33 replies to this topic

[Lady Templar]

James Purefoy, who played Mark Antony in "Rome" is set to play the new Simon Templar in the forthcoming TV series of The Saint.

Bill Macdonald tells www.saint.org (the official website of The Saint Club) that his team is prepping a two-hour pilot for a European shoot. The reason for shooting in Europe is the current strike situation in U.S. would otherwise hold up production. Shooting in Berlin and Australia begins in April.

Bill goes on to say that the show is being produced by himself (William J. MacDonald), Geoffrey Moore (Sir Roger Moore's son), and Jorge Zamacona (most recently of "Oz").

James Purefoy, who will play the new Saint, was screen tested for the role of James Bond in 1995 for Goldeneye, and throughout 2004 and 2005 Purefoy's name was rumoured as a possible candidate to replace Brosnan as agent 007 in future James Bond films. These rumors surfaced again before the 2006 film, Casino Royale.

Saint.org

[ACE]

Good choice - great news.
The return of The Saint.
I hope they have better scripts than the Simon Dutton and Val Kilmer ressurections.
Of course, there'll only ever be one Saint for me!

[MkB]

Nice! Purefoy is an excellent actor. He gave a very good performance in Rome, by the way. I'm sure he'll be a very interesting Saint.

[TheSaint]

I've not seen him in anything so I can't comment on his acting ability but he does look good so, halfway there.

[jaguar007]

I've certainly heard his name (from those Bond rumors)but have not seen him act. I'm just glad they cast someone (altough I tought they may cast someone 5-6 years younger)and that production is going ahead. I had dreaded that this series would never actually make it off the ground. This is good news.

[tambourineman]

Personally, I think this role is a little beneath him. I saw him as Marc Antony in the brilliant series 'Rome' and he was by far the standout character. He should be on his way to movie stardom, not starring in a TV show remake. However, I certainly wont miss this show now.

[marktmurphy]

Decent casting, but the pedigree of the production sounds a bit worrying. Still, this Zamacona person did produce Homicide, so hopefully that's a good sign. Hopefully Moore and MacDonald will be a bit more hands-off as I'm not sure if they have much production experience.

[Head of S]

Good choice - great news.
The return of The Saint.
I hope they have better scripts than the Simon Dutton and Val Kilmer ressurections.
Of course, there'll only ever be one Saint for me!

Ian Ogilvy?

[ACE]

Good choice - great news.
The return of The Saint.
I hope they have better scripts than the Simon Dutton and Val Kilmer ressurections.
Of course, there'll only ever be one Saint for me!

Ian Ogilvy?

'course not, silly!








George Sanders

[Royal Dalton]

Well, I suppose Ian Ogilvy was 'my' Simon Templar, even though Sir Rog is the definitive version. Loved the old George Sanders films, too.

As for James Purefoy, we'll have to see. Presumably, they're going to make the character a bit darker, like in the original stories?

[Simon]

'course not, silly!

George Saunders

Sanders??

[rogermoore007]

Moore is definitely #1 for me, but I really enjoyed sanders as well...anyone know if they're ever going to put Sanders' Saint movies on DVD??? OR the rest of Moore's black and white episodes because those 2 collections were far from complete.

[Mister Asterix]

Well, I suppose Ian Ogilvy was 'my' Simon Templar, even though Sir Rog is the definitive version. Loved the old George Sanders films, too.

As for James Purefoy, we'll have to see. Presumably, they're going to make the character a bit darker, like in the original stories?

[mra]Ogilvy is my definitive Saint. Purefoy seems a nice choice. I

[marktmurphy]

Ogilvy is my definitive Saint.

Yes, I rather liked him. His Saint at least nearly felt like a real person- he actually seemed to have a world he lived in a little more than Roger's, who just swanned around the world saving damsels in distress. Not too sure about Ogilvy's Cary Grant voice and he was perhaps a little hard to buy as an action man, but very good otherwise and probably the best we've seen (Roger's is a bit too straight-laced and doesn't actually seem to have a personality).

Ogilvy also had the coolest car. Sorry- but the Volvo's a bit girly and the Jensen (although a top motor) was blue! And Val's Volvo was just dull. And not white enough!

