The Zoo Gang
Encyclopedia
The Zoo Gang was a 1974 ITC Entertainment
drama series that ran for six one-hour colour episodes, based on the 1971 book of the same name by Paul Gallico
.
Six resistance fighters, known only by their animal-based code names, fought during World War II
. Their efforts came to a bloody stop when one of their number, "the Wolf", betrayed them to the Gestapo. In their interrogation, one of their number, Claude Roget, the husband of Manouche ("the Leopard") is shot before her eyes. Thirty years later, Thomas Devon ("the Elephant") spots the Wolf in his shoppe. The surviving members of the Zoo Gang drop what they are doing and rendezvous for vengeance. The series follows the adventures of the remaining gang of four resistance
fighters reunited 30 years later to scam
habitual con artists and criminals in order to take their money and use it for good causes.
The series is set on the French Riviera
in Nice
. Despite their ages, they put their skills and experience to use to raise enough money to construct a hospital in the memory of Claude. The gang is (reluctantly) aided by the son of Manouche and Claude, an inspector in the French police.
The gang are known by their wartime codenames, which were based on animals - hence The Zoo Gang. Guest stars included Philip Madoc
, Peter Cushing
, Jacqueline Pearce
, and Doctor Who
villain Roger Delgado
.
The complete series was released on Region 2 DVD
on July 2, 2007. Actor Barry Morse
, The Tiger, was the last surviving actor from the series and provides an introduction in the 'extras' of the DVD
set.
transmission:
1 Revenge: Post-Dated
2 Mindless Murder
3 African Misfire
4 The Lion Hunt
5 The Counterfeit Trap
6 The Twisted Cross
and Linda McCartney
.
The score was composed by Ken Thorne
.
Both are available on the Network
compilation : The Music Of ITC,
Network 7959016.
ITC Entertainment
The Incorporated Television Company was a British television company largely involved in production and distribution. It was founded by Lew Grade.-History:...
drama series that ran for six one-hour colour episodes, based on the 1971 book of the same name by Paul Gallico
Paul Gallico
Paul William Gallico was a successful American novelist, short story and sports writer. Many of his works were adapted for motion pictures...
.
Six resistance fighters, known only by their animal-based code names, fought during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Their efforts came to a bloody stop when one of their number, "the Wolf", betrayed them to the Gestapo. In their interrogation, one of their number, Claude Roget, the husband of Manouche ("the Leopard") is shot before her eyes. Thirty years later, Thomas Devon ("the Elephant") spots the Wolf in his shoppe. The surviving members of the Zoo Gang drop what they are doing and rendezvous for vengeance. The series follows the adventures of the remaining gang of four resistance
Resistance movement
A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...
fighters reunited 30 years later to scam
Confidence trick
A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. A confidence artist is an individual working alone or in concert with others who exploits characteristics of the human psyche such as dishonesty and honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility,...
habitual con artists and criminals in order to take their money and use it for good causes.
The series is set on the French Riviera
French Riviera
The Côte d'Azur, pronounced , often known in English as the French Riviera , is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France, also including the sovereign state of Monaco...
in Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
. Despite their ages, they put their skills and experience to use to raise enough money to construct a hospital in the memory of Claude. The gang is (reluctantly) aided by the son of Manouche and Claude, an inspector in the French police.
The gang are known by their wartime codenames, which were based on animals - hence The Zoo Gang. Guest stars included Philip Madoc
Philip Madoc
Philip Madoc is a Welsh actor who has had many television and film roles.One prominent role was the title character in the BBC Wales drama The Life and Times of David Lloyd George...
, Peter Cushing
Peter Cushing
Peter Wilton Cushing, OBE was an English actor, known for his many appearances in Hammer Films, in which he played the handsome but sinister scientist Baron Frankenstein and the vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing, amongst many other roles, often appearing opposite Christopher Lee, and occasionally...
, Jacqueline Pearce
Jacqueline Pearce
Jacqueline Pearce is a British actress.-Career:Jacqueline Pearce trained at the British stage school RADA and at Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio in Los Angeles....
, and Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
villain Roger Delgado
Roger Delgado
Roger Caesar Marius Bernard de Delgado Torres Castillo Roberto was an English actor, best known for his role as the first Master in Doctor Who....
.
The complete series was released on Region 2 DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
on July 2, 2007. Actor Barry Morse
Barry Morse
Herbert "Barry" Morse was an Anglo-Canadian actor of stage, screen, and radio best known for his roles in the ABC television series The Fugitive and the British sci-fi drama Space: 1999...
, The Tiger, was the last surviving actor from the series and provides an introduction in the 'extras' of the DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
set.
Main cast
- Barry MorseBarry MorseHerbert "Barry" Morse was an Anglo-Canadian actor of stage, screen, and radio best known for his roles in the ABC television series The Fugitive and the British sci-fi drama Space: 1999...
as Alec Marlowe - The Tiger - Canadian, now working as a vehicle mechanic. - Lilli PalmerLilli PalmerLilli Palmer , born Lilli Marie Peiser, was a German actress. She won the Volpi Cup, the Deutscher Filmpreis three times, and was nominated twice for a Golden Globe Award.-Life and career:...
as Manouche Roget - The Leopard - French, running a small cafe "Les Pecheurs" in Nice. - Brian KeithBrian KeithBrian Keith was an American film, television, and stage actor who in his four decade-long career gained recognition for his work in movies such as the 1961 Disney family film The Parent Trap, the 1966 comedy The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, and the 1975 adventure saga The Wind and...
as Steven Halliday - The Fox - American, now a businessman. - John MillsJohn MillsSir John Mills CBE , born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills, was an English actor who made more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades.-Life and career:...
as Thomas Devon - The Elephant - English, running a jewellery shop in Nice, was given his nickname because of his excellent memory.
