TV Pop Diaries
Pop Music on British Television 1955 - 1999

A children's adventure series with a psychedelic twist from the early days of Thames Television. Three teenagers and a Scottie dog follow the clues that lead then to the titular Tyrant King, taking in the sights of London along the way, all using London Transport's buses and underground system to get there. "It's a micro-boppers' trip round London," producer/director Mike Hodges told TV Times.

The series was based on an adventure book written by Aylmer Hall on behalf of London Transport in the hope that kids would use their services during their summer holidays. However, the screenplay was provided by Trevor Preston, who would later work on another of Thames' classic kids' serial Ace Of Wands.

What draws this show's interest is the remarkable soundtrack featuring existing tracks by The Nice, The Moody Blues, Cream, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and The Beatles, not necessarily a surprise for a documentary for its time, but quite something for a kid's show broadcast between 5.20 - 5.50 pm.

The three stars Candy/Candice Glendenning, Kim Fortune and Eddie McMurray were Italia Conti stage school unknowns at the time. Fortune turned 15 while filming which resulted in a pay increase from £30 to £75 a week, as actor's union Equity now recognised him as an adult. A TV Times piece at the time centred on fellow star McMurray's dress sense, "The Tyrant King is a swinging series with a fab wardrobe. Edward liked the clothes enough to buy a pair of mustard corduroy flared trousers, a Sam Browne belt, a floral shirt, a mauve military jacket and an orange shirt." Glendenning, sartorially correct in her go-go boots would later go onto appear in a few low-budget British horror films in the seventies.

Referring to the climax of the final episode Meet The King TV Times claimed "The sequence was filmed before 10 o'clock in the morning, which provided some light entertainment for passing commuters - four policemen, three kids, "Scarface" and "Uncle Gerry" all having a go!"

Mike Hodges had been a current affairs and arts producer at Granada and ABC, transferring to Thames in 1968. He later turned a noted movie director, giving us Get Carter, Croupier, Flash Gordon, A Prayer For The Dying among others. He claimed that the series, shot on 16mm film, was an exercise to prove the feasibility of creating a lower-budget, small-scale film unit within the company, as many of his previous productions had been exclusively shot on film.

This Enid Blyton does Scooby Doo adventure was shot in exquisite paisley colour, but it was only ever shown in black and white and has never been repeated. We are now only able to review this due to the Network DVD release, which thankfully only had one music cue edit due to the original inclusion of The Beatles' All You Need Is Love.

Included in its soundtracks was Cream - As You Said, White Room, Sunshine of Your Love, The Rolling Stones - She's a Rainbow, The Moody Blues - Dr. Livingstone I Presume, House of Four Doors, Pink Floyd - Astronomy Domine, Colonel Clegg, Interstellar Overdrive, The Beatles - All You Need is Love. That's reason alone to check it out.

THE TYRANT KING

Thames

3rd October 1968 - 7th November 1968