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The Troubleshooters

The Troubleshooters

★ 7.3/10•1965•1h 0m•Drama
Similars

The Troubleshooters is a British television series made by the BBC between 1965 and 1972, created by John Elliot. During its run, the series made the transition from black and white to colour transmissions. The series was based around an international oil company – the "Mogul" of the title. The first series was mostly concerned with the internal politics within the Mogul organisation, with episodes revolving around industrial espionage, internal fraud and negligence almost leading to an accident on a North Sea oil rig.

StatusEnded
Runtime1h 0m
LanguageEN
First Air DateJul 7, 1965

Episodes

E150m

Kelly's Eye

Mogul's North Sea rig Kelly's Eye strikes a small and worthless pocket of oil, but word of the find reaches the newspapers and television before the company can contain it. Brian Stead wants the man responsible identified and dismissed, and the job falls to Peter Thornton. Only three men from the rig had the chance to talk, and one of them is among Thornton's closest friends.

Jul 7, 1965

E249m

Young Turk

After Mogul's representative dies in the desert, Brian Stead sends his troubleshooter Robert Driscoll to take over talks for a valuable Middle East oil concession. Driscoll's brash approach offends Charles Andrews, the veteran area manager, who had hoped to end his long career by winning the deal himself. With an American rival closing in, Driscoll brushes aside local advice and presses the sheik for a quick agreement.

Jul 14, 1965

E355m

Safety Man

Personnel officer Derek Prentice grows worried that Ron Smith, the safety officer at a Mogul refinery, is becoming mentally unstable. Smith, a solitary man, has begun a romance with Prentice's secretary Gwyneth Evans, who refuses to report on him. With royalty due to tour the refinery, Prentice's attempt to have Smith transferred is blocked by his superiors and tension between the two men comes to a head.

Jul 21, 1965

E447m

Wildcat

Ordered by the government to surrender one of its two exploration areas in West Africa, Mogul sends Peter Thornton to oversee the handover. Geologist Sam Okeke is sure the coastal swamps hold oil and wins approval for a speculative well first. But Okeke is burdened by doubts about staking his career on one call, guilt over his ailing friend Alan Boyd in the field, and pressure from his tribal chief to leave the company.

Jul 28, 1965

E549m

Tosh and Nora

At 55, hard-living tanker seaman Tosh Brinkwater resolves to settle down as his partner Nora prepares to give birth. He turns to his old shipmate Brian Stead, who promises to find him quiet work on land and a flight home in time for the baby. Then a supertanker breaks down, and Robert Driscoll's plan to reroute smaller vessels to cover its cargo puts Tosh's homecoming in doubt.

Aug 4, 1965

E645m

The Schloss Belt

Mogul has never sold oil in Germany, so Brian Stead sends Robert Driscoll and Willy Izard to assess the market. The choice lies between buying the small independent firm E.V.A. and agreeing a crude oil supply deal with the much larger Deutsche Petrole. Both companies set out to court Driscoll, one with the nightlife of Hamburg and the other with sophistication and a hint of decadence.

Aug 11, 1965

E751m

Out of Range

Fresh from university, David Izard starts work as a Mogul geologist in Libya under veteran Chris Darnley, who suspects the young man owes his post to his father Willy, Mogul's company secretary. Darnley's distrust of head office deepens when Peter Thornton comes to Tripoli to overhaul the exploration effort. On a survey deep in the desert, David is eager to prove himself, and the party begins to take risks.

Aug 18, 1965

E849m

The Way It Crumbles

Former advertising man Robert Driscoll proposes lifting Mogul's image by putting money into a grand prix team, a plan Brian Stead opposes on both moral and commercial grounds. Driscoll gains support from the managing director and from ambitious account executive Hillary Dawson. The team they favour has a promising new car but no money, and much rests on a demonstration run at Goodwood.

Aug 25, 1965

E951m

A Job for Willy

Mogul's new rig is almost finished at a yard on the Tyne when foreman Rogers dismisses Willy Murtagh for unsafe work. Willy, a vulnerable young man whose late father was a respected union leader, is a favourite of the workforce, and the men respond with a work to rule. Sent north by Brian Stead, Peter Thornton and Derek Prentice try to settle the dispute before it turns into a full strike.

Sep 1, 1965

E1050m

Meet Miss Mogul

Sandra Spratt leaves her father's filling station forecourt behind when she is chosen as Miss Mogul, the face of a costly campaign to boost petrol sales. Derek Prentice is assigned to look after her and make sure she carries out her duties, a task that brings him moral and emotional difficulties. Meanwhile her boyfriend Instant Turner and her grandmother are determined to bring her home.

Sep 8, 1965

E1147m

Stoneface

Robert Driscoll is assessing Mojida, an Iroquois who has risen to take charge of Mogul drilling in the far north of Canada, as a possible troubleshooter. Mojida's deputy Godin is French Canadian, heir to an old enmity, and the two disagree over how to handle a gas pocket the rig has struck. While Mojida is away meeting Driscoll in New York, Godin decides to proceed his own way.

Sep 15, 1965

E1249m

Driver of the Year

Peter Thornton expects an easy trip when he is sent to present Mogul's Driver of the Year award at a depot outside Newcastle. After his car fails on the road, he accepts a ride with Chas Wilson, a cheerful tanker driver whose creed is never to be tied down. A string of mishaps follows, and Thornton finds himself drawn into Chas's carefree outlook on life.

Sep 22, 1965

E1347m

Borrowed Time

Brian Stead, now deputy managing director, faces a campaign to unseat him led by financial director Martin Lister. A heart scare while touring the Middle East hands his rivals fresh ammunition, and Stead dismays his allies by stepping back from the fight. Travelling home at leisure with secretary Jane Webb, he grows fond of her and begins to imagine a quiet retirement.

Sep 29, 1965

Actors

Geoffrey Keen

Geoffrey Keen

Brian Stead

Ray Barrett

Ray Barrett

Peter Thornton

Philip Latham

Philip Latham

Willy Izard

John Carson

John Carson

James Langley

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