Jason King

Jason King is a British television series starring Peter Wyngarde as the eponymous character. It was produced by ITC Entertainment and had a single season of 26 one-hour episodes that aired from 1971 to 1972. It was shown internationally as well, and has been released on DVD in the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and Germany.

Plot[edit | edit source]

The series featured the further adventures of the title character who had first appeared in Department S (1969). In that series he was a dilettante dandy and author of a series of adventure novels, working as part of a team of investigators. In Jason King he had left that service to concentrate on writing the adventures of Mark Caine, who closely resembled Jason King in looks, manner, style, and personality. None of the other regular characters from Department S appeared in this series, although Department S itself is occasionally referred to in dialogue.

In the course of visiting international locations as part of his research, or through being summoned by people needing assistance, King would be frequently embroiled in adventure stories featuring glamorous women, exotic locations (for the era), menacing villains, political turmoil, or espionage intrigue.

"The Constance Missal" (Season 01, Episode 13)[edit | edit source]

Jason falls under the hypnotic spell of two glamorous thieves, Claudia and Elaine. Claudia steals from him the only copy of his recently completed film script, and she and Elaine demand that, for its return, he pose as an expert in ancient manuscripts in order to steal the Constance Missal, a valuable document recently acquired by the British Museum. He is to authenticate it for one Lord Barnes, but his lordship is also planning to obtain the Constance Missal for himself.