KING'S MEN
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EPISODES:  14, including pilot.
LENGTH:  13 x 60 Mins; 1 x 90 mins (pilot).
FORMAT:  Colour,  Video.
PRODUCTION:  1975 (pilot), 1976 (series) Reg Grundy Production.
ORIGINAL SCREENING: 1976. (Some  episodes were not screened in Melbourne until 1979 - 1980).
RUNNING ORDER:  Official.
NETWORK:  Nine.

CAST:
Det. Insp. Harry King.......GORDON GLENWRIGHT
Policewoman Jaybee Giddings.......TINA BURSILL
Sen. Det. Hal Whelan.......DON BARKHAM
Det. Sgt. Frank Weston.......TOM OLIVER
Sen. Det. Tim Harper.......DON SPENCER

CREW:
Executive Producer.......REG WATSON
Series devised by.......RON McLEAN

EPISODE TITLES
~ King's Men  Pilot Episode
1. The Missing List
2. School For Murder
3. The Butcher
4. Suffer Little Children
5. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Slayer
6. Takeover
7. The Leopard's Spots
8. Crusade
9. The Assassins
10. Public Enemy No. 1
11. Pipeline
12. Final Curtain
13. Contract For King

 

 

~ King's Men

Insp. Harry King.......Gordon Glenwright
Sen. Const. Ben Brice.......Shane Porteous
Const. Hal Whelan.......Don Barkham
Const. Maple Brown.......Jane Harders
Const. Tim Harper.......Don Spencer
Alfred Solomon.......Alfred Sandor
Doreen Norris.......Andrea Butcher
Stripper.......Lorna Lesley
Marshi.......Ben Gabriel
Bloke in pub.......Bill Hunter
Kirner.......Tony Wager
Victor Korellis.......Lex Marinos
Drake.......Brian Moll
Wills.......John Derum
'Spud'.......Kevin Leslie
Morna.......Chelsea Brown
Norris.......John Armstrong
Jarvis.......James Moss

Script.......Ron McLean
Director.......Ron Way

Synopsis: The undercover squad is investigating a Kings Cross strip club when one of the girl dancers drops dead on stage from a drug overdose. Further investigation puts Det. Hal Whelan on the trail of the drug pusher, Victor Korellis, and Whelan discovers a connection with a gambling den under the cover of a Latvian social club. When Whelan attempts to arrest Korellis he resists and falls to his death from a building. This brings Whelan into conflict with Insp. King, who suspends him from duty. Whelan later has a narrow escape when an attempt is made on his life, and subsequent investigation links the Latvian club with a white slave girl racket run by philanthropist Alfred Solomon. Const. Maple Brown goes undercover armed with a hidden camera supplied by Drake, a police technician, to obtain evidence against Solomon and his Asian partners.

Notes: 90 min. pilot episode. Differs from the series with a completely different opening title sequence, and some cast changes: Jane Harders plays policewoman Maple Brown and Shane Porteous plays the undercover squad leader Sen. Const. Ben Brice. The characters of Harper and Whelan are ranked as Constables instead of Senior Detectives.

Airdate: Brisbane 15/5/76

Pilot ep: Lorna Lesley

1. The Missing List

.......Gerard Kennedy
.......Jack Allen
.......Geraldine Turner
.......Leith Taylor
.......John Armstrong

Synopsis: Insp. King sends his undercover squad up against Hogan, a vicious extortionist and killer, who is a suspect for more than a dozen brutal murders. He also controls a number of gambling joints and is a prostitute's pimp, and he kills a prostitute's daughter because she keeps him awake at night with her coughing. Hal Whelan's life is on the line as he tries to get enough evidence to put Hogan away for life. When the police finally arrest him, they discover eleven other bodies under his floorboards.

Airdate: Sydney 27/5/76, Melbourne 20/11/76

2. School For Murder

.......Tony Wager
.......Phil Jay
.......Margaret Christensen
.......John Dommett

Synopsis: At an exclusive private school, a boy is found dead, apparently having committed suicide under the influence of drugs. Tim Harper is sent into the school and his investigations uncover a sinister ring of vice, corruption and murder within the hallowed halls of The Briars College.

Airdate: Sydney 3/6/76, Melbourne 27/11/76

3. The Butcher

.......John Ewart
.......Cornelia Frances
.......Brian Blain
.......Lyn Porteous

Synopsis: A vicious gang of criminal extortionists, headed by someone known as 'The Butcher', is preying on other criminals, using bolt cutters to hack off their fingers and toes in order to persuade them to part with the proceeds from their robberies. King's men stage a robbery of their own to flush out 'The Butcher', and get more success than they bargained for.

Notes: This episode was based on the exploits of the infamous ‘Toe Cutters Gang’, a criminal group who allegedly hacked the toes off other criminals in order to make them surrender the proceeds of robberies. Scheduled for screening on 10/6/76 in Sydney, TCN-9 withdrew the episode because it was considered too violent and too close to the real thing. The episode was re-edited and was due to be screened on July 22, but by that time the series had been dropped from the schedule.

Airdate: Melbourne 4/12/76

4. Suffer Little Children

.......Lynda Keane
.......Lynn Rainbow
.......Vincent Ball
.......Max Meldrum

Synopsis: An apparently motiveless assault leads King's men on the trail of a racket involving the purchase of new-born babies from unmarried mothers, to be placed in good homes of couples who can't have children. When one of the mothers wants her baby back, the trail turns to murder.

