Anoraks Assemble

Sapphire and Steel was a British supernatural / fantasy TV series which was broadcast on ITV between 1979 and 1982.

There were 34 episodes in total, divided into six separate stories, or “Assignments”.

The focus of the programme was on Sapphire (played by Joanna Lumley), and Steel (played by David McCallum), a pair of ‘operatives’ whose job it was to guard time. This explanation may sound a little vague but it keeps in with the whole vibe of the show. Sapphire and Steel was utterly baffling at the best of times, and tended to leave more questions than answers. It was also eerie, atmospheric and highly original.

I watched this between the ages of six and nine, didn’t really understand what was going on, but was hooked all the same.

Our heroes were also assisted by other characters, including Lead, and most notably Silver (played by the fabulous David Collings).

If you speak to anyone who is a fan of the show, inevitably they will talk about the ‘haunted railway station’ episode – Assignment 2.

A parapsychologist – the quite wonderful Gerald James – investigates ghostly sighings at an abandoned railway station, and the scene is set for an extremely creepy tale involving dead soldiers, airmen, and a quite horrifying conclusion, as Steel shows his cold side. (Steel by name, Steel by nature).

Yes, it is slow-moving, but the atmosphere is off the scale and it leaves us with a few disturbing moments. Apart from the finale of Assignment 2, the story of the faceless man and the lost girl in the photograph is difficult to forget (if you know, you know).

Both Lumley and McCallum are utterly believable in their roles. I really did think that Sapphire could ‘take back time’. The series ended on a frustrating cliff-hanger and it seems as though there were no clear plans for a new series.

Sapphire and Steel is the type of show which, sadly, we are unlikely to see again. I do not think modern audiences would commit to watching such a slow-moving, talky drama, which is a shame, because this is a superior piece of work and stands out as one of the most original dramas of the last 50 years or so.