Jason King

After the huge success of 'Department S', in which the character of Jason King had quickly become dominant, a spin-off series was developed called (not surprisingly) 'Jason King'.

King had left Department S and was working on his novels - the 'Mark Cain' stories. The rest of the cast of Department S did not appear at all, and were never mentioned.

The general premise for the show was that King wandered around the world living a playboy lifestyle and each week was somehow drawn into a crime which he neatly solved in time for the end credits. British Intelligence were often hounding him to work for them as a freelance which he generally resisted until they reminded him of his back-taxes. The series was made on location around Europe, in contrast to Department S which never left the back-lot at Pinewood.

Overall the series lacked much of the original sparkle and zest of Department S, the plots were much thinner and less original, and Wyngarde was becoming to old to play the part of a trend-setting playboy convincingly.

Having just read the write up on this site.. I'm not sure I agree. ITV4 has started showing a lot of old ITC progs, including Department S and Jason King. Watching it now at age 54.. I remember it when first shown.. but now.. I'm enjoying it all over again. I'm surprised they were hour long episodes... but find I have really enjoyed them. Many will compare them to modern series.. well, I view everything with the thought of, they were of their time. I've found what I've seen so far humorous.. and knowing what I know now of Peter Wyngarde, am STILL thoroughly enjoying them? Tongue in cheek.. STYLE.. charm with the ladies.. a laugh.Entertaining. Its a shame modern series with hi tech effects.. often overshadow characters. These shows HAVE characters. Now I know there were 26 episodes, I know a mate who told me there were only 6.. must have read a miss print.

I really like Peter Wyngardes performance, a bit of an intellectual cheeky chappy I suppose. . The program may be a little dated but there are some very good guest stars and some of Wyngardes one liners are so funny. It's obviously a follow on from Department S which was also enjoyable to watch, but with the Jason King show Peter is in it much more which I feel is a plus for us viewers watching. I agree with a previous review who said they don't watch it for a mind blowing plot. It's simply great fun with a very charasmaric lead and it's very enjoyable to watch and the program is well produced with a very catchy theme tune.

I'd heard for years that JASON KING was a campy badly dated clown show, but after watching it I strongly disagree. There are several good to very good to excellent episodes.

There are also some clunkers, not so much for their comical fashions and out-of-style mores, but for how dull they are as entertainment.

My picks for top quality are:

E01 - "Wanna Buy A Television Series?" E04 - "A Deadly Line of Digits" E05 - "Variations on a Theme" E09-E10 - "All That Glisters..." (Parts I & II) E14 - "Uneasy Lies the Head"

The two-part movie length adventure (9-10) is the best of the series, maybe the best of the entire DEPARTMENT S/JASON KING run, thanks to its sprawling cast, obvious larger budget & location shooting around Paris.

Peter Wyngarde was a unique actor, Jason King is his signature role. DEPARTMENT S, when it worked, had better and more intriguing plots overall, plus a terrific trio of stars, but several episodes of JASON KING are as good (though the failures are duller and worse).

I recently bought the boxed set of Department S, on Blu Ray. I liked this series, and the three main characters played each other off, perfectly. I have now got a secondhand boxed set of Jason King, and I am really disappointed in the picture quality of this set. I should have done more research, and known that Jason King was shot on 16mm, not 35mm film, as was Dept' S.

I will watch the rest of the episodes, as I remember watching it when originally shown on Sunday afternoons in the London ITV region.

But, coming from NETWORK DVD's, I expected better.