Airdate: Sydney 17/6/76, Adelaide 9/11/76, Melbourne 11/12/76, Canberra 30/12/76, Wollongong NSW 17/11/77

5. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Slayer

.......Kate Ferguson
.......Noel Brophy
.......Charles Little
.......Eileen Driver

Synopsis: A spate of mutilation-murders of prostitutes around Kings Cross leads to Insp. King's team driving the girls off the street and putting Jaybee out as a decoy for the killer.

Airdate: Sydney 24/6/76, Melbourne 18/12/76, Adelaide 27/9/76

6. Takeover

Policewoman.......Peita Toppano
Peterson.......James Condon
Mo Klinger.......Al Thomas
Annie Klinger.......Lea Denfield
Lew.......Stanley Walsh

Synopsis: A master criminal, Mo Klinger, collapses with a heart attack during interrogation after planning, executing and getting arrested for a million dollar robbery. As Mo hovers between life and death in hospital, the police try to locate the money - and so do Mo's boys who want their share, and to whom the life of Mo's wife Annie matters little. The only way they can get Mo from the police is to take Insp. King and Annie hostage and trade them for Mo, which culminates in a helicopter chase and a shoot-out.

Notes: This episode had to be rewritten at short notice when doctor’s orders forced Tina Bursill to take a week off.  Peita Toppano stepped in to take her place, playing a policewoman who was brought in from outside the squad.

Airdate: Sydney 8/7/76, Melbourne 6/12/79, Brisbane 6/7/76

7. The Leopard's Spots

.......Bernadette Hughson
.......Jeff Ashby
.......Alfred Bell
.......Vince Martin

Synopsis: Tony Willis, a known criminal, tries to go straight for the sake of the woman he loves. But when Insp. King gets him a job the underworld thinks it is repayment for giving information to the police about their activities. They try to kill Willis and then he decides to talk.

Airdate: Sydney 1/7/76, Melbourne 13/12/79, Wollongong NSW 8/12/77

8. Crusade

.......Elizabeth Alexander
.......Kevin Miles
.......Gerry Duggan
.......Liz Harris

Synopsis: A beautiful young girl dies after an involvement in witchcraft. King's men try to prevent her grandfather, a newspaper man, from conducting a crusade against the man responsible until they have enough evidence for an arrest. His refusal to lay off results in his death, and other girls are placed in jeopardy.

Notes: In Adelaide, NWS-9 screened this as the first episode.

Airdate: Melbourne 20/12/79, Adelaide 20/9/76

9. The Assassins

.......Kate Fitzpatrick
.......Anne Haddy
.......Wallas Eaton
.......Ralph Cotterill

Synopsis: When Insp. King and his squad are dining out, a man at the next table is shot dead. When they investigate the murder they uncover something much bigger than they anticipated.

Notes: Listed in some TV programme guides as 'Bitter Alms'.

Airdate: Melbourne 27/12/79, Adelaide 15/11/76, Wollongong NSW 22/12/77

10. Public Enemy No. 1

Jimmy Doyle.......Alan Penney
Joey Oslow.......Michael Caton
Withers.......Syd Heylen
Peter Lester.......David Foster
Ambrose.......Kevin Healy
Valerie.......Shirley Cameron
David Cummings.......John Armstrong
Lemo.......Dennis Bandel
Ian Lester.......Brett Woodhill

Script.......Bob Caswell
Director.......Kevin Dobson

Synopsis: A senile old man is released from prison after serving a long term away from the rackets he once ran. The police are not convinced that he is as old and doddering as he makes out. Nor are the big boys of the underworld who have taken over during his years inside. Insp. King is convinced that the old man could make a bid for power, and cause a full scale gang war.

Airdate: Melbourne 3/1/80, Wollongong NSW 29/12/76

11. Pipeline

.......Lynette Curran
.......Lex Marinos
.......Tony Ingersent
.......Colin Drake

Synopsis: Undercover operatives have to do some strange things in their jobs. Hal Whelan has an affair with a beautiful woman in an endeavour to prove she is a drug smuggler. However, when his heart rules his head, his life is in danger.

Airdate: Melbourne 10/1/80

12. Final Curtain

.......Kris McQuade
.......Frank Taylor
.......Peter Adams
.......Danny Adcock
.......George Sterling
.......Ken Laird
.......Stephen O'Rourke

Synopsis: Insp. King and his team go to the theatre and witness a murder on the stage - but when they go backstage the body has vanished. In solving the mystery, King and his men hurt someone very near and dear to them.

Airdate: Melbourne 17/1/80

13. Contract For King

Harry Gulson.......Norman Yemm
Prue Jingles.......Camilla Rountree
Mirabel.......Noeline Brown
Johnny Dollar.......Terry Camilleri
Venutti.......Paul Faranda
Harry Darling.......Harry Lawrence
Bouncer.......Paul Chubb
Julius Moroni.......Henry Pegg
Police instructor.......Graham Corry
Police prosecutor.......Ronald Morse

Script.......Ron McLean
Director.......Peter Maxwell

Synopsis: When Insp. King gets a conviction against ruthless gangster Julius Moroni, Moroni puts out a contract on King's life. King arranges for Det. Whelan to get the contract, unbeknownst to the rest of the squad. The best-laid plans start to go badly wrong when King is shot and evidence points towards Whelan as the guilty party.

Notes: Originally intended to be shown mid-series, it was decided that this episode should become the series finale, as it closes with the 'cliffhanger' of Insp. King being shot with an uncertain recovery.

Airdate: Melbourne 7/2/80, Wollongong NSW 19/1/78