Callan - Series 1 - Part 2 Of 3 - Episodes 4 - 6 [1967]

Viewers may be put off at first by the datedness of the production and the shoe-string budget but this feeling disappears after about 20 minutes when the plot grips you. "Callan" draws the viewer into a strange and intriguing world, half imagined and half real, where nothing is quite as it seems. The plots are complicated and by the end you are likely to find yourself scratching your head and only slowly being able to make sense if it all. But this does not detract at all from the great enjoyment of the stories themselves.

This is nostalgia television at its very best and I would recommend it whole-heartedly. It has stood the test of time very well (better I would say than many later productions). Some viewers though, will be disappointed by the absence of Toby Mears (Anthony Valentine) who appears in the later series which sadly has not, as yet, been released.


The great British spy series returns ...   June 27, 2002
DIJL (UK)
"Callan" first appeared on British screens in the 60's as a one off play but was soon commissioned as a series when the popularity of its central character was realised. This video contains 3 episodes from the first series to be shown in colour in 1970. Edward Woodward is superb as the reluctant spy who is happier re-creating historic battles with his model soldiers ("they're not toys!" he indignantly insists) than engaging in the murky world of intelligence operations. Russell Hunter also shines as the malodorous Lonely, a petty criminal who is continually co-opted by Callan into assisting him. Patrick Mower makes an early appearance as Callan's ruthless colleague Cross, while William Squire is just right as Callan's boss Hunter, a code name for all the heads of the department.

Viewers may be put off at first by the datedness of the production and the shoe-string budget but this feeling disappears after about 20 minutes when the plot grips you. "Callan" draws the viewer into a strange and intriguing world, half imagined and half real, where nothing is quite as it seems. The plots are complicated and by the end you are likely to find yourself scratching your head and only slowly being able to make sense if it all. But this does not detract at all from the great enjoyment of the stories themselves.

This is nostalgia television at its very best and I would recommend it whole-heartedly. It has stood the test of time very well (better I would say than many later productions). Some viewers though, will be disappointed by the absence of Toby Mears (Anthony Valentine) who appears in the later series which sadly has not, as yet, been released.