Books by Richard McGinlay

The series that launched a career and inspired a television legend. The cases of POLICE SURGEON uncovered, described and explored! Dr Brent's Casebook tells the story of Police Surgeon, a short-lived 1960 television series that gave Ian Hendry (The Lotus Eaters, Get Carter) his first regular starring role. It made its mark in TV history not for what it was but for what it led to - the world beating show The Avengers. Unlike its illustrious successor, Police Surgeon has faded from public memory and has rarely been revisited for the purposes of research or retrospective celebration. Richard McGinlay and Alan Hayes now redress the balance, revealing information about the creation of the series, its production, transmission and narratives - including the mysterious 'Diplomatic Immunity', which never appeared in TV listings - and the circumstances that caused 'Police Surgeon' to be brought to a sudden end after just 13 weeks.

Two Against the Underworld brings together eight years of research to tell the story of The Avengers from both sides of the camera. It has now been further revised following the recovery of the episode Tunnel of Fear. The authors lift the lid on all 26 Series 1 episodes. Comprehensive chapters detail the narratives in extended synopsis form, as well as the production, transmission and reception of each episode, and the talented personnel who made them. The creation of The Avengers, Ian Hendry's departure, the series' destiny and the mystery of the missing episodes are explored in a series of essays, each of which has been revised. Avengers writer Roger Marshall and Neil Hendry both contribute forewords to this volume. The book also boasts 70 pages of appendices that deal in depth with the unproduced episodes of Series 1, Keel and Steed's further adventures in the comic strip The Drug Pedlar and the novel Too Many Targets, and much more.