
William Franklyn
Actor · 1925 – 2016 · Kensington, London, England, UK
William Franklyn was a British actor, perhaps best known for voicing the "Schhh... You Know Who" adverts for Schweppes from 1965 to 1973. He also performed on stage, film, television and radio, taking over from Peter Jones as "The Book" (the narrator) in the third, fourth and fifth radio series of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He is also known for his portrayal of Sexton Blake for BBC Radio 4 in 1967.
Series23
TV7.0DocumentaryPBS' premier science series helps viewers of all ages explore the science behind the headlines. Along the way, NOVA demystifies science and technology, and highlights the people involved in scientific pursuits.
NOVA
1974 · 141 votes
TV7.8Action & AdventureCrimeA quirky spy show of the adventures of eccentrically suave British Agent John Steed and his predominantly female partners. Jonathan Steed - an urbane, proper gentleman spy - teams with various assistants throughout the series' run, including Dr. David Keel, Cathy Gale, Emma Peel and Tara King, to repeatedly save the world from diabolical schemes plotted by equally diabolical evil-doers (among them robots and man-eating monsters).
The Avengers
1961 · 156 votes
TV7.0DramaITV Playhouse is a British comedy-drama TV series that ran from 1967 to 1983, which featured contributions from playwrights such as Dennis Potter, Rhys Adrian and Alan Sharp. The series began in black and white, but was later shot in colour and was produced by various companies for the ITV network, a format that would inspire Dramarama. Actors appearing in the series included Leslie Anderson, Gwen Nelson, Ricky Alleyne, Pat Heywood, Michael Elphick, Ian Hendry, Edward Woodward, Margaret Lockwood, Jessie Matthews and Lloyd Peters.
ITV Playhouse
1967 · 3 votes
TV4.3DramaAn anthology of short plays shown on BBC Television between 1965 and 1973, used in part at least as a training ground for new writers, on account of its short length, and which therefore attracted many writers who later became well known.
Thirty-Minute Theatre
1965 · 8 votes
TV4.8CrimeDramaNo Hiding Place is a British television series that was produced at Wembley Studios by Associated-Rediffusion for the ITV network between 16 September 1959 and 22 June 1967. It was the sequel to the series Murder Bag and Crime Sheet, all starring Raymond Francis as Detective Superintendent, later Detective Chief Superintendent Tom Lockhart.
No Hiding Place
1959 · 4 votes
TV7.6MysteryComedyWorking from his home in a converted windmill, Jonathan Creek is a magician with a natural ability for solving puzzles. He soon puts this ability to the use of solving impossible crimes and mysterious murders.
Jonathan Creek
1997 · 78 votes
TV6.5Sci-Fi & FantasyAction & AdventureAfter a plane carrying three Agents crashes in the Himalayas, they are rescued by an advanced civilisation secretly living in Tibet who grant them enhanced versions of the ordinary five senses, and intellectual and physical abilities.
The Champions
1968 · 24 votes
TV7.1CrimeDramaBBC series based on the novels by Georges Simenon which starred Rupert Davies as Inspector Maigret, a French police detective who preferred to watch and listen in order to solve crimes. The series ran from 1960-63 on British television.
Maigret
1960 · 15 votes
TV7.2DramaAction & AdventureThe New Avengers is a British secret agent fantasy adventure television series broadcast during 1976 and 1977. It is a sequel to the 1960s series The Avengers and was developed by Albert Fennell and Brian Clemens. A joint United Kingdom-France-Canada production, the show picks up the adventures of John Steed and his team of Avengers fighting evil plots and world domination. Whereas in the original series Steed had almost always been partnered with a woman, in the new series he had two partners: Mike Gambit, a top agent, crack marksman and trained martial artist, and Purdey, a former trainee with The Royal Ballet who was an amalgam of many of the best talents from Steed's previous female partners.