[Simon]

Sanders did it for me. At least then they could use throwing knives and made good and liberal use of the stickman calling card.

And since then, the portrayals have gone hurtling south in their endeavours.

Roger had his charm, presence, voice and desire to throw people around the room, but he was also place in situations that required him to 'have a nice cup of tea' in whatever woollen the wardrobe dept found.

Ian needed help from a fight arranger. But he had a great title sequence and the car.

Simon was just horrendous, surrounding actors were shocking, hopelessly chaotic stories. Just awful.

Val - well it had as much to do with the Saint as Bond does to a plate of staplers. As an action story it had its merits, but was detracted from by having the audacity to call itself the Saint.

Good luck to Purefoy.

It does seem strange that with the slew of 'let's get back to the source material' fashions, that the Saint has never had that treatment.

[Royal Dalton]

Not too sure about Ogilvy's Cary Grant voice

Yeah, he did put it on a bit, didn't he.

Of course, Charteris wanted Cary Grant to play The Saint back in the day. So, I suppose it all fits.

Loved his white Jag. The title sequence and theme tune were brill. And John Scott wrote some very catchy incidental music for the series, too.

[db077]

I think this is an excellent choice! James Purefoy is a good actor and I think he has the look and demeanor to pull it off.

I will be looking forward to this series.

[Daddy Bond]

Good choice - great news.
The return of The Saint.
I hope they have better scripts than the Simon Dutton and Val Kilmer ressurections.
Of course, there'll only ever be one Saint for me!

The Saint with Moore is my favorite TV show of all time, and Val Kilmer's outing was just horrid (IMO).

Just a couple of comments. If they're going to do a new saint they should stick the original model as much as possible IMO. Rarely has it worked well for movies and TV shows to completely re-do an idea. It usually works best when they seek to recapture the original source (the books, movies, TV shows) of the original. Case in point is the new CR. Even though it was a reboot, it, in many ways was a return to the original.

Also, filming in Europe because of the writers strike may work well for the Saint to give it that international feel as it did in the series with Moore.

[jaguar007]

I always thought of Errol Flynn as the definitive Saint, even though he never played him. So that puts Moore as my definitive Simon Templar. I also thought Simon Dutton was well cast, but the stories and filming was too rushed and looked cheap.

I fell in love with the Volvo 1800 25 years ago when I was in high school and finally bought one about 7 or 8 years ago. The license plate is SAINT. Of course I also loved Ogilvy's Jaguar (note my name, I have 3 used Jaguars as well).

Ya I guess you could say The Saint had some impact on my life, afterall I named my son Simon (yes, after the Saint).

[Daddy Bond]

I always thought of Errol Flynn as the definitive Saint, even though he never played him. So that puts Moore as my definitive Simon Templar. I also thought Simon Dutton was well cast, but the stories and filming was too rushed and looked cheap.

I fell in love with the Volvo 1800 25 years ago when I was in high school and finally bought one about 7 or 8 years ago. The license plate is SAINT. Of course I also loved Ogilvy's Jaguar (note my name, I have 3 used Jaguars as well).

Ya I guess you could say The Saint had some impact on my life, afterall I named my son Simon (yes, after the Saint).

So, do you have all of the B&W episodes from Moore's years? If so, where did you get yours. It kindof mifs me that all of the B&W episodes are not available in the U.S. I've considered purchasing a region free DVD player and ordering the full set of B&W episodes from overseas (along with the Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman).

[jaguar007]

I always thought of Errol Flynn as the definitive Saint, even though he never played him. So that puts Moore as my definitive Simon Templar. I also thought Simon Dutton was well cast, but the stories and filming was too rushed and looked cheap.

I fell in love with the Volvo 1800 25 years ago when I was in high school and finally bought one about 7 or 8 years ago. The license plate is SAINT. Of course I also loved Ogilvy's Jaguar (note my name, I have 3 used Jaguars as well).

Ya I guess you could say The Saint had some impact on my life, afterall I named my son Simon (yes, after the Saint).

So, do you have all of the B&W episodes from Moore's years? If so, where did you get yours. It kindof mifs me that all of the B&W episodes are not available in the U.S. I've considered purchasing a region free DVD player and ordering the full set of B&W episodes from overseas (along with the Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman).

