2-03. You're Under Starter's Orders.

Air Date: Jan. 22, 1969. Written by: Robert Banks Stewart. Directed by: Mike Vardy. Produced by: Reginald Collin. MISSING, PRESUMED WIPED.

This review is based on the rehearsal script, available in the .pdf archive on Disc Three of the Callan: This Man Alone DVD set.


THE PLOT:

Callan has turned traitor, assaulting a File Registry Office clerk and absconding with secret documents. Hunter, Meres, and overzealous CIA agent William Mannix (Warren Stanhope) are on the trail, determined to stop him from selling the documents to the opposition. But Callan has already made contact with a pipeline to the East. As long as he can raise £5,000, he will have no trouble escaping from England and setting himself up as a purely freelace operative, far away from Hunter's influence...


CHARACTERS:

Callan: Grows uneasy when Hannah, the ex-wife of a former agent, complains about the toll the job took on her husband. The script notes that this is "the kind of situation (Callan) doesn't handle well." I'm sure Edward Woodward would have excelled at reacting to her words, as Callan sees all too clearly how easily this could be his fate.

Hunter: That same scene, however, makes is painfully obvious that this episode was written for Ronald Radd's Hunter. Hannah is bitter that, after her husband was crippled, Hunter "sent us a fiver towards a wheelchair" - something the current Hunter would have no reason to do. The scenes that feature Hunter also feel more like Radd's version, rather than like Michael Goodliffe's more bureaucratic variant.

Meres: Despite his oft-stated dislike of Callan, he seems genuinely surprised at his rival's apparent betrayal. He expresses repeated doubts that Callan actually has turned traitor, though that makes him no less willing to pursue him.


THOUGHTS:

Series Two's first missing episode is by Robert Banks Stewart, who also scripted Series One's (also missing) Goodbye, Nobby Clarke. As with that entry, based on the script I have a hard time feeling that much was lost.

I'll give the episode this much: It hits the ground running, starting its scenario in the very first scene. However, this script relies heavily on a pair of reveals to boost its effectiveness. The first reveal is, of course, that Callan is actually working with Hunter and not against him... something most will immediately guess, as it would be unlikely for the title character of a 1960s spy show to turn traitor in the third episode of the second season. The second reveal is the identity of the actual traitor - which is just as painfully easy to guess.

Many of creator James Mitchell's own episodes have also used well-worn plots, but they have generally succeeded thanks to excellent character scenes.  Unfortunately, those are almost entirely absent from this story. Only a brief conversation between Callan and Hannah, the ex-wife of a former agent, sparks any real interest from a character standpoint. It's a good exchange, but it's over far too quickly, and the characters are almost entirely reduced to plot pieces for the rest of the episode.

This is where I'd usually remark on what part of the episode would be interesting to see if it was ever recovered. Sadly, except for that single Callan/Hannah exchange, I genuinely can't think of anything in this script that interests me. In a series that excels on characterization and atmosphere, You're Under Starter's Orders is a purely plot-driven vehicle. And sad to say, when Roger Moore's The Saint series tackled a very similar plot, it did a whole lot better a job of it.


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