Sapphire And Steel Episode Guide
“All irregularities will be handled by the forces controlling each dimension.
Transuranic heavy elements may not be used where there is life. Medium atomic
weights are available: Gold, Lead, Copper, Jet, Diamond, Radium, Sapphire,
Silver and Steel. Sapphire and Steel have been assigned.”
All the episodes of the classic, but short lived, British science fiction series began with this rather enigmatic statement. It was never really explained exactly what the elements were. Sapphire & Steel starred David McCallum and Joanna Lumley as a mysterious pair who appeared in places to correct disturbances in time.
Sapphire & Steel Production Credits
Casting: Maureen Riscoe [II; III; IV; V; VI]
Film Cameraman: Chic Anstiss [III 1-3,5]
Film Editor: Glen Cardno [III 1-3,5]
Sound:Len Penfold [I; V]; Bob Woodhouse [II 1; VI]; Henry Bird [II 2-6; III]; Pete Wernham [II 7,8; IV]
Cameras: Mike Whitcutt [I; II; III; IV 1-3; V; VI 3,4]; Gerry Elms [IV 4; VI 1,2]
Vision Mixer: Neil Guy [I 1-5; II 1-6]; Carole Legg [I 6]; Mary Forrest [II 7,8]; Moyra Bird [III]; Yvonne Kelly [IV; V; VI]
Vision Control:Jim Reeves [I; V 5,6; VI]; John Crane [II; V 1-4]; John Willment [III; IV]
VTR Editor: John Hawkins [I; II; III; V; VI]; Al Pigden [IV]
Make-Up: Mary Southgate [I-IV]; Anita Harris [V; VI]
Costumes/Wardrobe: Dawn Evans [I]; Mary Gibson [II-VI]
Programme Administrator: Ron Brown
Floor Manager: Sean O’Farrell [I; II 1-6]; Jeremy Van Bunnens [II 7,8; III; V]; Ron Blanchard [IV; VI 3,4]; Martin Essex [V 6; VI 3,4]; Bill Goodall [VI 1,2]
Stage Manager: Ann Murphy; Denise Shaw-Vance [III; IV; V; VI]
Production Assistant: Sonia Hampson [II 1,2; III]; Glenys Collins [II 3,4,7; VI];Joyce Lewsey [I; II 5,6,8]; Jan Woolsey [IV]; Jean Stevenson [V]
Title Sequence: Ivor Weir
Music: Cyril Ornadel
Special Effects: George Leuenberger [III; IV 4; V 6]
Photographic Research: Margaret Duerden [IV]
Lighting: Jim Boyers
Designer: Stanley Mills [I-IV; VI]; Su Chases [V]
Executive Producer: David Reid
Producer: Shaun O’Riordan
Regular Cast
Steel: David McCallum
Sapphire: Joanna Lumley
Silver: David Collings [III eps 3-6; VI]
Sapphire & Steel - The Stories
ADVENTURE I - 6 episodes
“ESCAPE THROUGH A CRACK IN TIME”
Written by P J Hammond
Directed by Shaun O’Riordan
Rob: Steven O’Shea
Helen: Tamasin Bridge
Lead: Val Pringle [4-6]
Mother: Felicity Harrison [1-3,4*,{5},6]
Father: John Golightly [1,5,6]
Policeman: Charles Pemberton [2,{6}]
Countryman: Ronald Goodale [1,2,4*,{5},6]
In a large, remote, coastal house, a mother and father read rhymes to their
daughter. Downstairs, fourteen-year-old Rob is doing his homework. One by
one the clocks stop and his parents vanish. Rob phones the local policeman
and, seconds later, Sapphire and Steel arrive. They are menaced by Roundhead
soldiers and images of plague victims. Sapphire becomes trapped in a painting
and Steel reduces his body temperature to absolute zero to release her.
Eventually, together with another elemental called Lead, they lure the enemy
into the cellar. Here the force is crushed out of the foundations of the
house by Lead. Sapphire and Steel disappear and the parents return as though
they had never been gone.
ADVENTURE II - 8 episodes
“THE RAILWAY STATION”
Written by P J Hammond
Directed by Shaun O’Riordan [1-4,7,8] and David Foster [1-7]
Tully: Gerald James
Pearce (Soldier): Tom Kelly
1st Submariner (1st Voice): David Woodcock [2-8]
Pilot/2nd Voice: David Cann [2-8]
At a disused railway station, the Darkness is feeding upon the resentment of
people who have died prematurely. These include a WWI private blown up on
Armistice Day, three workers suffocated in an experimental submarine and a
pilot killed one flight from being demobbed. Together with an old
ghost-hunter called Tully, Sapphire and Steel attempt to contact the beings.
