Sam and the River

Filmed in London, in and around the River Thames in the summer of 1974, this classic BBC / Swedish co-production six part television film serial is about two schoolboy friends, Sam Leigh (Simon West) and Paul Redmond (Mark Dightam) who between them disrupt the well laid plans of a gang of diamond smugglers on the River Thames. Each episode is never less than very entertaining and the theme music is very catchy. The colour cinematography is gorgeous with plenty of sunlit location filming and we even get treated to a helicopter flight with our two heroes over the River Thames and see such well known landmarks as the Palace of Westminster and Tower Bridge from the air. The then very photogenic 12, going on 13 years old Simon West lights up the screen throughout.

Slight spoiler here, but no more than you'd see in an actual trailer. In episode 5, there is a chase scene between two power boats on the river, where the villains are chasing Sam because he's made off in his boat with a cache of diamonds that the villains had smuggled into the country by flying them in from the continent in a model aeroplane and this sequence is particularly well filmed and edited. Highly Recommended.

In August, 2017, this much sought after serial, which many had believed to be lost, finally made it onto DVD, but only in Germany and dubbed in German. However, don't let that put you off, for, as long as you have a simple synopsis for it, it's easy to follow the story and it will do until the original English language version is released on DVD. Look for it on amazon under the title "Tom und die Themse". It's an excellent transfer and well worth buying...although I don't know why the Germans changed the title from "Sam and the River" to "Tom and the Thames". Maybe 'Sam' is a swearword in Germany.