Hazell

In an era of reality TV and Netflix it's probably strange that I can be bothered to write a review? The show was created a long time ago but it's utterly brilliant. Kids would scoff at the fashions and everything else but this show portrays London and all its filthy dead end locations and weaves it into a fascinating PI detective show. Nicholas Ball was wonderful and it's a shame he didn't get a massive break from this. Raw, gritty and a little bit strange at times it represents London in the 70s In all of its glory with fascinating characters and story lines. Watch for nostalgia but definitely watch.

Run-down 1970s Britain proved to be a fertile backdrop for truly memorable light drama such as Budgie, The Sweeney, & Minder, and i reckon Hazell was just about as good.

James Hazell is an ex copper who left the force under a cloud, and is now working as an enquiry agent; he's a cockney charmer with an eye for the ladies, and no case is too hard as long as the money's right. His work takes him around some of the seediest, and in some cases, swankiest parts of London, and as with The Sweeney, the location work and cockney banter are a big part of the attraction of this great show.

Nicholas Ball was initially considered too young for the role, but i'm really glad he eventually got it because he absolutely nailed the part and made it his own. I particularly enjoyed the first series, which featured some great banter with one of the show's best characters Dot Wilmington. Other regulars were his cousin Tel, and his nemesis 'Choc' Minty.

Hazell ran for only two series, and in a way i'm glad, as too many good shows outstay their welcome and grow tired and flabby.

On a final note, it's sad to think that ITV, the channel that gave us Callan, Public Eye and all the aforementioned classics is now best known for making mindless drek like Love Island and Keith Lemon.

i have recently acquired all episodes of this series on DVD and am thoroughly enjoying them all over again. if it is true that Nicholas ball wanted it to be shot on film otherwise he would quit then it is a real shame, but i can see his point. the series suffers only through being on tape, everything else is spot on. some of the stories are, indeed, a bit clichéd but the performances and scripts are excellent right the way through two series. i was thinking about if a revival was to occur who could do it .... four names came into my head:

Craig Fairbrass (tough) Leslie Grantham (edgy) Nigel Harmon (sexy) and Nicholas Ball (venables/williams thought him too young at the time .. well, he's a lot older now and still looking good)

.... i think a 21st century update would be great. To not consider it because it is sexist is ridiculous, a good screenwriter could turn the novels into superb TV, much better than the likes of 'vincent' or 'murder city'.

gives this series a look, it is great!!!!

Writing this in late 2020...and now in my late 50s...I had very little recall of this show. The particular episode on now features some very poor American accents, some wooden acting, and low budget sets and filming. And for all that, it's still better than the virtue signalling woke clap trap produced today. Would have been better for the Euston films treatment...The Sweeney has aged much better IMHO. I can't believe Nick Ball was considered too young, that's a passage of time thing, he'd have been about 30 at time of filming, which these days would seem about right. Terry 'El Tel' Venables co-wrote this. The corny bits I assume, after all El Tel, when in his 20s, a pro footballer at the time, at the height of Beatlemania made a version of Waddaya Wanna Make Those Eyes at me For'.

You will notice Season 1 has ten episodes while Season 2 has twelve.

This is because at the time that Season 1 was being broadcast the actor John Bindon, who was playing a gangster in the episode "Hazell and the Public Enemy", was up at the Old Bailey on trial for the murder of Johnny Darke in a pub in Putney (improbably named Ranelagh Yacht Club).

At the request of Bindons defence team, who felt that a jury might confuse the character with Bindon in real life, Thames Television 'pulled' the episode from the schedule.

During the trial fellow actor Bob Hoskins was one of those who appeared as a character witness for Bindon.

By the time Season 2 of Hazell was broadcast, Bindon had been acquitted of the murder, so Thames just tagged the episode "Hazell and the Public Enemy" on to the end of Season 2.