REVIEW: The Saint – The Gadic Collection

Broadcast: Thursday, 22nd June, 1967

Character: Turen

The Story

Istanbul: Simon Templar (Roger Moore) is in the Turkish capital to meet his old friend, Geoffrey Bane (Hedger Wallace) – deputy curator of the Silbatakin Museum; home to the 3,000-year-old Gadic Collection.

While he waits for Bane in one of Museum’s galleries, Templar notices a young woman by the name of Ayesha (Nicole Shelby), who appears to be comparing the items from the Gadic Collection to a set of photographs she has with her. He also observes that she’s being watched by a somewhat unkempt man of seemingly local origin, whose attempt to grab and manhandle her to the ground is thwarted by Templar’s timely intervention.

As she hastily makes her exit from the museum gallery, Ayesha drops several of the photographs which Templar retrieves and hands to Bane on his arrival. The images are taken to the Curator, Ahmed Bayer (Andre Van Gysegham), who recalls that the last time the Gadic Collection was outside the Museum had been 30 years ago, which couldn’t possibly have been when the photographs were taken. It transpires, however, that the artifacts had been taken off display just 3 months earlier for cleaning. The work had been carried out, not by the Museum itself, but by an outside specialist by the name of Abdul Kemal. Templar and Bane decide to pay this contractor a visit, but when they reach his workshop in the city they find it abandoned.

Peter as Turen

Kamal is shown the photographs that Ayesha had dropped at the museum and admits to having taken them for the purpose of making replicas of the items from the famous Gadic Collection. He had latterly sold the forgeries to a wealthy foreign art collector. Watching Templar and Bane leave Kamel’s home is Sukan (Michael Ripper), who his himself interested in The Gadic Collection.

Later that evening at his hotel in the city, Templar receives a call from Geoffrey Banewho asks the Englishman to meet him at the Museum. However, when he arrives there he finds Bane dead in his office having discovered that the Collection in the Museum is fake. Within minutes, the police arrive.

Templar attempts to explain to Inspector Yolu (Martin Benson), the senior officer on the scene, what had happened so far – insisting that Ayesha and her uncle will confirm his story, but when they arrive at Kamel’s home they find no one there and that the house appears as if no one has lived there for some years.

After being released by the police on license, Templar returns to Kamal’s home where he runs into an elderly couple who live in the same building. While both of them had seen him, Ayesha and Bane the previous day, they had had told the police they had never seen the Englishman before and that they knew nothing of Kamal. Templar learns that Kamal had paid them to lie to the police.

Peter with Roger Moore as Simon Templar and Michael Ripper as Sukan.

With the help of Ayesha, Templar retrieves the genuine Gadic Collection from where Kamal had hidden them and returns them to the Museum. With Inspector Yolu present, the Englishman reveals that Kabal had not acted alone. Indeed, the instigator of the plot is none other than curator, Ahmed Bayer!

With the real Collection back on display in the Museum, the fakes are handed over to Templar by the police to dispose of a his discretion. With the full approval of Turen’s now estranged wife, Templar contacts the crook who agrees to buy the ‘Collection’ for $100,000, believing it to be the genuine article, with Diya and Templar splitting the proceeds.

A Bit Of Trivia

• Freddie Francis, the director of this episode, also directed Peter in ‘The Innocents’.
• Peter hated ‘The Gadic Collection’ and never watched it.
• In the 2015 Channel 4 documentary, ‘It Was Alight In The Sixties’, Peter was hauled over the coals for ‘Blacking-Up’ to play Turen. The condescending producer of the programme didn’t appear to realise that white actors playing ethic characters was the done thing back in the 1960s, and that Peter wasn’t unique in doing this.