Hanged Man, The (ITV 1975, Colin Blakely, Michael Williams)

Well remembered crime drama series The Hanged Man focused on tycoon Lew Burnett who, after receiving some death threats, decides to fake his own death so that he can go undercover and find out just what is going on. Of course in so doing he also manages to find out more than a little about himself in the process.

Alan Crowe was initially the mercenary who believed that Burnett was one of the bad guys but he was very quickly won over and proved to be Burnett’s main ally in “staying dead”. Along the way Burnett travels from Switzerland to Scotland and also manages to find himself implicated in a murder before managing to put things to rights in the final episode.

Prominent guest stars popping up included the likes of Jenny Hanley, Jan Francis, Gareth Hunt and Jane Seymour who played Burnett’s daughter Laura.

The highly funky theme tune composed by Alan Tew would later be used (with a slight variation) for the Charley Farley and Piggy Malone stories in The Two Ronnies.

Two of the minor characters in the series Turtle and Razor Eddie would get their own spin off series four years later in the shape of Turtle’s Progress. 1975 was a busy one for series creator Edmund Ward he was also busy with the final season of excellent John Stride starring drama The Main Chance.

production details
UK / ITV Network – Yorkshire Television

RUNNING TIME: 60 Minutes | NUMBER OF EPISODES: 8 | AIRDATES: 15 February – 5 April 1975

WRITER: Edmund Ward | PRODUCERS: Marc Miller, Edmund Ward

cast
COLIN BLAKELY as Lew Burnett
GARY WATSON as John Quentin
MICHAEL WILLIAMS as Alan Crowe
JENNY HANLEY as Druscilla Lowendes
WILLIAM RUSSELL as Peter Kroger
JANE SEYMOUR as Laura Burnett
JAN FRANCIS as Captain Jane Ashley
FREDERICK JAEGER as Hans Dieter
GARETH HUNT as Eddie Malone
RAY SMITH as Josef Milojek
JACK WATSON as Douglas McKinnon
BARBARA SHELLEY as Louisa Galbraith

THE EPISODES
1. WHEEL OF FORTUNE
2. TOWER OF DESTRUCTION
3. KNAVE OF COINS
4. CHARIOT OF EARTH
5. THE BRIDGE MAKER
6. GRAIL AND PLATTER
7. LAWS OF FORTUNE
8. RING OF RETURN

• Hamlet at Elsinore (BBC 1964, Christopher Plummer, Robert Shaw)

• A Handful of Thieves (BBC One 1969, Helen Worth, Martin Ratcliffe)

• Hands Across the Sea (BBC, 1938, Nadine March, Nicholas Phipps)

• My Son Reuben (Thames 1975, Bernard Spear, Lila Kaye,)

• The Franchise Affair (BBC 1962, Rosalie Crutchley, Michael Aldridge)

• The Galactic Garden

• The Sentimental Agent (ATV 1963)