Sapphire & Steel

Sapphire & Steel was a British television science-fiction series starring David McCallum as Steel and Joanna Lumley as Sapphire. Produced by ITC Entertainment and broadcast on ATV, it ran from 1979 to 1982 and was primarily ATV's answer to the BBC's Doctor Who. The series was created by by P. J. Hammond, who conceived the programme after a stay in a haunted castle. Hammond also wrote all the stories except for the fifth one, which was co-written by Don Houghton and Anthony Read.

Episodes

Each episode began with the following prologue:

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:All irregularities will be handled by the forces controlling each dimension. Transuranic, heavy elements may not be used where there is life. Medium atomic weights are available: Gold, Lead, Copper, Jet, Diamond, Radium, Sapphire, Silver and Steel. Sapphire and Steel have been assigned.

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For episode three of Adventure 4 and for all of Adventure 6, Lead's place in the prologue was replaced by Mercury (who was mentioned but never seen). If the series had continued, Mercury would have made an appearance.

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A widespread fan legend claims that the actor David Suchet narrates the prologue; however, creator P.J. Hammond has confirmed that this is not true.

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(Note: the titles used are unofficial; each has several potential alternatives. The British VHS release of the series names them as "Adventure 1" through "6", while the DVD releases replace the word "Adventure" with "Assignment".)

Related Topics:
VHS - DVD

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