The New Avengers
1976 · 52 votes
TV7.3DramaJustice is a British drama television series which originally aired on ITV in 39 hour-long episodes between 8 August 1971 and 16 October 1974. Margaret Lockwood stars as Harriet Peterson a female barrister in the North of England. It was made by Yorkshire Television and was based loosely on Justice Is a Woman, an episode of ITV Playhouse broadcast in 1969 in which Lockwood had previously also played a barrister. The theme music was Crown Imperial by William Walton.
Justice
1971 · 3 votes
TV8.2CrimeDramaPublic Eye is a British television drama broadcast from 1965 to 1975 on ITV1. Produced by ABC Television for three series, and Thames Television for a further four, the programme follows the investigations and cases handled by the unglamourous enquiry agent Frank Marker.
Public Eye
1965 · 6 votes
TV7.4ComedyDramaThe adventures of the eponymous Lovejoy, a likeable but roguish antiques dealer based in East Anglia. Within the trade, he has a reputation as a “divvie”, a person with an almost supernatural powers for recognising exceptional items as well as distinguishing genuine antique from clever fakes or forgeries.
Lovejoy
1986 · 56 votes
TV7.0Action & AdventureThe Adventures of Sir Lancelot is a British television series first broadcast in 1956, produced by Sapphire Films for ITC Entertainment and screened on the ITV network. The series starred William Russell as the eponymous Sir Lancelot, a Knight of the Round Table in the time of King Arthur at Camelot.
The Adventures of Sir Lancelot
1956 · 5 votes
TV7.2ComedyThe Upper Hand is a British television sitcom, produced by Central Independent Television and Columbia Pictures Television and broadcast by ITV from 1990 to 1996. The programme was adapted from the American sitcom Who's the Boss?. As in the former series, an affluent single woman, raising a son with the help of her mother, hires a housekeeper only to have a man apply for the job.
The Upper Hand
1990 · 6 votes
TV7.3CrimeDramaThe adventures of Interpol policemen Duval and Mornay as they fought against international drug-running, homicide, robbery and forgery.
Interpol Calling
1959 · 4 votes
TV8.0DramaAction & AdventureThe second collection of short stories written by Baroness Orczy about the gallant English hero, the Scarlet Pimpernel and his League.
The Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel
1955 · 6 votes
- TV7.5CrimeDrama
The global adventures of Ken Franklin, ace operative of the William J. Burns Detective Agency, qualify as a pop-culture curio if only for star Arthur---later Art---Fleming, who hosted the original `Jeopardy!'
International Detective
1959 · 2 votes
TV5.6DramaAction & AdventureThe Count of Monte Cristo was a 1956 ITC Entertainment/TPA television series adapted very loosely from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, adapted by Sidney Marshall. It premiered in the UK in early 1956 and ran for 39 thirty-minute episodes. The first twelve episodes were filmed in the United States, at the Hal Roach studios, with the rest being filmed at ITC's traditional home of Elstree. A 5-disc DVD set containing all thirty-nine episodes was released by Network Studio on 12 April 2010. ITC produced a film based on the same source-material, The Count of Monte-Cristo, in 1975.
The Count of Monte Cristo
1956 · 7 votes
TV6.3DramaGBH was a seven-part British television drama written by Alan Bleasdale shown in the summer of 1991 on Channel 4. The protagonists were Michael Murray, the Militant tendency-supporting Labour leader of a city council in the North of England and Jim Nelson, the headmaster of a school for disturbed children. The series was controversial partly because Murray appeared to be based on Derek Hatton, former Deputy Leader of Liverpool City Council — in an interview in the G.B.H. DVD Bleasdale recounts an accidental meeting with Hatton before the series, who indicates that he has caught wind of Bleasdale's intentions but does not mind as long as the actor playing him is "handsome". In normal parlance, the initials "GBH" refer to the criminal charge of grievous bodily harm - however, the actual intent of the letters is that it is supposed to stand for Great British Holiday.
G.B.H.