Sapphire is taken-over by the Darkness and tries to kill Steel with a bunch of
flowers! Steel finds himself trapped in barbed wire on a battlefield. Time is
advanced twelve days and Steel offers a bargain to the Darkness conditional to
it returning time to its proper course and freeing its victims. It accepts
the last few years of Tully’s life. This makes Time itself resentful thus
providing the energy the Darkness needs.
ADVENTURE III - 6 episodes
“THE CREATURES’ REVENGE”
Written by P J Hammond
Directed by Shaun O’Riordan
Rothwyn: Catherine Hall [1-3,4*,5,6]
Eldred: David Gant [1-3,5,6]
Changeling: Russell Wootton [2*,3-5,{6}]
A couple from 1500 years in the future occupy an invisible time capsule atop a
modern-day block of flats as part of an experiment. Time is resentful that,
in the couple’s home time-zone, man is the only animal not extinct. It begins
to menace the couple and their baby with animal-derived products. The baby is
made to age into an adult and given the power to age or regress material
objects. Sapphire and Steel are joined by Silver and confront this
changeling. Silver is sent into the future and Steel destroys the changeling
reverting it back into a baby and returning Silver. The agents track down the
source of the disturbance, an amalgamation of various types of organic matter,
and Steel terminates the experiment.
ADVENTURE IV - 4 episodes
“THE MAN WITHOUT A FACE”
Written by P J Hammond
Directed by David Foster
Liz: Alyson Spiro
Shape: Philip Bird
Bob Hornery [2-4]
Ruth: Shelagh Stephenson [3,4]
Parasol Girl: Natalie Hedges
Sapphire and Steel investigate an old junk shop where the original landlord
and a tenant have disappeared. The new landlord is a shapeless being who
moves between time-zones via photographs and has the ability to imprison or
release people from them. The agents find out that the Shape was originally
released by the landlord’s hobby of splicing together photographs from
different periods. They discover the missing tenant, Ruth, trapped in a
photograph, but the faceless Shape burns her alive within it. It then traps
Sapphire and Steel and they are only saved by the bravery of a stripper called
Liz. Eventually, the Shape is trapped in a kaleidoscope and placed on a
sinking ship.
ADVENTURE V - 6 episodes
“DR MCDEE MUST DIE”
Written by Don Houghton [1,3,4] and Anthony Read [2,5,6]
Directed by Shaun O’Riordan
Emma Mullrine: Patience Collier
Lord Mullrine: Davy Kaye
Felicity McDee: Nan Munro
Felix Harborough: Jeffry Wickham
Howard McDee: Jeremy Child [1-5]
Annabelle Harborough: Jennie/Jenny Stoller [1-5]
Greville: Peter Laird
George McDee: Stephen Macdonald [2-6]
Tony Purnell: Christopher Bramwell [2-4]
Anne Shaw: Patricia Shakesby
Veronica Blamey: Debbie Farrington [2,3]
Radio Commentator: Valentine Dyall [1]
Lord Arthur Mullrine organises a party to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary
since his business partnership began with the late Dr George McDee. During
the party, time rolls back fifty years and guests who were not alive at that
time are systematically murdered. The late Doctor McDee arrives at the party
and Sapphire and Steel realise that the events of the night of his death are
beginning to recreate themselves. It transpires that McDee had invented a
lethal virus that could destroy all humanity. However, before this could
happen he was shot by a jealous lover. Time has occupied the body of the
lover and is attempting to arrange events such that McDee survives to
accidentally unleash the virus. Sapphire and Steel ensure that he is, indeed,
killed by the lover and his body and the virus are consumed in a fire.
ADVENTURE VI - 4 episodes
“THE TRAP”
Written by P J Hammond
Directed by David Foster
Man: Edward de Souza
Woman: Johanna Kirby [1-3,4*]
Johnny Jack: Chris/Christopher Fairbank [3,4]
Old Man: John Boswall
Sapphire and Steel arrive at a deserted service station and meet Silver. A
couple from 1948 arrive together with an old man from 1925 and a travelling
player from 1957. The agents are suspicious as to the lack of interest shown
by the couple in the modern trappings of the petrol station and the strange
unused condition of the musician’s tambourine. The strangers are revealed as
Transient Beings, enemies of Sapphire and Steel, who have escaped entombment
in the past using a device called a Time Box. They use a Time Box to trap
Sapphire, Silver and Steel in the petrol station and the agents find
themselves floating through the infinity of space: trapped forever.
