Hannay
ITV (ended 1989)
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3/14/89The year is 1912 and the 'unsinkable' ship 'Titanic' has sunk. Richard Hannay's god-daughter Susan is being married to Lord Berenger's son Michael Harrington, and Hannay is visiting her family. The night before the wedding Michael goes missing after his bachelor's party.
Why did Lord Berenger send a large and immensely valuable consignment of gold to Canada via 'The Titanic' which was in fact heading for the United States? Did the missing gold in fact go down with the ill-fated ship - the uninsurable on board the unsinkable? What is the mystery behind the ship's bells at the foundry used by the firm Campbell/Mallory, of which Lord Berenger is Managing Director?
Hannay finds himself involved in a bizarre mystery involving a kidnapping, two murders and a plot involving the Czar of Russia.moreless -
3/7/89Perry Swimborn, an old friend of Richard Hannay's, has beeen found drowned on the moors in England. Hannay is surprised to find that he is a beneficiary in Swimborn's will - he has been left a lighthouse in the region where Swimborn died, a walking stick, and a pair of binoculars with instructions "to use them to help my dearest to accomplish her ambitions". Swimborn's fortune and manor-house have been bequeathed to his natural daughter, Vivian Laputa, born in Africa and the product of a forbidden love between Swimborn and a black African Queen. Hannay talks to Delahunty, Swimborn's lawyer, about the Laputa golden amulet which symbolizes Vivian's right to her tribe's throne. No-one knows where it is, and Delahunty believes that Swimborn was murdered whilst protecting it from somebody who wanted it for its immense monetary value. Delahunty asks Hannay to protect Vivian while she is in England, as Cromwell and Vermilion, Swimborn's nephews, feel betrayed by their uncle's will, and may plan to kill Vivian. Delahunty suspects them of the murder of Swimborn, but has no proof of this. When Hannay finds a coded map inside the walking stick, he believes that the amulet is hidden somewhere in the lighthouse. But will he find it before Cromwell and Vermilion Thorpe? A desperate race is on to find the amulet, to enable Vivian to protect her birthright and to prevent a bloodthirsty revenge from taking place.moreless -
2/28/89Richard Hannay is the new Honorary Secretary of the rugger group, 'The Centurions'. Sal Alford, landlady of Alford's Music Hall, is being threatened by standover merchant, Joe Morris, who is demanding protection money. Joe Morris is a rogue member of Charlie Peterson's east-end gang of thugs. Sal, frightened for her life, approaches Richard Hannay who tells her not to pay any money to Joe Morris. When Joe Morris arrives at Alford's Music Hall with Charlie Peterson's gang he is confronted by Richard Hannay's gang, 'The Centurions', who throw them out, but not before Richard Hannay is threatened by Joe Morris personally. Alford's Music Hall is subsequently vandalised, and Hannay is abducted by Joe Morris; however, he manages to bluff himself out of the situation by telling Morris that he - Hannay - is the leader of a larger, more elite rival gang operating from the West End of London, which is comprised of politicians and members of the aristocracy. Hannay organises a 'sting' involving 'The Centurions' who pretend to be a gang of highly skilled professional crooks. Joe Morris is successfully set up and sent packing. His reluctant fiancee Florence Peterson, daughter of Charlie Peterson, tells her father that she is in love with Arnold the police officer, and Charlie has to accept the fact that he will be the father-in-law of a copper.moreless -
2/21/89The place is Venice, Italy. Richard Hannay assists seductive artist Dore Nicholson to board the Trans-European train to London, on which he is also a passenger. Other passengers include Boy Morland, Hannay's old friend, now a diplomatic courier, and Auguste Karrs, a Turkish oil tycoon.
Hannay and Dore Nicholson spend a romantic evening together. However, Dore is being watched by Conrad Smith, Karrs' personal secretary. Smith asks Boy Morland to use Hannay to get the information he wants from Dore.
Boy Morland warns Hannay, but Hannay does not take him seriously.
Why is Auguste Karrs so interested in Dore Nicholson's paintings, most particularly the ones that she painted in Mesopotamia? Dore refuses to show the paintings, but before going to bed she secretly hands over a notebook of her sketches to Hannay. The next morning she has disappeared.
What was the mysterious Frau Steve doing in Dore's compartment on that morning? Hannay decides to investigate, and is aided by Colonel Wormesley-Jones and the Reverend Harker. What has happened to Dore Nicholson? What is the secret behind her paintings? Is Dore an innocent abroad, an inoffensive painter, or is she a devious spy, a carrier of dangerous secrets? And is Frau Steve the harmless lady she seems to be? Is Colonel Warmesley-Jones the British gentleman that he appears to be or is he part of a dangerous conspiracy?
