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EPISODE ONE: DIPLOMATIC IMMUNITY

Original UK transmission: 28th September 1966

Filmed: August/September 1965

Screenplay by Dennis Spooner

Directed by Leslie Norman

Synopsis: David Marlowe (Paul Ferris) is minding The Baron's shop whilst he is away. However, David falls victim to an international jewel thief known as Eva Dumel, who uses her diplomatic immunity to take her haul out of the country and back to her native Pamaranea without having to be forced through customs. Furious, The Baron heads for the Pamaranean embassy upon his return to London, where he is stopped from entering by agents working for a certain Templeton Green (Colin Gordon). These force him to accompany them to meet Templeton Green, who reveals that The Baron's shop is not the only place where antiques have been stolen without hope of recovery due to Dumel's diplomatic immunity. Templeton Green offers The Baron a chance to recover his valuable piece, along with the others, if he agrees to fly out to Pamaranea in an unofficial capacity, but accompanied by a host of gadgets and a contact. After some persuasion, The Baron flies out to Pamaranea, where he meets Cordelia Winfield (Sue Lloyd) in his hotel room. After revealing that she is no more than a social secretary at the British Embassy, The Baron uses her limited knowledge and his own detective work to narrow down the possible masterminds behind the robberies to three government officials: Anna Lobovitch, Georges Sforza and Lazlo Polk. When Sforza kills Dumel, The Baron and Cordelia head over to his residence to recover the antiques, but are apprehended by Sforza and his guards. Using his ingenuity and one of the gadgets given to him by Templeton-Green, The Baron manages to escape with Cordelia, and after a spot of trouble at the border, are eventually reunited safe and sound with a grinning Templeton-Green.

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General observations: A generally rather average start to the new series in just about every respect, apart from Robert Crewdson's rather amusing performance as Laslo Polk and some rather unusual cars. Given that this was the fourth episode to be filmed, it is obvious by this stage that Steve Forrest had become comfortable with his character, which is a plus point. However, as seems to be so often, Leslie Norman's direction is merely average, and at some points one cannot but help thinking that a couple more scenes could have been better rehearsed in order to allow the performances to seem a little less wooden. Some rather interesting cars (including a Mercedes-Benz 220 and a wonderful 1950 Ford Taunus) and a good helping of authentic-looking stock footage, which should be a contradiction in terms for a fictional Eastern European country, lift the atmosphere somewhat. By contrast, this was Sue Lloyd's first episode, and this certainly shows, as she appears to be feeling her way around the story to quite an extent here. Nevertheless, we should be thankful for her inclusion in this story, since it was on the strength of this episode that ABC in America bought the series for transmission. Overall, a perfectly competent but somehow slightly underwhelming start to this largely forgotten ITC series.

Episode 1 Episode 16
Episode 2 Episode 17
Episode 3 Episode 18
Episode 4 Episode 19
Episode 5 Episode 20
Episode 6 Episode 21
Episode 7 Episode 22
Episode 8 Episode 23
Episode 9 Episode 24
Episode 10 Episode 25
Episode 11 Episode 26
Episode 12 Episode 27
Episode 13 Episode 28
Episode 14 Episode 29
Episode 15 Episode 30

"The Baron" Copyright 1966-67 ITC Entertainment

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