Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)

Plot

In the initial episode, "My Late Lamented Friend and Partner", Marty Hopkirk is murdered during an investigation but returns as a ghost. He chooses his partner, Jeff Randall, to be the only main character able to see or hear him, to solve his own murder. Unfortunately, Marty chooses at the end of the episode not to return to his grave before dawn and is therefore to be trapped on earth for a century. Marty's wife Jeannie continues in the series as Jeff's secretary. Later in the series, certain minor characters are also able to see Marty in various circumstances, such as mediums, drunks, or those under hypnosis.

Production

Conception

The idea for the series was conceived by Dennis Spooner, who had an office adjoining producer Monty Berman at Elstree Studios. They had already collaborated on The Champions. In March 1968, the pair conceived Department S. Spooner's interest in the paranormal, inspired by several feature films, contemplated the possibility of a television series featuring a ghost, and he thought a detective series would offer greater scope for storylines.

The idea was put to head of ATV Lew Grade but he was not enthusiastic as the series lacked a leading imported American star, which he felt would inhibit overseas sales. However, the synopsis caught the eye of Ralph Smart, who had worked on The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Invisible Man, and Danger Man and he wanted to write the pilot. This convinced Lew Grade to green-light the series.

Casting

The role of Jeff Randall, originally named Steven Randall, was considered for the comedian Dave Allen who had made Tonight with Dave Allen for Lew Grade's ATV. When Dave Allen signed for the BBC, attention turned to Mike Pratt, who had appeared in a number of episodes of various ITC series, and he was deemed to be right for the part by the production team, including Cyril Frankel, creative consultant on the series.

Marty Hopkirk proved to be more difficult to cast, and several actors were considered after the creators scoured the pages of casting resources Spotlight. Cyril Frankel was at a new Italian restaurant in Soho, London and sitting at the next table was Kenneth Cope, with his wife, and Cyril Frankel thought he would be right for the part. Cyril Frankel told Monty Berman, and then directed a screen test, and Kenneth Cope got the part.

Jean Hopkirk, not in the original concept, is portrayed by Australian actress Annette Andre. She was well known to the production team, having appeared in six episodes of The Saint as well as The Baron. She had been short listed for one of the lead roles in The Champions, but lost to Alexandra Bastedo, reportedly at the whim of an American CBS executive.

Filming and locations

Filming commenced with the pilot in May 1968 with the aim to shoot a 48-minute episode over a fortnight working Monday to Friday from 8:30a.m. to 5:30p.m. with some filming on alternate Sundays. The bulk of filming with the main cast was on two sound stages at ABC Elstree in Borehamwood where Department S and other series were also in production. Establishing shots would use library footage. Location sequences were usually filmed by a second unit using stand-ins or the guest cast who were only needed for one episode filmed by one director while the main cast were completing the previous episode with another director. To keep costs down, a simple jump cut was used to make Marty Hopkirk disappear and reappear. Walking through walls was costly and time consuming using an image reflected on plain glass at an angle in front of the camera, an effect often used in the theatre called Pepper's ghost.

The exterior of the Randall & Hopkirk's office was a doorway at the side of Adam's Furniture Fabric on the corner of Kymberly Road and Springfield Road in Harrow, now completely redeveloped as St George's Shopping Centre. Jeff Randall's flat was located at Hanover House, close to the corner of St John's Wood High Street, and Jean Hopkirk's flat was on Lauderdale Road, Maida Vale, London.

Numerous country houses in the northern Greater London and Hertfordshire area were used for the external shots of the many mansions featured in the series. In the episode "For the Girl Who Has Everything", the exterior of Hilfield Castle in Aldenham was used for Kim Wentworth's (Lois Maxwell's) home. The Tudor-looking Edgwarebury Hotel on Barnet Lane in Elstree, now The Manor Elstree, was used in the episodes "Who Killed Cock Robin?" and "The House on Haunted Hill" and a plethora of other ITC series. The exterior of the Lambert Clinic in the comical episode "A Disturbing Case", written by Mike Pratt himself, is now the Institute of Grocery Distribution in Letchmore Heath, Hertfordshire. The Seaton Residence, a large white house with Doric columns at the front used in "The Smile Behind the Veil" episode is the Dyrham Park Country Club, the club house of a golf club in Galley Lane, Barnet. Woburn Abbey in Woburn, Bedfordshire, is featured in the episode "The Man from Nowhere" and is visited by Jeannie and a Marty imposter.

