Sadly, only the first and last of six episodes of the first series of 'Callan' survive, but we can at least be glad that 'You Should Have Got Here Sooner', in which the character of Lonely (played by Russell Hunter) takes centre stage, is one of them. As with the first, this episode survives only in a poor quality 405-line recording made by pointing a video camera at a monitor of the broadcast, with the plenty of the attendant video wobble and ghosting this causes.
The episode begins in Lonely's humble abode with events arising from his most recent burglary of a well-appointed London flat. Lonely has unwittingly come away from the flat in question with two dangerous things. One is a glimpse of the face of the man who interrupted him at his work, the other is a secret concealed in one of the items he took. When these things put Lonely's safety at risk, Callan is determined to solve the mystery, all the more so when he discovers his latest replacement Meres is involved.
We are shown a little more of the nature of the relationship between Callan and Lonely in the course of events. There must be reasons for such closeness between two otherwise determinedly antisocial creatures, even if one is perhaps only a mutual recognition of what they are and what their roles are in the world they inhabit. Nevertheless, the shared bachelor intimacy of Callan's allowing Lonely to take a bath at his flat suggests there is something more to it than that. (Poor Lonely, remember, develops body odour as a result of nerves, from which he perpetually suffers, and smells even when he has indeed recently taken a bath.)
As a series closer, the episode makes more than satisfactory use of Callan's former colleagues Hunter (Ronald Radd) and Meres (Anthony Valentine). In fact, this was to be Radd's final appearance as Hunter, for when the show returned for a second series in 1969 (now produced by Thames Television) the role was recast with prolific film and television actor Michael Goodliffe in the role.
With the relationship of Callan and Lonely at the heart of the episode and a decent - if formulaic - spy intrigue for a plot, this is a neat little thriller brought in under the 50-minute mark. Edward Woodward is once again convincing and dominating as former spook David Callan, and the rapport between Woodward and Russell Hunter appears strong and well-established. Maybe, as is often the case, the actors' rapport was the spark of the original idea for this episode. The first series of 'Callan' was written entirely by creator James Mitchell with the exception of the now lost Episode 2, contributed by Robert Banks Stewart.
With only two episodes of Series 1 to choose from after the pilot, this would easily be my choice over the repetitious opener. If it lacks anything, it's in the impact made by the characters of Pollock (Jon Laurimore), his girlfriend Sue (Pinkie Johnstone) and her mother (Anne Blake), and Service henchman Loder (the underrated Derek Newark). In a brisk episode, there isn't quite enough room for these characters to make an impact, although they serve the plot very well all the same. The poor video quality of the surviving recording is the one other mark against it, but all the same in any 'Callan' list this episode is a must-watch.
The episode begins in Lonely's humble abode with events arising from his most recent burglary of a well-appointed London flat. Lonely has unwittingly come away from the flat in question with two dangerous things. One is a glimpse of the face of the man who interrupted him at his work, the other is a secret concealed in one of the items he took. When these things put Lonely's safety at risk, Callan is determined to solve the mystery, all the more so when he discovers his latest replacement Meres is involved.
We are shown a little more of the nature of the relationship between Callan and Lonely in the course of events. There must be reasons for such closeness between two otherwise determinedly antisocial creatures, even if one is perhaps only a mutual recognition of what they are and what their roles are in the world they inhabit. Nevertheless, the shared bachelor intimacy of Callan's allowing Lonely to take a bath at his flat suggests there is something more to it than that. (Poor Lonely, remember, develops body odour as a result of nerves, from which he perpetually suffers, and smells even when he has indeed recently taken a bath.)
As a series closer, the episode makes more than satisfactory use of Callan's former colleagues Hunter (Ronald Radd) and Meres (Anthony Valentine). In fact, this was to be Radd's final appearance as Hunter, for when the show returned for a second series in 1969 (now produced by Thames Television) the role was recast with prolific film and television actor Michael Goodliffe in the role.
With the relationship of Callan and Lonely at the heart of the episode and a decent - if formulaic - spy intrigue for a plot, this is a neat little thriller brought in under the 50-minute mark. Edward Woodward is once again convincing and dominating as former spook David Callan, and the rapport between Woodward and Russell Hunter appears strong and well-established. Maybe, as is often the case, the actors' rapport was the spark of the original idea for this episode. The first series of 'Callan' was written entirely by creator James Mitchell with the exception of the now lost Episode 2, contributed by Robert Banks Stewart.
With only two episodes of Series 1 to choose from after the pilot, this would easily be my choice over the repetitious opener. If it lacks anything, it's in the impact made by the characters of Pollock (Jon Laurimore), his girlfriend Sue (Pinkie Johnstone) and her mother (Anne Blake), and Service henchman Loder (the underrated Derek Newark). In a brisk episode, there isn't quite enough room for these characters to make an impact, although they serve the plot very well all the same. The poor video quality of the surviving recording is the one other mark against it, but all the same in any 'Callan' list this episode is a must-watch.
