King and Castle is a British television crime drama series, made by Thames Television and screened on ITV, that first broadcast on 20 August 1985.[1] The series stars Derek Martin as Ronald King, a Detective Sergeant with the Metropolitan Police, who is obliged to leave the force when he is investigated by the anti-corruption squad. His first venture outside of the police involves setting up his own Debt Collection Agency, known as 'The Manor', where he partners with mild-mannered martial arts expert David Castle (Nigel Planer).
King and Castle | |
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Genre | Crime drama |
Created by | Ian Kennedy Martin |
Written by |
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Starring |
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Theme music composer | Sound Lab |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 2 |
No. of episodes | 12 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer | Lloyd Shirley |
Producers |
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Cinematography | Philip Blowers |
Running time | 60 minutes |
Production company | Thames Television |
Distributor | Fremantle |
Release | |
Original network | ITV |
Picture format | 4:3 (576i) |
Audio format | Mono |
Original release | 20 August 1985 (1985-08-20) – 14 June 1988 (1988-06-14) |
Created by Ian Kennedy Martin,[2] who had previously devised The Sweeney for Thames, along with Juliet Bravo and The Chinese Detective for the BBC, King and Castle started out as an episode of Thames' Storyboard, a series of stand-alone dramas intended as potential pilots for series.[3] Described as a comibanation of the rough-and-tumble of The Sweeney[4] with the knowing wit of Minder,[5] two series of six episodes each followed in 1986 and 1988. In 1986, a paperback tie-in novel was also released to accompany the first series.[6]
The complete series of King and Castle, including the Storyboard pilot, was released on DVD via Network in April 2011 and July 2012 respectively.
No. | Title[7] | Directed by | Written by | Airdate | |
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0 | "King and Castle" | Richard Bramall | Ian Kennedy Martin | 20 August 1985 (1985-08-20) | |
A dissatisfied young martial artist teams up with maverick ex-cop in a new debt collecting venture. |
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Airdate | |
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1 | "Exodus" | Peter Cregeen | Ian Kennedy Martin | 3 September 1986 (1986-09-03) | |
King and Castle are asked to trace a man who has sawn his house in half following the break-up of his marriage. Meanwhile, a local villain has a score to settle with King. | |||||
2 | "Villains" | Henry Herbert | Ian Kennedy Martin | 10 September 1986 (1986-09-10) | |
A bereaved family hire King to find a substantial some money that disappeared after their relative died in a car crash. | |||||
3 | "Partners" | Alan Bell | Ian Kennedy Martin | 17 September 1986 (1986-09-17) | |
A man called Devas hires King and Castle to secure debts owed to him by a Rodney Finch-Courtney. | |||||
4 | "Friends" | Peter Cregeen | Ian Kennedy Martin | 24 September 1986 (1986-09-24) | |
King and Castle turn detective when the friend of a man they are chasing for large debts is imprisoned for a robbery he did not commit. This episode featured Terence Morgan's last ever acting role; it was noted that he gave a 'haunting performance'.[8] | |||||
5 | "Romance" | Henry Herbert | Ian Kennedy Martin | 1 October 1986 (1986-10-01) | |
Castle pursues a woman for £10,000 of debts, but King finds himself attracted to her. King discovers Medley's long-lost son. | |||||
6 | "Rivals" | Alan Bell | Ian Kennedy Martin | 8 October 1986 (1986-10-08) | |
Castle deals with a child custody case. A rival debt collection agency moves into the area and successfully employs strong-arm tactics. |
No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Airdate | |
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7 | "Kicks" | Peter Sasdy | Ian Kennedy Martin | 10 May 1988 (1988-05-10) | |
King has a cashflow problems, and Castle and Miss Willmott are owed nearly £2,000 in back pay. | |||||
8 | "Dim Sums" | Laurence Moody | Ian Kennedy Martin | 17 May 1988 (1988-05-17) | |
A woman dies and leaves behind a lot of I.O.U.s signed by a Tony Chen. King and Castle are hired to find him. | |||||
9 | "Hams" | Jan Sargent | Ian Kennedy Martin | 24 May 1988 (1988-05-24) | |
Castle acquires a wonderful recipe for cooking hams. Hilary and Carol clash. | |||||
10 | "Floppy Discs" | Peter Tabem | Nigel Planer & Andy de la Tour | 31 May 1988 (1988-05-31) | |
King is hired to help find a stolen floppy disc that contains extremely valuable information. | |||||
11 | "Class" | Laurence Moody | Nigel Planer & Andy de la Tour | 7 June 1988 (1988-06-07) | |
A friend of King's needs a touch of class, but is King the right man for the job? | |||||
12 | "Cons" | Jan Sargent | Ian Kennedy Martin | 14 June 1988 (1988-06-14) |