Vendetta: The Running Man, a BBC drama starring Neil McCallum, Blackpool-born Janet Munro and Sebastian Breaks, thought lost, will get a special screening in the northern seaside resort this weekend.
The screening – part of the latest Blackpool Film Collectors’ Convention – has been organised by Film is Fabulous!, an initiative to preserve vulnerable film treasures held privately in the United Kingdom.
The Film is Fabulous! team have many friends within the film collecting community. They encourage these collectors to return digital scans of the rare or missing items in their collections to the copyright holders, in the belief they’ll be made available for a wide audience to enjoy.
One such collector, Francis Niemczyk, has made the missing material within his collection available to rights holders, and to Film is Fabulous! for screening at their events. Francis has, very generously, made another item available to be shown at the upcoming Blackpool convention: Vendetta: The Running Man, first broadcast by the on 30th December 1966.
Running for three seasons broadcast between 1966 and 1968, Vendetta, created by Brian Degas and Tudor Gates, offered intrigue from the Mediterranean Islands as Danny Scipio (Stelio Candelli) dispenses his own brand of revenge against organised crime outfits around Europe.
Of the 36 episodes of the series produced, many are believed to be lost, with an additional episode being incomplete. With significant majority of the series missing, the recovery of episodes such as “The Running Man” is great news. (A print of the 1968 episode, “The Innocent Man”, was recovered in 2014).
“The Running Man” episode stars Neil McCallum, Blackpool-born Janet Munro, best known for her role as Katie O’Gill in a number of Disney family films, Sebastian Breaks, and a host of recognisable British actors from the period. It also features a superb theme tune by the late John Barry.
The tense drama begins in prison, where Angelo James (McCallum) meets with the governor. He is determined to pursue those linked to organised crime. Among these is Johnny Barbiere (Breaks).
Inside the prison, rumours are spread that Barbiere has betrayed his comrades. An attempt is made on his life. Seizing the opportunity to escape, Barbiere makes a move. He’s literally “on the run”.
Patricia Rattan (Munro) is at home, and is about to go out the door, when Barbiere enters and, with violence, forces her to drive him away from the scene. Reluctantly, she agrees, and they leave together.
In fact, Rattan was in the act of leaving her wealthy, and manipulative, husband. She is, in effect, also escaping from a prison. The two are unwitting companions. They grow closer during their ordeal.
However, James is relentless. Together with the police, he anticipates every move made by the fleeing pair. The net is slowly drawn around the two escapees.
Who will prevail?
The 16mm print will shortly be returned by Francis to the BBC Archive, for digital scanning, and grading, as the BBC do not hold a copy in their stock management system or the Digital Archive.
The screening of “The Running Man” – part of a two-hour screening of vintage television, courtesy of Film is Fabulous! at the latest Blackpool Film Collectors’ Convention, will take place at 2.30pm on Sunday 16th November, in The Lancaster Suite of The Grand Hotel, North Promenade, Blackpool, FY1 2JQ. Entry to the screening is included in the £6 entry fee to the Film Collector’s’ Fair, and us payable in cash on the door.
Working with film enthusiasts and individuals from within the film and TV industry, and in collaboration with film historians at De Montford University and the official film archives, Film is Fabulous! is a charitable trust set up to save vulnerable film collections for future generations. As well as supporting collectors and identifying rare and missing films, one of their aims is to champion the need for recovered films to be screened.
Missing Episodes at Blackpool
To this end, the Film is Fabulous! team, together with Dick Fiddy, the co-ordinator of the BFI’s annual Missing Believed Wiped event, will be participating in the Blackpool Film Collectors’ Convention in a new session during the Sunday Film Fair called ‘Missing Episodes at Blackpool’.
Dick Fiddy will introduce four episodes of recovered television, which were found in private film collections by Film is Fabulous! These four previously-missing episodes include comedy, drama, light entertainment and music and will undoubtedly provide a nostalgic link to TV from the 1950s and 1960s, perhaps not seen widely since then.
Alongside “The Running Man”, they include an episode of the hospital drama Emergency Ward 10, one of 53 recovered earlier in the year, of which 30 were missing from the archives, first broadcast in 1960; “New Year’s Resolutions”, an episode to the comedy Hugh and I starring Terry Scott and Hugh Lloyd, which has not been seen since originally broadcast by the BBC on 4th January 1964.
Also to be shown is “Tell Mummy“, recently-recovered nine-minute BBC telerecording that offers a unique insight into the corporation’s directors’ course, showcasing the early work of Tina Wakerell.
The clip features Wakerell directing actor Ronald Lacey in a scene, demonstrating the expertise required for staging, blocking, and creating vintage television drama like the acclaimed shows she later directed, including Z Cars and Dr. Finlay’s Casebook.
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
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