40 Fun Facts About Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)

In the first episode of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), how is private detective Marty Hopkirk murdered?

Run down by a car travelling at high speed, Marty dies instantly. He returns as a ghost to help Jeff Randall bring to justice the client's husband who ordered the killing.

Which Hollywood star later drove the red Mini from Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) in another British adventure series?

Tony Curtis drove it as Danny Wilde in an episode of The Persuaders!, and the same little car, Jeannie Hopkirk's runabout, also turned up in The Saint.

Which comedy double act starred as the detectives in the BBC's 2000 remake of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)?

Reeves and Mortimer nearly played it the other way round. Bob was first lined up as the ghost, until the writer decided that Vic's manic energy suited the dead detective better.

Which former Doctor Who star played Wyvern, the ghostly mentor in the 2000 remake of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)?

Tom Baker played Wyvern as a spirit guide who teaches Marty to hone his powers, introduces him to other ghosts and turns out to be terrible at poetry.

Marty Hopkirk's ghost in Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) always appears in a suit of which colour?

White became the ghost's trademark, along with a wig. An early script outline had instead dressed the dead detective from head to toe in pale green.

Which future Only Fools and Horses star played Abel in a 1969 episode of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)?

David Jason turned up in That's How Murder Snowballs, a backstage mystery about a theatre performer killed by a loaded prop gun. He was not cast as Del Boy until 1981.

Which actress, Miss Moneypenny in the James Bond films, played Kim Wentworth in Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)?

Lois Maxwell played a rich, much-married woman who uses a fake haunting as cover for killing her seventh husband, in the episode For the Girl Who Has Everything.

After missing his dawn return to the grave, how long must Marty stay on earth in Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)?

A hundred years is the price Marty pays for staying to see his own murder solved. A ghost who is not back in the grave before sunrise is trapped among the living.

Annette Andre, Jeannie in Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), once turned down a marriage proposal from which comedian?

Benny Hill proposed in the early 1960s, around the time the Sydney-raised actress moved to Britain. She said no, and by the end of the decade she was playing the widowed Jeannie.

Under what new title was Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) syndicated to television stations in the United States?

My Partner the Ghost was the American name. Stations there ran the series in syndication from 1974 to 1983, years after its British run had ended.

In Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), what job does Marty's widow Jeannie do at the detective agency?

Secretary is Jeannie's job at the agency, working for Jeff Randall. The character was a late addition: Marty's wife did not feature in the first concept for the series at all.

In Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), which casino game does Marty's ghost rig so that his Aunt Clara loses in Monte Carlo?

Roulette is the game Aunt Clara plans to beat with her own system, hoping to win £100,000. Marty makes her lose the final spin so that the gangs trailing her give up.

Which actor, Jed Stone in Coronation Street, played the ghost Marty in the 1969 series Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)?

Kenneth Cope won the part by chance. A creative consultant on the series spotted him at the next table in a new Italian restaurant in Soho and arranged a screen test.

Which actor and songwriter, who co-wrote hits for Tommy Steele, played Jeff in the 1969 Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)?

Mike Pratt won a top British songwriting award for a Tommy Steele song before he turned detective. His son Guy later played bass on stage with Pink Floyd.

Which future Silent Witness star played Jeannie in the BBC's 2000 remake of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)?

Emilia Fox played Jeannie Hurst, a far more important character than in the 1969 version. She joined Silent Witness in 2004, three years after the remake ended.

Which future Doctor Who lead guest-starred in Drop Dead, first episode of the 2000 Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)?

David Tennant shared the remake's first episode with Charles Dance, Mark Gatiss and Steve Pemberton. Marty is killed in it while working for a troubled artist.

In Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), Bugsy, the ghost of a 1920s gangster, came from which American city?

Chicago was Bugsy's old patch. He haunts the American crime boss Paul Kirstner, who comes to London on business and hires Jeff Randall to look after his daughter.

Which future Fawlty Towers actor has a small role as a football commentator in Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)?

Andrew Sachs, later the waiter Manuel, commentates on an international match that Marty goes to watch in the episode Somebody Just Walked Over My Grave.

The 1969 Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) actor who played Marty later starred in two films from which comedy series?

Carry On at Your Convenience cast him as a troublemaking shop steward. Carry On Matron then had him pose as a female nurse to help his father rob a maternity hospital.

The composer of the Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) theme was the father-in-law of which rock guitarist?

