Persuaders, The

1 9 7 1 – 1 9 7 2 (UK)
24 x 60 minute episodes

Tony Curtis is Danny Wilde, a street-smart, self-made millionaire and oilman from the Bronx; Roger Moore is Lord Brett Sinclair, a bored but brilliant member of the British upper-crust.

As opposite as two men can possibly be, together they’re ‘The Persuaders’, seekers of justice in an unjust world.

They were introduced to each another at a party on the Riviera by the retired Judge Fulton (Laurence Naismith) who persuaded them to join forces and investigate crimes that have left the authorities baffled.

Set against the backdrop of the glittering capitals of Europe, this stylish series features fast money, fast cars and even faster women.

At the time the show was released, it was the most expensive TV series ever made in Britain at £100,000 per episode.

Filmed at Pinewood Studios (and on location on the French Riviera), the total budget for the ATV comedy/thriller series – originally to be titled The Friendly Persuaders – was £2½ million.

It was released in Great Britain in September 1971 having already been sold to every country in the world which had television, with the exception of Russia, China and Albania.

Sir Lew Grade shrewdly pre-sold it to an American network for over £3 million. The series flopped in America, though, and the network dropped it before all episodes had been shown.

Rock Hudson was originally approached to play the role of Danny Wilde but was unavailable.

Roger Moore had to give up smoking while making the series as Curtis was a fervent campaigner for the American Cancer Society – which didn’t stop him from being arrested upon arrival in Britain for possession of marijuana!

Nobody could persuade Moore to make more than the original 24 episodes. It had already made him the first actor to become a millionaire from a television series and he had been approached to play James Bond on the big screen.

Danny Wilde
Tony Curtis
Lord Brett Sinclair
Roger Moore
Judge Fulton
Laurence Naismith