Reporter MARK BARON investigates . . . ACE OF WANDS

TAROT LAY HELPLESSLY on the floor of an airtight room. His assistants, Lulli and Sam were in an outer room, bound and completely unable to help their master.

Thalia, the queen of crime, had one aim in mind. She was preparing to sell a deadly nightmare gas to a foreign power. As gas capable of giving victims horrifying hallucinations before causing death. But before she could complete her deal, she had first to prove the effectiveness of the gas. Her 'guinea pig' for her test was Tarot - known to thousands for his skill as a magician, and feared by the underworld for his exploits against crime.

Then . . . hisss! Tarot could hear the gas seeping into the room. He knew he had only twenty-three minutes left to live. During that time he would experience vividly-realistic hallucinations - then he would die.

Frantically, Tarot fought against his reeling senses. But he was already too late. He lapsed into a terrifying dreamworld of his own. Was this the end of Tarot or could he escape? You can learn the answer if you watch the second series of Ace of Wands, which begins on July 21st, produced by Thames Television.

Tarot, played by twenty-eight-year-old Michael Mackenzie, is the main character in this popular programme. His is a magician with a 'duel' (sic) life. One night he will be enthralling audiences with his deftness as a man-of-magic. The following night he may be solving a crime committed by top members of the underworld. Tarot could even be described as a twentieth century Robin Hood - with a pinch of Merlin and a dash of Houdini.

He uses all his magical skills in a fight against crime, including sleight of hand, escapology, hypnosis and telepathy. Though his methods are often unusual, his confrontations with the kings and queens of crime always end with a triumph of good over evil.

THE TEAM

Tarot has three assistants - Lulli (played by Judy Loe), Sam (Tony Selby) and Mr. Sweet (Donald Layne-Smith). They all have their own particular places in Tarot's organisation. Lulli is young, beautiful and intelligent. She met Tarot when she backed her beach-buggy into his 'E' type Jaguar. Then they discovered that they had a telepathic link - in other words they could communicate without speaking to each other!

Sam is Tarot's right-hand man, He's done everything and been everywhere - including prison. Mr. Sweet is an antiquarian bookseller who acts as Tarot's front-man and go-between.

Mr. Sweet is lovable, amusing and eccentric when necessary.

And last but certainly not least is Tarot's pet, Ozymandias - Ozzie, for short. He is a Malayan fishing owl who has buttercup eyes and makes a whistling sound when he's excited.

You can see Ace of Wands on a Wednesday at 5.15 and it's fully networked. The programmes producer, Pamela Lonsdale, told me it would be even more mysterious and intriguing than the first series. So if you want a dose of mysterious adventure, tune in!

The feature also used five photographs: one of Jonathan Newth and Michael Mackenzie from "Nightmare Gas" captioned Tarot holds a villain at bay with a cylinder of deadly nightmare gas; two portraits of Donald Layne-Smith as Mr. Sweet and Fred Owl as Ozzie captioned Mr. Sweet in a thoughtful mood and Ozzie, the Malayan fishing owl; and a picture of Tony Selby as Sam with the dummy from "The Joker" captioned Sam with a model from another story. Opposite was a full-page portrait of Michael Mackenzie and Judy Loe. To see a full reproduction of these pages, click on the images on the right or go to the archives section.