Would This Be Your "Department?"

Today's peculiarity stems from those Internet algorithms we all live with. When you look at one thing, suddenly you're "magically" presented with something similar. I watch a lot of obscure things. I'm often mocked for it by those who can't lap up contemporary programming fast enough. But, on the other hand, I can't be the only one watching or why would these services put the material out there?! So while taking in the practically-forgotten 1978 TV-movie The President's Mistress, I was intrigued to see one Joel Fabiani among the cast. I really only knew him from his stint on Dynasty as King Galen (a role I disliked.) Next thing you know, I'm seeing things about Department S. Like you, I was thinking, "What?" So I took a gander and found myself becoming intrigued. Here are some examples of what I witnessed. 

Department S was a one-season (1969-70) British television series presented by ITC, a production company founded by Lew Grade (of The Saint, The Prisoner and other internationally distributed programs.) These four folks comprised the regular cast. The hook of the show was that a crime had been committed which was too baffling for the regular police to solve. So it was then turned over to Department S for them to work on. 

Peter Wyngarde played a character called Jason King, a flamboyant, high-living adventure novelist. He used his well-honed (if sometimes inaccurate) skills of deduction in order to help sort out various aspects of the bizarre situations.  

Joel Fabiani was an American former FBI agent who served as the "straight man" and generally adhered to traditional types of crime-solving. 

Rosemary Nicols was a computer expert with a large system referred to as "Auntie" which she could consult for needed info. She also worked in the field to gather data.

Gambian actor Dennis Alaba Peters was in charge of the department and was the one who relayed the cases to the star trio. 

Wyngarde, who'd been on TV and in movies since the early-1950s, had looked like this in prior appearances for ITC series such as The Saint, The Prisoner and The Champions. 

But for his role in Department S, appeared this way! It was a staggeringly mod, colorful and, ultimately rather iconic approach that not only made him stand out, but led to mobs of fans. 

Sometimes his face would be seen looking tan, but quite natural overall. 

Other times, he'd clearly be slathered down with a pound of makeup, including eyeliner, eye shadow, powder and cheek contouring. (Why would those cheeks NEED contouring?!) And then there would be the requisite cloud of cigarette smoke. 

Another thing, so to speak, which became more than obvious, was the fact that he was packing and wore his junk to the left in a series of very snug pants. 

I don't know if we were supposed to sort of politely ignore this or take notice. But either way, there was no real way to not observe it. 

Often, when he was called upon to bend, the pants would become even tighter.

Another pronounced feature of his was the coiffed hairdo he sported, which got higher as the filming schedule went along! 

His hair was bigger and fuller than his costar Nicols' in many cases!

In some cases, she got to attach pieces to her sleek 'do for a more dramatic/elegant look. I don't think I have to tell regular readers of P.U. that the late 1960s is my FAVORITE time for women's clothing, makeup and hair. 

At any rate, it took some doin' to wear clothing which was more attention-getting than Wyngarde's.

As a teen comic book fan, I knew of John Byrne's rendition of a character in X-Men called Mastermind, whose real name was Jason Wyngarde. But it wasn't until recently that I realized he was not only inspired by Peter Wyngarde, but named for Wyngarde and his Department S character Jason King combined. 

Fabiani's part was far more conventional, but also necessary in order to ground the stories.  

Fabiani had a long, busy career, but wasn't often a lead. 

Infrequently, he might go undercover and wear less toned-down clothing, though that was unusual. I loved the shirt he wore here while prepping to impersonate a hippie. On ever rarer occasions, we might see more of him.

With the use of stock footage, the series pretended to globe-hop. (Note the daddy walking along the shore in a skimpy swimsuit!) 

Then we cut to an obvious indoor set and find Fabiani emerging from a hotel in a tiny suit of his own. 

If drinks are going to be served by cabana boys decked out like this, I will make a reservation! 

In an attempt to gain the attention of the gal in blue, he situates an umbrella to where it will block her sun. 

