The Persuaders! Are two equally-matched men from different backgrounds who

reluctantly team together to solve cases which the courts cannot. That was the pitch that

Sir Lew Grade delivered to US television executives back in 1970. On the strength of this

and without a single actor being cast the show was sold and television perfection was

about to be created.

Roger Moore as Lord Brett Sinclair and Tony Curtis as Danny Wilde produce the most

perfect on screen chemistry. Together with John Barry‟s synthesised 6/4 time theme, and

the Aston Martin DBS and Dino 246 GT it became, for me, the most perfect television

series of all time.

Action was plentiful and although no Stunt Coordinator was ever credited much of the

action was arranged by Les Crawford and Frank Maher who also took many of the „heavy‟

roles in the series. Let‟s take a look at the action on this wonderful series and go behind

the stunts.

EPISODE ONE - OVERTURE

Mysterious invitations lead millionaire playboys Danny Wilde and Lord Brett Sinclair to

Monte Carlo, where a beautiful girl holds the key to a crime syndicate that appears to be

operating with a dead boss.

This first episode contains a number of action set pieces. The first is right at the start

where our two leads leave Nice airport and race each other along the beautiful coast

roads down to Monte Carlo in the Aston Martin and Dino. Many of the shots are back

projection, but one or two show both Curtis and Moore actually drive at some speed. The

one stunt in the chase is a „near miss‟ where both cars just manage to get out of the way

of an oncoming Vauxhall Viva.

Set piece number two is set in the restaurant of the hotel in which our heroes are staying.

Brett Sinclair enters with a beautiful girl and orders a cocktail from the bar. Danny Wilde

is already at the bar and try‟s to assist Brett with his order by suggesting he has two olives

in his drink instead or one. Well as you can imagine this is just too much for Brett who

squares up to Wilde and a fight ensues. The fight itself is pretty standard, but both Roger

Moore and Tony Curtis throw very convincing punches throughout. Sitting quietly at a

table, minding his own business is stuntman Nosher Powell. Being in the wrong place at

the wrong time he gets stuck in the middle of this particular brawl.

Tony Curtis does perform one stunt himself. Being thrown over the bar by Roger Moore.

Curtis, as we know, is a very physical actor and developed his skills with movies like

Trapeze and Houdini. So asking him to perform a very physical fight scene was something

he truly enjoyed. Often in a „gag‟ like this the stuntman is thrown over the bar and the

actor is waiting behind the bar to stand up and deliver the lines, but here Curtis does it

all.

And finally in this bar brawl we find the stunt arranger getting caught up in it too. Les

Crawford, Roger Moore‟s double on the show, sits at a table watching the chaos. Brett hits

Danny over the back with a chair back and Danny falls into Les who crashes to the ground.

Set piece number three takes place in the same restaurant, but this time Wilde and

Sinclair arrive as friends, which pleases the head waiter no end. While sitting at a table a

bunch of heavies enter and join them.

The heavies, as you would expect, are all stuntmen. Terry Maidment, Cliff Diggins and

Richard Lester. The fight is in slow motion and appears to be a sort of dream sequence. A

bad dream for the head waiter who has seen it all before.

Tony Curtis throwing a punch at Richard Lester. The one thing to note is the accuracy.

Curtis throws it so close to the stuntman‟s face actual contact is made.

Terry Maidment

Cliff Diggins

Richard Lester

Left to Right Actor Alex Scott, Stuntmen Terry Maidment & Cliff Diggins

EPISODE TWO – TO THE DEATH, BABY

A rich girl is inevitably the subject of envy and attention - and Shelley Masterton is a very

rich girl indeed. She has inherited a soap empire and a fortune. Carl Foster is attempting

to part Shelley from her fortune and Brett and Danny can see one possible way out of the

difficulties. They must both vie for Shelley's attention in the hope that one will lure her

away from Foster.

Foster is being bank rolled by a nasty piece of work called Coady. He, as any really nasty

piece of work would, has two bodyguards with him at all times. They are played by

stuntmen Alf Joint and Frank Maher.

Frank has an early run in with Danny Wilde when, over the cheese board, Danny let‟s

Coady know that if he doesn‟t leave town he‟ll rub him out with spot remover! Words like

these are enough to turn the average nasty piece of work into an even nastier piece of

work. Coady signals Frank to move in and remove Mr Wilde from his dinner table, but

Danny is one step ahead, spots Frank coming, grabs hold of his head and slams it into the

remains of the Camembert.

Shelley decides to consider her current situation by riding a horse onto the countryside

and spending some time alone. Brett has other ideas and rides after her. Roger Moore is

and always has been a very fine horseman and rides his horse at the canter during the

sequence. Jennie Linden had presumably told the director that she wasn‟t very confident

in the saddle so stuntwomen Cyd Child was brought in to double her during this brief shot.

Roger Moore in the saddle

Foster has kidnapped Shelley‟s financial advisor, John Hatton, played by Thorley Walters

and left him at an abandoned village in the hills. Brett follows him in order to rescue

Hatton and put a stop to this once and for all. Standing in his way is a shepherd called

Ramon. A fine man with a crook, his weapon of choice. He invites Brett to a duel. Winner

takes Hatton. The actor playing Ramon is Robert Russell. A very physical role and one that

he really makes his own. Roger Moore also performs the entire fight himself, but Les

Crawford does take over for one shot where Brett is thrown into a passing shepherd played

by stuntman Peter Brace seen here, on the left, in the hat. Robert Russell is pretty agile

himself. Performing a flip onto his back after Roger throws him during the fight.