Pete Townshend of The Who married the composer's eldest daughter, Karen. The two men also worked together on a 1977 song that needed an orchestral score.

Which keyboard instrument, chosen for its distinctive sound, carries the theme tune of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)?

Harpsichord notes give the theme its eerie edge. The composer also set the tune in C minor, a key he picked for its association with death.

In the 2000 remake of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), Jeannie is no longer Marty's widow but his what?

Fiancée rather than wife was a deliberate change. It left room for a love triangle between Jeannie, the ghost and the surviving detective.

In the 2000 remake of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), what is the name of the place where Marty meets other ghosts?

Limbo was an invention of the remake, which paid far more attention than the 1969 series to where Marty goes when he is not on Earth. It even has its own barman.

In Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), a crooked doctor at the Lambert Clinic robs his patients using which technique?

Hypnosis is how Dr Conrad masterminds a string of robberies of his own patients. When Jeff falls under his control too, Marty must free him before Jeff can no longer see his ghostly partner.

After a prop-gun murder in Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), Jeff goes undercover at a theatre as what kind of act?

Mind reader is Jeff's cover in That's How Murder Snowballs. It is a bruising job: he is coshed over the head, shot at four times and knocked out by a falling shelf.

In Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), which ritual does a criminal gang perform to weaken Marty's ghost?

An exorcism leaves Marty feeling ill for the whole episode. The gang tricks Jeannie into handing over his watch and cufflinks, and the rite has to be completed at his grave.

Which Fast Show writer and performer produced the 2000 remake of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) and wrote most episodes?

Charlie Higson was suggested for the job by the two stars themselves. He also directed some episodes and gave himself a cameo in every one.

In Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), a Marty impostor takes Jeannie to which region, where the couple had honeymooned?

The Cotswolds trip has a hidden purpose. The impostor is a runaway gang member who has learned alarming details of Marty's life in order to win Jeannie's trust.

Which cheap film trick made Marty vanish and reappear on screen in the 1969 Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)?

Jump cut editing kept costs down whenever Marty popped in or out of a scene. Walking through walls needed a slower and more expensive effect using a sheet of glass.

Which writer, whose credits include Thunderbirds and early Doctor Who, created Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)?

Dennis Spooner was fascinated by the paranormal and wanted to put a ghost on television. He decided that a detective series would give the stories the most scope.

Which British family saloon, registration RXD 996F, does Jeff drive in the 1969 Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)?

Vauxhall Victor was Jeff's car, and it moonlighted in two episodes of another adventure series, whose hero drove a near-identical Ventora with the very next number plate.

Which production company, also behind The Champions and The Persuaders!, made the 1969 Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)?

ITC Entertainment made just one series of 26 episodes, filmed between May 1968 and July 1969. The show was still being syndicated abroad in the 1980s.

Which composer, best known for the theme of The Saint, wrote the music for Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)?

Edwin Astley composed 188 numbered cues for the series. His tune for The Saint later reached number three in the UK singles chart when Orbital revived it in 1997.

Which television mogul hesitated to back Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) because it had no imported American star?

Lew Grade feared the series would be hard to sell overseas. He gave the green light only after a veteran writer-producer asked to script the first episode himself.

Which comedian with his own ATV chat show was first considered to play Jeff in Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)?

Dave Allen dropped out of the running when he signed for the BBC. The detective, called Steven in early plans, went to a busy television character actor instead.

Which producer, who had already made The Champions with the same creator, produced Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)?

Monty Berman had the office next door to the show's creator at Elstree Studios. He had started out in films as a camera assistant at Twickenham when he was 17.

Which actor, Inspector Teal in The Saint, played the suspicious Inspector Large in Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)?

Ivor Dean was all but repeating his famous policeman: lugubrious, forever suspicious and keen to arrest the hero. Jeff usually ends up handing him the real culprits.

Which creator of Danger Man asked to write the first episode of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), securing its go-ahead?

Ralph Smart spotted the synopsis and wanted the pilot script for himself. His interest was what persuaded the doubtful head of ATV to commission the series.

Which episode of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) was co-written by the actor who played Jeff in the 1969 series?

A Disturbing Case was the second episode shown. Three decades later its story of a sinister private clinic was reworked as an episode of the BBC remake.

Which booming-voiced Flash Gordon actor played Jim Lawsey in the Monte Carlo episode of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)?

Brian Blessed shared the episode with Nicholas Courtney and Roger Delgado. The two met on set for the first time and were later reunited as the Brigadier and the Master.