Doombolt Chase, The

1 9 7 8 (UK)
6 x 30 minute episodes

When naval Commander David Wheeler (Donald Burton) is arrested for a seemingly motiveless attack on a mysterious vessel, his son Richard (Andrew Ashby), along with two friends, embarks on a search for the top-secret information that might clear his name.

The plot of this Sunday adventure-serial concerned a convoluted scheme to sell a new secret weapon to the highest bidder. The Navy’s top-secret research into the Doombolt project has been hijacked and improved by Professor Bayard (George Coulouris).

The device uses ultrasonic triggers to redirect other people’s missiles. With the UK coastline apparently ringed by hundreds of Navy ‘missile canisters,’ this could prove catastrophic.

Traitors, a countdown to the weapon’s operation, heroes who somehow manage to cut the ropes that bind them, secret bases where the walls are lined with reel-to-reel computer cabinets – all the cliches are present and correct.

This six-part series from HTV (Harlech TV) was filmed entirely on location in the West Country and Wales.

The frigate in the series, borrowed from the Royal Navy, was filmed dashing up the Bristol Channel and off the naval base at Plymouth, while the memorable pony stampede was staged amid the grandeur of the Brecon Beacons, and the hair-raising Land Rover chase took place on a private estate near Bristol.

Richard Wheeler
Andrew Ashby
Lucy 
Shelley Crowhurst
Peter Larapy
Richard Willis
Commander David Wheeler
Donald Burton
Commander Vallance
Frederick Jaeger
Professor Franz Bayard
George Coulouris
Spencer 
John Woodnutt
Admiral Lupin
Ewen Solon
Captain Hatfield
Peter Vaughan
Lieutenant Commander Madock
Simon MacCorkindale
Petty Officer Parker
Gordon Salkilld
Lieutenant
Paul Nicholson

Episodes

Court of Shame | Escape to Danger | Death Beacon | Alarm at Gareth’s Peak | The Devil’s Jaws | Assault on Cragfest