased)'" propelled Mike Pratt to star status.
"We
used to have guest stars or 'visitors' on the
show. Once, we had David
Jason, who was fairly unknown at the
time. We used to give them champagne at 11
o'clock in the morning to make them feel welcome,
because it's sometimes awkward for an actor to
come into a long-running show. We always thought
it was nice to look after our 'visitors'."
- Kenneth
Cope Source: The Oxford Times, 1998 |
His co-star in the
series was Kenneth
Cope.
Kenneth
Cope had
appeared in The Adventures Of Robin Hood,
The Adventures Of William Tell, Ivanhoe
and Coronation
Street.
He had a worked as a scriptwriter on Granada'
s comedy ghost hunter series Turn Out The Lights.
Five white suits without pockets were made in silk by a
leading Savile Row tailor.
"I
did the screen test with the gorgeous, lovely Mike
Pratt who was an instant friend, if
that can be true, he was such a nice guy, we just
gelled right away."
- Kenneth
Cope |
Annette
Andre,
an Australian actress, had previosuly appeared
in The Sentimental Agent, The Saint, The
Baron, The
Prisoner,
The Human Jungle, Emergency Ward
10, and early segment of The Avengers.
A very private and shy man, Mike co-wrote, with Ian Wilson,
the episode "A Disturbing Case" without telling
Kenneth
Cope.
During time off he would closet himself in his dressing
room with his guitar.
"A
Disturbing Case: Mike
Pratt co-authors an hilarious entry
in which Jeff falls victim to a very crooked
German hypnotist, and becomes a sleepwalking pawn
to Marty's commands."
- Cult Times |
| |
"Mike
Pratt scores hugely for making
Randall just that bit better than you expect. The
regulars work well together, with Mike
Pratt especially deserving praise for
his considered portrayal of Jeff Randall."
- Starburst magazine |
Stunt co-ordination
was controlled by Frank
Maher (interview), who also worked on Danger Man and The
Prisoner.
Harry
'Aitch' Fielder was the
stand-in for Mike Pratt. They got on well together and
became good friends. Harry would read the other actors'
lines in the script to Mike so that he could learn his.
"Mike was one of the best
artists that I ever got to work with in my 32
years in the biz. Mike lived life to the full
and we shared many a swift half together. Mike
Pratt won't be forgotten while I'm
alive. The King is dead, long live the
King."
- Harry
'Aitch' Fielder |
| |
"The
third regular, Jean Hopkirk, is often thinly
written, but the on-screen interaction between Annette
Andre and Pratt helps overcome most of
her part's shortcomings."
- www.screenonline.org.uk |
Many of the articles
seen in Jeff Randall's apartment, are the personal
belonging of Mike Pratt.
"I
hadn't worked with Mike before but we became
very, very firm friends. He came to visit me two
days after I was cast and we had dinner. We used
to ad lib a great deal during recording. Once
during Mike's birthday we finished
shooting and went off to his dressing room for
champagne. A while later we were called back to
the set because one of the shots had gone wrong -
we should really have left the building - and we
were both totally gone, we both sat dazed in this
car trying to record.
- Kenneth
Cope
"Mike was into music and was
always playing his guitar. He was also into
Indian stuff. He always had incense in his
dressing room and he put his bed halfway up the
wall to create more space, which made it look
like a brothel. But it smelt like a nice
place."
- Kenneth
Cope |
In the episode
"The Ghost Talks" Mike really was laid up in a hospital
bed with two broken legs. Mike was attempting to climb a drainpipe
in a slightly inebriated state during his 38th birthday
celebrations. He fell 20 feet into the basement area...
he'd forgotten his keys, and saw the stand-in doing it -
successfully - first. Mike being Mike, he thought, "I can do
that" and had a go. Jeff's excuse was that he'd
fallen from a balcony in a chase - a little more
dignified. After 14 months of filming production finished
in the late summer of 1969.
"The
unassuming, easy going approach, and witty sense
of humour of Jeff Randall was equal to the man
who portrayed the character. Even though he had
to get back on stage fourty-five minutes later,
he was chatting and joking with the fans, signing
autographs, and when it came to taking a sock in
the jaw - showing us how it should be done."
- Vanessa Bergmann, who met
Mike Pratt via his fan club |
The
26 episodes took 14 months to complete and premiered on
Friday 21st of September 1969 (several weeks before
colour was introduced to the main ITV regions) in the ATV
Midlands region and two other regions. London
Weekend Television and Granada
first ran the series on Sunday 23rd of September. It was
shown in the Midlands and Yorkshire
regions on Friday, while Thames transmitted on Sunday. ATV dropped the series
after twenty-one episodes, while Granada
stayed the full course. Anglia left it
on the shelf for 12 months before broadcasting 14
episodes. The run concluded on 13th March 1970. It was
repeated twice throughout the 1970s, and was repeated
again in 1986. It was shown again on Monday nights on ITV4
during the autumn of 2005.
"Smokin', drinkin',
womanisin' Jeff Randall was played by Mike
Pratt, who at 37 was a little older
than the average ITC star - the company
tended to favour good-looking men in their
twenties, rather than a grizzled man approaching
40. He had previously guested in a number of ITC shows, including Danger Man, The
Baron and The Saint. He was perfect for
the part however, constantly exasperated with
Marty messing up his social life, and aware that
his business was a failure. A fresh-faced young
man just wouldn't have cut it in the role of
world-weary Randall."
- BBC |
In
2000 the idea for the series was brought back again in a
new format written by Charlie Higson.
The new series starred Vic Reeves and Bob
Mortimer. The story for the second episode
"Mental Apparition Disorder" was originally
written by Mike Pratt and Ian
Wilson. Mike's son Guy made a guest
appearance in the role of Browning in episode four
"Paranoia". Mike made a guest
"appearance" in episode five "A Blast from
the Past" as the foot-tapping ghost.
In 2005 TV critic Jim Shelley drew up
his own list of the ITV's top 50
programmes from the last 50 years. Randall and
Hopkirk (Deceased) was chosen at number 43.
|
