Sapphire and Steel was a dark, brooding British science fiction/fantasy TV series starring David McCallum (Steel) and Joanna Lumley (Sapphire). It enjoyed a 34-episode run in the half-hour format between 1979 and 1982. The creation of Peter J Hammond, Sapphire and Steel was produced and directed by Shaun O'Riordan who turned the constraints of a low budget -- studio-based production and almost no location work -- into strengths. Six title-less serials of varying length -- between four and eight episodes -- were made.
Almost nothing about the protagonists -- who or what they were, where they came from, and who they worked for -- was ever revealed. All we know is that they were not human and had long lifespans and paranormal powers, and their job was to safeguard the structure of Time. They could communicate telepathically -- verbally and non-verbally -- and frequently did so while simultaneously conducting spoken conversations. They had a hundred and twenty-five colleagues, twelve of whom could not be trusted, and an unspecified number of enemies who resented their success and independence.
Their partnership appeared to be unusual even among elementals and attempts had been made to break it in the past: they had been approached separately by agents of another power and presumably invited to change their allegiances. It is perhaps significant that although they did not mention this fact to each other until Assignment 6, neither felt betrayed by the omission.
Their personalities seemed to be very different -- Steel was cold and abrupt, Sapphire was warm and charming -- but they had several characteristics in common: both of them could be calculating, manipulative, and extremely ruthless. They also had a strong sense of duty that saw them putting themselves in harm's way again and again, and they seemed to care at some level for the people whose lives were affected by the forces it was their job to fight.
The first two Assignments were so compelling that I maintained an interest in the series that survived a move to the UK; the discovery that Assignments Three to Five and come and gone and I'd missed them; the loss in a burglary of my precious S&S videotape which had been painstakingly compiled over the course of fourteen weeks; numerous failed attempts to order the novelization which had gone out of print even before it stopped being listed in Star Books catalogues; the strangeness of Assignment Six and the sense of loss it engendered; another two major relocations. A Web search in 1998, prompted by idle curiosity, started a long chain of events that culminated in the acquisition of a complete set of the official videos which had by then been deleted from the ITC catalogue.
The recent DVD release has afforded me the pleasure of watching the entire series repeatedly without worrying about tape wear, which in its turn has re-ignited an enthusiasm dormant for twenty-odd years. This page is the result.
It is rumoured that around the time of the official VHS release, plans were made to revive the series -- that Hammond, O'Riordan, McCallum and Lumley had agreed to do the show -- and that the project was stopped in its tracks because the original contracts had been lost and no one knew who owned the rights. If anyone can confirm or deny this, please let me know.
The show's premise allows for a new series to pick up exactly where the last Assignment left off, with the same principal cast. I hope that a producer somewhere will take up the challenge to re-create the magic that is Sapphire and Steel. There can be no better present for the fans -- existing and potential -- than to have a repeat broadcast of the entire series, followed by new episodes, in 2004 -- the year of the show's 25th anniversary...
 | ||||
| Introduction to the 1992 edition of the Sapphire and Steel novel | Peter J Hammond | 1992 | 
| |
| Excerpt from Stare Back And Smile | Joanna Lumley | 1989 |
| |
| Production notes from the Region 2 DVD | uncredited | 2002 |
| |
| Against The Elements | Nigel Andrews | -- | Visit this site | |
| Tales of Mystery and Imagination | David Sheldrick | Oct 1999 | Visit this site | |
| Sapphire and Steel: Your questions answered | Clare O'Farrell | 1998 | Visit this site | |
| Personality and Partnership (PDF, 170KB) | Marina Chong | 02 Jan 2003 |
| |
| Cool Operators | Kenny Davidson | -- | Visit this site | |
| Past Perfect | Stephen O'Brien | -- | Visit this site | |