1991 · 18 votes
- TV9.0Drama
The Courtroom is a British legal drama created by Phil Redmond, which aired between June and December 2004. The programme was notable for starring many former British soap stars, particularly those who starred in Redmond's other productions Brookside and Hollyoaks.
The Courtroom
2004 · 1 votes
TV6.0DramaArmchair Theatre is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by Associated British Corporation, and later by Thames Television from mid-1968.
Armchair Theatre
1956 · 6 votes
- TV7.0
Spy themed game-show hosted by William Franklyn and with the help of Miss Moneypacker (Jenny Lee Wright). Contestants underwent a series of tests to see who would be The Masterspy.
The Masterspy
1977 · 2 votes
TVCrimeDramaA series of real trials from British history, famous and notorious, dramatised from the court records.
On Trial
1960
Movies22
Movie5.6HorrorThe police and British security forces call in Professor Van Helsing to help them investigate Satanic ritual which has been occurring in a large country house, and which has been attended by a government minister, an eminent scientist and secret service chief. The owner of the house is a mysterious property tycoon who is found to be behind a sinister plot involving a deadly plague. It is in fact Dracula who, sick of his interminable existence, has decided that he must end it all in the only possible way- by destroying every last potential victim.
The Satanic Rites of Dracula
1973 · 175 votes
Movie5.1ComedyTV MovieOn one day at an English hotel, four different stories are shown. Diana is in London to promote her television series and her ex-husband Sydney shows up to ask her for money for his gay lover. Mark and Annie come to London for the Wimbledon tennis matches, but they lose their tickets and Mark's back goes out. Debra is on her honeymoon with Paul, but Paul is missing and Debra lies to everyone she meets as to where Paul is. Sharon and Lauren are on a shop-till-you-drop trip and Sharon meets Dennis, an older man who seems to be interested in her.
London Suite
1996 · 7 votes
Movie6.7ThrillerComedyOn the run and in search of help, two wounded gangsters find refuge in the secluded castle of a feeble man and his wife; however, under the point of a gun, nothing is what it seems.
Cul-de-sac
1966 · 321 votes
Movie6.4Science FictionHorrorIn England, a group of space scientists led by Bernard Quatermass, who have developed plans for the first Moon colony, learn that a secret, ostensibly government-run, complex of identical design has been built in a remote part of England and is the focus of periodic falls of small, hollow "meteorites" originating in outer space. Quatermass determines to investigate and uncovers a terrifying extraterrestrial life form which has already begun action to take over the Earth.
Quatermass 2
1957 · 152 votes
Movie6.3WarDrama set in an Italian prisoner of war camp during World War 2, where a group of British soldiers find their plans for escape thwarted by a mysterious traitor in their midst.
Danger Within
1959 · 19 votes
Movie5.2ComedyA member of the English upper class dies, leaving his estate and his business to an American, whom he thinks is his son who was lost as a baby and then found again. An Englishman who thinks he is an Indian comes to believe that he is actually the heir. He comes to hate the American who is his boss, his friend, and the man who has stolen the woman after whom he lusts.
Splitting Heirs
1993 · 85 votes
Movie6.1WarIn World War II, the greatest threat to the British navy is the German battleship Tirpitz. While anchored in a Norwegian fjord, it is impossible to attack by conventional means, so a plan is hatched for a special commando unit to attack it, using midget submarines to plant underwater explosives.
Above Us the Waves
1955 · 37 votes
Movie7.1ThrillerCrimeOn the Italian coast, writer Paul Decker has grown unhappy in his marriage and executes what appears to be a perfect murder of his wife. While Paul is believed to be writing a book in France, his stepdaughter, Candy, suspects him of murdering her mother, as well as her father years before. With the police unwilling to investigate any further, Candy sets out to confirm her suspicions and take Paul down herself.
The Snorkel
1958 · 38 votes
Movie5.9AdventureIt is the end of the 18th century and smuggling is considered to be a legitimate spare-time occupation for most fishermen around the British shores. But when a gang of cut-throats, led by the infamous Black John (Bernard Lee) begins to lure ships onto the rocks of Smugglers Bay, and murdering their crews for the sake of loot, the fishermen begin to fear for their livelihoods. In desperation, they appeal to the local magistrate Squire Trevenyan (Peter Cushing).
