List of Callan episodes

The following is a complete episode list for Callan, given in broadcast order, with Edward Woodward in the title role. There was a total of 44 episodes produced and broadcast between 1967 and 1972. The show's first two series were made in black and white, the third and fourth in colour. Of the 22 black and white episodes, ten are missing from the archives; both the colour series exist complete. All the surviving episodes have been released by Network DVD.

Pilot

The pilot was broadcast in black and white.

No	Series	Ep	Title	Writer	Director	Original airdate	Archive
001	Pilot		Armchair Theatre: ''	James Mitchell	Bill Bain	4 February 1967	Survives

Overview

Callan has been fired from an anonymous government agency known as "The Section" which is run by Colonel Hunter. The Section removes those who pose a danger to the "innocent" by persuasion, blackmail, extortion or death. David Callan had been the Section's top operator but he had become too curious about his targets and the rationale for their removal. The Section considered him vulnerable, volatile and dangerous and had laid him off to a dead-end book-keeping job for an ungrateful employer. Callan is where Hunter can keep an eye on him and also in daily, casual and unknowing contact with his next victim. If he can kill Schneider after making his acquaintance as a fellow war games enthusiast then he can kill anyone: this is the question to which Hunter urgently requires an answer.
Hunter describes Callan as "a dead shot, with the cold nerve to kill" and considers him far too useful to be allowed to retire. In this screenplay, Hunter invites Callan back to the Section to remove Schneider as a favour. Schneider's nefarious activities are known to the authorities but he is too clever to be caught by normal methods. Hunter wants Schneider eliminated but offers Callan no help from the Section—ostensibly to allow Callan to prove his loyalty and dedication. Hunter secretly sends Toby Meres to set Callan up to take the fall for the assassination, should this become necessary.
Callan's curiosity about his victims overwhelms him again and he investigates Schneider, discovering a massive gun-running operation. Satisfied, Callan formulates his plan. He calls on his petty criminal contact Lonely, played by Russell Hunter. Lonely is unsure of Callan's identity and motives but fearfully provides a "Noguchi.38 Magnum" plus 20 rounds. Callan has a chance meeting with Schneider and finds common ground in their interest in model soldiers and war games.
At Schneider's house, where Callan and his host re-play a scenario from the Peninsular War and go on to recreate the Battle of Gettysburg, Meres breaks in, distracting Callan. Hunter sends the police in order to ensure Callan is caught red-handed. Schneider, suspicious, uncovers Meres and holds the two men at gunpoint. Schneider searches Callan but misses the Magnum and Callan kills Schneider.
Meres attempts to finish the set-up but Callan knocks Meres unconscious. Callan phones Hunter about Schneider and says he will leave Meres to the police, and that he is quitting the Section. He tells Hunter "I liked Schneider... but I hate you". Hunter orders Callan's file to be changed to a red folder—targeting him for removal.

Series 1

This series was broadcast in black and white.

No	Series	Ep	Title	Writer	Director	Original airdate	Archive
002	1	1		James Mitchell	Toby Robertson	8 July 1967	Survives
003	1	2		Robert Banks Stewart	Peter Duguid	15 July 1967	Missing
004	1	3		James Mitchell	Robert Tronson	22 July 1967	Missing
005	1	4		James Mitchell	Bill Bain	29 July 1967	Missing
006	1	5		James Mitchell	Guy Verney	5 August 1967	Missing
007	1	6		James Mitchell	Piers Haggard	12 August 1967	Survives

Overview

ABC then commissioned a series of six episodes in 1967. In the first episode Callan rejoins the section in an unofficial capacity. The series was characterised by Callan's stand-off, barely-respectful relationship between him and his boss. Hunter schemed to retain Callan on his side and would play him off in little divide-and-rule scenarios with or against his fellow agents to keep control. It was not always apparent that it worked. Callan's contact Lonely developed into an unofficial sidekick, whose shadowing qualities outshone his sense of personal hygiene, something Meres in particular took joy in pointing out. Lonely remained ignorant to Callan's real work and believed him to be something of a gangland villain.

Series 2

This series was broadcast in black and white.