I have all the BW episodes on VHS which I taped off the Encore Mystery channel several years ago when they ran the series.

[Daddy Bond]

I always thought of Errol Flynn as the definitive Saint, even though he never played him. So that puts Moore as my definitive Simon Templar. I also thought Simon Dutton was well cast, but the stories and filming was too rushed and looked cheap.

I fell in love with the Volvo 1800 25 years ago when I was in high school and finally bought one about 7 or 8 years ago. The license plate is SAINT. Of course I also loved Ogilvy's Jaguar (note my name, I have 3 used Jaguars as well).

Ya I guess you could say The Saint had some impact on my life, afterall I named my son Simon (yes, after the Saint).

So, do you have all of the B&W episodes from Moore's years? If so, where did you get yours. It kindof mifs me that all of the B&W episodes are not available in the U.S. I've considered purchasing a region free DVD player and ordering the full set of B&W episodes from overseas (along with the Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman).

I have all the BW episodes on VHS which I taped off the Encore Mystery channel several years ago when they ran the series.

Have you found the plots and entertainment value of the episodes NOT included in the A&E US release to be good as the episodes they released? I'm guessing yes, but I'm just curious. In other words, was there a reason A&E has not released the full B&W set in the U.S.?

[Bond Bombshell]

Crikey, this is exciting news as well as being a little surprising. At 43 Purefoy is a good bit older than past TV Templars. However he's a damned good actor and my expectations for this series which were quite low before have now shot up.

He's also playing the lead role in the film version of Robert E. Howard's character Solomon Kane, a film that could turn into a franchise, so I'm surprised Purefoy could be tempted back to TV right now. Rome seems to have given a boost to its leading actors. I'm looking forward to seeing Ray Stevenson's Punisher in 2008, although it's a shame that Journeyman starring Kevin McKidd seems destined for cancellation.

[Daddy Bond]

Crikey, this is exciting news as well as being a little surprising. At 43 Purefoy is a good bit older than past TV Templars. However he's a damned good actor and my expectations for this series which were quite low before have now shot up.

He's also playing the lead role in the film version of Robert E. Howard's character Solomon Kane, a film that could turn into a franchise, so I'm surprised Purefoy could be tempted back to TV right now. Rome seems to have given a boost to its leading actors. I'm looking forward to seeing Ray Stevenson's Punisher in 2008, although it's a shame that Journeyman starring Kevin McKidd seems destined for cancellation.

I hope we'll see this series in the U.S.

[Nicolas Suszczyk]

Nothing compares to Roger...

[stamper]

That series will come and go. Remember that awful Saint TV series from the 90's (or was it the 80's). Or that movie with Val Kilmer ? It's even worse than the worse TV movie ever made, the people behind the screen rights have lost it.

[marktmurphy]

A blond Bond and a dark-haired Saint? What has the world come to?

[TheSaint]

Moore is definitely #1 for me, but I really enjoyed sanders as well...anyone know if they're ever going to put Sanders' Saint movies on DVD??? OR the rest of Moore's black and white episodes because those 2 collections were far from complete.

No word yet on any of the RKO Saint films being released on dvd. When it does happen I'm sure all 9 of them will be released as a set.

If you want the complete b/w run of the Roger Saint series, you will probably have to invest in a region free dvd player and buy the British or Aussie b/w sets, unless this new show is such a hit that it prompts A&E to release the rest of the b/w episodes.

[Mr. Somerset]

Yes!!!
I can see Purefoy as Templar even more than as Bond. My fave, though will always be Roger as The Saint. It's been nearly twenty years since I've seen Ian Ogilvy in the role. I'd love to see his verson again as I remember him being pretty suave. The Return of The Saint dvds are hard to find in the States, and never really air anymore.
I only saw one Simon Dutton film, and I barely recall what it was like. I'm sure I'd love it now, though. As for Val? Definitely not a definitive version, but in the right frame of mind it can be enjoyable.

[TheSaint]

The Return of The Saint dvds are hard to find in the States, and never really air anymore.

Not only are they hard to find, they are unavailable. ROTS is only available in the UK, Network, and Australia, Umbrella.