| Genre: | Sci-fi Political thriller Drama |
| Creator: | Rex Firkin Vincent Tilsley |
| Director: | various |
| Starring: | Gwyneth Powell Cyril Luckham David Burke Derek Smith Edward Petherbridge |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
| Num Series: | 1 |
| Num Episodes: | 13 |
| Producer: | Andrew Brown |
| Runtime: | 60 minutes |
| Company: | London Weekend Television |
| Network: | ITV |
The Guardians is a television political thriller series of 13 60-minute episodes made by London Weekend Television and broadcast in the UK on the ITV network (with the exception of Ulster Television) between 10 July 1971 and 2 October 1971.
The Guardians is a dystopian political thriller set in the 1980s. Following economic chaos, democratic government has been overthrown in a bloodless coup, the Royal Family fled into self-imposed exile and England is ruled autocratically by Prime Minister Sir Timothy Hobson. Hobson is initially a pawn of 'the General'; a military officer by the name of Roger, who later becomes the Minister of Defence. Hobson subscribes to an outwardly benevolent paternalistic fascism, based on the principle that "democracy is a form of group suicide." Political opposition is suppressed by a uniformed paramilitary force recruited from former policemen, soldiers and security guards and called "The Guardians of the Realm" (known for short as "The Guardians" or simply "The Gs"). Each episode begins with a column of Guardians marching through central London to a memorable theme tune composed by Wilfred Josephs.
The government, nominally headed by Hobson, is opposed by a fragmented resistance movement collectively named "Quarmby." The dominant group within Quarmby favours a strategy of provoking increased oppression by the state through the use of assassination and other forms of terrorism. The series avoided black and white scenarios by portraying moderate and extreme factions jostling within both government and resistance. Hobson represents the liberal element within government, attempting to outmanoeuvre the seldom-seen General and the polished Cabinet Secretary Norman.
The series was originally broadcast between 10 July 1971 and 2 October 1971 on all ITV stations with the exception of Ulster Television (UTV); since UTV served the Northern Ireland area, which was in the early stages of the Troubles, the Independent Television Authority decided that the series was unsuitable for broadcast there due to its political content such as depictions of terrorist activity from the terrorist's point of view, and due to a desire to avoid any unintended connection to the Republic of Ireland's Garda Síochána (whose name translates into "Guardians of the Peace", while the full name of the titular Guardians organisation is "Guardians of the Realm").[1]
The series was released on DVD in the UK on 1 February 2010 by Network.[2] The full 13-part series was released as a 4-disc set. As of 2023 this set is out of print.
1990 – A similar series broadcast in 1977–1978 about a dystopian Britain set in 1990