Danger Man

1 9 6 0 - 1 9 6 1 (UK)
39 x 30 minute episodes
1 9 6 4 - 1 9 6 7 (UK)
45 x 60 minute episodes

Patrick McGoohan starred as John Drake, a freelance spy working for the British Secret Service, in this fast paced series created by producer/writer/director Ralph Smart, who was also responsible for creating The Invisible Man, as well as making major contributions to other well established programs from the ITC stable.

Drake used numerous gadgets: tiepins that were cameras, cherries containing tiny microphones, and electric shavers which cunningly doubled as tape recorders. 

At McGoohan's insistence Drake never became involved with female company on an intimate basis and rarely involved in gunplay, preferring old-fashioned fisticuffs when faced with a fight.

McGoohan even turned down the title role in the James Bond movies on the grounds that the sex was unacceptable because he was a married, practicing Catholic, and he felt the character of Bond was too immoral and wantonly violent

Danger Man made ex-chicken farmer McGoohan the highest-paid actor in Britain at the time, earning £2,000 a week. 

By all accounts he was not the easiest of people to work with though; First, he wanted to direct Danger Man, then produce it, and then write it. He even insisted on re-writing the music for one episode.

The series was transmitted on the CBS network in America under the title Secret Agent, with the original 30-minute episode format expanded to 60 minutes.

Two 60-minute colour episodes were filmed in 1967 for a projected fourth season, which was abandoned when McGoohan became involved in his next TV project, The Prisoner.