Money, power and an international race involving the large oil companies all play their part in this gripping episode of 'Hannay'.moreless -
2/14/89"God and His Angels bless you, Dirk; you shall hear the trumpet on the other side. Goodbye, old warrior." With this blessing, Richard Hannay kisses Dirk Huysman, the man who had brought him up in South Africa after his parents died, and who is now dead himself, leaving Hannay with one last commission - to find his old adversary, Desmond Leigh, and to give him a fortune in uncut diamonds after Hannay is assured by Desmond Leigh that he bears no ill-will towards Huysman. Three months later in England, Hannay finds Desmond Leigh. He is married to a beautiful young woman called Barbara, but is a drunken wastrel. Leigh has enemies, too, from South Africa, two brothers by the name of Baxter who are owed money by Leigh. The elder brother, Meredith Baxter, declares that he is going to confront Leigh at gunpoint and demand to know where his money is. Baxter arrives while Hannay is visiting Leigh, and Leigh is murdered by Meredith Baxter. Hannay captures Baxter and hands him over to the police. He is subsequently charged with murder, and there is a trial. Meanwhile, Leigh's young widow Barbara is not wasting any time grieving over her late husband. She plans to marry Henry Milner, and take up farming in Ceylon. Hannay still has the diamonds, however. Because Leigh had been abusive about Dirk Huysen one of the main conditions of the bequest was not fulfilled - namely, that Leigh bore no ill-will towards Dirk Huysen. Hannay, who does not trust Milner, tells Barbara that he will leave the diamonds in trust for herself and any children that she and Milner may have. Henry Milner knows about the diamonds and is after them. He manipulates Barbara into laying a trap for Hannay, and events take an even more dark and dramatic turn, with tragic results. Greed, disloyalty, marital infidelity and violence ultimately lead the characters in this dramatic episode of 'Hannay' to their pre-determined ends.moreless -
2/7/89Richard Hannay is introduced to Dr. Nils Larssen and his daughter Kirsten by Lord Hurst, the owner of a Chemicals business which operates out of Hurst Grange, a manor house in the English countryside.
Dr. Larssen is working on a serum which will produce a vaccine against 'the terrors of the earth' - typhus, tuberculosis and cholera, which may be needed in the event of germ warfare in any conflict with Germany. The idea is to produce vast amounts of the vaccine which Lord Hurst is prepared to back and then to market.
Also working in the laboratory at Hurst Grange is Edgar Voce, a German agent. Voce approaches Otto Von Schwabing, the murderous Teutonic villain who is responsible for most, if not all of the treacherous activity of The Black Stone, the German Terrorist Organisation. Voce tells Von Schwabing that he is producing vaccine for German use in the event of warfare, and Von Schwabing keeps his ear to the ground.
Dr. Larssen becomes suspicious of Voce, and is poisoned by him, dying of what appears to be typhus in the local military hospital. Kirsten becomes suspicious of the caraffe of drinking water in her father's room, and tests it for traces of serum.
Voce leaves Hurst Grange to meet a sinister "clergyman" known as Dearth at a windmill which is also called 'The Sorrowful Mill'. In his possession he has a mysterious flask in a leather case. Richard Hannay follows him. Voce meets with an accident, and Hannay goes on to The Sorrowful Mill where he not only encounters Dearth, but also his arch-enemy, Von Schwabing. He is overpowered and locked in the Mill and in a bid to escape ends up on the mill blades.
Death tells Von Schwabing what the mysterious flask contains: It is, in Dearth's words "a concentrate of the most powerful bacilli on earth, so deadly that a pint of it introduced into a city's water supply would kill everybody in that city within two days. And that's why our masters in the Unter Den Linden want it," he concludes to the sinister and brooding Von Schwabing.
In a gripping finale to this extremely fast moving and suspenseful episode of the series, Hannay must not only escape certain death himself, but must also rescue the occupants of London from certain death through an attempt to poison their water supply. Von Schwabing's behaviour on this occasion shocks even the usually unflappable Hannay.moreless -
1/31/89Richard Hannay meets Sybil Verney, a beautiful woman who is also of South African origin. Unlike Hannay who feels 'surrounded' in London and prefers the wide-open spaces of Africa, Sybil is very fond of England and of its society. Very quickly, Richard Hannay falls under her spell; he falls desperately in love for the first time in his life, but Sybil Verney has a secret. She is being blackmailed by Sir Marcus Leonard, a ruthless gambler and racehorse owner, who has a hold over Sybil. The secret is to be found in some letters which Sir Marcus has securely locked away in his safe. Richard Hannay offers to get the letters back for Sybil, but in order to do so must take some lessons in safe-breaking from Sal Alford. He is an apt pupil, managing to break into Sir Marcus's safe, while Sal acts as guard outside. Unfortunately, he is caught by Sir Marcus, but Sal escapes with the incriminating letters. Sir Marcus convinces Hannay that Sybil is a liar and a cheat. Who is telling the truth? Is Sybil Verney a hapless victim of circumstances, or is she a conniving con-artist? A broken-hearted Richard Hannay confronts Sybil with his evidence, but it is from Sal Alford that he learns the truth. There is only one letter, and it is extremely revealing. The story ends with a truly hair-raising duel between Richard Hannay and Sir Marcus Leonard, a duel which ends tragically.moreless
