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The Vise (1955 TV series)
British detective drama TV series (1955–1957) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Vise (later known as Saber of London, also known as Mark Saber) is a British detective TV drama series starring Donald Gray as Mark Saber.[1] It was produced by the Danzigers and broadcast on ABC (1955–1957) and then moved to NBC (1957–1960). The series is a reboot of the ABC Mystery Theater radio and television series.[2] It mostly ran during prime time in the late 1950s.
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Background
ABC had originally broadcast a radio series called ABC Mystery Theater alongside a television series of the same name from 1951 to 1954. In the TV series, Mark Saber was portrayed by Tom Conway and his assistant Tim Maloney was portrayed by James Burke. Saber was a British detective working in an American homicide department.[2]
In the meantime in 1954, the Danzigers were developing a mystery anthology series called The Vise. It was hosted by Australian actor Ron Randell and was broadcast on various ITV channels in the UK, as well as syndicated episodes of The Pendulum in the US; The Crooked Path on ITV, and Tension on ITV.[3]
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Cast
Per listing in The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present[2] and Encyclopedia of Earth Television Crime Fighters:[4]
- Donald Gray as Mark Saber
- Michael Balfour as Barney O'Keefe, Saber's assistant (1955–56)
- Teresa Thorne as Judy (1958)
- Diana Decker as Stephanie Ames, Saber's secretary and assistant (1956–57)
- Neil McCallum as Pete Paulson, Saber's assistant (1957–58)
- Gordon Tanner as Larry Nelson, Saber's assistant (1958)
- Robert Arden as Bob Page, Saber's assistant (1958–1960)
- Colin Tapley as Inspector Parker (1957–1960)
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Production
In 1955, the Danzigers changed the format of The Vise from an anthology series to a standard format mystery series completely dedicated to the Mark Saber stories.[3] They rebooted the Mark Saber drama and television series that was running on ABC in the US. Saber, portrayed by Donald Gray, was now a one-armed private detective in London and would be solving mysteries occurring in the UK as well as in Paris and the Riviera. Instead of Maloney, Saber had various assistants.[2] Gray himself was also an amputee.[3]
Screenplays were written by Mark Grantham, Brian Clemens, and others. Episodes were formatted for the half-hour time slot, with two episodes shot every five days.[5] In an interview with Wheeler Winston Dixon, Clemens said that in the four years he wrote for the show, he only went on set with the Danzigers about eight times. The budgets for the episodes were about £17,000 for a feature, and shooting took about 8–10 days.[6]
Broadcast
For the U.S. 1955-56 television season, The Vise aired on ABC at 9:30 p.m. EST on Fridays.[2] It also aired at the same time for the 1956–57 season.
In 1957, the show was moved to NBC and retitled Saber of London, when it aired at 7:30 p.m. EST on Fridays.[2] In the 1957–58 season, it competed against Leave It to Beaver on CBS and The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin on ABC. The Vise was also shown as The Vise: Mark Saber on ITV companies in Europe.[3]
In the 1958–1959 season, Saber of London switched to 7 p.m. Sundays,[2] opposite CBS's Lassie. In its last year, 1959–1960, it was moved a half-hour earlier just outside prime time to 6:30 p.m EST on Sundays, just outside prime time.[2]
It also continued to run on ITV channels at various times in the UK.[3] Alternative titles for the series in syndication include Detective's Diary[2] and Uncovered[7]
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Episodes
Season 1 (1954–55)
Season 2 (1955)
Season 3 (1955-56)
Season 4 (1956-57)
Season 5 (1957-58)
Season 6 (1958–59)
Season 7 (1959–60)
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Archive status
Summarize
Perspective
Out of a total of 221 episodes, 28 are currently missing:[8][9][10][11]
- Series 1 Episode 01 "One Just Man" – shown on the UK TV channel Talking Pictures TV 20 July 2025 with excellent picture and sound.
- Series 1 Episode 03 "Let Murder Be Done"
- Series 1 Episode 13 "Lucky Man"- One or more sequences exist, but the complete programme is lost.
- Series 1 Episode 19 "The Eighth Window" – Sound only exists – there is no picture.
- Series 1 Episode 20 "Broken Honeymoon" – Sound only exists – there is no picture.
- Series 1 Episode 21 "Death on the Boards" – One or more sequences exist, but the complete programme is lost.
- Series 1 Episode 29 "The Imperfect Gentleman" – One or more sequences exist, but the complete programme is lost.
- Series 1 Episode 30 "The Schemer"
- Series 1 Episode 35 "Man in Demand" – Sound only exists – there is no picture.
- Series 2 Episode 11 "The Death Mask"
- Series 2 Episode 13 "The Search for Martha Harris" – Picture only exists – there is no sound.
- Series 2 Episode 21 "Killer at Large" – Picture only exists – there is no sound.
- Series 3 Episode 03 "The Night has Secrets"
- Series 3 Episode 09 "Death has Three Faces"
- Series 4 Episode 17 "Tough Part"
- Series 4 Episode 20 "Find Harry Clay"
- Series 4 Episode 24 "Back Track to Murder"
- Series 4 Episode 32 "Death in a Flask"
- Series 4 Episode 39 "You Only Live Twice"
- Series 5 Episode 02 "Hands Across the Sea"
- Series 5 Episode 27 "Field Goal"
- Series 5 Episode 34 "Lilies for Lucas"
- Series 6 Episode 03 "A Night on the Town"
- Series 6 Episode 16 "Dangerous Meeting"
- Series 6 Episode 23 "Cooked-Up Murder"
- Series 7 Episode 05 "Silence for Sale"
- Series 7 Episode 11 "A Date with Trouble"
- Series 7 Episode 15 "The Last Chapter"
On 14 May 2025 the Film Is Fabulous project announced the recovery of six episodes: "The Wrong Face, "The Bargain", "The Broken Link", A Toast to Death", "Arena for Fraud" and "The Yellow Robe".[12]
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References
External links
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