"My Late Lamented Friend and Partner" is the

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie) in United Kingdom and United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television netwo ...

of the 1969 British

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) ''Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)'' is a British private detective television series, starring Mike Pratt (actor), Mike Pratt and Kenneth Cope respectively as the private detectives Jeff Randall and Marty Hopkirk. The series was created by Denn ...

'' starring Mike Pratt,

Kenneth Cope Kenneth Charles Cope (14 April 1931 – 11 September 2024) was an English actor and scriptwriter. He was best known for his roles as Marty Hopkirk in '' Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)'', Jed Stone in ''Coronation Street,'' Ray Hilton in '' ...

and

Annette Andre Annette Andre (born 24 June 1939) is an Australian actress best known for her work on British television throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Early life and early career The daughter of an upholsterer, Annette Andre was born in Drummoyne, Australia ...

. The episode was first broadcast on 21 September 1969 on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...

and directed by

Cyril Frankel Cyril Solomon Israel Frankel (28 December 19217 June 2017) was a British film and television director. His career in television began in 1953 and he directed for over 30 TV programmes until 1990. He directed many episodes of popular British TV s ...

Cast

* Mike Pratt as Jeff Randall *

as Marty Hopkirk *

as Jeannie Hopkirk *Anne Sharp as Fay Sorrensen *

Frank Windsor Frank Windsor Higgins (12 July 1928 – 30 September 2020), known professionally as Frank Windsor, was an English actor, primarily known for his roles on television, especially policeman John Watt in ''Z-Cars'' and its spin-offs. Early life Wi ...

as John Sorrensen *

Dave Carter Dave Carter (August 13, 1952 July 19, 2002) was an American folk music singer-songwriter who described his style as "post-modern mythic American folk music". He was one half of the duo Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer, who were heralded as the ne ...

as Electrician * Makki Marseilles as Manservant *

Tom Chatto Thomas Chatto St George Sproule (1 September 1920 – 8 August 1982) was an English actor who made numerous appearances on television, film, and stage between 1957 and his death in 1982. Early life and career Chatto is a great-grandson of Andr ...

as Doctor *

Ronald Lacey Ronald William Lacey (28 September 1935 – 15 May 1991) was an English actor. He made numerous television and film appearances over a 30-year period. His roles included Harris in ''Porridge'' (1977), Frankie in the Bud Spencer comedy '' ...

as Beatnik *

Harry Locke Harry Locke (10 December 1913 – 7 September 1987) was an English character actor. He was born and died in London. He married Joan Cowderoy in 1943 and Cordelia Sewell in 1952. He was a good friend of the poet Dylan Thomas. Their friendship i ...

as Sid, the Night Porter at Jeff's apartment block *

Dolores Mantez Dolores Brenda Harding (''née'' Mantey; 17 October 1936 – 30 November 2012), known professionally as Dolores Mantez, was a British television actress of the 1960s and early 1970s, best known for her appearances in Gerry Anderson's scien ...

as Happy Lee * James Donnelly as Detective *

Anthony Sagar Anthony Sagar (19 June 1920 – 24 January 1973) was an English character actor and a member of the National Theatre. He was prolific screen performer and appeared in many films (including seven of the '' Carry On'' series) and television serie ...

as Hotel Proprietor *

Harold Innocent Harold Sidney Innocent (18 April 1933 – 12 September 1993) (born Harold Sidney Harrison) was an English actor who appeared in many film and television roles. After attending Broad Street Secondary Modern School in Coventry, Innocent worked f ...

as Hit Man

Production

The exteriors of Jeff's flat were shot at Hanover House near the corner of St. John's High Street, North West London and Marty's flat exteriors were shot at a flat in

Lauderdale Road Lauderdale Road is a street in the Maida Vale district of London. Located in the City of Westminster, it runs north westwards from Sutherland Avenue to Elgin Avenue. Its southern end also meets Warrington Crescent and Randolph Avenue at a round ...

Maida Vale Maida Vale ( ) is an affluent residential district in North West London, England, north of Paddington, southwest of St John's Wood and south of Kilburn, on Edgware Road. It is part of the City of Westminster and is northwest of Charing C ...

, West London. Their office exterior was represented by a doorway of Adams Furniture and Fabric store on the corner of Kymberly Road and Springfield Road in

Harrow Harrow may refer to: Places * Harrow, Victoria, Australia * Harrow, Ontario, Canada * The Harrow, County Wexford, a village in Ireland * London Borough of Harrow, England * Harrow, London, a town in London * Harrow (UK Parliament constituency) * ...

and the graveyard exteriors were filmed on the backlot at the ABC Elstree studios in Borehamwood, next to a row of poplar trees. Eaton Place in

Belgravia Belgravia () is a district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' during the Tudor Period, and became a dangerous pla ...

, South West London (Sorrensen's home). Eaton Mews, North Belgravia (Happy Lee's home), and Queens Gate Terrace in Fulham Road. The final part of the episode features extensive footage shot in

Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning the City of London and several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local gove ...

including

Cannon Street Cannon Street is a road in the City of London, the historic nucleus of London and its modern financial centre. It runs roughly parallel with the River Thames, about north of it, in the north of the City. It is the site of the ancient London S ...

passing St Paul's Cathedral, Wood Street, St. Alphage Gardens, Roman House, St. Alphage High Walk and the junction of Moor Lane, with construction of the

Barbican A barbican (from ) is a fortified outpost or fortified gateway, such as at an outer defense perimeter of a city or castle, or any tower situated over a gate or bridge which was used for defensive purposes. Europe Medieval Europeans typically b ...

also visible. The stunt arranger for the series was Frank Maher, who worked on '' Department S'' at the same time, he had previously performed the same job on ''

Danger Man ''Danger Man'' (retitled ''Secret Agent'' in the United States for the revived series, and ''Destination Danger'' and ''John Drake'' in other overseas markets) is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again ...

'' (1964–66) and ''

The Prisoner ''The Prisoner'' is a British television series created by Patrick McGoohan. McGoohan portrays Number Six (The Prisoner), Number Six, an unnamed British intelligence agent who is abducted and imprisoned in a The Village (The Prisoner), mysteri ...

'' (1966/67).

Harry Fielder Henry Arthur Fielder (26 April 1940 – 6 February 2021), sometimes credited as Harry H. Fielder or Harry Aitch Fielder, was an English actor who worked extensively in British film and television from the 1960s to the 1990s. Career Fielder was ...

was the stand in/stunt double for Mike Pratt and Douglas Lockyer did the same for Kenneth Cope. Other stunt men used on the series included Rocky Taylor, Les Crawford, Alf Joint, Bill Sawyer and Mike Reid. A finished print of the episode was completed in early October 1968. According to the ITC synopsis book to accompany the series, where it is listed as episode one, "This Episode Must Be Transmitted First." Silent behind-the-scenes footage of this episode was included as an extra on the fourth region 2 DVD. Shot by a 2nd unit crew using stand-ins for the leads, the sequence ran to 53 seconds.

External links

*
Episode overview
at Randallandhopkirk.org.uk

at Randallandhopkirk.org.uk {{Randall and Hopkirk Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) episodes 1969 British television episodes