fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures.
The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...
children's television
Children's television series (or children's television shows) are Television show, television programs designed specifically for Child, children. They are typically characterised by easy-going content devoid of sensitive or adult themes and are ...
show broadcast on ITV between 1970 and 1972. Created by
Trevor Preston
Trevor Preston (1938β2018) was a British screenwriter."Trevor Preston o ...
and Pamela Lonsdale and produced by
Thames Television
Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992.
Thames Television broa ...
, the series starred Michael MacKenzie as Tarot. It ran for two seasons of thirteen episodes, and a third season of twenty.
Premise
The title, taken from the name of a
tarot
Tarot (, first known as ''trionfi (cards), trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a set of playing cards used in tarot games and in fortune-telling or divination. From at least the mid-15th century, the tarot was used to play t ...
card, describes the principal character, called Tarot (played by Michael MacKenzie), who combined
stage magic
A stage illusion is a large-scale magic trick. As the name implies, stage illusions are distinct from other types of magic in that they are performed a considerable distance away from the audience, usually on a stage, in order to maintain the illu ...
with real supernatural powers and fought various evildoers. Tarot owned a pet owl named Ozymandias played by Fred Owl.
Plot
In the first two series, Tarot is assisted by Sam Maxstead, a reformed convict, and by the orphan Lillian "Lulli" Palmer. Lulli shares a telepathic link with Tarot, which enables them to communicate over great distances. After having to leave the programme because of prior commitments, in the final series, this pair were replaced by brother and sister Chas, a photographer, and Mikki, a journalist, who had similar roles in the series. She also shared a telepathic link with Tarot. A character named Mr Sweet who runs an antiquarian bookshop often has the answer to Tarot's questions. Sweet is based in a university for the last series.
Cast
* Michael MacKenzie as Tarot
*
Tony Selby
Anthony Samuel Selby (26 February 1938 β 5 September 2021) was an English actor. With a career that spanned 71 years, he was known for his roles as Corporal Percy Marsh in the ITV (TV network), ITV British sitcom, sitcom ''Get Some In!'' (1975β ...
Roy Holder
Roy Trevor Holder (15 June 1946 β 9 November 2021) was an English film and television actor who appeared in various programmes including '' Ace of Wands'', ''Z-Cars'', '' Spearhead'', the ''Doctor Who'' serial '' The Caves of Androzani''. His ...
as Chas Diamond
*
Petra Markham
Petra Mavis Markham (born 17 March 1944) is a British theatre, television and film actress.
Biography
Born on 17 March 1944, she is a daughter of actor David Markham and writer Olive Dehn (1914β2007). She had three sisters: actress Kika ...
as Mikki Diamond
Episodes
Missing episodes
The first two series of the show have been
wiped
Lost television broadcasts are television programs that were not preserved after their original airing, rendering them permanently unavailable for both public and private screening. Because of this, they are considered a form of lost media, par ...
. The final series is intact and available on DVD. Variable quality audio recordings of nine episodes of Series Two are availabl here on YouTube.
Series 1 (29 Julyβ21 October 1970)
"One and One and One are Four"
3 episodes. Tarot is on the trail of a cure for paralysis. In the wrong hands, those of Madame Midnight (
Hildegarde Neil
Hildegard Hope Zimmermann (20 May 1939 β 19 September 2023), also credited as Hildegard Neil, was an English actress.
Career
Born in South Africa, she came to England in 1961 and went to RADA for two years. Neil first appeared on television ...
) and accomplice Teddy Talk ( Michael Standing), it is a formidable weapon. With
Frederick Peisley
Frederick Walter James Peisley (6 December 1904 β 22 March 1975) was a British stage, film and television actor and theatre director whose career spanned five decades. He is known for '' The Secret of the Loch'' (1934), ''Gentlemen's Agreemen ...
as Prof Ekdorf,
David Prowse
David Charles Prowse (1 July 1935 β 28 November 2020) was an English actor, bodybuilder, strongman and weightlifter. He portrayed Darth Vader in the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy and a manservant in Stanley Kubrick's 1971 film '' A Clockw ...
as Kal,
Tony Caunter
Anthony Patrick Caunter (born 22 September 1937) is a retired English actor best known for his roles as Jack Shepherd in the Yorkshire Television sitcom '' Queenie's Castle'' (1970β72), DCI Jim Logan in the first three seasons of ''Juliet Bra ...
as Six,
Daphne Heard
Delia Phyllis Daphne Heard (21 August 1904 – 22 June 1983) was an English actress and acting teacher. She was born in Plymouth, Devon. She appeared in numerous made-for-TV movies and TV series. She was perhaps best known in latter years as ...
as Ma Epps,
Bruce Boa
Andrew Bruce Boa (10 July 1930 β 17 April 2004) was a Canadian actor, who found success playing the token American in British films and television, usually playing military types. Boa's most recognizable film role is in ''The Empire Strikes B ...
as Mr. America and Jan Conrad as Mr. Russia.