Brett and Danny both decide that the only way to look after Shelley is to pay her the

money being asked by Foster. As international playboys they‟re not short of a bob or two

and yet Brett still feels the urge to play cards in order to win some dough. His opponents

are actor Roger Delgado and stuntmen Bob Simmons and Terry Plummer.

One final action sequence before this episode comes to a close. Coady has confronted

Foster about the money. The money is sitting on the table in a suitcase. Foster tries to

make a break for it by closing the case and thrusting it into Coady‟s stomach. His

bodyguard, Alf Joint, reacts and rushes Foster who clouts him with the briefcase and runs

off. Alf ends upside down in an armchair as these shots show.

Outside waiting by the car is Coady‟s driver played by stuntman Peter Brayham.

As we saw in episode one Tony Curtis was a very physical actor. When offered the

opportunity to perform his own action he literally jumped at it. As we see here. Shelley is

being held by stuntman Peter Brayham when the terrace doors burst open and in „jumps‟

Danny Wilde. Leaping over the sofa and right next to Peter Brayham. A very energetic

manoeuvre and worthy of any stuntman. Peter is then thrown out of the room by Danny

and out of the door by Brett.

EPISODE THREE - FIVE MILES TO MIDNIGHT

Smuggling an American gangster out of Italy is no joy ride for Brett and Danny, despite the

assistance of a glamorous girl photographer. So Danny sets off with Rocco hidden under a

tarpaulin in an old truck owned by Sidonie (JOAN COLLINS), a beautiful girl photographer

who smells a great scoop here and insists on accompanying them. Brett follows in his car,

creating a dramatic diversion at a police checkpoint, which enables Danny to drive Rocco

off in a different direction. It also enables us to get the only real action set piece of the

entire episode.

Les Crawford is standing on front of the oncoming Aston Martin, driven by Roger Moore,

and tries to get out of the way. He jumps to his right while a policeman climbs the wall in

order to get clear. Danny and Sidonie then drive the panel truck away from the road block

only to find Les Crawford, who is presumably playing some type of police official, barking

orders at the other uniformed officers. He is in the way and Danny and Sidonie are in a

hurry to catch up with Brett so they drive into him. Not so much a car knockdown as a car

push aside as we can see here.

EPISODE FOUR – ANGIE, ANGIE

The French Riviera is the setting for American gangster drama when Danny meets up with

a friend from 'way back and learns, too late, that the gaiety of a film festival is a mask for

murder. Sandor, ex-boss of a big union in the United States, intends to testify at a

Congressional Investigation into criminals taking over the unions. The hoods intend to see

he never makes the stand. Only Brett's speed saves Sandor from a bullet fired through the

French windows at the Casino where Sandor is playing the tables. Sandor has two

bodyguards. They are played by two of the finest British stuntmen. Alan Chuntz and Del

Baker. Del gets shot in the arm and for the rest of the episode is seen wearing a sling.

Alan Chuntz passed away in 2009 and was regarded by many as the perfect all-round

performer. He was a member of H.A.V.O.C alongside Derek Ware and created many of the

action sequences for the Dr Who television series. He was in many of the scenes of this

episode as Sandor plays such an important role. Later on in the episode another attempt

to kill him has been stumbled upon by Brett at a cinema screening a new Bulgarian

comedy that Sandor has tickets for. Alan is waiting in the lobby making sure nobody

suspicious gets in. A certain irony here as one of the most suspicious looking characters in

the whole episode is the assistant from the cinema seen here standing next to Alan who is

already reaching for his weapon…so to speak!

As point of interest another great British stuntman makes a very brief appearance. Paddy

Ryan plays the cinema projectionist and receives a thump to the head whilst attending to

the feature presentation. Paddy Ryan died in 1990 aged 85yrs.

And so to the final „gag‟ of this episode. A stair fall performed by Alan Chuntz and assisted

by Roger Moore. Most stuntmen prefer to fall down a straight flight of stairs with banisters

on either side. The banister can be used to direct the fall. The way in which the fall is

started is important since it determines its shape and to a large extent its speed. Many

stuntmen prefer to launch themselves backwards so as to get the step of a stair under

their necks and then to direct the rest of the fall from that position.

Alan falls backwards down the first set of steps

onto the landing where momentum takes him

down the next set using the banister for

assistance. Momentum is the key to the stair

fall and Alan makes this look very graceful.

EPISODE FIVE – POWERSWITCH

The body of a beautiful girl found floating in a Cote d'Azure bay plunges Danny and Brett

into even deeper water when it is discovered that she has been murdered. The finding of a

drowned girl in a Cote d'Azure bay has sinister implications for Brett Sinclair and Danny

Wilde after they have come across the body and are tricked by Judge Fulton into helping

unravel the strange circumstances which surround the girl's death.

The main henchman in this episode, Ravel, is played by stuntman Les Crawford. The first

piece of action is in the dead girl‟s room where Les is looking for something and is

disturbed by the arrival of Brett.

He is thrown from one side of the room to the other by Brett, crashing through the

furniture as he goes. Gets up and runs out to his car to make his getaway, but Brett gets

after him and clings to the side of the car as it drives off. Roger Moore is not doubled in

this scene and Les has worked out that the shot would be much more convincing if Roger

does it himself, but how? Well by sitting on the door frame with the driver‟s door window

open Roger can reach inside and grab a hand hold. He‟s only riding the car for a few

seconds and he‟ll be able to dismount easily as the car will come to an almost complete

stop.

Les gets plenty of on screen moments during this episode as we can see here.

