Return of the Saint

The series was originally conceived under the working title Son of the Saint, with Ian Ogilvy's character envisioned as the offspring of Simon Templar, before producers decided to drop the family angle and simply update the original character to the late 1970s.

Just before the opening credits, a short musical phrase is heard that isn't part of the show's main theme but is instead the character's signature theme from the 1930s-40s film series and the 1940s radio series starring Vincent Price as Templar.

The score was composed by John Scott and incorporated Leslie Charteris' own eight-note theme; for the French version, Scott's music was replaced with a vocal theme, though Charteris' signature notes remained.

Jaguar eagerly provided promotional support for the show, giving Templar an XJ-S with the number plate 'ST 1', a notable reversal since Jaguar had turned down the original Saint producers 15 years earlier when they wanted to use an E-Type (a Volvo P1800 was used instead).

Location shooting in Italy in spring 1978 ran into serious trouble due to a different work ethic and language barrier with the Italian crew, causing major delays and budget overruns.

ITC head Lew Grade resolved the Italian production crisis by diverting funds originally reserved for a potential third season of Space: 1999 to cover the budget gap, sacking the Italian crew and sending an additional British crew to complete filming, which angered Italian co-backer RAI.

To appease RAI after the Italian crew was replaced, Lew Grade gave the broadcaster the remaining Space: 1999 funds to produce its own series, Seagull Island, starring Jeremy Brett and Prunella Ransome, shot in Italy in 1979 but not aired until 1981.

Series creator Leslie Charteris makes an Alfred Hitchcock-style walk-on cameo appearance in the two-part episode 'Collision Course'.

Unlike the original series, Return of the Saint did not adapt any of Charteris' original stories, though several of its teleplays were later adapted into novels credited to Charteris but written by others; the adaptation of 'Collision Course', titled Salvage for the Saint, was published in 1983 as the 50th and final book in the Saint literary series dating back to the 1920s.

Ian Ogilvy became very popular in Britain and Europe thanks to the series and was considered a major contender to replace Roger Moore as James Bond in the early 1980s, though he never took the role; he did record popular audiobook adaptations of the Bond novels.