Video above: The Crossfire – ITV Play Of The Week (1967)

I had an email from Peter Wyngarde recently , mentioning that he had once worked with Ian on a TV play called The Crossfire – and asking if I had a copy.

Well fortunately a few months back I had another email from an admirer of Ian’s work who had a very rare copy of the ITV play! So I was able to send the play to Peter and in return he – and his assistant Tina – have kindly sent me a great colour still (see above).

Early Life – Peter Wyngarde

Peter certainly had a colourful start to his life. If you are familiar with the film Empire of The Sun based on the semi-autobiographical book by J.G. Ballard, you will be interested to know that Peter was interned in the same camp at the same time and is mentioned in Ballard’s book.

Here’s a bit more background:

Peter Paul Wyngarde was born Cyril Goldbert in Marseille, France, the son of an English father and a French mother. His father worked for the British Diplomatic Service, and as a result his childhood was spent in a number of different countries.

In 1941, while his parents were away in India, he went to stay with a Swiss family in Shanghai. The Japanese Army took over Shanghai’s International Settlement on 8 December 1941, and as a British citizen Goldbert was interned in the Lunghua civilian internment camp on 10 April 1943. Conditions in the camp were sometimes harsh. According to J. G. Ballard’s autobiography Miracles of Life, “Cyril Goldbert, the future Peter Wyngarde” was a fellow internee at Lunghua Camp…”

Acting

Wyngarde became a British household name through his starring role in the espionage series Department S (1969). His Jason King character often got the girl and as she is about to kiss him, he manages to avoid it, much to the annoyance of co-actor Joel Fabiani. After that series ended, his character, the suave womaniser Jason King, was spun off into a new action espionage series entitled Jason King (1971), which ran for one season (26 one-hour episodes).

The quirky series was sold overseas and Wyngarde briefly became an international celebrity, being mobbed by female fans in Australia. A revival in October 1973 of The King and I, featuring Wyngarde in the male lead role, and initially with Sally Ann Howes as Anna, ran for 260 performances at the Adelphi Theatre in London.

The Crossfire – Complete Play

The video below is the complete ITV Play.

Click the video above to watch or alternatively: The Crossfire on Youtube

The Crossfire (Broadcast 7th February 1967)

ITV Play of the Week: Season 12, Episode 23

The play is set during the Algerian War

The Algerian War – also known as the Algerian War of Independence or the Algerian Revolution – was a war between France and the Algerian independence movements from 1954 to 1962, which led to Algeria gaining its independence from France. An important decolonization war, it was a complex conflict characterized by guerrilla warfare, maquis fighting, terrorism, the use of torture by both sides, and counter-terrorism operations. The conflict was also a civil war between loyalist Algerians supporting a French Algeria and their insurrectionist Algerian nationalist counterparts.

In the Press

Cast and Credits

Episode Cast (in alphabetical order)

Patrick Barr … General Palice
Anne Blake … Francesca
Lindsay Campbell … Colonel Carnot
Michael Coles … Armidal
Roger Delgado … Dr. Si Cada
Frank Gatliff … President of the Court
Ian Hendry … Paul Du Pre
Philip Locke … Vedoni
Kenneth Mcreddie … 1st Guard
Wolfe Morris … Lieutenant Vinh
Mia Nardi … Maria
Eric Portman … Dr. David Sorel
Zoe Randall … Dr. Marianne Lagny
Jeffrey Sirr … Salem
Jeanette Sterke … Eliane de Croissillon
Peter Wyngarde … Hugo de Croissillon

Source: iMDB – The Crossfire

Best wishes

Neil Hendry
Editor, Official Website of Ian Hendry

Further Reading

A detailed account of the life and work of Ian Hendry in the new biography:

Read:  ‘Send in the Clowns – The Yo Yo Life Of Ian Hendry’ by Gabriel Hershman