The final scene sees Brett and Danny in an actual cliff-hanger ending. Balancing over the

edge of a cliff they scramble to get out while Les rams their car with his from behind in an

attempt to send them crashing to their doom, but luckily Tony Curtis‟s agility comes to

the rescue.

EPISODE SIX – THE GOLD NAPOLEON

All that glitters may not be gold - but the question for Danny and Brett is whether there's

glitter beneath the bronze of Napoleon coin replicas. As far as action goes it‟s a Tony

Curtis showcase. Giving him another opportunity to show off his physical prowess with a

great individual stunt.

Danny and Brett are sitting outside a café enjoying a drink, Danny is drinking lemonade

and Brett is drinking something with far too much fruit in it, when hurtling down the road

comes a Mercedes Benz heading right for them. Much of the action in this episode is

undertaken by stuntman John Sullivan who drives the car here and takes on much of the

doubling work for Tony Curtis later. Incidentally in the foreground you can see an

overturned table and chair scattered on the road and yet the car hasn‟t hit the tables yet?

Me thinks rehearsals were only moments before this take. Having said that I didn‟t notice

until I‟d seen the episode six or seven times.

Tony Curtis climbs through the

sunroof and runs along the car

jumping onto the bonnet of the

Mustang and into the passenger seat

where he puts a stop to Les Crawford

and his evil ways. Its moments like

these that always remind me what a

brilliant piece of casting Tony was.

Now we move onto a great moment in the episode. Danny Wilde breaking into the

abandoned foundry where the coins are being made.

Timing is everything in a sequence like this. Running down the roof too quickly means

you‟ll have to wait for the truck to turn the corner and be under you before you transfer

to it. So John Sullivan times his arrival at the edge of the building to perfection. Simply

stepping out onto the truck below. A rope is running the length of the trucks roof allowing

him to hold on should he require.

Then a change of personnel. John Sullivan takes over the driving of the truck and Tony

Curtis rides on the top of the truck for his transfer.

To allow a big Hollywood name like Tony Curtis to perform such a stunt is very rare

indeed. Yet because of his very physical approach to the role Tony Curtis would probably

have suggested to the director Roy Ward Baker about attempting this without a double.

And Baker who was a stickler for authenticity would have jumped at the chance. A

scaffolding pole has been erected and attached to the building. Its only purpose is to allow

Tony to grab hold and transfer from the truck. Travelling at 25mph this is still a very risky

stunt for a professional never mind an actor. There is a gap between the wall and the

truck. If he slips and falls down that he would certainly be killed. Can he hold onto the

scaffolding long enough to allow the truck to pass by underneath him? All these

eventualities and more must be ruled out before sending him up. Sullivan covers all

options. A rope on top of the truck to steady his approach. Steps and footholds running

along the scaffolding pole so he always has somewhere to put his feet. Members of the

crew on the roof of the factory ready to lean over and grab him should he get into

John Sullivan was

also stunt arranger

on the Jason King

series for ITC

John Sullivan was

also stunt director,

stuntman and actor

on Zulu.

difficulty. Once you‟ve considered everything and ruled out everything else a transfer like

this performed by an actor is a beautiful thing and really sets this episode apart from the

others. Finally John Sullivan takes over once more for the walk along the beam some 30ft

up between the two buildings.

Then Tony Curtis takes over again for his arrival inside the foundry. Just incredible to

think that he did all of this himself.

A motorbike chase is then called for and once again John Sullivan steps up to deliver the

goods.

John Sullivan makes one final appearance in this episode as a heavy. He fights with Tony

Curtis and manages to throw him over the bonnet of his own Dino before getting punched

out himself.

EPISODE SEVEN – THE OLD, THE NEW & THE DEADLY

A fanatical ex-Nazi, a girl who is trying to clear her father's name of a wartime stigma and

the statuette of a bird combine to put Danny's life in peril. Another classic now and to

start the action rolling a fight between Danny and Verner played by Kenneth J. Warren a

very familiar face in the world of ITC programming. A regular on such shows as The

Avengers and The Saint. Here he is a henchman sent to eliminate Danny simply because he

may know something about the above mentioned statuette. The fight takes place in

Danny‟s hotel room and is fast paced to say the least. Tony Curtis, as you would expect, is

as active as ever and dishes out pretty much all of the beating.

Consequently Ken Warren is doubled for the scene by stuntman Nosher Powell, seen here

being thrown over a sofa in the hotel suite. Curtis then performs one of two flying leaps in

this episode. We see him run, jump and land a flying two footed kick into Ken Warrens

chest.

Nosher then steps in to take another fall over the sofa. This time backwards onto the

floor. His bald skull cap can be seen clearly here.

‘Nosher’ Powell is the

head of a very successful

stunting family. Brother

Dinny and sons Greg and

Gary have all achieved

stunt greatness.

The next set piece takes place in a discotheque in downtown Paris. Danny and Brett have

gone along to buy some information. They meet a girl who tries to pay them for

information…she then suggests that a meeting with Groski, Darren Nesbitt, would clear

things up. It doesn‟t and Danny decides leaving the club in one piece is the main priority.

How he does this is indeed a joy to watch. He walks across the dance floor and throws one

packet of money into the air. Notes rain down and the clubbing „massive‟ race to grab a

note or two. In the confusion Danny and Brett race to the top of the stairs and are met by

one of Gorki‟s henchmen played by stuntman Les White.

Brett urges Danny to leave after helping Les down the stairs with a well-placed boot in the

behind, but Danny wants his money back and goes about it in a most spectacular fashion.