Cars

The car Jeff Randall drove was a white Vauxhall Victor, with the registration number RXD 996F. It was also used in two episodes of Department S; in that series Joel Fabiani's character Stewart Sullivan drove a white Vauxhall Ventora with the registration RXD 997F. The red Mini used by Jean Hopkirk was registered in May 1964 and had been used in an episode of The Saint (1968), an episode of Department S (1969) and driven by Tony Curtis's character Danny Wilde in an episode of The Persuaders! (1970).

Music

The theme music was composed by Edwin Astley, who in the previous years had composed many themes and incidental music for film series produced and distributed by ITC and its forerunners. Astley used the harpsichord because of its distinctive sound and used the C minor key because of the "death" part in it. In all Astley composed 188 numbered cues used throughout the series. Music composed by Astley from The Champions was briefly used, as was music by Albert Elms from the same series. Music was also used by Astley from his own library of music, the Chappell library, and other music composed by Robert Farnon, Johnny Hawksworth, Sidney Torch, Vivaldi.

Characters and cast

Mike Pratt as Jeffrey "Jeff" Randall, a successful (albeit "slightly seedy" and often morally ambiguous) private detective whose success in solving mysteries becomes inevitably greater once he has the benefits and paranormal abilities of his deceased friend and partner Marty Hopkirk. Randall is short-tempered, becoming irritated with certain situations and people, particularly the ghost of Marty.

Kenneth Cope as Martin "Marty" Hopkirk, a private detective and Jeff's friend and partner, who is murdered in the course of an investigation by being run down by a car travelling at high speed. Marty dies instantly, but returns as a ghost to help Jeff (the only living person who can see him) bring his killer to justice. Marty remains with Jeff throughout the entire series, a cynical, often perturbed character who torments Jeff as much as helps him.

Annette Andre as Jean "Jeannie" Hopkirk, secretary at the Randall and Hopkirk private investigation office. She is the widow of Marty. Though resourceful, she can be very naïve and vulnerable, putting her own life in danger on many occasions.

Ivor Dean as Inspector Large (5 episodes), a lugubrious police inspector, always suspicious of Randall and looking to arrest him. Their relationship is highly adversarial, though Randall eventually helps the inspector bring the real culprits to justice.

Richard Kerley as Sergeant Hinds (3 episodes), Inspector Large's subordinate.

Judith Arthy as Jennifer (2 episodes), the sister of Jeannie, who comes to London to visit her sister.

Garfield Morgan (2 episodes) in different roles in each

Michael Griffiths as Inspector Nelson (2 episodes), a police inspector who, much like Inspector Large, treats Randall as a criminal and the first suspect for various crimes.

Episodes

Airdates given here are for London Weekend Television. It was the only ITV region to screen all 26 episodes without breaks in transmission. Other ITV regions varied airdates and transmission order.

Filming took place between May 1968 and July 1969.

Broadcast

The 26 episodes were broadcast in the UK between 26 September 1969 and 31 July 1971; ATV delayed their initial transmission of the last five episodes after 21 episodes had been transmitted. In Canada it aired on CTV in April 1971, and in the United States it was syndicated from 1974 to 1983 under the title My Partner the Ghost. The series has been shown in 2020 in the UK on the Sony Channel, and again in 2022 on the channel Great! TV. As of January 2023, all episodes are available on ITV's free-to-air on-demand service ITVX, and BritBox.

Home media

On October 2, 2017, the complete series of Randall And Hopkirk (Deceased) was released on Blu-ray in the UK by a company called Network. It was newly remastered to HD from the original 35mm element prints. Though listed as Region B, the discs are actually Region A/B/C or Region Free, meaning they will also play in American Blu-ray players. The episodes on the discs are listed in production order instead of the air date order.

Remakes

In 2000–2001, the series was remade by Working Title Films for the BBC with a more elaborate storyline, starring Vic Reeves as Hopkirk (once again in a white suit) and Bob Mortimer as Randall, with Emilia Fox as Jeannie. Two series were made. The show was produced and primarily written by Charlie Higson, who also directed some episodes, and featured numerous writers including Gareth Roberts, Mark Gatiss, Paul Whitehouse and Jeremy Dyson. The premise of the show was the same, but the circumstances of Hopkirk's death were changed.

On 10 May 2010, the SyFy Channel announced that it had secured the rights to Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) and were looking to develop a pilot, and in January 2011, Entertainment Weekly announced that Jane Espenson and Drew Z. Greenberg would be writing a pilot for SyFy. Espenson told io9 that "The version we're proposing is quite different in tone and content from the original." She added, "We took the basic premise of a Ghost Detective and his still-living partner and invented our own take on it."