8 Comments, Comment or Ping
Andrew Oakley
“Sapphire and Steel” really was an enigma. If you like British sci-fi for its unusualness, it doesn’t get any more unusual than this (that’s not just a cliche; I don’t know any sci-fi buffs who don’t agree that S+S is Oddest Programme Ever).
If you liked The Prisoner for its mystery, you’ll like S+S. However, you should be prepared for spartan sets, very small casts and dim lighting. Much of it feels like theatre rather than TV, for exactly this claustrophobic reason. This is not a mass ensemble production- the whole thing feels like it was written in the TV company’s basement as a spare-time project without the knowledge of the company directors. If you thought classic Doctor Who was low budget - you ain’t seen nothing yet; and let’s face it, a lot of S+S really was made with nothing.
What makes S+S are the superb scripts and intelligent, seriously hard sci-fi storylines (if ever there was sci-fi for high-IQ, this is it). And let’s not forget that both lead actors Joanna Lumley and David McCallum are stunningly good looking and excellent actors to boot- they carry the whole thing.
For reference, the series was broadcast between 1979 and 1982, and everything from the sets (what little there are) to the costumes are very much of their time.
Unusually for British sci-fi, it was not made by the BBC, but by ATV (Associated Television), the commercial TV company headquartered Birmingham, part of the ITV network.
Although most people think S+S died off merely because it was so very, very odd, the real reason for its cancellation was that ATV lost its contract to the ITV network. ITV has regional companies in the same way that US TV networks have local affiliates. ATV essentially closed down in 1982; it was replaced on ITV by Central Television who were later purchased by Carlton. ATV did have a bit of a track record for cult programming, including the anarchic Saturday morning kids show “Tiswas”. Although Central Television was a lot more slick and professional than ATV, they also took a lot less risks, and those of us who grew up in the Midlands region that these companies served, remember ATV’s quirky cult programming with great fondness. ATV was a small part of ITC Entertainment, the makers of “The Prisoner”, “Thunderbirds”, “Space: 1999″, “The Dark Crystal”, “Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)” etc. and although ITC’s spirit of adventure was evident in ATV, you should not expect anything like their budgets for S+S.
Nov 9th, 2005
Paul T
This was a truly great series. I really enjoyed looking through the
episode guide. I remember the episode ‘The Railway Station’ in particular,
the sound of the soldiers singing ‘pack up your troubles in your old kit
bag’ was truly haunting and still sticks in my mind today. Great stuff.
Nov 9th, 2005
Eoghann
The Railway Station and The Trap are my two personal favorite Sapphire & Steel stories. I’m old enough to vaguely remember watching them when they originally aired. They were released on VHS in the UK in the 90’s and I eagerly bought them. Of course now that I’m in the States those copies aren’t much use so I need to see about getting myself some DVDs.
Andrew you raise a good point about the primary reason for the disappearance of Sapphire and Steel. Ratings were actually pretty good for the show and the primary cause of its demise was the loss of ITV’s contract another big factor was the increasing popularity of both David McCallum and Joanna Lumley. It was very hard to actually record the show apparently because both stars were so busy.
Nov 9th, 2005
Eoghann
One more thing thats worth mentioning. The key to Sapphire and Steel’s brilliance is the scripts of P J Hammond, and I noticed when I was posting the news about the Doctor Who spinoff Torchwood that he was set to write for that series. Worth keeping and eye on I think.
Nov 9th, 2005
Andrew Ford
Not many TV shows remain firmly entrenched in my memory as Sapphire and Steel.
It’s sheer unusualness for a start, plus some implied but, non-the-less,
horrific sequences such as a woman who is trapped within a photograph being
burned alive as the photo is set on fire - and to think it was originally
going to be scheduled in a childrens’ TV slot.
The good news is that the adventures continue in audio format as produced by
Big Finish productions (the people who very muchhelped keep Doctor Who
alive while it was off the air).
Sadly they don’t have McCallum and Lumley on board, but they are more than
adequately replaced by David Warner and Susannah Harker plus the return of
David Collings as Silver. The atmosphere of the stories are very much in the
spirit of the original series and are well worth a listen.
Check them out on http://www.bigfinish.com
I too, will be looking out for S & S creator P J Hammond’s episode of
Torchwood with great interest.
Dec 17th, 2005
Hinna Ali
I was very young when Sapphire and Steel was aired here in Dubai on the only local
English channel (Channel 33) at the start of the ’80s. It was amazingly interesting
and eerie. One was always glued to the television when it was on. Would love to get
the DVD of the episodes. Would appreciate some ideas on where I can order them online.
May 28th, 2006
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