For Young Viewers from THAMES

'A C E   O F   W A N D S'

THAMES TELEVISION continue their special interest in children's programming (such as SEXTON BLAKE and TYRANT KING) with this unusual new 13 half-hour episode series launched on the Network - 29 July 1970.

'Tarot' (the Ace of Wands) is a twentieth century Robin Hood with a pinch of Merlin and a dash of Houdini. By profession he is a renowned illusionist, by vocation a righter of wrongs. To help solve the mysteries, Tarot uses all his magic skills which range from sleight of hand and escapology to hypnosis and telepathy. Sometimes his methods might be surprising but his confrontations with the formidable Kings and Queens of crime always end with the triumph of 'Good' over 'Evil'.

Tarot has three associates - 'Lulli', 'Sam' and 'Mr. Sweet'. All have their own particular place in his organisation and their own specialised functions. Lulli is young, beautiful and intelligent. She studied philosophy at Oxford for a while then got bored and left. She is a compulsive 'doer'. She met Tarot by accident when she backed her beach buggy into his E-type Jaguar and they subsequently discovered that they had an advanced telepathic communication. Since then Lulli has worked as Tarot's assistant on stage and off, and has proved invaluable.

Sam is Tarot's right hand man. He's done everything, been everywhere (even to prison) and has incredible 'connections'. There are a lot of people who owe Sam favours and he has no hesitation in using his contacts, he is impulsive, cheerful, tough and totally dedicated to Tarot.

Mr. Sweet is an antiquarian bookseller with an international reputation as a lepidopterist and entomologist. He has a major role to play for Tarot as front man and go-between. Adventures often start with someone in trouble approaching Mr. Sweet in the hope that he will enlist the unique services of Tarot on their behalf. Mr. Sweet is lovable, amusing, eccentric but quite capable of amazing and unorthodox action if a situation demands it.

There is another member of the set, Tarot's pet owl 'Ozymandias'. 'Ossie', as he is called, is a Malayan fishing owl, just over one foot high, has buttercup yellow eyes and makes a whistling sound when he is excited. He is devoted to Tarot, Lulli and Mr. Sweet but has reservations about Sam who calls him a 'cross-eyed cuckoo'.

The stories are centred around Tarot and his friends versus their adversaries - the 'Royalty' of the underworld.

The permanent cast are as follows:

TAROT ............. MICHAEL MACKENZIE
LULLI ............. JUDY LOE
SAM ............... TONY SELBY
MR. SWEET ......... DONALD LAYNE-SMITH
OZYMANDIAS ........ FRED OWL

The creator of the series is TREVOR PRESTON and the producer PAMELA LONSDALE.

The the first episode (titled 'One and One and One Are Four') Tarot is asked to find a famous professor's invention which was stolen from his laboratory and which in the wrong hands could be used as a devastating weapon. Tarot's adversary is the beautiful but evil 'Madame Midnight', played by HILDEGARD NEIL, who is determined to get the invention and outwit Tarot.

Clive Willis - 22 July 1970