You know, I’ve just worked myself thru my complete series of ‘Callan’ and realised this is just as hard hitting as when it surfaced on our screens back in the 70s. It was based on an earlier ‘One-Off’ without the trimmings. The single-minded callousness of the characters portrayed, held its togetherness, even today in a very different world, it could almost have been written recently. The charismatic Edward Woodward, a killer with a heart, matched perfectly with the sheer single-mindedness of Anthony Valentine as Toby Myers, and both judged over by William Squire as Hunter. You might say, this would be more appealing to a male audience, but I’m not so sure. Ok, my mother was not so keen on it, but many women, I’ve learnt since, liked the rugged charm of Edward Woodward as ‘Callan’ and the ‘High fee luting’ style of Anthony Valentine in portraying the character of Toby Myers.
I remember, myself and ‘HG’ (my dad) and ‘M’ (Marilyn my partner) and her dad (Alfred) settling down very well, once a week, to this uniquely original program from ITV .
