After exactly 50 years the classic spy TV show, Callan, is set to return with some new cases. Big Finish is bringing back Callan for four audio adventures with a star-studded cast that includes Ben Miles and Frank Skinner.
Callan was first broadcast in 1967, and ran for four series until 1972. It starred Edward Woodward as David Callan, a secret service agent dealing with threats to the United Kingdom. It brought a darker tone to the genre, with Callan’s ‘Section’ free to use the most ruthless methods against any threat. The section was the organisation behind Callan in the secret service. No TV series had presented a Western government agency in so sinister a light. They were known for colour coding each lethal tactic.
The new Big Finish adventures have been adapted from series creator James Mitchells’ . . Telegraph Short Stories. The stories, which will expand on the themes explored in the TV show, will be adapted by his son Peter Mitchell.
Peter explains how it felt to bring his father’s work back to life: “It was a tremendous privilege to be invited to take part in this project. I grew up with David Callan and he was the first television character created by my father which brought him to prominence. It was a little bit daunting to take on the responsibility of the adaptations but, strangely, the more I got into writing the scripts, the closer I felt to my Dad. It was an incredibly rewarding experience and I know my father would be delighted to know that, even after all this time, David Callan lives on.”
Four new files will open for Callan and The Section:
1.1 File on a Deadly Shot
Callan goes hunting for an assassin
1.2 File on a Classy Club
The stakes are high for Callan when he takes on a gang using a casino for cover
1.3 File on a Harassed Hunter
There’s a plot to assassinate Hunter and the man behind it murdered his daughter
1.4 File on an Awesome Amateur
Callan and Meres are sent to Venice to kidnap a Russian poet
Starring in this production is Ben Miles (V for Vendetta, Netflix’s The Crown, BBC’s Lark Rise to Candleford and, most recently, The Last Post) as the titular Callan, a maverick top operative. Joining him are Frank Skinner (Room 101, Baddiel and Skinner) as Lonely, a small time thief with body odour problems, Nicholas Briggs (Doctor Who, Torchwood, Adulthood) as Hunter, head of The Section and Jane Slavin (Doctor Who, Always and Everyone, Coronation Street) as Liz, the efficient Section secretary.
Series One is being recorded this December for release in July 2018. Series Two will follow in January 2019.
