The Troubleshooters
| The Troubleshooters | |
|---|---|
BBC | |
| Release | 7 July 1965 – 3 January 1972 |
The Troubleshooters (titled Mogul for the first series) is a British television series made by the BBC between 1965 and 1972, created by John Elliot. It recounted events in an international oil company – the "Mogul" of the title. The first series was mostly concerned with the internal politics within the Mogul organisation, with episodes revolving around industrial espionage, internal fraud and negligence almost leading to an accident on a North Sea oil rig.
The series' upbeat theme music was by Tom Springfield, brother of Dusty.
Cast
- Brian Stead (Geoffrey Keen 1965–72), Mogul's tough Deputy Managing Director.
- Peter Thornton (Ray Barrett 1965–72), company field agent (i.e. "troubleshooter").
- Alec Stewart (Robert Hardy 1966–70), ruthlessly ambitious "troubleshooter" keen to rise up the promotional ladder.
- Willy Izard (Philip Latham 1965–72), head of finance at Mogul.
- Robert Driscoll (Barry Foster 1965), Mogul's head of public relations.
- Derek Prentice (Ronald Hines 1965), head of personnel at Mogul.
- Jane Webb (Philippa Gail 1965–66, 1970–71), Stead's efficient secretary.
- Eileen O'Rourke (Isobel Black 1967–68), ambitious public relations assistant at Mogul.
- "Steve" Thornton (Justine Lord 1965–66, 1968), glamorous woman unhappily married to troubleshooter Peter Thornton.
- Roz Stewart (Deborah Stanford 1966–70), Alec Stewart's wife, keen to strike out in business on her own, opening a London boutique.
- James Langley (John Carson 1971–72)
- Dr. Ginny Vickers (Jayne Sofiano 1967–69)
- Charles Grandmercy (Edward de Souza 1967–68)
- Joan Izard (Margaret Ward 1965, 1967, 1969, 1971)
- Julie Serres (Virginia Wetherell 1967)
- Miss Jenkins (Beryl Cooke 1970–71)
- Henry Wynn (Peter Sallis 1970)
The Troubleshooters
Although Mogul was popular, it did not do as well as hoped for. However, it was renewed for a second series with the format radically changed. The show was renamed The Troubleshooters and it altered its focus, broadening its horizons by showing the actual workings of the company. The series now focused on the younger, dynamic Mogul field agents - the eponymous "troubleshooters" - like Peter Thornton, who flew around the world to "hotspots" to protect the company's interests.
Storylines
The show's storylines concentrated on disasters such as explosions and earthquakes, company take-overs, racial and political tensions, the discovery of new oil fields and the negotiation of drilling rights. There was extensive use of stock footage of locations.
As time went on, The Troubleshooters began to experiment with ongoing narratives as storylines arched over several series. Because of the nature of his profession requiring him to be away from home, Peter Thornton found his marriage to the glamorous Steve collapsing. Brian Stead was diagnosed with a heart condition, and he struggled to maintain control of Mogul at the top. Ranged against him was new "troubleshooter" Alec Stewart, a young, ruthless operative keen to progress in the organisation with his eye on Stead's position. Stead kept sending Stewart out on dangerous assignments in the hope that he would fail, but Stewart was able to work every situation to his advantage. In the latter series, a rival oil company to Mogul was introduced – Zenith.
The Troubleshooters never shied away from portraying Mogul as a faceless, uncaring and profit-driven corporation. Some episodes showcased industrial crisis through the perspective of striking
The Troubleshooters and the real-life oil industry
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The Mogul organisation was reputed to have been based on BP and there were many similarities and coincidences in terms of the international events The Troubleshooters predicted.
- BP struck oil in Alaska and three days later, Mogul did the same on television. However, this particular episode had been produced four months earlier.
- In another episode, Mogul took over a chemical company – and BP did the same a few days later.
- The Troubleshooters predicted that there would be a channel tunneland also that men would live in underwater houses to probe the seabed for oil. Both predictions came true.
- An episode was made that showed an explosion in the RAFwas forced to set fire to the sea as warning to shipping.
- The series also predicted to within 0.1 of a penny, the price that oil companies would charge the Gas Council for North Sea gas.
- Lead actor Geoffrey Keen, who played Brian Stead, even found himself invited to the Oil Industries Club dinner, where he was warmly greeted by his "fellow" executives.
Conclusion
The Troubleshooters lasted for seven series from 1965 to 1972, making the transition from black-and-white to colour along the way. In the final episodes, Brian Stead maintains control of Mogul and fends off hostile enemies, but at the cost of his own health. Stead eventually steps down as company director, but not before finally naming his successor.
Today the legacy of The Troubleshooters lies in its bridging the gap between "quality drama" and populist entertainment and charting a linear path trod by later British television serials, such as
Archive status
The series was subject to the BBC's
A previously missing episode from series two - "Birdstrike" - was returned to the BBC by a private collector in May 2010, with the assistance of classic TV organisation Kaleidoscope.[2]
Another episode previously missing from series two - “Is That Tiger, Man?” (Originally broadcast: 30 April 1966) - was announced in October 2023 to have been recovered with the assistance of Film is Fabulous! and De Montfort University’s Cinema and Television History Institute (CATHI).
DVD release
The five surviving episodes of series one were released on DVD in the UK by Danann Publishing Ltd.[3] in 2016.
Notes
- ^ "Missing or incomplete episodes for programme The Troubleshooters". lostshows.com. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
- ^ "A Bird in the Hand", Wiped News, 24 May 2010
- ^ Printed cover inlay supplied with official DVD release.