"The Mind Robbers"
4 episodes. Old adversary Senor Zandor (
Vernon Dobtcheff
Vernon Alexandre Dobtcheff (born 14 August 1934) is a French-British character actor, who has appeared in over 300 film, television, and stage productions in a career spanning six decades. Rupert Everett described him as a "patron saint of the ...
) has kidnapped two government ministers. Tarot traces them to a mysterious house where he meets Fat Boy (Michael Wynne) and strange creatures. With Sheelah Wilcox as Miss Jelicoe,
Geoffrey Lumsden
Geoffrey Forbes Lumsden (26 December 1914 – 4 March 1984) was a British character actor who had a lengthy career on television. He often played pompous upper-class characters, army officers and the like.
Biography
Lumsden was born in ...
as Sir William, Terry Walsh as Castor and Alan Chuntz as Pollux.
"Now You See It, Now You Don't"
2 episodes. A bank robbery leads to a villain with delusions of grandeur in a
houseboat
A houseboat is a boat that has been designed or modified to be used primarily for regular dwelling. Most houseboats are not motorized, as they are usually moored or kept stationary, fixed at a Berth (moorings), berth, and often tethered to ...
filled with computers and Nazis. With
Christopher Benjamin Christopher Benjamin may refer to:
* Christopher Benjamin (actor)
Christopher John Benjamin (27 December 1934 β 10 January 2025) was an English actor with many stage and television credits from 1958 to 2016. He played Henry Gordon Jago in ...
as Falk,
Kevin Stoney
Kevin Stoney (22 January 1921 β 22 January 2008) was a British actor. He was best known for his television roles, in which he became familiar for his "portrayal of establishment types".
During the Second World War, Stoney served with the Roy ...
as a bank Manager,
Tim Curry
Timothy James Curry (born 19 April 1946) is an English actor and singer. He rose to prominence as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the musical film '' The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' (1975), reprising the role he had originated in the 1973 London, 1974 L ...
as a cashier, Ray Barron as Macready, Alan Tucker as Gaston and Billy Cornelius as a Guard.
"The Smile"
4 episodes. Master art thief Tun-Ju (
Willoughby Goddard
Willoughby Wittenham Rees Goddard (4 July 1926 β 11 April 2008) was an English actor whose trademark rotund figure was well known on television and in films for more than 40 years.
Biography
Goddard was born in Bicester, Oxfordshire. He ...
) and accomplice Mrs Kite (
Dorothy Reynolds
Dorothy Reynolds (26 January 1913 β 7 April 1977) was a British writer and actress.
She is mainly known for writing a number of musicals in collaboration with Julian Slade. The best known were '' Salad Days'' and '' Free as Air''.
Filmograph ...
) plan to steal the
Mona Lisa
The ''Mona Lisa'' is a half-length portrait painting by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described as "the best known, the most visited, the most written about, ...
Reg Lye
Reginald Thomas Lye (13 October 1912 β 23 March 1987), was an Australian actor who worked extensively in Australia and England.
Career
Lye was one of the busiest Australian actors of the 1950s, appearing in the majority of locally shot featu ...
Diana King
Diana King (born 8 November 1970) is a Jamaican singer-songwriter who performs a mixture and fusion of reggae, reggae fusion and dancehall. They are best known for their hit 1995 single " Shy Guy" and their remake of " I Say a Little Prayer ...
as Lady Landau and Tom Gan as a Japanese bodyguard
Series 2 (21 Julyβ13 October 1971)
"Seven Serpents, Sulphur and Salt"
3 episodes. Mr Stabs (
Russell Hunter
Adam Russell Hunter (18 February 1925 β 26 February 2004) was a Scottish television, stage and film actor. He played Lonely in the TV thriller series '' Callan'', starring Edward Woodward, and shop steward Harry in the Yorkshire Television s ...
), an evil magician, plans with the help of Polandi (Harriet Harper) and servant Luko (
Ian Trigger
Ian Trigger (30 September 1938 – 6 January 2010) was a British actor of stage, film and television who had a successful career in the United States. A diminutive actor, Trigger worked in London's West End, on Broadway in New York, and acr ...
