The Saint (TV series)

The Saint was a long-running British action adventure television series that aired on ITV stations between 1962 and 1969, and on American television as a syndicated show (1962-1967) and on NBC (1967-69). Running six seasons, the series rivals The Avengers as one of the longest-running series of its genre produced in Britain, running for 118 episodes.

The Saint starred Roger Moore as Simon Templar, the fictional detective created by Leslie Charteris in the 1920s and featured in many novels and novellas over the years. Moore's portrayal of Templar was considered a training ground for his later work as James Bond, and in fact he was offered the role of 007 at least twice during the run of the series, but had to turn it down both times due to his television commitments. In one early episode of the series, a character actually mistakens Templar for James Bond.

Although Moore had a few recurring costars, most notably Ivor Dean as Templar's nemesis, Inspector Teal, he was the only constant performer for the entire run of the series.

The series began as a straightforward mystery series, but over the years adopted more secret agent and fantasy-style plots. It also made a well-publicized switch from black and white to colour production midway through its run. The early episodes are distinguished by having Moore break the fourth wall and speak to the audience (in character as Simon) at the start of every episode; with the switch to colour, this gimmick was replaced by simple narration.

Many episodes of the series were based upon Charteris' stories, although a higher percentage of original scripts appeared as the series progressed.

The series has been syndicated for many years, and reruns of the program aired to high ratings on CBS in the late 1970s. The colour seasons of the series are available on DVD in North America, with release of the black and white seasons underway. A pair of two-part episodes from later seasons, Vendetta for the Saint and The Fiction Makers, were compiled into feature films which were distributed to theatres in Europe and often show up on late-night television in America.

In 1978, the series was revived as Return of the Saint, starring Ian Oglivy as Templar. Moore never played the role again after 1969, though he can be heard speaking on a car radio during the 1997 film The Saint, starring Val Kilmer as Templar.

Episodes

Season 1 (1962)

Season 2 (1963-1964)

Season 3 (1964-1965)

Season 4 (1965)

Season 5 (1966-1967) (Hereafter in color)

Season 6 (1968-1969)