Episode list
This episode list is in airdate order, based on the original ATVAssociated TeleVision
Associated Television, often referred to as ATV, was a British television company, holder of various licences to broadcast on the ITV network from 24 September 1955 until 00:34 on 1 January 1982...
transmission:
1 Revenge: Post-Dated
-
- Thomas sees a former war criminal (Walter GotellWalter GotellWalter Gotell was a German actor, known for his role as General Gogol, head of the KGB, in the James Bond film series.Gotell was born in Bonn, Germany; his family emigrated to the United Kingdom after the Nazis came to power...
) in the town and tells Manouche. Together they decide to contact their former comrades, who come to France and help deliver the criminal to the police. After they complete the mission Alec and Steven decide to stay on a while with their old friends.
- Thomas sees a former war criminal (Walter Gotell
2 Mindless Murder
-
- The gang uncovers extortion racketeers who are targeting two married movie stars (Ingrid PittIngrid PittIngrid Pitt was an actress best known for her work in horror films of the 1960s and 1970s.-Background:Pitt was born Ingoushka Petrov in Warsaw, Poland to a German father of Russian descent and a Polish Jewish mother. During World War II she and her family were imprisoned in a concentration camp...
and Clinton Greyn). The extortionists want the Morning Star, a rare diamond in the care of the Martins. The gang decides to take out the crooks, but first they have to get their hands on the well-secured diamond themselves.
- The gang uncovers extortion racketeers who are targeting two married movie stars (Ingrid Pitt
3 African Misfire
-
- The art collection of a deposed African president (Earl CameronEarl Cameron (actor)Earl Cameron, CBE is a Bermudian actor. He is known as one of the first black actors to break the "colour bar" in the United Kingdom, along with Cy Grant...
) is stolen and the gang sets about recovering it, only to discover they know the thief - a former wartime colleague.
- The art collection of a deposed African president (Earl Cameron
4 The Lion Hunt
-
- When the revolutionary Pedro Ortega - 'El Leon' (Roger DelgadoRoger DelgadoRoger Caesar Marius Bernard de Delgado Torres Castillo Roberto was an English actor, best known for his role as the first Master in Doctor Who....
) - enters France and is accidentally arrested by Manouche's son Georges, the police and the ministry need him released again. Georges gets the gang to get El Leon out of prison but then they find that the minister had arranged a deal with El Leon for a million Francs but was going to double-cross him, so the gang set about saving the day.
- When the revolutionary Pedro Ortega - 'El Leon' (Roger Delgado
5 The Counterfeit Trap
-
- The gang decides to stop a gold-smuggling ring, paying for the gold with counterfeit French FrancFrench francThe franc was a currency of France. Along with the Spanish peseta, it was also a de facto currency used in Andorra . Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money...
s. Alec gets arrested when the police think he killed the couriers. Peter CushingPeter CushingPeter Wilton Cushing, OBE was an English actor, known for his many appearances in Hammer Films, in which he played the handsome but sinister scientist Baron Frankenstein and the vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing, amongst many other roles, often appearing opposite Christopher Lee, and occasionally...
stars as the local investigating magistrate with Jacqueline PearceJacqueline PearceJacqueline Pearce is a British actress.-Career:Jacqueline Pearce trained at the British stage school RADA and at Lee Strasberg's Actors Studio in Los Angeles....
as his wife.
- The gang decides to stop a gold-smuggling ring, paying for the gold with counterfeit French Franc
6 The Twisted Cross
-
- The gang comes to the aid of a German (Bernard KayBernard KayBernard Kay is a British actor with an extensive theatre, television and film repertoire.Kay began his working life as a reporter on Bolton Evening News, and a stringer for The Manchester Guardian. He was conscripted in 1946 and started acting in the army...
) being attacked in an alley. It turns out that he is the only one who knows the location of a submarineSubmarineA submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
full of sunken treasure. The gang agrees to help him in return for a share of the loot to pay for Claude's memorial hospital. They dive for the treasure and recover the only surviving piece - a jeweled swastika - which is immediately confiscated by French custom officers. But they quickly discover that the custom officers are fakes who killed the real officers, and the gang comes up with a plan to recover the piece and make a little more money.
- The gang comes to the aid of a German (Bernard Kay
Music
The series theme music was composed by PaulPaul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
and Linda McCartney
Linda McCartney
Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney was an American photographer, musician and animal rights activist. Her father and mother were Lee Eastman and Louise Sara Lindner Eastman....
.
The score was composed by Ken Thorne
Ken Thorne
Kenneth Thorne is a British-American television and film score composer.- Early life :Thorne was born in East Dereham, a town in the English county of Norfolk. Thorne began his musical career as a pianist with the big bands of England during the 1940s, playing at night clubs and the dance halls...
.
Both are available on the Network
Network Records
Network Records was a rave music independent record label, based in Birmingham, England, during the late 1980s and mid 1990s.The label concentrated on bringing Garage music to Britain & taking UK House music to a new level as well as playing a massive role in the development of Early Hardcore and...
compilation : The Music Of ITC,
Network 7959016.