You can see the height of the staircase from the final still in the above sequence. Tony

Curtis will now jump down the length of this staircase and land squarely on Les White‟s

shoulders. A jump of some fifteen feet. Any other production would have insisted on a

double for the jump. After all he is going to use a stuntman as his landing area for this.

The producers, Roger Moore being one, and the director are only too aware of Tony‟s

athletic ability. They know he‟ll nail it first time, in fact it was take 3, but that‟s not bad

for a jump of this size. No wonder Roger turns to Tony when he gets back up to the top of

the stairs and applauds saying “that was beautiful”, because it was.

The final doubling sequence goes to Gerry Crampton who takes over the bald skull cap

from Nosher Powell to prove that he‟s not the only stuntman who can be thrown over a

perfectly sensible piece of furniture all in the line of entertainment.

EPISODE EIGHT – TAKE SEVEN

Real or fake? Danny and Brett find it explosively dangerous when trying to help a girl

whose long-missing brother apparently has a rightful claim to the estate she has inherited.

The outcome is surprising.

Peter Hayward is a private detective played by Garfield Morgan he is to be doubled in this

fiery fight sequence by stuntman Romo Gorrara. It takes place in a farmyard barn and

Hayward is trying to set fire to the evidence when he is caught in the act by Brett.

Fire scenes are always very tricky. Roger Moore is involved in the whole sequence

therefore the fire must be controlled. The fire is being fed by gas and can be turned on

and off at the flick of a switch. Roger throws a punch and Romo reacts by spinning out of

the barn, through the wooden railing and falls fifteen feet to his landing area. He must

control his rotation and make sure he doesn‟t land on his side or front. Looks easy, but

making it look easy is the job of the professional stuntman and Romo was one of the best.

Nosher wasn’t available

to double on this

occasion as he was

doubling Sid James in

‘Carry on Henry’ also

filmed at Pinewood.

EPISODE NINE – SOMEONE LIKE ME

Who is masquerading as Brett Sinclair? And why? Danny has every reason for probing the

mystery because he is at the receiving end of the "new" Brett's thrusts. The difficulty is to

discover which is the real and which is the fake - or if they are one and the same!

Brett is knocked out and wakes up in what he thinks is a hospital. Head bandaged, leg

splinted and machines monitoring his condition he believes he is in a bad way. In fact it‟s

all a big con, but it‟s convinced him. A male orderly picks up an empty glass and jug from

Brett‟s room and makes his way downstairs. The next thing we see is this poor dogsbody

tripping over his own shoelaces and falling down the stairs. Luckily for him it‟s actually

stuntman Gerry Crampton doing the falling and as we‟ll see he is taking no chances with

this fall down a flight of concrete steps.

Every part of the body will come in contact with the stairs during the fall. Gerry appears

to be bursting out of his costume. His arms are huge, his knees are gigantic, and his white

jacket is visibly tight across his back and chest. This is because Gerry has a full set of pads

on. The arms are covered in padding, especially the elbows as are his legs and lower back.

Knee pads can be seen under his trousers. Using the bannister to direct the fall Gerry

lands perfectly at the bottom. His trousers won‟t do up due to the padding around his

waist. I have padding around my waist, but unfortunately I don‟t get the choice to wear it

the way Gerry does here.

The next piece of action is a fight between Brett and Danny, but not on the same scale as

episode one. Brett is under instruction to kill Danny and sets about him outside a night

club in swinging London town. A convenient building site is found to perform this deed.

Tony Curtis is not doubled and is thrown around during the scuffle, but Brett is required to

fall through a very badly stacked pile of bricks. Les Crawford steps into Roger‟s suit for

this one as we see below.

A crudely construction wall if ever I saw one, but enough to allow Les to push through it.

Now onto the meat and potatoes of the story. Sam Milford is played by BERNARD LEE and

is the richest man in the world. Brett is a close friend and Sam insists that whenever he is

in town they get together. Brett has been programmed to kill Sam by using this friendship

to get inside the Milford Empire. Complex I know, but this gives us a chance to identify

two of Sam‟s bodyguards.

This is Royston‟s first episode. Gerry has done plenty and is being kept busy on this one in

particular. Not only is he a Milford bodyguard, but back at Brett‟s house Dr Fowler,

REGINALD MARSH is thrown across the room by Danny who is trying to find out how or what

will deactivate Brett on his killing mission. Once again Gerry Crampton is the stunt double.

Royston Farrell Gerry Crampton

The final scenes are set in the Milford Shipping Corporation headquarters in London. Danny

arrives to stop Brett from killing Sam, but has to get passed Royston and Gerry first. This is

how.

So as you can see Royston gets thrown to the floor and Gerry gets thrown through a door.

Poetic justice some would say, but they are just doing a job after all and what a job.

EPISODE TEN – CHAIN OF EVENTS

A camping holiday results in some explosive situations for Danny and Brett when Danny is

chained to an attaché case without knowing that it can blow him sky-high... and with

several secret agents searching for him.

The first we see in this episode in non-other than stuntman Gerry Crampton who is playing

the role of Baxter, an intelligence officer rather than an intelligent officer who is

delivering a briefcase to a plane in the middle of a field.

It becomes apparent that the pilot of the plane plans to double cross him and whilst

attempting to pull a gun on Gerry it jams giving Gerry a chance to get away on his

motorcycle.

