Hannay

Until I reached my teen years, I really wasn't one for reading fiction. Then, thanks to a Canadian-born English teacher, I 'discovered' C S Forester, and I began to appreciate a good story in book format!

(By the way, the book that he made us read was THE SHIP, which was Forester's fictionalised account of the Battle of Sirte, and which featured as its main characters the crew of the cruiser HMS Artemis.)

I happened to mention my enjoyment of Forester's books to a librarian ... and they suggested that I ought to try several other authors, including Rudyard Kipling and John Buchan. I followed this advice ... and I was soon hooked! In particular, I enjoyed the latter author's stories that featured Richard Hannay, later Major-General Sir Richard Hannay KCB DSO OBE and his cronies:

• Mary Lamington, later Lady Mary Hannay
• Ludovic 'Sandy' Gustavus Arbuthnot, later 16th Lord Clanroyden
• Barbara, Lady Clanroyden
• Sir Archie Roylance
• Janet, Lady Roylance
• John Scantlebury Blenkiron
• Peter Pienaar

I began with THE THIRTY-NINE STEPS, which I had seen on film in two versions:

• Alfred Hitchcocks 1935 version, which starred Robert Donat.
• Ralph Thomas' 1959 version, which starred Kenneth More.

However, the film version of the story that - in my opinion - keeps closest to the original story, is the 1978 version, which starred Robert Powell.

Robert Powell as Richard Hannay.

Not only that, but it proved so popular that it resulted in a spin-off television series that was simply named Hannay.

By coincidence, the latter is currently being televised by the Talking Pictures TV Freeview channel, and I have been watching them. There are two series and the episodes are as follows:

• Series 1
• The Fellowship of the Black Stone
• A Point of Honour 
• Voyage into Fear
• Death With Due Notice
• Act of Riot
• The Hazard of the Die
• Series 2
• Coup de Grace
• The Terrors of the Earth
• Double Jeopardy
• The Good Samaritan
• That Rough Music
• The Confidence Man
• Say The Bells of Shoreditch

The stories are not based on anything written by John Buchan, but they are very much in their mould, and are set in the period immediately before the outbreak of the Great War. (i.e. the Belle Époque). There is one recurring villain in both series, Count Von Schwabing, who is played with great gusto by Gavin Richards ... who is probably better known for the role of Captain Alberto Bertorelli in the Second World War comedy, 'ALLO, 'ALLO.