Today's Tune: "The Wild, The Willing And The Innocent" By UFO

Happy Birthday Ian McShane. McShane was born on September 29, 1942 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England to his mother Irene (Maiden name - Cowley) and father Harry McShane. Harry McShane was a Scottish born professional footballer (soccer player) with Manchester United and Hamilton Academical. Ian grew up in Urmston, Manchester, England.

Actor Ian McShane has conquered films, stage and television. He is most well known to American public television viewers for the comedy/mystery television series Lovejoy, which takes place in rural East Anglia. He played the lead character by the same name, who was an antiques dealer who solved mysteries, whilst also being a bit of a lad. It's one of my favorite shows, and was based on the novels by John Grant (under the pen name Jonathan Gash). McShane's other works include films 'Ordeal By Innocence', 'Too Scared To Scream' and 'Shrek The Third'. Space: 1999, Trust and Deadwood are among his other TV appearances.

McShane's first film was the British romantic drama film 'The Wild And The Willing'. This 1962 movie started Ian well on his way to being a heartthrob and a fine actor. A very young Jeremy Brett ('War And Peace', Rebecca, Sherlock Holmes) and John Hurt ('A Man For All Seasons', The Sweeney, 'Alien')were introduced as well. Life at University, romance, lust, racism, the class system and youthful exploits feature in this film. Currently, you can watch it in it's entirety on YouTube. With a similar title, the song "The Wild, The Willing And The Innocent" by UFO is our 'Today's Tune'.

UFO - "The Wild, The Willing And The Innocent"

Today's Tune: Themes From 'The Avengers' And 'Space: 1999'

Space: 1999 title image from Season 1.

Theme music from two great British television shows make the cut today. Both were used in shows involving English TV and film director and screenwriter Charles Crichton. Crichton worked on several successful films, including the 1951 movie 'The Lavender Hill Mob' (Directed) and 'A Fish Called Wanda' (Co-wrote and directed). We celebrate his birth date however with the theme music from the highly popular 1960s television programme The Avengers (Directed 5 episodes 1965-1968) and 1970s science fiction masterpiece Space: 1999 (Directed). It's somewhat ironic that Crichton died on September 14, 1999, while the first episode of Space: 1999 involves a disastrous accident that sends the Earth's Moon and the 311 inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha out of it's orbit on September 13, 1999.

Also born on the 6th of August were: 1911 - American actress of film, stage and radio Lucille Ball (My Favorite Husband, I Love Lucy, 'Your's, Mine And Ours'), 1917 - American film star Robert Mitchum ('The Story Of G.I. Joe', 'Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison', 'Cape Fear' )and in 1970 - Indian-American filmmaker and screenwriter M. Knight Shyamalan ('The Sixth Sense', 'Unbreakable', 'Signs').

Deaths on this date include English actor Sir Cedric Hardwicke ('The Hunchback Of Notre Dame', A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court , 'The Ten Commandments') in 1964, and American radio and television news reporter Harry Reasoner passed away in 1991.

Important history for August 6: 1945 - US dropped atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, 1961 - Russian Cosmonaut Gherman Titov spent one whole day in Earth's orbit.

The Avengers Series 5 Theme (Laurie Johnson)



Space: 1999 Series 1 Theme (Barry Gray)

R.I.P. Patrick Troughton

Patrick Troughton at the TARDIS console in Doctor Who.

Patrick Troughton, was born on March 25, 1920 and died on March 28, 1987. He was an English actor who appeared in many movies and British television shows. Troughton was the very first actor to play Robin Hood (1953 series) on television. Other early work included the part of Sir Andrew Ffoulkes in The Adventures Of The Scarlet Pimpernel (1954 - 1955 ATV) and Phineas in Jason And The Argonauts (1963 Film). Patrick was Father Brennan in The Omen (1976 Film). He also made an appearance on the famed TV mystery series Inspector Morse (in 1987), as well as the wonderful science fiction television series Space: 1999 (in 1978). The list goes on and on, but he will always be remembered most for playing the role of the second incarnation (1966 - 1969) of Doctor Who (BBC TV) in the form of a "cosmic hobo".

Patrick Troughton, a heavy smoker (had one lung removed) with a serious heart condition (heart attack in 1978 and 1984), battled bad health for years. Yet, he lived his life as if he had nothing to worry about. Troughton always ignored warnings from his doctors and kept up with a busy schedule. On March 27, 1987, he was in Columbus, Georgia (USA) and participated in a full day of strenuous activities during 'Magnum Opus Con II', a Doctor Who science fiction convention. Around 7:25 AM on March 28th, he suffered his third major heart attack and died at the age of 67 in his hotel room just after ordering breakfast.

Part of 2003 Doctor Who documentary.
Includes 2nd Doctor - Patrick Troughton.



Inspector Morse - "The Dead Of Jericho" Clip.
Patrick Troughton plays a blackmailing pervert.