Pursued by a jeep driven by stuntman Bob Simmons and a man with a machine gun who

inevitably brings Gerry‟s escape to an end it‟s a high paced opening with fast paced

editing. Gerry‟s dismount from the motorcycle is worth looking at. A horseman of repute,

he adapts a saddle fall for the motorcycle. The fall itself was captured in two takes. The

first has Gerry heading towards the plane, he is shot and slides off the back of the bike

onto the grass. At this point the remains of the second take are used and we see Gerry

rolling along the ground with no aircraft in front of him. I make it sound like a glaring

mistake by the editor, but its barely noticeable…well it was anyway!

Now You See It…Now You Don‟t

This episode also gives us a father and son team appearing together for the first time as

two of the villain‟s henchmen. Larry and Rocky Taylor are part of Franz Schubert‟s heavy

mob that is sent in to retrieve the briefcase which has been attached to Danny Wilde‟s

wrist.

The final scenes take place in a safe house that turns out not to be that safe as Rocky and

Peter Brace are about to find out. The female interest in this episode is played by actress

Suzanne Leigh who was coached by Rocky Taylor for the fight. Its very well done and

Rocky is very good at giving the audience the impression that Suzanne is throwing him left

right and centre where in fact he is doing everything and she is simply moving him from

one place to the next.

Rocky struggles and twists, Suzanne pushes and shoves and brings up Rocky‟s arm every

once in a while giving him the opportunity to flip over onto his back. Rocky Taylor really is

a first class stuntman and it‟s no wonder he‟s been around for over 40 years.

Left to Right

Actor Peter Vaughn as Schubert. Stuntmen Larry Taylor and

Rocky Taylor, actor James Beckitt as Previn and Stuntman

Peter Brace.

EPISODE ELEVEN – GREENSLEEVES

A derelict old mansion suddenly comes to life without the knowledge of its owner, Lord

Brett Sinclair. The unexpected outcome is that Brett has to impersonate himself, with

Danny as his butler, when probing the mystery. The action for this episode opens with

horseplay in the countryside surrounding the Greensleeves estate.

Roger Moore rides in much of the sequence, but for the faster shots required at full gallop

stuntman Les Crawford steps in. One additional point is that actress Rosemary Nicols who

plays the female lead in this one is doubled by top show jumper of the day Marion Coates.

She married show jumper David Mould in 1969 who as luck would have it was a neighbour

of Persuaders producer Bob Baker.

The action now takes place inside the house with a good old fashioned fight. Involving

Brett and Danny and some of the hoods disguised as staff.

So with this information we can fill in the blanks surrounding this final action set piece.

Tony Curtis, as usual, is not doubled and performs all of his action. Roger Moore is doubled

by Les Crawford and Michael Martin who plays butler Jackson is doubled by Cliff Diggins.

The other butler is played by stuntman Alan Chuntz.

Max Diamond and Tony Curtis continue to Riposte, Parry and Flèche their way around the

hall as Roger Moore gets to grips with Jackson.

Above we see actor Michael Martin on the left advancing towards Roger Moore. On the

right Roger slaps and pushes Martin who has now been replaced by stuntman Cliff Diggins.

This encounter leads to the major „gag‟ in the episode. After knocking him to the ground

Brett chases Jackson to the top of the stairs where another scuffle ensues.

Les now has Alan Chuntz to deal with, but Alan has the upper hand and with it he

unbalances Les and sends him rolling down the staircase.

Les Crawford picks Cliff Diggins up and hurls him from the top of

the staircase. The landing area would be boxes and crash mats.

Cliff relies on Les to position him correctly so he’ll hit the landing

area as he is falling backwards and can’t see the landing area at all

And finally Tony Curtis must attend to Alan Chuntz and deals with him using the medium

of a clenched fist.

EPISODE TWELEVE – THE OZEROV INHERITANCE

Echoes of Imperialistic Russia are rung out for Danny and Brett when a Grand Duchess

seeks their help in establishing her right to a collection of jewels.

Brett and Danny visit an apartment to find out why Brett has been invited to Switzerland

and how he is involved in this story of jewels and inheritance when the police burst in.

One of the policemen is stuntman Joe Dunne seen here receiving a warm welcome from

Danny Wilde.

They don‟t exactly part as friends, but a mutual respect is earned. It‟s worth pointing out

that stuntman Arthur Howell makes another appearance here and yet again he is fencing.

Seen here as Sergei‟s opponent.

Another scuffle takes place in a private detectives office and once again Danny is in the

thick of it. Not only that but, as the set quite small a two man switch is required.

The actor in the first three frames is hit by Danny and disappears out of shot behind the

book case. As soon as he disappears stuntman Rocky Taylor reappears and takes the falls

around the office.

EPISODE THIRTEEN – THE MORNING AFTER

Wed at last! Brett Sinclair awakens after a heavy drinking party to find that he has a wife.

A glamorously beautiful one, too. But is the marriage genuine, or has he been tricked?

So Brett wakes up after a serious nights drinking and finds he‟s married to Catherince

Schell…oh what a night. My hangovers are never this pretty!

Danny goes to visit one of the witnesses at the wedding to see if they can verify what

actually happened. She works as a judo instructor and is surrounded by a team of

stuntmen. Including Doug Robinson, Rocky Taylor and Royston Farrell. The two other men

in the room are from a local Judo school who were able to train with the stunt boys before

filming.

Stuntman Rocky Taylor being thrown a few fast falls by actress Yutte Stensgaard. Later

that night Danny and the lovely Miss Stensgaard go back to the gym to find evidence that

the owner played by Bernard Horsfall is behind the sham marriage. They come up against

stuntmen Doug Robinson and Terry Walsh who try to teach them a crash course in pain.