He then lies in wait for her to notice. 

I confess to not knowing a great deal about Fabiani's career, but I don't think beefcake scenes were the norm. 

Here we get a little look at the waiter's front half.

When you think of what is worn to American pools and waterparks today, it's hard to believe that slinky little numbers like this one were considered utterly normal. 

Even though the show really never went to these places, it was neat to see beautiful shots of some decidedly lovely locations. 

ITC had a lot of footage left from all sorts of programs and there was also a second unit who picked up scenic material in order to set the locales. 

None of these people have any bearing on the story line, but they helped set a tone.

That said, the difference between the real thing and an indoor set could sometimes be laughably clear!

Nicols, who'd been playing one of Topol's daughters on the London stage when she landed this show, was deliberately unfussy when it came to her clothing. This befit her logical, computer-savvy position in the group. 

Still, the simple lines and pleasantly adorned dresses of the time are attractive and very clean looking. 

Even without a lot of the accessories and frou-frou that some of the female guest stars enjoyed, she at least often provided a big pop of color. (It's not perfectly clear here, but once again Peter's peter is showing...!) 

Sometimes, even in her closeups, she was forced into sharing the screen, so to speak.

Not that her short hair wasn't becoming, but I really liked when she began to wear wiglets and falls to suggest a longer style. This particular silhouette of a high-piled mass has always been my favorite.

Towards the end of the run, the character was shown to have long hair. 

While casting was underway, Kate O'Mara was granted the role which Nicols wound up in. However, it was determined that she was "too exotic looking" for the more no-nonsense investigator part. O'Mara showed up late in the run as a guest star. 

O'Mara did give off an exotic vibe and took the term "cats eye" to a whole 'nother level. It's something she was still doing years later when she appeared on Dynasty as Alexis' sister Cassandra "Caress" Morell. 

In any event, it was indeed the guest star actresses who were meant to look the most exotic. And then did! Even as much as I died over these amazing looks, there's scarcely a question that Cher didn't use very similar earrings as the ones shown here when portraying her comic creation Laverne during her TV variety years! 

"See what I mean, (La)vern(e?)" Ha ha!

I don't think I need to elaborate on what I felt when I caught a glimpse of this creation...!

Get a, er, load, of Wyngarde's suit pants as he arrives and hands these discarded roses to the same actress. Holy mackerel...!

In this installment, Wyngarde dealt with twins!

Most of the guest stars on the show were more famous at home in Britain than worldwide. But some of you may recognize Adrienne Corri? 

Among her many credits were Bunny Lake is Missing and Doctor Zhivago (both 1965) and she would go on to the memorably brutal A Clockwork Orange (1971.)

This is Alexandra Bastedo. She'd been one of the principle stars of The Champions. 

I would say that she's the most "Bond Girl" who never was one, but for the fact that she did appear in the non-Broccoli movie Casino Royale (1967), though with short, red hair. 

Anyway, I thought she was simply stunning to look at and always feel like her career ought to have been more significant. 

On the subject of Bond, we do have this guest star, Lois Maxwell, who for many years played Miss Moneypenny in the spy adventure franchise. 

Her character is shot early on before we've really gotten a good look at her. 

There is this portrait. (By the way, it always annoys me so much when photos are shown in old TV shows of a given character and in the said photo they are wearing the costume and hairstyle that we either just saw them in or will later!)

Maxwell's husband is haunted by her ghost in the episode, as seen here.

Male guest stars tended not to be too internationally famous, but many of you may recognize this man. 

Kieron Moore had been Count Vronsky to Vivien Leigh's Anna Karenina (1948) and worked in many movies including David and Bathsheba (1951), Darby O' Gill and the Little People (1959), Day of the Triffids (1963), Arabesque (1966) and more. 

Here, providing a little male pulchritude, he's seen taking in some rays (from a sun lamp!)

Next he's seen roaming around his apartment in a towel. 

Nicols is wearing quite a low fall here. 

