"Not So Jolly Roger" DVD

"Danger Man", or "Secret Agent", as the series was known in the U.S., followed the exploits of John Drake, played by Patrick McGoohan.

Using typical James Bond settings Drake flew around the world taking on the baddies, using gadgets similar to Bond himself.

In this episode: "Not So Jolly Roger" - Drake finds himself being shipped off to Radio Jolly Roger to investigate claims of espionage. The radio station is situated offshore - as were all the pirate radio stations of the mid 60's, noteably on the sea forts of Red Sands - then occupied by offshore pirate Radio 390.

He joins the station as Johnny Drake - 'JD your DJ', and immediately falls foul of the management by asking too many questions about the operation of the station.

The film features a number of vocal tracks - none of which were ever officially released as singles, however - many of these have appeared on the Danger Man website, and can be downloaded.

NSJR also features 60's singer Patsy Anne Noble who plays Suzie - another of the station's DJs.

There is the inevitable fight, and Drake is swept over the forts guard rail and into the sea some 60 feet below. It was well known that Patrick McGoohan liked to do all his own stunts, and when you see the body of Drake falling into the sea - it really is him - he didn't use a stunt double!

All the outside shots were filmed over a three day period in 1966, whilst Radio 390 continued broadcasting their programmes. The rest of the sets were built in studio, and look quite lifelike, although it is also common knowledge that the interior shots show the studios and living accomodation as being quite lavish, where in reality, conditions on the forts were spartan to say the least!

"Not So Jolly Roger" was filmed in black and white and is around an hour long. The DVD was a VHS transfer, but the quality is reasonably good considering the original age of the content.

Price: £5.99