User Reviews

Before Alan Sugar there was J.R. Ewing and before that there was Sir John Wilder.

As a teenager in the sixties I remember this was the series that everybody was talking about at coffee break the next morning. Yes, it's stuck in a studio pretty much and I don't pretend that I quite understood all the talk about balance sheets but I was still hooked by it.

A terrific ensemble cast with early roles for people like George Sewell and Ian Holm. Dominating everything, however, was Patrick Whymark's portrayal of tycoon John Wilder. Completely mesmerising and compelling. I genuinely believe that had it not been for his early death he would have gone on to be one of the great actors of his time. A sad loss indeed.

The boxed set is now out of all three series an I recommend it.

This was a very interesting series about the moguls of big business.

I believe it derived from the earlier 'Planemakers'. Inevitably tame by modern-day standards, it nevertheless offered an interesting insight into corporate life otherwise denied to us ordinary folk.

There was a good cross-section of British acting talent of the day, and it's a pity it didn't run for longer. Like several programmes form the1960's and 70's, it was ahead of its time. Joe public was just not quite ready to engage with all of the wheeler-dealing.

Dallas's timing was much better. And this is reflected in its enduring popularity. It also had a much bigger budget, being American.

It would be difficult to make a program like this today as the sort of self-made magnates that could flourish in those times have given way to obscure multi-nationals. Nowadays nobody knows who's in charge, much less cares.

I must mention that extremely well-crafted theme music. It was both pompous and inspiring - entirely typical of the subject matter.

.....with intricate plotlines, believable characters and emotive, powerful acting (remember when acting was actually like that and a viewer could be swept up by the incisive characterizations, even if you didn't like the character that much). Patrick Wymark, fresh from "The Plane Makers" triumph is still Sir John Wilder with new fields to conquer, this time Bligh Constructions, a family business run by the rascally Caswell Bligh (Clifford Evans) and his son Kenneth (Peter Barkworth) who gradually warms to the idea that the only way he is going to get ahead is with a shakeup of the firm!!

Even as one of the reviewers mentioned, I found the boardroom wheeling and dealing a bit over my head but I was swept along by the forcefulness of the narrative. The third series seems slightly a let down even though the Machiavellian Michael Jayston enters as Wilder's new secretary Dowling, a couple of the main characters are gone (Barkworth and Rosemary Leach) and they are missed.

What can you say about Patrick Wymark - he's absolutely electrifying - you are hanging on his every word, hoping and usually getting a scene where he commands all eyes and ears - bullying, commanding, manipulative. Sir John meets Susan Weldon (Leach) from the Board of Exports and their attraction is instant - he wants to see some classified/ top secret documents and is not above sleeping with her to get them but he finds her more than a match for him in intelligence and with a sprinkle of deviousness!! She falls in love with him and hopes he will eventually leave his wife (from the start of the series marital relations are strained) but even though his feelings are deep, his wife Pamela has the money and he has no intention of jeopardising his freedom to pursue his ambition.

The second series is where it all comes to a crescendo. Caswell Bligh and Susan team up as an "odd couple" of business when they realise that the manipulations that Wilder put through a year previously to prop up the Export Board was only temporary and he knew it!! Everyone has their shining moment - Don Henderson (Jack Watling) bought in as Wilder's secretary and at times lackey, is heading toward a breakdown - he knows he has more to offer and the two episodes where he comes to a conclusion about the rest of his life feature terrific acting from Watling. Kenneth, grudgingly admiring of Wilder, realises that he doesn't have the killer instinct. When his father announces that he is coming back to the company it's the motivation that Kenneth needs to look at different opportunities. With his father's absence he was coming into his own but now realises he could spend the rest of his working days as his father's office boy!!

Again the second series sees the fabulous Barbara Murray give it all she has. Once Pamela decides to leave John, her character for so long charming, brittle, the perfect wife and hostess develops a backbone of steel!! From the time of her confrontation with a smarmy young artist who informs her that "she's not young anymore" to another showdown, this time with Henderson who suddenly realises that Pamela cares very much about money and the determination not to let John get his hands on her share far outweighs John's paltry feelings about wealth. Penelope Leach is marvellous - her earlier dewy love for John has now turned vitriolic - their scenes are mesmerizing. "You've turned into a proper......" John says at one point, fortunately things look rosier for Susan with marriage and a transfer to the Treasury Department on the horizon.

Among other characters who make their mark - George Sewell as Wilder's business and personal rival Haggadan who offers Pamela a happier future if she's brave enough to take it. Ian Holm as an officious public servant who almost brings Wilder down by threatening to expose the affair and Alfred Burke as a building/union manager.