tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post3402073000588985510..comments2024-03-25T11:29:25.356-04:00Comments on Existential Ennui: Ian Mackintosh, The Sandbaggers (TV Series and Novelisation, 1978), and the Writer's '60s Spy and Crime Thriller NovelsNick Jones (Louis XIV, the Sun King)http://www.blogger.com/profile/17716508525331235684noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-10071829273713765862015-03-12T17:56:46.366-04:002015-03-12T17:56:46.366-04:00You can find it on Youtube.
https://www.youtube....You can find it on Youtube. <br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3LFNZpHRFUAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-37545216206505346092013-11-19T06:04:14.459-05:002013-11-19T06:04:14.459-05:00Oh, and my next Ian Mackintosh post is now up.Oh, and my next Ian Mackintosh post is <a href="http://www.existentialennui.com/2013/11/the-sandbaggers-creator-ian-mackintoshs.html" rel="nofollow">now up</a>.Nick Jones (Louis XIV, the Sun King)https://www.blogger.com/profile/17716508525331235684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-84161723974480188642013-11-19T06:02:38.400-05:002013-11-19T06:02:38.400-05:00Thanks for those insights, Mr. G – seems there mig...Thanks for those insights, Mr. G – seems there might well be something to those stories of Mackintosh's espionage past. And thank you to everyone for your comments!Nick Jones (Louis XIV, the Sun King)https://www.blogger.com/profile/17716508525331235684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-52647007620910617042013-11-15T09:17:47.181-05:002013-11-15T09:17:47.181-05:00I picked up the 3-season DVD boxed set and watched...I picked up the 3-season DVD boxed set and watched all of <i>The Sandbaggers</i> last year, to find that it holds up brilliantly. If only all vintage TV could so well match our memories of it... the episodes are mastered from decently preserved tape, not telerecordings, and while the production values are standard for 70s studio-based drama, it's the writing and performances that give it real enduring quality.<br /><br />My first agent was the Transworld editor responsible for dealing with Mackintosh over the series' novelisations, and he'd told her that he himself was a former Sandbagger; this seemed to chime with stories of the scripts being sent for vetting by some shady government department before production. Personally I'm inclined not to disbelieve it; Mackintosh's depiction of a credible bureaucracy, and the way in which he invests it with urgent dramatic life, hardly seems like a fantasist's first choice of material.<br /><br />Long before the DVDs were available, I was in contact with a researcher from Kudos who was trying to track down VHS copies of <i>Sandbaggers</i> episodes. They served as part of the groundwork for the show <i>Spooks</i> (<i>MI5</i> in the US).Stephen Gallagherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05280419153030490653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-86091577700317251132013-11-15T07:01:27.191-05:002013-11-15T07:01:27.191-05:00I did a post about "Persons Unknown" (an...I did a post about "Persons Unknown" (another obscure cult TV series) and someone was kind enough in Comments to recommend The Sandbaggers to me. Since I couldn't get it any other way at the time, I turned to the Net (which was a long slog). It's an absolutely brilliant series that I also can't recommend enough. These novels that have surfaced sound like they need to be brought back in e. Thanks for writing about them!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-59664586460287754682013-11-15T03:14:56.737-05:002013-11-15T03:14:56.737-05:00Really envy you getting some of the early novels N...Really envy you getting some of the early novels Nick. I've raved about this show elsewhere but you have to see it - just the best spy series of the 70s (and yes, I include TINKER, TAILOT in that assessment). It has been released on DVD in the US Kelly (well, in Canada), but is easy to get on Amazon I think. The thirs series is less good - the ones not written by Mackintosh do stick out very noticeably - but, after a rather soft opening episode, the show really grips and is very, very dark. Sergio (Tipping My Fedora)http://bloodymurder.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5448581132479481740.post-35674055374718805222013-11-14T16:48:10.287-05:002013-11-14T16:48:10.287-05:00Yet another cool series I missed by virtue of bein...Yet another cool series I missed by virtue of being American.Kelly Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01752857506190488860noreply@blogger.com