Review of Dick Barton: Special Agent

DICK BARTON: SPECIAL AGENT is a Southern TV outing for the famous special agent who starred in a popular radio series in the late 1940s. The series is best remembered for the classic and exciting 'Dick Barton theme' music which is replicated here. Unusually, this series consists of 32 ten-minute episodes which are deliberately old-fashioned and hark back to the cliffhanger serials of old, with our heroes getting into and extracting themselves from various perilous situations throughout. There are four separate storylines taking place here, one after the other, and the best features the underrated British character actor Forbes Collins (later to play King John in MAID MARIAN AND HER MERRY MEN) as criminal mastermind Curly Cohen. The poorly-shot action scenes are a downside, hardly showing off stunt team Havoc (of DR WHO fame) at their best, but the pace is incredibly fast and the old-fashioned storytelling is great fun. Anthony Heaton's slightly dim Snowey White is my favourite character, but James Cosmo gives a nicely tough showing as Jock, decades before he achieved worldwide recognition with his turns in BRAVEHEART and GAME OF THRONES.