The finale of this episode is in the hands of Les Crawford driving a Range Rover at

considerable speed over open countryside in order to catch an aircraft. Les doubles Roger

Moore and for once Tony Curtis is doubled by stuntman Terry Yorke.

EPISODE FOURTEEN – ELEMENT OF RISK

An unfortunate case of mistaken identity for Danny Wilde. He is believed to be an

undisputed master-mind of crime. A planner of true genius' and his life depends on his

being able to live up to it! Lomax is the master criminal who is picked up at the airport by

two undercover police one of which is stuntman Terry Yorke seen here on the left.

The episode is called element of risk and for Tony Curtis it contains its fair share. The

action starts with a punch up in a garage.

Actor William Marlowe plays Carl and has a difference of opinion with Danny Wilde and in

timely fashion Danny slaps him around a bit, but in true professional form he is doubled

for the falls by Les Crawford.

Now I mentioned that Tony Curtis was about to get a busy action packed ride as Danny

Wilde. Well this is why. After a fun episode getting into a US Air Force base the double

cross back fires and Danny and Brett set off after the bad guys. Brett in the back of a van

as a prisoner and Danny on the back of truck as a high ranking official ready to jump onto

the back of a fuel tanker.

Once again Tony Curtis doing all his own stunts. The car and truck are travelling at 30mph

and he is seen to make the leap from one to the other. Les Crawford wouldn‟t have let

him do it if he wasn‟t fully confident in his ability. We‟ve all seen his physical ability in

previous episodes and there is more to come. The driver of the truck is George Fisher an

American actor and stuntman who decides to get out while the going is good.

While we‟re on the subject of jumping out of moving vehicles Les Crawford once again

doubles William Marlowe and is thrown out of the van by Brett.

EPISODE FIFTEEN – SOMEONE WAITING

Motor-racing has hazards off the track as well as on, as Brett and Danny discover when

Brett receives macabre threats to his life after entering his new car for a race. The

opening sequence is filmed at Silverstone race track, home of the British Grand Prix, and

although some of the driving was done by Roger Moore and Tony Curtis majority was

completed by British Formula One racing driver Peter Gethin who was driving for the BRM

team during the 1971 season.

Now as with many episodes of this series a fight is always a winner and here we have

another example of this. Brett and Danny have been asking other drivers if they‟ve been

threatened. Danny finds one throwing his money about and very drunk. Enter Mr Vine and

three thugs. (Left to Right: stuntman Del Baker, stuntman Max Faulkner, actor Michael

Shaw, stuntman Jack Cooper, Tony Curtis and Roger Moore.

The following fight is nothing short of bizarre. Filmed in sepia, early silent movie style the

fight has everyone taking a beating to the ever increasing pace of Sam on the piano.

Stuntman Max Faulkner thrown over the furniture by Brett Sinclair

Jack Cooper finds Tony Curtis‟s funny side

Once the fight has ended and the pianist has left for the evening the investigation can

continue. Brett finds his way to an address in London where a private detective called

Morley Linden is found staggering to the top of a staircase. This can mean only one thing…

As stair falls go this is a „mother and father‟ of a fall. Furious speed and hard hitting too.

Stuntman Rocky Taylor bounces off the wall along the bannister and then bangs his head

against the wall at the bottom. Yes he is wearing plenty of padding underneath his trench

coat, but his head is always going to be exposed and the resulting thud at the bottom of

the stairs is par for the course. The angle of the camera makes the stair case look miles

longer than its 24 steps. All in a day‟s work for a professional, but I imagine a well-earned

drink was had afterwards.

Stuntman Jack Cooper isn‟t finished yet with his on screen trouble making and is seen next

attempting to burn down the garage housing the „Sinclair Special‟ race car.

In the end Danny Wilde races in to save the day and manages to find out who is behind the

whole saga by asking Jack in a very man to man way as we can see above in the final shot.

EPISODE SIXTEEN – ANYONE CAN PLAY

While gambling at the seaside resort of Brighton, a case of mistaken identity finds Danny

playing a roulette game he can‟t lose.

Danny wants to celebrate his win; Brett wants twelve hours sleep so Danny goes back to

his room to find two men who work for the casino waiting for him.

Cliff also gets a big right hand from Roger Moore.

Stuntman Cliff Diggins

doubles actor Patrick

Jordan. Bringing a whole

new mean to the phrase

“this room isn’t big enough

to swing a cat”.

Now its actor Dudley Foster‟s turn to get the Cliff Diggins double treatment. Confronted in

a hotel room by the female interest in this episode, actress Cyd Hayman, she takes hold of

him and throws him across the bed.

The final part of the episode takes place on board a train bound for trouble and features

to British stuntmen making character appearances.

The shot on the left has legendary stuntman Paddy Ryan, next to Tony Curtis in the cap,

playing an agent. Ryan is responsible for the acrobatic and very spectacular fall from the

battlements into an eight foot deep moat in the 1952 film Ivanhoe. On the right we see

stuntman Terry Richards who many will remember as the swordsman who scares Indiana

Jones so much he simply shoots him on the spot in Raiders Of The Lost Ark.

EPISODE SEVENTEEN – THE TIME AND THE PLACE

Murder in a country wood, a pretty but evasive girl, political drama and sensation in a

television studio add up to dangerous excitement for Danny and Brett.

The seventies were indeed a special time. As a stuntman you had a variety of television

shows to work on and many interesting and exciting roles to explore. Let‟s use Max

Faulkner as an example. He‟s already worked on the series and then receives a phone call

from Les Crawford asking him to turn up for work on Monday morning for an episode

directed by the star Roger Moore. “We have a major role for in this next episode, in fact

you could say that your character is…dead important”!

