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For the American television series of a similar name, see Hazel (TV series).

Hazell is a British television series that ran from 1978–1979, about a fictional private detective named James Hazell.

Overview

James Hazell was a cockney private detective character created by journalist and novelist Gordon Williams and footballer Terry Venables, who wrote under the joint pseudonym of P.B.Yuill.[1] The first book, Hazell Plays Solomon, appeared in 1974.[2]

"Hazell Plays Solomon" was also the first episode of the TV series.[3] The wise-cracking private detective was played by Nicholas Ball.[4] Hazell was a smart parody of earlier film-noir detectives such as Philip Marlowe or Sam Spade, the casting of Ball in the title role made for a younger TV Hazell than the Hazell in the books.[1]

A Thames Television Network Production, Hazell ran for 22 one-hour-long episodes (50 minutes without adverts).[1] Its theme music was composed by Andy Mackay; the end credits incorporated the theme music with added lyrics, written by Judy Forrest and sung by Maggie Bell.[5] An academic work, Hazell: The Making of a TV Series by Manuel Alvarado and Edward Buscombe (BFI Publishing) appeared in March 1978.[6]

Cast

The main and most frequent cast members were:

Episodes (by series)

  • Series 1
    • 1. "Hazell Plays Solomon" (16 January 1978)
    • 2. "Hazell Pays a Debt" (23 January 1978)
    • 3. "Hazell and the Walking Blur" (30 January 1978)
    • 4. "Hazell Settles the Accounts" (6 February 1978)
    • 5. "Hazell Meets the First Eleven" (13 February 1978)
    • 6. "Hazell and the Rubber-Heel Brigade" (20 February 1978)
    • 7. "Hazell Goes to the Dogs" (27 February 1978)
    • 8. "Hazell and the Weekend Man" (6 March 1978)
    • 9. "Hazell Works for Nothing" (13 March 1978)
    • 10. "Hazell and the Maltese Vulture" (20 March 1978)
  • Series 2
    • 1. "Hazell and the Baker Street Sleuth" (19 April 1979)
    • 2. "Hazell and the Deptford Virgin" (26 April 1979)
    • 3. "Hazell Bangs the Drum" (3 May 1979)
    • 4. "Hazell Gets the Boot" (10 May 1979)
    • 5. "Hazell Gets the Bird" (17 May 1979)
    • 6. "Hazell and the Big Sleep" (24 May 1979)
    • 7.(*) "Hazell and the Suffolk Ghost" (31 May 1979)
    • 8. "Hazell and Hyde" (7 June 1979)
    • 9. "Hazell and the Happy Couple" (14 June 1979)
    • 10. "Hazell Gets the Part" (21 June 1979)
    • 11. "Hazell and the Greasy Gunners" (28 June 1979)
    • 12.(*) "Hazell and the Public Enemy" (5 July 1979)

(*) = Although broadcast as listed, continuity involving the destruction of Hazell's original Triumph Stag car and its replacement with a Jaguar Mark 2, indicates that episode 7 should have been twelfth, and episode 12 should have been ninth (after "Hazell and the Happy Couple", when the Stag is attacked by an angry client).

References

  1. ^ a b c "BFI Screenonline: Hazell (1978–80)". www.screenonline.org.uk.
  2. ^ James, Russell (21 April 2009). Great British Fictional Detectives. Remember When. ISBN 9781844680269 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ "Everything you never knew you wanted to know about Hazell". HeraldScotland.
  4. ^ "Hazell Settles the Accounts (1978)". BFI. Archived from the original on 29 June 2021.
  5. ^ "Hazell and the Baker Street Sleuth (1979)". BFI. Archived from the original on 25 August 2018.
  6. ^ "East Anglian Film Archive: Hazell: The Making Of A TV Series". www.eafa.org.uk.

External links

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