Return of the Saint

Return of the Saint was a British action-adventure television series that aired for one season in 1978 and 1979 in Britain on ITV, and was also broadcast on CBS in the United States. It was produced by ITC Entertainment and ran for 24 episodes.

Related Topics:
British - 1978 - 1979 - ITV - CBS - United States - ITC Entertainment

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The series starred Ian Ogilvy as Simon Templar, an independently wealthy, somewhat mysterious "do-gooder" known as "The Saint" who was created in the 1920s by Leslie Charteris and featured in a long-running series of novels and novellas. The series itself is a revival of The Saint, a long-running 1960s series that starred Roger Moore as Templar. Early publicity for Return suggested that it was originally to have been titled Son of the Saint. One major difference between the two series is that the original was mostly filmed in British studios and locations, while many episodes of Return were filmed on location throughout Europe.

Related Topics:
Ian Ogilvy - Simon Templar - 1920s - Leslie Charteris - Novella - The Saint - 1960s - Roger Moore - Europe

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Oglivy became very popular in Britain and Europe because of the series, and in the early 1980s was considered a major contender for replacing Moore as James Bond. Oglivy never got the role, but did record a series of popular audio book adaptations of the Bond novels in the late 1970s and played a Bond-like character for a 1980s TV commercial.

Related Topics:
1980s - James Bond - Audio book

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Broadcasts of the series on CBS, which lasted into 1980, sparked a revival of interest in Moore's original series.

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