) to steal the missing segment of the Secret Seven Serpents from Tarot. Featuring
Jack Woolgar
Jack William Woolgar (15 September 1913 β 14 July 1978) was a British character actor working in television and film in the 1960s and 1970s. He began acting towards the end of the Second World War and turned professional shortly afterwards, wo ...
as Charlie Postle and
Llewellyn Rees
Walter Llewellyn Rees (18 June 1901 β 7 January 1994) was an English actor.
Career
His television roles included appearances on ''Doctor Who'' (in the serial ''The Deadly Assassin'' (1976) playing the assassinated Time Lord President), '' Th ...
as Mr. Christopher.
"Joker"
3 episodes. Children have gone
berserk
Berserk (meaning "very angry" or "out of control") may refer to:
* ''Berserk'' (manga), a Japanese manga series by Kentaro Miura
** ''Berserk'' (1997 TV series), the first anime television series adaptation of the manga series
** ''Berserk'' (2 ...
. Tarot investigates, and meets the fiendish Uncle Harry (Dermot Tuohy) and his strange troupe of traveling entertainers. Featuring
Carmen Munroe
Dame Carmen Esme Munroe (born 12 November 1932) is a British actress who was born in Berbice, British Guiana (now Guyana), and has been a resident of the UK since the early 1950s. Munroe made her West End stage debut in 1962 and has played an ...
as The Queen,
Roy Holder
Roy Trevor Holder (15 June 1946 β 9 November 2021) was an English film and television actor who appeared in various programmes including '' Ace of Wands'', ''Z-Cars'', '' Spearhead'', the ''Doctor Who'' serial '' The Caves of Androzani''. His ...
as The Jack,
Walter Sparrow
Walter Leonard Sparrow (22 January 1927 β 31 May 2000) was an English film and television actor best known for his appearance as Duncan in the 1991 film '' Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves'' starring Kevin Costner.
Born in Eltham, London in ...
Sheila Raynor
Sheila Raynor (15 March 190617 February 1998) was a British actress. She appeared in Jack Clayton's adaptation of '' Room at the Top''. One of her notable roles was that of Alex's (Malcolm McDowell) mother in '' A Clockwork Orange''.
She was mar ...
as the Headmistress and
Lorna Heilbron
Lorna Heilbron (born 8 June 1948) is a Scottish actress.
She appeared in television series such as '' Ace of Wands'', ''Van der Valk'', ''Blake's 7'', ''Taggart'', ''Lovejoy'' and '' Hazell''.
She also starred in the horror films ''The Cree ...
Jonathan Newth
Jonathan Newth (born 6 March 1939) is a British actor who has appeared extensively in British television drama for over 50 years.
Early life
Newth trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama.
Career
Newth's theatre work includes appear ...
) steal H23, a gas, which causes a deep sleep and vivid nightmares from which the victim dies of shock after 23 minutes. Featuring Laurence Carter as Dr Winthrop, Lewis Wilson as Police Sergeant and Alan Chuntz as Trooper
"The Eye of Ra"
4 episodes. Ceribraun (
Oscar Quitak
Oscar Morris Quitak (10 March 1926 β 31 December 2023) was a British television actor.
Quitak's stage work includes roles at the Old Vic and the National Theatre; as well as the original West End and Broadway productions of the musical '' ...
) sets out to steal a huge
diamond
Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of e ...
called the Eye of Ra which it is claimed will turn people into chalk. Tarot traces him and is made prisoner of a talking computer who plans to use giant chess pieces to crush him to death. Featuring
Edward Jewesbury
Reginald Edward Oliphant Jewesbury (6 August 1917 β 31 March 2001) was an English actor, notable for his film, stage and television work, and as a member of the Renaissance Theatre Company. In 1982, he appeared with the Royal Shakespeare Comp ...
3 episodes. New assistants Chas and Mikki live in a flat overlooking a street market which is under a curse. Involved in this is Mockers (Barry Lineham) the local prophet of doom. Also Paul Dawkins as Dove, Michael Standing as Spoon,
Norma West
Norma West (born 19 November 1943) is a British actress,
Born in Cape Town, South Africa, her best known television appearance was as Queen Elizabeth of York in the BBC series '' The Shadow of the Tower'' (1972). She played the part of Number ...
as Chauffeuse and
Stefan Kalipha
Stefan Kalipha (born Stephen Siegfried Behrendt, 1940) is a retired Trinidad-born British actor who has been active since about 1970. He played Ramon, the Cigar Factory Foreman in the film ''Cuba'' (1979), Daoud in '' The Curse of King Tut's Tom ...
as Drum.
