The Long Chase

John and his father are on a bird watching holiday in Devon when John's father mysteriously vanishes. Searching along the cliffs, John spots a young woman (Susan) stranded by the tide and helps her back to land. Together, John and Susan set out to find John's father, a disgraced police officer suspected of involvement with an international criminal gang. Their adventures lead them across the British Isles, taking in some beautiful and sometimes bleak scenery and small isolated villages along the way, until they end up Edinburgh. When this went out on BBC1 in 1972 I was hooked from the start. The story has everything that drew in a 12 year old school child in those days: a summer holiday, a kidnapping, the long search to unravel the mystery, and plenty of spills and thrills along the way. The two young leads are terrific, and the adult cast (which includes Glyn Houston as John's father Tom) is also suitably impressive. Hilary Mantle especially is most memorable in his role as a sinister, leather clad, motorcycle riding and almost silent baddie. Aired on BBC 1 between September and December 1972, in 13 episodes, this series has never been repeated and never released on video or DVD. Made in the days when children's and young adult drama was neither patronising nor trivial.