TV Pop Diaries
Pop Music on British Television 1955 -
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-
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 -
The three stars Candy/Candice Glendenning, Kim Fortune and Eddie McMurray were 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-
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 -
Producer Hodges had been a current affairs and arts producer at Granada and ABC, but chose to transfer over to Thames in 1968. He later turned movie director, giving us Get Carter, Croupier, Flash Gordon, A Prayer For The Dying among others.
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. But 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 -
THE TYRANT KING
Thames
3rd October 1968 -