And there you have the abridged story of how stuntman Max Faulkner got to play the dead

Fleet Street journalist Richard Teed in this episode. Why employ an extra to play the role

of a dead body when you have stuntmen waiting to earn their Equity cards with a spot of

acting?

Another stuntman who takes an acting role in this episode is Val Musetti. A man, who once

raced cars for a living turned to stunt work and never looked back. In this episode he plays

a bogus policeman who interrupts Danny Wilde as he is searching the apartment of the

dead journalist.

Tony Curtis, pretending to be an inspector from the yard, using his best Cary Grant voice

is trying to find a story that Teed was writing before his death. Val Musetti and his bogus

inspector, Patrick O‟Connell find him and take him away where they try to set fire to his

Dino, but are stopped by Brett in the nick of time. A Car chase follows and Val is given an

opportunity to shine.

A combination of back projection and actual footage of the chase filmed in and around

Black Park show Val struggling for control of his car and O‟Connell over acting in the

passenger seat.

The culmination of the chase has the car losing control on a bend and the car crashing into

the trees. This was filmed in two parts. The car turnover was filmed using a hidden ramp,

but only a shot of it upside down was used in the final cut. It was inter-cut with studio

shots of Val and O‟Connell reacting to the car rolling over.

The final shots of the crash appear to have been filmed at a later stage and without Val at

the wheel. The car is rolled using an air cannon. You can see that the car is flipping end

over end and that part of the roof is cracked and split, which means a roll cage wouldn‟t

have been fitted and most importantly of all the car Val rolls is a Ford Cortina Mark II and

the one that rolls without Val in it looks very much like a Mark I!

Anyway Danny and Brett get back to London to listen in on a conversation at the Coalition

Club that could prove vital to stopping whatever it is that is going to bring the country to

its knees.

Two waiters bring silver salvers full of sandwiches to a meeting room. The waiters, as

you‟d expect by now are stuntmen Cliff Diggins and Royston Farrell. They capture our two

heroes and bring them to a small room to watch the events unfold on television. The

Prime Minister is on a talk show and a man has been sent to kill him, causing the

governments collapse and a pre-selected politician set to take his place.

After the altercation with the waiters Danny and Brett race off to the television studio to

stop the Prime Ministers assassination.

The camera scans through the audience, people from all walks of life ready to hear what

the PM has to say about the Law and Order bill. This is 1971 and many of the outfits are

loud and worthy of any adjustment to the contrast on your picture. Then a familiar face is

spotted in the audience and you instinctively know that he will have something to do with

this set piece.

At the precise moment the man sitting to Rocky‟s right pulls a gun from a book and points

it ready to fire, but Danny spots him and fly‟s down the steps pushing Rocky out of his

seat. The man sitting next to Rocky is actor Alun Armstrong in an early TV appearance. For

the fall down the stairs Armstrong is doubled by stuntman Terry Plummer.

EPISODE EIGHTEEN – THE LONG GOODBYE

When three attractive girls all lay claim to the same identity, two are obviously imposters.

Equally certainly, several people are determined to obtain the secret formula discovered

by Danny and Brett.

A harder edged episode with one action set piece. Roger Moore puts on his directing cap

for this one and allows Les Crawford to do what he does best. Once again let‟s not deny

what a brilliant double for Roger Les was. A scene is written where Brett, after escaping

for a hijacked taxi cab, jumps out of the way of oncoming traffic over the roof of a parked

car and lands at the feet of a patrolling policeman. Sounds simple enough? But to film it

you need the perfect stunt double and luckily that‟s what Les was.

Here he is in close up diving across the roof of a Mini and sliding down the other side.

Roger Moore also designed all the clothes for his character, Brett Sinclair, and always had

two of everything made. One piece of clothing for him and one piece for Les. They were

the same height, same build and shared the same barber. Separated at birth?

EPISODE NINETEEN – A HOME OF ONE‟S OWN

Danny buys a country cottage - but he is also buying himself and Brett into dire danger!

Danny wants his little piece of England, but so does the local squire who is using the house

to stockpile counterfeit currency before it‟s shipped overseas. Danny wants to do all the

work himself and toils long and hard to create his perfect country retreat. The squire will

do anything to stop him and is assisted by the local heavy mob.

Top Left: stuntman Dinny Powell, actor John Ranane and stuntman Joe Dunne

A fight is called for and Dinny gets to grips with Danny himself while the other actor in the

scene is Leon Greene.

EPISODE TWENTY – THAT‟S ME OVER THERE

An American masquerades as an English Lord - and the American is Danny Wilde,

pretending to be Lord Brett Sinclair! It happens when they are trying to expose a crooked

millionaire.

This is Cliff Turner, played by actor Terence Edmund. He is about to fall from the roof of

this building. When I say fall I obviously mean thrown off the roof. Luckily for Mr Edmund

he will be thrown to his death and live to fight another day as the fall will be performed

by stuntman Rocky Taylor.

This episode is a prime example of the use of stunt doubles. The story is held together

with numerous action set pieces, mostly fights and uses the very best performers around

at the time. This next fight takes place in Brett Sinclair‟s apartment where he is

confronted by actor Alan Cuthbertson who is doubled by stuntman Max Diamond.

The action now moves outside and onto an old farm where the final fight takes place.

Actress Juliette Harmer is given strict instruction by Les Crawford about how to drive the

MG that he will be standing on ready to leap off. What speed to be doing, where to be

positioned. Female doubles were difficult to come by back in the early seventies. The

stunt register as we know it today didn‟t come along until 1973. So up until then many

actresses were doubled by men.

