| Genre: | Crime thriller Action/adventure Spy fiction |
| Creator: | Dennis Spooner Monty Berman |
| Starring: | Peter Wyngarde |
| Theme Music Composer: | Laurie Johnson |
| Composer: | Laurie Johnson |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
| Num Series: | 1 |
| Num Episodes: | 26 |
| Producer: | Monty Berman |
| Runtime: | 50 mins |
| Company: | ITC Entertainment |
| Channel: | ITV (ATV) |
| Related: | Department S |
Jason King is a British television series starring Peter Wyngarde as the eponymous character. It was produced by ITC Entertainment and had a single season of 26 one-hour episodes that aired from 1971 to 1972. It was shown internationally as well, and has been released on DVD in the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and Germany.
The series featured the further adventures of the title character who had first appeared in Department S (1969). In that series he was a dilettante dandy and author of a series of adventure novels, working as part of a team of investigators. In Jason King he had left that service to concentrate on writing the adventures of Mark Caine, who closely resembled Jason King in looks, manner, style, and personality. None of the other regular characters from Department S appeared in this series, although Department S itself is occasionally referred to in dialogue.
In the course of visiting international locations as part of his research, or through being summoned by people needing assistance, King would be frequently embroiled in adventure stories featuring glamorous women, exotic locations (for the era), menacing villains, political turmoil, or espionage intrigue.
The first episode depicted King's retelling of a Mark Caine novel to a television executive, alternating between King's interpretation of events, and the television executive's version. King's version showed style and class, while the executive's version featured added suspense, more cliches, and had the women in more revealing costumes. In the footage representing both men's vision of the novel adapted for the screen, Mark Caine was portrayed by Wyngarde.
The titles of the Mark Caine books often consisted of four short words, in the manner of some of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels. The Mark Caine title mentioned most often in the series was Index Finger Left Hand; another was To China Yours Sincerely (parodying Fleming's From Russia With Love).
Subsequent episodes featured Wyngarde playing King trying to write his novels and being pressured by his publisher Nicola Harvester about deadlines. King, however, was usually distracted by women and the adventures of his normal life, and was sometimes tricked by Ryland of the British Government into assisting the Government in international political matters: all of which later found their way into the adventures of the fictional Mark Caine.
The series was created by Dennis Spooner and like its predecessor was made by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment production company (which had become successful with such series as The Saint and Danger Man). However, unlike previous ITC series which were shot on 35mm film, Jason King was filmed on 16mm to cut costs. Episodes were written specifically to include travel to various European locations to which Peter Wyngarde had, before the series, been brought for outdoor location filming; these shots were then included within the filmed narratives.
King's choice of fashion was named by Mike Myers as an inspiration for his popular movie character Austin Powers.[1]
He is also one of the inspirations (especially his clothes) for Kim Newman's psychic crime fighter and secret agent Richard Jeperson.[2]
The Two Ronnies performed a sketch entitled 'Jason King', with Ronnie Corbett putting on all the airs and graces of King and Ronnie Barker playing a suspect in a murder investigation, during their third series in 1973.
Jason King was also the basis for Jason Bentley, played by Peter Richardson in the Comic Strip Presents episode Detectives on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown (1993). Wyngarde said in a BBC television interview when this episode was originally transmitted that he was flattered by the affectionate parody, but insisted that Jason King would never wear crushed velvet.