No	Series	Ep	Title	Writer	Director	Original airdate	Archive
008	2	1		James Mitchell	Peter Duguid	8 January 1969	Survives
009	2	2		James Mitchell	Peter Duguid	15 January 1969	Survives
010	2	3		Robert Banks Stewart	Mike Vardy	22 January 1969	Missing
011	2	4		James Mitchell	Peter Sasdy	29 January 1969	Survives
012	2	5		Ray Jenkins	Robert Tronson	5 February 1969	Survives
013	2	6		John Kershaw	Peter Duguid	12 February 1969	Survives
014	2	7		James Mitchell	Piers Haggard	19 February 1969	Missing
015	2	8		James Mitchell	Jim Goddard	26 February 1969	Missing
016	2	9		Ray Jenkins	Peter Duguid	5 March 1969	Survives
017	2	10		Trevor Preston	Mike Vardy	12 March 1969	Missing
018	2	11		Lee Dunne	Bill Bain	19 March 1969	Audio only
019	2	12		William Emms	Jim Goddard	26 March 1969	Missing
020	2	13		James Mitchell	Robert Tronson	2 April 1969	Survives as a complete recording block*
021	2	14		Robert Banks Stewart, Terence Feely	Peter Duguid	9 April 1969	Survives
022	2	15	''	Michael Winder	Reginald Collin	16 April 1969	Survives

"The Worst Soldier I Ever Saw" survives as a complete recording block, including retakes, studio clocks and some banter between the cast and production crew between shots, while the precise broadcast episode is missing. On Network's "The Monochrome Years" DVD release of Callan, "The Worst Soldier I Ever Saw" was re-edited as close as possible to the transmission episode, but is unlikely to be precisely as broadcast in 1969 in terms of the timing of cuts between shots. The complete recording block of "The Worst Soldier I Ever Saw" was released on Network's DVD release titled "Callan: This Man Alone".
"Nice People Die at Home" was originally recorded for Series 1, but was held back until Episode 14 of Series 2 for transmission. This episode sees a brief return of some internal thought dialogue by Callan that was previously done in "A Magnum for Schneider" and in the Series 1 episodes, but which was discontinued afterwards. As a result of many plot changes since Series 1, the original Hunter played by Ronald Radd returned in the episode "The Worst Soldier I Ever Saw" alongside the current Hunter played by Derek Bond, with dialogue explaining that Radd would briefly return as Hunter while Bond's Hunter was on a diplomatic trip to the Soviet Union. In the transmitted episode "Nice People Die at Home", along with Radd's character being back as Hunter for that one episode, there is also some additional scenes and dialogue involving Radd that had been recorded to make the current plots join up, as Callan was now fully employed by the Section.
"Once a Big Man, Always a Big Man", an audio recording of this episode was discovered by TV archivists Kaleidoscope, and a copy was included in "Callan - The Ultimate Collection DVD". https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2294543267276076&id=571412946255792&set=a.571944639535956 Note 1 https://www.itssolastcentury.co.uk/lounge/Television_Shows/Callan/Ultimate_Collection_DVD.php Note 2
Overview

By 1969, ABC Weekend Television had, via enforced merger and some additional personnel, become Thames Television. A second season of fifteen episodes that had already been completed by ABC was therefore transmitted by its successor in 1969. This run ended with "Death of a Hunter" in which the Section chief meets his demise, and Callan is shot – perhaps fatally. It had not been decided whether the show would return for a third series, so this device was used to leave open either the possibility of more stories in the future, or a way of winding-up the show. Two endings were taped, one in which Callan definitely died and the other in which Callan's survival was left in doubt. In the end, the latter ending was used as Thames decided to bring the programme back for its third series in 1970, this time in full colour and consisting of nine episodes.
In the television series, successive Hunters were played by Ronald Radd, Michael Goodliffe, Derek Bond and William Squire. The last's portrayal of a steely exterior, delivering ice-cold decisions with an underplayed theatrical flair, made for a match for Callan. Squire is probably the best remembered of all the supporting actors who played Hunter as a result.
Toby Meres was brought to life by Anthony Valentine, an upper class thug whose demeanour barely concealed the cold and calculating thug he truly was. Meres enjoyed his work very much without questioning, a value Hunter found extremely useful and one which irritated Callan no end. Yet, as colleagues in the field, whose lives may depend on each other at a moment's notice, Meres and Callan developed an edgy, mutual respect. Meres departed for a posting in the USA at the end of the second series.