Ace Of Wands - The Meddlers.

After my previous, not particularly positive review of The Tomorrow People, we stay in the realm of ITV children’s series from the 70s with Ace Of Wands. Thankfully, this review is going to be a bit more positive.

Ace Of Wands is a fairly obscure fantasy show that ran on ITV from 1970 to 1972 for three series. Sadly, as is the case with a lot of shows from that era, ITV wiped the complete first two series, leaving only the third and final series. This was released in the UK in a very nice four-DVD box set, which through the magic of the internet, I have obtained.

The general set-up of the show is thus: Tarot is a stage magician with fantastic powers and appalling dress sense. Accompanied by his faithful owl; Ozymandias, and various young assistants, he investigates oddities and unexplained goings-on. Doesn’t actually seem to do much in the way of stage magic, oddly, but I guess that wouldn’t very exciting to watch.

For the first two series, he was accompanied by Lulli, a young psychic girl, and Sam, a reformed cockney criminal. For this third series, they’ve buggered off, and now he meets Mikki, yet another psychic girl, and her brother, Chas, a photographer.

It’s a fairly standard set-up, not a million miles away from Doctor Who, though a bit more down to earth. The first story is a three-parter, entitled The Meddlers, by PJ Hammond, a writer best known for Sapphire and Steel.

Despite the fact that this is the third series, the loss of the first two does not really impede your watching of this. We start off with Tarot meeting Mikki and Chas for the first time, so we get all the introductions to the characters and concepts we need. A first time viewer such as myself can follow along easily. Apart from an off-hand reference to his previous partners, there may as well have been no prior series.

Mind you, the reference we do get is very strange. We’re told that Sam never had what it took to help out, and is now a street sweeper, and Lulli has gotten married. It’s a weirdly mean spirited way to write out your old characters. It’s as if a new companion’s first story in Doctor Who starts with the Doctor mentioning the prior assistant, then saying that they left because they were crap, and he’s glad to be rid of them. I suppose that if I’d seen the first two series, I might be upset at the way they were written out, but as it is, it’s just odd.

Anyway, Tarot, our badly dressed hero, reads a newspaper ad advertising a fab new magic trick, so he decides to track down the person who placed the ad, Chasm Enterprises, located in a small London marketplace. This is run by Chas and Mikki. While he is there, he stumbles on a plan to oust the locals by a sinister businessman, as well as a second plan to locate some buried treasure located under the market square.

It’s a fairly simple plot, and the revelations of who is behind what won’t surprise you, but this is a solid piece of television. The characters are pretty thin, but they’re as developed as they need to be, and well played. Tarot, even when dressed in a flared pink suit, makes for a likable and easy going leading man, while the two assistants are both played well. The interplay between the three is also well written and played, making you believe that these are becoming fast friends.

Another plus is the general atmosphere. There is a foreboding atmosphere over the whole thing, from the constant shots of a mysterious man watching the market from an office building, a mysterious black car with a beautiful chauffeur prowling the streets, and a sinister traveling band (no, really). That last one leads to more atmosphere - the leader plays the spoons, and in many scenes, spoon playing can be heard in the background, suggesting that they are never far away.

It’s little touches that raises this above The Tomorrow People, for instance. There is a sense of trying to establish a proper mood, of marking this down as something more than the mundane. Here, also, the pace may be slow, but the serial is only as long as it needs to be (3 parts), and the pace keeps moving, never getting bogged down, or padding the episodes out with constant repetition of locations and plot points.

Also, the likeability of the characters is another area of improvement, especially the male lead. Tarot is likeable and genial, but you always get the feeling that behind that is a harder core. He also shows genuine concern for the weak and downtrodden. No unpleasant arrogance or misplaced superiority complexes here, thank goodness.

Some flaws abound. As mentioned above, the pace is slow, as is the case with all TV of this era. Another is the rushed ending. Spoilers may follow, so watch out…

The cast has rushed to find the buried treasure below the market, only to find that it is worthless. All the villains bar the sinister businessman give up and leave, and Tarot, Chas and Mikki decide to work together from now on, and walk off into the sunset. However, then the ground beneath the businessman’s car opens up and swallows the car, presumably killing him. I say presumably because it’s so rushed that I’m only guessing that’s what happens. It’s very strange after the deliberate pace of the prior episodes and it seems very out of place.

Anyway, minor nits aside, Ace Of Wands is well worth watching, if you like British SF and fantasy. The DVD set contains all of the surviving episodes, meaning I’ve got another five or six stories to get through. I enjoyed this once quite a bit, let’s see if the other shows hold up as well.