Spyder's Web
StarringPatricia Cutts
Anthony Ainley
Veronica Carlson
Roger Lloyd-Pack
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes13
Production
Running time50 minutes
Production companyATV
Original release
NetworkITV
Release21 January (1972-01-21) 
14 April 1972 (1972-04-14)

Spyder's Web was a British crime drama television series produced by ATV for ITV and broadcast in 1972.[1] It starred Anthony Ainley as Clive Hawksworth and Patricia Cutts as Charlotte "Lottie" Dean as two secret agents working for the mysterious Spyder organisation in the interests of the British government.

Overview

In common with many other such series of the time, Spyder's Web adopted an ironic approach to its subject matter. The Spyder organisation used as its cover a down-at-heel film company, Arachnid Films, and only Dean and Hawksworth were in on the secret; the company's other employees, Wallis Ackroyd and Albert Mason, believed the cover to be genuine. Indeed, Dean claimed to have won awards for her documentaries. Hawksworth, the "action man," was a knowing caricature of the steely-eyed, jutting-jawed heroes of former times, and was alleged to have been "steeped in Bulldog Drummond from an early age." (His response: "We were just good friends.") Five of the thirteen episodes were written by Roy Clarke, who created Last of the Summer Wine. The programme ran for just one series.

Home media

The series was released on DVD by Network in 2011; eleven of the episodes do not survive in colour[2] - only episodes 7 and 9 of the release were presented as colour episodes.

Cast

Episode list

Episode no. Title First transmission (UK) Director Writer
1"Spyder Secures a Main Strand"21 January 1972Dennis VanceRoy Clarke
2"The Executioners"28 January 1972James GatwardAlfred Shaughnessy
3"Romance on Wheels"4 February 1972James GatwardRoy Clarke
4"The Hafiz Affair"11 February 1972Dorothy DenhamRoy Clarke
5"Life at a Price"18 February 1972Dennis VanceFrank Driscoll
6"Emergency Exit"25 February 1972David WickesDavid Ellis
7"Red Admiral"3 March 1972John CooperAlan Hackney
8"Lies and Dolls"10 March 1972Dennis VanceAlfred Shaughnessy
9"Things That Go Bang in the Night"17 March 1972Ian FordyceMarc Brandel
10"An Almost Modern Man"24 March 1972Dennis VanceRoy Clarke
11"Nobody's Strawberry Fool"31 March 1972John CooperRobert Holmes
12"The Prevalence of Skeletons"7 April 1972Ian FordyceMarc Brandel
13"Rev Counter"14 April 1972Dorothy DenhamRoy Clarke

References

  1. Tise Vahimagi, British Film Institute, ed. (1994). British television: an illustrated guide. Oxford University Press. p. 208. ISBN 978-0-19-818336-5.
  2. "These Programmes, Which We Think are Missing or Somehow Incomplete, Matched Your Search: Spyder's Web". tv-brain. Retrieved 21 January 2022.


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