Take a Pair of Private Eyes

Take a Pair of Private Eyes is a British comedy crime television series which originally aired on BBC 2 in six episodes from 10 April to 15 May 1966.^[1] It was written by Peter O'Donnell, best known as the creator of Modesty Blaise.^[2] The title is a reference to the Gilbert and Sullivan song Take a Pair of Sparking Eyes. In the style of The Thin Man it focuses on Ambrose and Dominique Fraynes a husband and wife who run a private detective agency assisted by his father Hector.

Take a Pair of Private Eyes
Genre	Comedy crime
Written by	Peter O'Donnell
Directed by	Christopher Barry
Starring	Derek Fowlds Jeanne Roland Sam Kydd
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	6
Production
Producer	Alan Bromly
Running time	55 minutes
Original release
Network	BBC 2
Release	10 April (1966-04-10) – 15 May 1966 (1966-05-15)

Cast

• Derek Fowlds as Ambrose Frayne
• Jeanne Roland as Dominique Frayne
• Sam Kydd as Hector Frayne
• Henry McGee as Charles
• Bridget Armstrong as Cornelia
• John Bryans as Feinster
• John Sharp as Crozier
• Peter Forbes-Robertson as Roger Curran
• Ivor Salter as M. Brienne
• Campbell Singer as Insp. Roth
• George Lee as Police constable
• Victor Maddern as Cokey Brock
• Jeanne Moody as Marian
• Margaret Nolan as Doreen
• John Cater as Lyall Sankey
• Yvonne Ball as Barmaid
• Alexandra Dane as Girl
• Roy Denton as Sam
• Peter Diamond as Thug
• James Fairley as Butler
• Clare Jenkins as Girl in pub
• Edward Jewesbury as Insp. Marshall
• Tom McCall as Musician
• Brian Moorehead as Police sergeant
• Derek Price as Musician
• John Quarmby as Detective sergeant
• John Rapley as Hearse driver
• Harry Tardios as Manzella
• Francesca Tu as Japanese girl
• Del Watson as Thug
• Gabrielle Wheeler as Maid

References

1. Baskin p.79
2. Reilly p.1172

Bibliography

• Baskin, Ellen . Serials on British Television, 1950-1994. Scolar Press, 1996.
• Reilly, John M. Twentieth Century Crime & Mystery Writers. Springer, 2015.

External links

• Take a Pair of Private Eyes at IMDb