Before I move on to more instances of the male form, a word on Peters. He was not cast right away, but was added to the roster after production was under way already ans shoehorned into existing scripts. It was determined that he (who'd had small roles in Dutchman, 1966, and The Comedians, 1967) would be a progressive stroke of casting for a leadership role, especially in the wake of Star Trek. Trek had minorities in various key command positions during its run. Unfortunately for Peters, though, after this series ended, he never acted on screen again. 

The show held to a tight budget in spite of generally looking good, but sometimes the edges frayed. It was common in those days to have rear-projection for car scenes, but the utter nadir of effects came when Fabiani and Peters were called upon to JOG in front of a projection while clearly moving in place on (hopefully!) a treadmill. 

Surely the most famous actor to have guest-starred on Department S is this man. Having established impeccable stage credentials, he worked a bit on TV before landing an important role in The Lion in Winter (1968.)

Anthony Hopkins, later the recipient of two Oscars, played a man whose vision registers backwards. Thus, he has trouble reading, among other issues. 

Like serious issues! Hopkins had a roller-coaster career of ups and downs before emerging in the 1990s as one of the top actors in the cinema.

Massages were truly big in the 1960s, apparently. Here we have a male guest star on the receiving end of one. 

Edward Brayshaw, who'd played Rochefort in a television series of The Three Musketeers, is not exactly up to any good. 

ITC shows of the '60s had a tendency to keep the actors buttoned up much of the time, so I appreciated the fact that this one had its share of shirtless men of all types. 

In this scene, even though it's a woman getting a rubdown, the masseur is shirtless. 

He's actually more than a masseur, something that Wyngarde takes notice of with a tinge of jealousy, perhaps! 

Any time a story called for Wyngarde to be near the water, he donned a robe. 

The hirsute actor was in pretty good shape (he would later play the lead in The King and I opposite Sally Ann Howes with costumes that emphasized his pecs.) I don't know why he felt the need to cover up. 

Perhaps it was due to his own abbreviated swimwear being deemed too, too much to show? We only get a glimpse of it in this poolside scene. 

Did you, as I did, momentarily think that the extra on the diving board behind him was bare-assed naked?! LOL That's one flimsy pink swimsuit.

During one "cold open," a typically offbeat scene that sets up the mystery, this cute young man decides to leave his ladyfriend for a moment in order to retrieve some wine he has chilling in the nearby surf.

As he reaches in for the stake to which the wine is attached, something seems off.

There's more than a wine bottle at the end of his rope...

"I caught a big one!"

This is one dead fish... Anyway, I just love it when scenes are devised to show off the male physique. All shows ought to have a minimum on one sequence of this sort. 

I'm going to close with a parade of more bulges courtesy of Mr. Wyngarde. I can't deny that he is not at all my type, though he did amass a huge following. To me, he looks like an even more dissipated John Holmes. 

Nonetheless, his character was so popular that it prompted a follow-up show called Jason King in 1971. None of his costars were brought along for the ride this time. While the parent show was shot on glorious 35mm stock (and looks better in the screenshots I've provided here today than it could have even when first broadcast on analog television), King was shot on 16mm. Also, as a budgetary cut/time management concession, Wyngarde's hair was not styled for each day of filming. He was instead given a wig to wear. 

It's impossible to overstate how flagrantly campy and outre Wyngarde's look became. His white-hot fame did take a major hit, though, in 1975 when he was arrested for "gross indecency" in a bus station bathroom. He returned to the stage and in time to TV and movies, but his level of adulation was never the same. 

In the inset here, you can see little peter before he steps in front of a tall glass and it is obscured. 

However, this shot leaves no such mystery. Wyngarde in later years would sign his autograph just above the bulge for many fans, signaling that - at least by that point - he was fully aware of the situation. 

Here, even a stroll across the room in a pair of jeans becomes PG-13. Ha ha!

Nicols seems mildly distracted in this scene. 

And the reason is pretty clear...

These have been only a few of such moments in the show. 

And that's a wrap....!