Les Crawford doubles Roger Moore, Rocky Taylor doubles Peter Gilmore and Romo Gorrara

doubles Derek Newark in this climatic scrap.

Here we see Rocky Taylor being thrown by Tony Curtis in one of his trademark moves.

EPISODE TWENTY ONE – READ AND DESTROY

Spies to the left of them, spies to the right of them - Danny and Brett are up to their ears

in espionage when an international spy plans to publish his memoirs.

Brett‟s ancestral home is used as a base for discussions between the US and British

Intelligence so they can secure the memoirs of one of the most important spies the world

has ever known. Felix Meadows played by Joss Ackland. A pheasant shoot is arranged on

the grounds, but the Russians are trying to kill Meadows and take the memoirs for

themselves. Incidentally the memoirs have been concealed in a micro-dot inside Meadows

hairpiece.

During the shoot Danny hears shots and shouts “Save a pheasant for me”, only to discover

the Russian spy shooting at Felix. Tony Curtis performs another magical leap and flies

through the air over the top of the gunman to land in the shrubbery.

Once again Tony Curtis proves to us all that he was so much more than just a very

talented actor. Comedic timing, style and grace all supplied in this tumble. A mini

trampoline is placed at the take-off point. Crash mats are placed and covered by gorse

and bracken in the foreground. Take everything into consideration when looking at this

fall. The actor playing the Russian is at least 6ft tall and is standing up in the first shot.

Curtis jumps much higher to avoid contact with the actor and sails equally as far into the

foreground shot before hitting the landing area, which as we know is covered so he must

spot his area before take-off. A fine „gag‟ to pull for any professional stuntman, but here

we see one of Hollywood‟s finest actors showing that he is just as capable. Les Crawford

had taken Curtis to his gym to train before filming began. He told wonderful stories of

Hollywood stuntmen choosing not to do certain stunts on films he‟s worked on because

they didn‟t feel confident at being able to produce what the director was looking for.

Often Curtis would do many of the stunts in his film career simply to prove a point and

show that anything is possible.

EPISODE TWENTY ONE – NUISANCE VALUE

The dangers of helping a damsel in distress are high-lighted for Danny and Brett when

their efforts lead to their being accused of kidnapping her! The girl‟s father Zorakin has a

heavy mob to deal with Danny and Brett. They just look heavy, they don‟t act heavy!

Left to Right: Stuntman Romo Gorrara, stuntman Peter Brayham, actor George Murcell and

stuntman Tom Clegg. Those of you with sharp eyes may recognise Tom Clegg as the

creature „Oddbod‟ in Carry on Screaming in 1968.

EPISODE TWENTY TWO – A DEATH IN THE FAMILY

A sharp decrease in the number of surviving members of the Sinclair clan indicates that

someone is very anxious for the Sinclair‟s to join their ancestors!

An opportunity for both Moore and Curtis to shine brightly in a wonderful episode with a

fine supporting cast including Willie Rushton who‟s character is the subject of our stunt.

Uncle Lance, Rushton, likes a drink. He‟s hoping to create the perfect wine in his cellar.

Danny is sent to babysit him to keep him out of harm‟s way. A phone call lures Danny

away from Lance and gives the killer just enough time to pop in a bump poor old Uncle

Lance off.

Stuntman Frank Maher doubles Willie Rushton diving into his new vintage

EPISODE TWENTY TWO – THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE

Danny and Brett grope their way through the espionage jungle with Brett in a tight spot

when suspected of being a traitor and murderer. Assisted gamely by Brett‟s Cousin

Archibald Sinclair Beecham played by Terry Thomas.

Stuntman Frank Maher makes an appearance as a heavy who over powers Brett, after he is

set upon with a soda syphon, and sends him off to the Russians for interrogation as they

believe him to be a top operator in British Intelligence.

Another group of stuntmen make appearances as bodyguards in this final episode.

Top left is Harold Sanderson, top middle is Stan Cullis and bottom right being thrown down

the stairs is Terry Yorke.

Danny, Brett and Archie must now escape and choose a window to jump down from.

Archie is a bit on the cowardly side and isn‟t very keen on jumping ten feet down from an

open window, but the sound of gunfire soon has him leaping down to meet the other two.

Terry Thomas is doubled jumping from the window by Max Diamond.

The final scenes show a hand over being closely watched. Archie for Kay, actress Suzy

Kendall. When Danny comes in to save the day. A waiting helicopter is to take Archie, who

the Russians believe to be the spy, off to Moscow to feed them with NATO secrets.

Danny throws Harold to the ground, jumps in and drives off. The only thing that stands

between Danny Wilde and the waiting helicopter is stuntman Max Faulkner who gets

knocked down as we can see below.

Tony Curtis drives the car, a job normally undertaken by a stuntman. Faulkner clips the

edge of the bonnet, or hood if you‟re from over the pond, and rolls off onto the ground. In

many cases rolling the length of the vehicle is simpler that being clipped by an edge.

So there you have it. The Persuaders in all its action packed glory. A television series that

has never been matched since it was first shown forty years ago. The brilliance of Roger

Moore and Tony Curtis gave this show something other shows hadn‟t got.

A box is placed just behind

the wheel arch allowing

Tony Curtis to step up onto

the boot of the car where

stuntman Harold Sanderson

is waiting.

For me, of course, the stuntmen are the heroes. Without them none of the action would

have been possible so let‟s remember those wonderful men and women who gave so much

for our enjoyment. For those who are no longer with us. We will always remember you.

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