I had not seen this show for a second time until recently- the first since its original run.
I like the old ITC shows from the sixties and seventies and although some stand up better than others most still retain their watchability at the very least. The Zoo Gang was almost the last throw of Lew Grade's dice. After the failure of the Persuaders in the US budgets were cut for Jason King (better than you remember). The Protectors ( as bad as you remember) and the Adventurer (few even remember him or it) Grade tried a slightly different tack with a show that money was spent on. Mostly filmed on location, a theme tune composed by Paul and Linda McCartney, weel kent faces in starring and guest roles and adapted from a recently published novel written by a bestselling author. It should have been a smash.
The Zoo Gang only ran to 6 episodes unlike most of the ITC series which ran to 24 to 30 episodes. Quite a few of these longer lasting series have too many episodes - the 16 episodes of Strange Report seems about right to avoid repeating the same basic story in the same series but enough to build up some character development - and arguably 6 was not enough for The Zoo Gang as 2 of the four main characters as played by Brian Keith and Barry Morse (both more than capable performers) hardly make it to a second dimension.
The premise is though a good one. 4 former comrades in the French Resistance reunite after the man who killed one of their gang in the war turns up on the French Riviera 30 years later. The opening episode is pretty good but what follows is pretty average although I liked the last episode too. The lack of character development does not help- other than John Mills whose code name had been the Elephant ( he never forgets) I cannot tell you the animal each of the other three main characters was given although Lilli Palmer as the bar owning mother of a senior policeman is good as the best written of the characters. Mills is pretty good too and is very much the star. The two younger regulars as played by Michael Petrovich ( the policeman son of Palmer but an actor I had forgotten) and Seretta Wilson fare even less well than Keith and Morse. Miss Wilson in particular seems a pointless addition unless you think looking good (which she does) is enough.
The stories stroll along at a leisurely pace with plenty of shots demonstrating that the series was filmed in a foreign country - the third episode, The African Misfire, in particular feels like a half hour story stretched out to fill a longer slot- and the only two episodes which really grip are the first and last both of which hark back to the gang's wartime activities. Admittedly the second episode, Mindless Murder, does feature a bravura guest star appearance from the great Ingrid Pitt but otherwise the episode just feels like a rehash of an episode of the Roger Moore era The Saint called a Better Mousetrap. The only other guest stars of note are Peter Cushing and Roger Delgado who died in a car accident not long after filming with even normally reliable stalwarts like Philip Madoc, Bernard Kay and Ann Lynn don't make too much of an impression.
The McCartney's theme tune is not one of Sir Paul's ( or ITC's) more memorable efforts either. Like the show itself, it's nothing more than okay.
The Zoo Gang is less well remembered than some of its ITC predecessors and unlike , for examples, Department S and The Baron it does not really deserve to be remembered more- all these shows have a certain 'of their time' feel but I have a feeling that even in 1974 the Zoo Gang felt dated.
It should have been better.
I like the old ITC shows from the sixties and seventies and although some stand up better than others most still retain their watchability at the very least. The Zoo Gang was almost the last throw of Lew Grade's dice. After the failure of the Persuaders in the US budgets were cut for Jason King (better than you remember). The Protectors ( as bad as you remember) and the Adventurer (few even remember him or it) Grade tried a slightly different tack with a show that money was spent on. Mostly filmed on location, a theme tune composed by Paul and Linda McCartney, weel kent faces in starring and guest roles and adapted from a recently published novel written by a bestselling author. It should have been a smash.
The Zoo Gang only ran to 6 episodes unlike most of the ITC series which ran to 24 to 30 episodes. Quite a few of these longer lasting series have too many episodes - the 16 episodes of Strange Report seems about right to avoid repeating the same basic story in the same series but enough to build up some character development - and arguably 6 was not enough for The Zoo Gang as 2 of the four main characters as played by Brian Keith and Barry Morse (both more than capable performers) hardly make it to a second dimension.
The premise is though a good one. 4 former comrades in the French Resistance reunite after the man who killed one of their gang in the war turns up on the French Riviera 30 years later. The opening episode is pretty good but what follows is pretty average although I liked the last episode too. The lack of character development does not help- other than John Mills whose code name had been the Elephant ( he never forgets) I cannot tell you the animal each of the other three main characters was given although Lilli Palmer as the bar owning mother of a senior policeman is good as the best written of the characters. Mills is pretty good too and is very much the star. The two younger regulars as played by Michael Petrovich ( the policeman son of Palmer but an actor I had forgotten) and Seretta Wilson fare even less well than Keith and Morse. Miss Wilson in particular seems a pointless addition unless you think looking good (which she does) is enough.
The stories stroll along at a leisurely pace with plenty of shots demonstrating that the series was filmed in a foreign country - the third episode, The African Misfire, in particular feels like a half hour story stretched out to fill a longer slot- and the only two episodes which really grip are the first and last both of which hark back to the gang's wartime activities. Admittedly the second episode, Mindless Murder, does feature a bravura guest star appearance from the great Ingrid Pitt but otherwise the episode just feels like a rehash of an episode of the Roger Moore era The Saint called a Better Mousetrap. The only other guest stars of note are Peter Cushing and Roger Delgado who died in a car accident not long after filming with even normally reliable stalwarts like Philip Madoc, Bernard Kay and Ann Lynn don't make too much of an impression.
The McCartney's theme tune is not one of Sir Paul's ( or ITC's) more memorable efforts either. Like the show itself, it's nothing more than okay.
The Zoo Gang is less well remembered than some of its ITC predecessors and unlike , for examples, Department S and The Baron it does not really deserve to be remembered more- all these shows have a certain 'of their time' feel but I have a feeling that even in 1974 the Zoo Gang felt dated.
It should have been better.