Terence Feely Movies

Hazard of Hearts was adapted for television from a 1948 bodice-ripper by Barbara Cartland. Set (where else?) in 1810 England, the film stars Helena Bonham Carter as the obligatory innocent young lass with a dynamite figure. Falling in love with a Rochester-like Marquis (Marcus Gilbert), Helena is whisked off to the mysterious Castle Mandrake ("played" by England's Belvoir Castle and Burghley House). Here, our heroine is menaced by Diana Rigg, the Marquis' evil, possessive mother. First broadcast December 27, 1987, Hazard of Hearts was buried in the ratings by NBC's repeat showing of Terms of Endearment (1983) and ABC's telecast of Stir Crazy (1980). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The numerical title of this British miniseries referred to the traditional Downing Street address of the country's many Prime Ministers. For purposes of drama and economy, the series focused on only seven past PMs: William Pitt the Younger, the Duke of Wellington, Disraeli, Gladstone, Lloyd George, Asquith, and MacDonald. One suspects that Churchill was left out of the mix because his life story had been told so often in previous productions. The seven hour-long episodes of Number 10 originally aired over Britain's ITV in 1982. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Ian Hendry, who as Dr. David Keel had been one of the original stars of the original Avengers, is here cast as Gunner, an amnesiac secret agent. Having been missing for seventeen years, Gunner suddenly shows up, and just as suddenly recovers his memory, providing a strange coded message. This new information may or may not be able to lead Steed (Patrick MacNee), Purdey (Joanna Lumley) and Gambit (Gareth Hunt) to the whereabouts of a notorious double agent known only as the White Rat. As usual, however, the villain gets the upper hand along the way, forcing the New Avengers to gamble with their lives. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Low-brow British humor abounds in this farcical account of Edwin Anthony, the first man to receive a successful penis transplant. Anthony becomes quite attached to his new appendage and even gives it the title name. The alleged humor comes in when Anthony and Percy set out to investigate the life of the latter's former owner. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

First broadcast in England on January 21, 1968, "The Girl Who Was Death" was written by Terence Feely, from an idea by David Tomblin, producer of The Prisoner and director of this episode. Again mysteriously transported from The Village, Number Six finds himself in an isolated lighthouse with a girl named Sonia (Justine Lord) who by some fluke of fate has apparently caused the deaths of at least three men. Referring to herself as "Death", Sonia insists that she and Number Six are made for each other, inasmuch as he has survived so many previous attempts on his life. As the story progresses, it becomes painfully obvious that the so-called lighthouse is actually a nuclear missile, designed by Sonia's demented father (Kenneth Griffith) to destroy London. Originally intended as a two-part episode, "The Girl Who Was Death" was diminished to a single installment because of star Patrick McGoohan's commitment to the theatrical feature Ice Station Zebra; in fact, McGoohan is absent from much of the proceedings, requiring the producers to use doubles and stock shots for certain linking scenes. The episode made its American TV debut on September 7, 1968. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Having recently left The Avengers, Ian Hendry (aka Dr. Keel) is conspicuous by his absence in this episode. Going it alone this time around, Steed is assigned to a spacecraft center where radiation shields are being manufactured. One of the scientists has somehow been exposed to radiation, and it is up to Steed to determine whether this was by accident or design. Videotaped several months before its telecast, "Dragonsfield" was written by Terrence Feeley. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide