The Golden Fleece
by Roger Marshall and Phyllis Norman
Designed by Anne Spavin
Directed by Peter Hammond
Production Schedule
Episode 56
Production Number : 3603
VTR/ABC/2715
Teddington Studio 1
Thursday 23rd May 1963
| Camera rehearsal |
10.00-12.30 |
| Lunch break |
12.30-13.30 |
| Camera rehearsal |
13.30-18.00 |
| Supper break |
18.00-19.00 |
| Camera rehearsal |
19.00-21.00 |
Friday 24th May 1963
| Camera rehearsal |
10.00-12.30 |
| Lunch break |
12.30-13.30 |
| Camera rehearsal |
13.30-15.30 |
Tea break, line up,
normal scan, make-up |
15.30-16.15 |
| Dress rehearsal |
16.15-17.30 |
| Notes |
17.30-18.00 |
| Line-up |
18.00-18.30 |
| VTR |
18.30-19.30 |
Running time
Expected: 51'25" excluding commercial breaks
Actual running time with bumpers: 51'54"
The bumpers between the acts are generally 10 seconds from fade in to the "End of Act" bumper to the end of audio before the commercial, a 10 second still without audio, then cut to the next act bumper. This would play with the theme for around 10 seconds. Accordingly, with the episodes being in 3 acts, the running time of the action is approximately a minute less than listed above, minus the opening and closing credits (normally 0'16", with a 2" fade, and anywhere from 0'41" to 1'20", hard cut or 1" fade or mix, respectively).
Transmission
| London |
7th December 1963 |
| Sydney |
9th June 1964 |
| Melbourne |
7th January 1965 |
Equipment
| Cameras: |
3 Pedestals, Turner Arm. |
| Telecine: |
Caption scanner. |
Murders
Minutiæ
Time codes here include the Studio Canal logo from the remastered 2010 set, which takes 0:18 seconds.
- 00:30 - You can tell it's Peter Hammond directing - the episode starts with close-ups of action and objects and it's not until 01:28 that we see anyone's face. The episode is strewn with close-ups and shots through glass (e.g. 9:00).
- 8:00 - what sort of Chinese restaurant serves saki?
- 14:00 - the camera completely loses focus as Steed takes Cathy's place at the door, I suspect they're preparing for the shot in the mirror of her walking away at 14:04
- 16:05 - Cathy is infuriated when Steed finally reveals that Lo, the gold smuggler, is staying at the Yam Sing restaurant, and she throws a cushion at him. She's even angrier at 30:00 wihen she realises her museum job was set up by Steed.
- 21:00 - Captain Yorke & Corporal Jones were dealing with the Hong Kong connection.
- 24:10 - When Cathy remarks, "oddly enough, my rent doesn't pay itself" Steed suggestively says, "I did suggest an alternative arrangement" and blows gently on her forehead.
- 36:09 - a hair gets trapped at the bottom right of the screen and wavers in and out of focus. It disappears at 38:48.
- 46:11 - When Wright goes looking for "number five picket" you can see two people running across the back of the set behind the wire fence.
- 46:41 - when Cathy throws Wright against thefence, the entire thing nearly falls down.
- 42:57 - A minor theme of the season occurs in this episode, when Steed is seen reading a Tintin book.
In this episode it's a French-language copy of "Tintin au Pays de l'or noir" (Tintin in the land of black gold).
- A couple of cars make a rare appearance here - an army Landrover, Jimmy's elderly Austin which he was run over with by Mr Lo, and a Vespa in the back of his garage.
