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    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Television»Drama
    Drama TV Shows - 1970s 2 Mins Read

    XYY Man, The

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    1 9 7 6 – 1 9 7 7 (UK)
    13 x 60 minute episodes

    William “Spider” Scott (Stephen Yardley) had a spare chromosome in his cell structure – an extra “Y” chromosome which made him unusually tall and instilled in him the urge to steal.

    Scott had become an accomplished cat burglar but had retired – until the mysterious Fairfax of the British Secret Service (Mark Dignam) enticed him to commit a break-in at a foreign embassy.

    After the embassy affair and its drawn-out consequences, Spider found it difficult to go straight again, especially when his MI5 liaison Fairfax reappeared asking him to spring a criminal from jail.

    On his trail at all times were the glove-wearing, nasal-inhaler-using, plastic bag-carrying Detective Sergeant George Kitchener “Bulldog” Bulman (Don Henderson) and the sex and crossword-obsessed Detective Constable Willis (Dennis Blanch) of Scotland Yard – and later of Strangers and Bulman.

    The early incarnation of Bulman was quite unlike the quirky later model. Here he was far from sympathetic and was rough and unstinting in his pursuit of the ever-elusive Spider.

    One of Bulman’s trademarks – his scarf – hid the burns from throat cancer treatment which actor Don Henderson was undergoing. The fact that Bulman sometimes talked only in a whisper, put down in the script to a cold, was also due to the disease. Henderson eventually died of the disease in 1997.

    Charming, athletic, amoral and selfish, Spider was in a stormy on-off relationship with his cockney antique dealer girlfriend Maggie Parsons (Vivienne McKee).

    The Granada TV series was based on a series of novels by Scottish author Kenneth Royce and began with a three-part mini-drama in 1976.

    William ‘Spider’ Scott
    Stephen Yardley
    Maggie Parsons 

    Vivienne McKee
    DS George “Bulldog” Bulman 

    Don Henderson
    DC Derek Willis 

    Dennis Blanch
    Fairfax 

    Mark Dignam
    Laidlaw 

    William Squire

    Video

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    www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64442824 ... See MoreSee Less

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    Television frontman Tom Verlaine dies at 73

    www.bbc.co.uk

    His band rose to fame in the 1970s New York punk scene, scoring UK hits including Marquee Moon.
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    Mr Blobby costume sells for more than £62,000 on eBay

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    The character, made famous by BBC show Noel's House Party, had been in storage since the 1990s.
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    Put some beefiness into your mid-week menu with these recipe ideas published in a Birds Eye advertisement from the Radio Times on 30 September 1965.

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    They were awful. An overpowering savoury flavour that lingered in your mouth for hours. Heaven knows what unmentionable parts of a bull went into making them 😳

    More sad news 😪

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    US rock legend David Crosby dies aged 81

    www.bbc.co.uk

    Crosby, who co-founded both the Byrds and Crosby, Stills and Nash, had been ill for some time.
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    This is what they promised us when I was a kid. What happened? 

All I have is 700 channels of rubbish on the TV in High Def, TikTok, Facebook and a phone I can take photographs with . . .

    This is what they promised us when I was a kid. What happened?

    All I have is 700 channels of rubbish on the TV in High Def, TikTok, Facebook and a phone I can take photographs with . . .
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    I thought we would have moving pavements by now when I was a kid 😂

    Totally agree!!!

    The new Tesla, 4.6 next century.

    We got transvestite story hour instead

    We appear to be going backwards

    There's actually a very good David Graeber essay on this very topic: thebaffler.com/salvos/of-flying-cars-and-the-declining-rate-of-profit

    The Jetsons strike again.

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    Renowned Australian singer Renee Geyer is dead at 69 following complications from hip surgery. Such a fabulous voice. RIP😢

https://nostalgiacentral.com/music/artists-l-to-z/artists-r/renee-geyer/

    Renowned Australian singer Renee Geyer is dead at 69 following complications from hip surgery. Such a fabulous voice. RIP😢

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    That is so sad to hear 😥 rest in peace 🙏 🕊 xx

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    😍😍😍😍

    Vale Jeff Beck. Dead at 78. 😢

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    Great band

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