Hazell

I loved this show. I was 18 and thought Nick Ball was the dream man. That Pam left him for the Big Yin!! (Who I thought was really funny but not a bit, well, sexy! Really unnerved me.)

I don't think the show needs a remake(other great and more modern ideas need a public airing) However, I have to say - if it were to be re-made please spare TV fans from the prospect of ex-east-ender's actors hamming it up as Hazell!

I have never really understood the need to re-film really great pieces of TV history. Very few even touch the originality or charm of the first take.

'Hazell' was the creation of Gordon Williams and Terry Venables ( yes, that Terry Venables! ). A sort of Cockney version of 'Philip Marlowe', James Hazell looked cool driving around '70's London in his Triumph Stag. His main adversary was Detective-Inspector 'Choc' Minty, a hard-faced Scotsman who acted as a kind of 'Teal' to Hazell's 'Saint'. With its brassy opening theme and Bond-style titles, 'Hazell' blasted onto I.T.V. with the force of a howitzer. The plots ran the gamut of '70's crime show clichés ( missing children, drug smuggling, bank raids ), with Hazell often on the receiving end of a good hiding from some underworld felon. What lifted it above the average were the witty scripts and Nicholas Ball's laconic performance in the title role. At the time, he was married to 'Not The Nine O'Clock News' star Pamela Stephenson. 'Hazell' made him a star, but alas the fame it brought him was fleeting. Allegedly the series ended after only two seasons because Ball issued an ultimatum - do it on film or else. The prospect of 'Hazell' becoming a Euston Films Production was certainly intriguing, but alas it wasn't to be. Williams and Venables later confessed that they thought him too young for the role anyway, their preferred choices were John Bindon and Michael Elphick. I.T.V. briefly considered reviving the series a few years ago, but decided against it on the grounds that it was 'dated and sexist'. Haven't times changed!

In an era of reality TV and Netflix it's probably strange that I can be bothered to write a review? The show was created a long time ago but it's utterly brilliant. Kids would scoff at the fashions and everything else but this show portrays London and all its filthy dead end locations and weaves it into a fascinating PI detective show. Nicholas Ball was wonderful and it's a shame he didn't get a massive break from this. Raw, gritty and a little bit strange at times it represents London in the 70s In all of its glory with fascinating characters and story lines. Watch for nostalgia but definitely watch.

Run-down 1970s Britain proved to be a fertile backdrop for truly memorable light drama such as Budgie, The Sweeney, & Minder, and i reckon Hazell was just about as good.

James Hazell is an ex copper who left the force under a cloud, and is now working as an enquiry agent; he's a cockney charmer with an eye for the ladies, and no case is too hard as long as the money's right. His work takes him around some of the seediest, and in some cases, swankiest parts of London, and as with The Sweeney, the location work and cockney banter are a big part of the attraction of this great show.

Nicholas Ball was initially considered too young for the role, but i'm really glad he eventually got it because he absolutely nailed the part and made it his own. I particularly enjoyed the first series, which featured some great banter with one of the show's best characters Dot Wilmington. Other regulars were his cousin Tel, and his nemesis 'Choc' Minty.

Hazell ran for only two series, and in a way i'm glad, as too many good shows outstay their welcome and grow tired and flabby.

On a final note, it's sad to think that ITV, the channel that gave us Callan, Public Eye and all the aforementioned classics is now best known for making mindless drek like Love Island and Keith Lemon.

i have recently acquired all episodes of this series on DVD and am thoroughly enjoying them all over again. if it is true that Nicholas ball wanted it to be shot on film otherwise he would quit then it is a real shame, but i can see his point. the series suffers only through being on tape, everything else is spot on. some of the stories are, indeed, a bit clichéd but the performances and scripts are excellent right the way through two series. i was thinking about if a revival was to occur who could do it .... four names came into my head:

Craig Fairbrass (tough) Leslie Grantham (edgy) Nigel Harmon (sexy) and Nicholas Ball (venables/williams thought him too young at the time .. well, he's a lot older now and still looking good)

.... i think a 21st century update would be great. To not consider it because it is sexist is ridiculous, a good screenwriter could turn the novels into superb TV, much better than the likes of 'vincent' or 'murder city'.

gives this series a look, it is great!!!!