The Man in Room 17

Richard "Slartibartfast" Vernon seems hardly younger here than he was in The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Sandbaggers or Yes Minister despite this being from about 15 years earlier than any of those series. Here he's the lead, ably assisted by Michael "Percy Alleline" Aldridge (season 1) or Denholm "Marcus Brody" Elliott (season 2), as they go about solving crimes and catching spies without ever leaving the titular Room 17 - a secret government department with a wide-ranging security brief that allows them to get involved in whatever the plot requires them to this week.

There's a lot of humour evident in this series, presaging some of the later telefantasy double-acts such as Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) or The Persuaders! (and contemporary with The Avengers just as it was taking that shape). In the first season it is largely confined to the interplay between the two leads as their egos clash, and perhaps also in their condescending attitude towards their notional superiors at Scotland Yard (usually in the form of Deputy Commissioner Sir Geoffrey Norton, played by Willoughby Goddard in a similar style to how he would later play Sir Jason in The Mind of Mr. J. G. Reeder), while the stories themselves were pretty straight detective or spy plots for the most part.

I feel this changed in season two, as the plots grew more outlandish and the limits of the format were tested, the comedic side came to prevail. All this leaves season one the better of the two in terms of story, but the second season is the funnier. Also, they funked up the theme music for season two (though not to the same extent as they did with The Power Game, thankfully!), and so it has the more dated title sequence as a result.