Evergreen

2017 EVERGREEN 95
John Drake with the traitor
Rawson, played by John Fraser,
in an episode broadcast in 1964.
covert gadgets. These were
Drake’s tools of the trade
and supported his acute
observation and intuition on
assignment. Two gadgets he
often used were his Philishave
electric razor that doubled
as a mini tape recorder and
his lighter, which secretly
snapped a picture as the
lighting button was pressed.
Behind the scenes, Danger
Man’s high production
standards, excellent directors
and storylines contributed to its
international success. Its writers
endeavoured to reflect real events
and tensions in the world. A popular
theme was the independence of
Britain’s colonies and a number
of episodes were set in Africa.
Other episodes alluded to the
Profumo scandal and the theme
of compromised or corruptible
Establishment figures.
Intriguingly two Danger Man
episodes appear to have influenced
McGoohan’s later series The Prisoner.
In “Colony Three”, Drake was sent
to a replica of an English village
that instructed communist agents
in the British way of life. Residents
were free to roam the village but no
one could leave. “The Ubiquitous
Mr. Lovegrove” was a surreal
visualisation of Drake’s nightmare
in which he feared blackmail and
exposure as an agent.
Danger Man was one of the first
television series in the ’60s to have
tie-in merchandising including a
board game, jigsaws and books. In
1967 Lew Grade won the Queen’s
Award for Industry for earning
Britain £35,700,000 in television
sales and without doubt it was
Danger Man that contributed largely
to the figure.
Danger Man was British television’s
first modern secret agent and set
the bar for the many spy series
that followed. It was truly a trailblazing
series — dominated by the
compelling and inimitable Patrick
McGoohan.
RAY MARTIN
Further information and picture
acknowledgements:
www.danger-man.co.uk