Fury at Smugglers' Bay
1961 · 9 votes
Movie4.8ComedyCharlie Tully and womanising Reggie Peek con two rich Italians out of £500,000, but during their flight out, Charlie is arrested for scamming an American and a dog. Reggie stores the money in a Swiss bank and after Charlie is released, is about to tell him where...when he is suddenly killed by Sid Sabbath's gang, whose girlfriend was dating the (now) deceased! The only leads are four tattoos on the girls Reggie had affairs with while Charlie was in jail, but Sabbath is on Charlie's trail, and the tricked Italians have contracted the mob - to find the money, and then kill him...
Ooh...You Are Awful
1972 · 19 votes
Movie3.2DramaA Russian ballet dancer defects from the USSR, emigrates to England, and joins a ballet company run by the powerful, wealthy Madame Laura Carrere.
Nutcracker
1982 · 4 votes
Movie3.0TV MovieDramaTelevision film telling the story of Diana, Princess of Wales, based on the publication of the same name by Andrew Morton.
Diana: Her True Story
1993 · 5 votes
Movie7.7ComedyAfter being arrested for assaulting a football referee, desperate train driver Bill (Arthur Askey) raids the railwaymen's holiday fund to cover his £55 fine. He knows he's going to be discovered though, leaving him no choice but to get the money back by hook or by crook! His last chance is to run a book on the United v City football derby. If that wasn't tense enough, Bill's son is also making his debut for United. It looks like it's going to be a day to remember - do you dare look? ...The Love Match.
The Love Match
1955 · 5 votes
Movie6.5CrimeDramaIn a French coastal town, Det. Dermot Kinross is inspecting the murder of antiques dealer Maurice Lawes, and the evidence points to Lawes's son, Toby -- and especially to Toby's bride-to-be, Eve Atwood. Eve's ex-husband, Ned, had his eyes set on something Lawes possessed.
That Woman Opposite
1957 · 5 votes
Movie6.2CrimeThrillerWhen Richard Logan, the partner in a safe making firm, is found unconscious, on an old deserted bomb site, he finds that he has no recollection of the last three weeks. Then he discovers that the private detective, hired by his wife, has been found murdered, and a safe that his firm installed in a large country house, has been cleverly opened, and the contents are missing. So with the help of his wife, he sets out to uncover the truth.
Pit of Darkness
1961 · 11 votes
Movie7.5DramaA drama unfolding in the business world where shrewd methods are adopted by a boss to select a suitable yes-man for the Board.
The Big Day
1960 · 2 votes
Movie6.1ComedyA chance meeting with a Schlecht agent forces a humble coffee shop manager into the secret world of spies in Swinging London. With the help of his MI5 friend, he poses as the recently dead Major Cavendish who had managed to infiltrate the dreaded organization; he knows that they are intending to assassinate someone - could it be the famous Russian ballerina who has recently arrived for an appearance at Covent Garden?
The Intelligence Men
1965 · 12 votes
Movie5.9CrimeDramaGiani is a pimp who preys on the naïve, ‘just off the bus’ young women who come to post-war London for fortune.
The Flesh Is Weak
1957 · 7 votes
Movie6.3DramaLoosely (and controversial) adaptation of the novel "All Souls" by Javier Marias. It tells the story of a Spanish professor at Oxford who witnesses the return of a very popular man there.
Movie6.5CrimeDramaA happily-married woman is blackmailed by her first husband, who she wrongly believed was killed in the Blitz.
Time Is My Enemy
1954 · 8 votes
Movie5.8DramaComedyOne day in the lives and loves of the staff in a large department store.
The Crowded Day
1954 · 9 votes
Movie6.1DramaA physician is forced to operate on a mystery figure under shady circumstances.
Operation Diplomat
1953 · 9 votes