The Zoo Gang
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This article is about the 1974 drama series. For the Paul McCartney & Wings song of the same title, see Zoo Gang (song). For the 1985 movie of the same title, see The Zoo Gang (film).
The Zoo Gang is a 1974 ITC Entertainment drama series that ran for six one-hour colour episodes, based on the 1971 book of the same title by Paul Gallico.
| The Zoo Gang | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Drama |
| Based on | The Zoo Gang by Paul Gallico |
| Starring | |
| Theme music composer | Paul and Linda McCartney |
| Composer | Ken Thorne |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Producer | Herbert Hirshman |
| Cinematography | Robert Paynter |
| Running time | 49–51 minutes |
| Production company | ATV |
| Original release | |
| Network | ITV |
| Release | 5 April – 10 May 1974 |
Five French Resistance fighters, known by their animal-based code names (the Wolf, the Tiger, the Elephant, the Leopard and the Fox), fought during World War II. Their efforts came to a stop when one of their number, Claude Roget (the Wolf), was betrayed to the Gestapo by a contact called Boucher. During their interrogation of him, Roget—who was the husband of Manouche (the Leopard)--was shot dead before her eyes.
Twenty-eight years later, Thomas Devon (the Elephant) spots Boucher (going under the name of Rosch) in his shop. The surviving members of the Zoo Gang drop what they are doing and rendezvous for vengeance. The rest of the series follows the adventures of the remaining gang of four resistance fighters reunited decades later to scam habitual con artists and criminals in order to take their money and use it for good causes. Despite their ages, they put their skills and experience to use to raise enough money to construct a hospital in memory of Claude. The gang is (reluctantly) aided by the son of Manouche and Claude, an inspector in the French police.
The series is set in Nice on the French Riviera. Guest stars include Philip Madoc, Peter Cushing and Jacqueline Pearce. Roger Delgado also appeared, although he had died in a car crash before the series was broadcast.
- Barry Morse as Alec Marlowe – The Tiger: Canadian, now working as a vehicle mechanic.
- Lilli Palmer as Manouche Roget – The Leopard: French, running a small cafe "Les Pecheurs" in Nice.
- Brian Keith as Steven Halliday – The Fox: American, now an antiques dealer.
- John Mills as Thomas Devon – The Elephant: British, running a jewellery shop in Nice; given his nickname because of his excellent memory.
- Michael Petrovitch as Lieutenant Georges Roget (Roget's son)
- Serretta Wilson as Jill Burton (Devon's niece)
The theme song was composed by Paul and Linda McCartney. The score was composed by Ken Thorne. Both are available on the Network compilation The Music of ITC, Network 7959016.
Airdates given here are for ATV; other ITV regions airdates varied.
International distribution
The series aired on CBC-TV in Canada in the summer of 1974. In the U.S., the series was broadcast by NBC, two episodes per night for three nights in July and August 1975.
The complete series was released on Region 2 DVD on 2 July 2007. Actor Barry Morse (The Tiger), by then the last surviving regular actor from the series, provided an introduction in the DVD extras. He died the following year.
The complete series was released in high-definition on Blu-Ray disc by Network Distributing on 21 May 2018.