Saturday film

James Mitchell was one hell of a writer and the Cold War psychological thriller, A Magnum for Schneider, was perfect in B&W in Armchair Theatre [1967].  

Then came the four series of 46 TV episodes of Callan all up, the first two series in B&W.  It ran until 1972 and this was the opening sequence and theme:

I prefer the pilot of A M for S because Schneider was made a sympathetic character, the downside was Peter Bowles as Meres - Anthony Valentine later made that role his own:

https://bloodymurder.wordpress.com/2013/12/10/callan-1974-tuesdays-overlooked-film/

In the 74 full length film reprise of A M for  S, Valentine was again not there, nor was Liz, nor was the theme - pity.  Still, as mentioned, it's well worth a look, this version of Schneider, despite the horrid 70s credits and the colour.:

And a little bonus below.  Edward Woodward doesn't 'arf go on about it but I suppose he had every right - below, he does make a point I completely agree with - fine making the two leads or even three 3D but it needs far more - James Mitchell also made the supporting players 3D - seven or eight had a backstory, the audience knew what they were like as people - Russell Hunter as Lonely gets most plaudits but they were all good:

In my own humble way, I've always followed Mitchell's lead in writing and maybe included too many 3D characters, such that one gets lost without the overview.  It was not a female dominant series, Callan, but there were females in there who were quite lovable, especially Liz the Secretary [Lisa Langdon]:

https://youtu.be/r1eqVaZbRg0

As you've probably gathered by now, one of my fave series of all time.