| Sapphire and Steel | Andrew Martin | Aug 1992 | Visit this site | |
| SAPPHIRE & STEEL: PETER J HAMMOND Assigned! | Jamie Woolley | Dec 1992 | Visit this site | |
| Sapphire and Steel, by Numbers | Rupert Laight | Oct 2001 | Visit this site | |
| Sapphire and Steel | Munchkin | 31 May 2000 | Visit this site | |
| TV Times article | Linda Hawkins | 05 Jul 1979 |
| |
|
|
||||
|
||||
| Peter J Hammond - An Interview | Rob Stanley | -- |
| |
| P J Hammond - An Interview | The Anorak | 2004 | Visit this site | |
| Shaun O'Riordan - An Interview | Rob Stanley | 1996 |
| |
| David Foster - An Interview | The Anorak | 2006 | Visit this site | |
| Joanna Lumley and David McCallum on Wogan | transcript by The Anorak | 18 Sept 1989 | Visit this site | |
| Channel 4's "Top Ten TV" | transcript by Shirley Jay | 13 Oct 2001 | Visit this site | |
| Neil Guy - An Interview | The Anorak | 2001 | Visit this site | |
| ||||
| Sapphire And Steel: Assignments 1 to 3 | Dom Robinson | DVD Fever | ||
| Sapphire And Steel: Assignments 4 to 6 | Rich Goodman | DVD Reviewer | ||
| Sapphire and Steel | Roy Gill | DVD Times | ||
| Sapphire and Steel - Assignments Four to Six | Roy Gill | DVD Times | ||
| Sapphire And Steel: Assignments I, II & III | -- | Planet 14 | ||
| Sapphire And Steel: Assignments IV, V & VI | -- | Planet 14 | ||
| DVD Review | Morgan Hart | Scifind | ||
| Sapphire and Steel: Assignments One to Three | Richard McGinlay | Sci-fi Online | ||
| Sapphire and Steel: Assignments Four to Six | Richard McGinlay | Sci-fi Online | ||
| ||||
| Stand-alone stories: | ||||
| Artist's Impression | Paul Townsend | 1997 |
| |
| Finger Of Blood | uncredited | 1979 | From the Sapphire and Steel Annual |
|
| Parting Of Ways | Jonathan Day | 1999 | X-Men/Sapphire and Steel crossover |
|
| Peter J Hammond Must Die! | Rob Stanley | 1999 |
| |
| Time Rend | Jamas Enright | 1997 | Red Dwarf/Sapphire and Steel crossover |
|
| Jonathan Day's Tomorrow People / Sapphire and Steel crossover series: | ||||
| Jonathan Day has invited others to come play in his sandbox. The rules of his universe are in the author's notes to Moving. If you wish to contribute a story for the series (or even a stand-alone story), please send an outline to webthing. | ||||
| The Creature | Jonathan Day | 18 April 1999 | Prequel to Moving |
|
| Moving | Jonathan Day | 16 April 1999 |
| |
| Silver's Stand | Jonathan Day | 19 April 1999 | Post-Moving and Assignment 6. |
|
| External Links: | ||||
| The Fish Tank | Wandering Lanes | ---- | Adult site; G-rating. | |
| Eva A. Enblom's Fanfic page | ||||
| Jill Sylvan's Fanfic page | ||||
| ||||
| The Anorak Zone: Sapphire and Steel | The Anorak | Articles, interviews, reviews. Comprehensive. | ||
| Sapphire and Steel Guide | Steve Phillips | Overview, episode guide, production info. | ||
| Sapphire and Steel Episode Guide | Andrew Pixley | Overview, episode guide, production info. | ||
| Big Finish Productions: Sapphire and Steel | The new audio adventures of Saphhire and Steel. | |||
| Sapphire and Steel: The Comic Strip Assignments | Animus-web | Commentary on the Look-In Sapphire and Steel comic strips. | ||
| Sapphire and Steel: The Look-In Comicstrip Adventures Archive | The Force | Comic strip archive. | ||
| Sapphire and Steel | Jill Sylvan | Overview, novelized transcripts, fan fiction | ||
| Sapphire and Steel: Who Are They? | Clare O'Farrell | Articles and links | ||
| Classic SciFi and Cult TV: Sapphire and Steel | Shirley Jay | Articles and links | ||
| Sapphire and Steel | Andrew Wright | Articles, episode guide and links | ||
| Sapphire and Steel | Jonathan Boakes | Short articles, episode guide | ||
| Katspace: Sapphire And Steel | Kathryn Andersen | Articles, episode guide and links | ||
 | ||||
| The Sapphire and Steel Cafe | EZBoard | Your host: The Anorak. No advertising, no spam. | ||
| Sapphire and Steel | Yahoo Groups | Where almost everyone on the old Herald list went, so come visit! Advertisement-laden. Web and rather spotty email interface. Free accounts. | ||
 | ||||
| David McCallum Fans Online | An excellent fan-run site. | |||
| Cyril Ornadel | Biographical notes and credits. | |||
| Cyril Ornadel | Biographical notes and musical theatre credits. | |||
| VR.5 | David McCallum had a small recurring role in this short-lived 1995 series (starring Lori Singer, Michael Easton and Anthony Stewart Head) which would have been expanded and further developed in season 2. This, unfortunately, did not eventuate. | |||