"The Power of Atep"
4 episodes. Strange dreams after a meeting with medium John Pentacle ( Sebastian Graham-Jones) leads Tarot and his companions to Egypt. Here, in Atep's tomb, they encounter a High Priest (Michael Mulcaster) and double, Quabel. With Michael Rose as a tramp, Joe Dunlop as Fergus Wilson.
"Peacock Pie"
3 episodes. Mr Peacock (
Brian Wilde
Brian George Wilde (13 June 1927 β 20 March 2008) was an English actor best known for his roles in television comedy, most notably Mr Barrowclough in ''Porridge (1974 TV series), Porridge'' and Walter "Foggy" Dewhurst in ''Last of the Summer ...
) has the irresistible power of suggestion: torn strips of paper can "become" bank notes and people do things they do not want to do. With Jenny McCracken as Young Mrs. MacFadyean, Dorothy Frere as Mrs Macfadyean,
Valerie Van Ost
Valerie Van Ost (25 July 1944 β 10 September 2019) was an English actress.
Acting career
At school, Van Ost became the youngest adult dancer at the London Palladium before moving into films and television at age 18. She appeared in four Carry ...
as the Manager.
"Mama Doc"
3 episodes. When one of Mr Sweet's colleagues vanishes, Tarot traces him to a bizarre Doll's Hospital where Mama Doc (
Pat Nye
Patricia Dorothy Nye, OBE (11 February 1908 β 11 April 1994) was an English actress-manager.Ivor Roberts as Dr. MacDonald.
"Sisters Deadly"
3 episodes. Chas returns from a photo assignment with no memory of the assignment or that he robbed a village post office, which leads Tarot into a plot to kidnap a NATO Commander-in-Chief. With Henrietta Rudkin as Mathilda Edginton,
Bartlett Mullins
Bartlett Mullins (13 August 1904 β 15 May 1992) was a British actor.
Career
He is best remembered by British TV viewers as Mr Clough ''"Cloughie"'', Bob and Terry's workmate in the sitcom ''The Likely Lads''. He also appeared on episodes of ' ...
as Postmaster,
Sylvia Coleridge
Sylvia Coleridge (10 December 1909 β 31 May 1986) was a British stage, film, radio and television actress. Her credits included '' Tess'' (1979), '' The Avengers'', ''Dixon of Dock Green'', ''The Onedin Line'', '' Survivors'', ''Blake's 7'', ...
4 episodes. Two beautiful girls Dee (Susan Glanville) and Emm ( Vivian Heilbron) refuse Mikki entrance to a small town fete, which leads Tarot into an investigation of extraterrestrials with strange powers. With Edward Hammond as Jay, Kathleen Sainsbury as Elderly Woman.
Production
Music
The theme song "Tarot", was written and performed by
Andy Bown
Andrew Steven Bown (born 27 March 1946) is an English musician, who has specialised in keyboards and bass guitar. He is a member of the rock band Status Quo.
Career
Bown's first major band was The Herd, along with Peter Frampton. After The H ...
(now with
Status Quo
is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, economic, legal, environmental, political, religious, scientific or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the curren ...
). It was available at the time as a single.
Off-shoots
The character of Mr. Stabs, played by
Russell Hunter
Adam Russell Hunter (18 February 1925 β 26 February 2004) was a Scottish television, stage and film actor. He played Lonely in the TV thriller series '' Callan'', starring Edward Woodward, and shop steward Harry in the Yorkshire Television s ...
, is defeated by Tarot in Series 2, returned, again played by Hunter, in a 1975 episode of the horror-themed children's anthology series ''
Shadows
A shadow is a dark area on a surface where light from a light source is blocked by an object. In contrast, shade occupies the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross-section of a shadow is a two-dimensiona ...
'' in the episode "Dutch Schlitz's Shoes" (Series 1, episode 6). This episode was also written by Trevor Preston. The character returned once more, this time portrayed by
David Jason
Sir David John White (born 2 February 1940), known professionally as David Jason, is an English actor. He has played Derek "Del Boy" Trotter in the sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'', Detective Inspector Jack Frost in the drama series '' A Touch ...
in a 1984 prequel story for another children's anthology series ''
Dramarama
Dramarama is an American, New Jerseyβbased alternative rock/power pop band, who later moved to Los Angeles. The band was formed in New Jersey in 1982 and disbanded in 1994. The band formally reunited in 2003 following an appearance on VH1's ' ...
''. This episode, simply entitled, "Mr. Stabs" was Series 2, episode 7 of the series and was again written by Preston.
Home media
A DVD of all existing episodes was released by Network UK in July 2007. It featured a new documentary in three parts by classic television enthusiasts and experts Andrew Pixley and Simon Coward.