Department S was a British espionage/science fiction adventure series produced by ITC Entertainment. The series lasted for 28 episodes, which aired in 1969-70. The series starred Peter Wyngarde as Jason King (who later went on to star in his own, eponymous, spin-off series), Joel Fabiani as Stewart Sullivan and Rosemary Nicols as Annabelle Hurst. The trio were agents for a fictional special department (the 'S' of the title) of Interpol. The head of Department S was Sir Curtis Seretse (played by Dennis Alaba Peters).
The series was created by Dennis Spooner and Monty Berman, although neither wrote any of the episodes, which were instead written by ITC veterans such as Terry Nation and Philip Broadley. Many of the directors on the show had also worked on a number of ITC shows – The Saint, Danger Man, The Protectors and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased). Like many of the ITC shows, Department S has gained cult status.
"When a case proves too baffling for the minds of Interpol, they turn to the talents of Department S." - from the ITC trailer for the series.
Austin Powers is believed to have been based upon the flamboyant Jason King character . Jason King was also the basis for Jason Bentley, played by Peter Richardson in the 1993 Comic Strip Presents film Detectives on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown
The first two episodes of the series were released on a now deleted DVD in Britain by Carlton Television (now ITV plc). Repeats began airing on ITV4 in November 2005, alongside a large number of similar ITC productions. The series has also been released on DVD by Umbrella Entertainment in a box set. This version is in PAL with no region code.
