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Whether Tarot was so much any of the heroes the TV Times labelled him as, or something else entirely is open to interpretation. Created by writer Trevor Preston, the basic premise of the series was as follows; Tarot was a clear thinking, intelligent, cautious and knowledgeable hero. A stage illusionist, conjuror and escape artist, Tarot was aided and abetted by his stage assistant Lulli, an orphan with whom he shared a telepathic link, and Sam, his slightly dodgy stage manager, who was in fact an ex convict, but was now reformed and was Tarot's general factotum, making many of the conjuror's props . Tarot also kept a pet owl, Ozymandis, which kept a watchful eye on his master's activities, and from time to time Tarot's bookseller friend, Mr. Sweet, would be called upon to help with information and advice. Tarot and his trump cards The part of Tarot eventually went, after a long search, to actor Michael Mackenzie. Born in Glasgow in 1943, Mackenzie studied law at Nottingham University, but had wanted to become an actor since the age of eight. Advised by actor John Neville to apply to the Bristol Old Vic School, he got in in 1965 - having first got his law degree - and spent the next two years studying. Leaving in 1967, he went straight into repertory theatre in a production of The Beggar's Opera in Worthing. Shortly after, he gained his first television experience in a one-off production, Rogue's Gallery, and continued with other minor parts before auditioning for Tarot. Tarot's companions, Lulli and Sam, were played by Judy Loe and Tony Selby. Judy Loe was born in 1947, and has divided her time between straight drama and comedy roles, including The Chief, Z-Cars, Ripping Yarns, When The Boat Comes In and Edward The Seventh. Around the time she was picked to play Lulli in Ace Of Wands, she also appeared in Man At The Top. She is also probably better known these days as the widow of the late Richard Beckinsale of The Lovers, Rising Damp and Porridge fame. Tony Selby was born in 1938 and had appeared in many series and plays on television before taking the role of Sam. Some of his earliest work included the controversial play, Up The Junction. Usually typecast as the bully or spiv, his other work has included appearances in Doctor Who, The Good Life, Casualty, Minder, Bergerac, Lovejoy, The Sweeney and most notably as the loud-mouthed Corporal Marsh in Get Some In. The role of Sam was written specifically with him in mind by Trevor Preston when he created the series, basing the character on a younger version of Selby's own father, also called Sam.
Tarot's stage magic was performed by Michael Mackenzie under the tutorledge of flamboyant Magic Circle magician Ali Bongo, and performances of both Tarot's act and other feats of 'close-up magic' rather than camera tricks were included at regular intervals. Some feats were accomplished by mechanical effects, but many were indeed real, or as real as stagemagic gets. The ESP and telepathy effects were created more by camera and sound tricks in post-production; unfortunately, there was no mystical magic employed, only technical wizardry! A lot of the villains Tarot and his friends.met may have seemed to have magical connections at first, but few actually did in the end, although many were still memorable. In the first of Tarot's televised adventures, One And One And One Are Four, he and his companions came up against the beautiful Madame Midnight and her henchman, Teddy Talk, inside a lair full of scientific traps. Other notables in the first two seasons, which ran from July-October 1970 & July-October 1971, include Tun-Ju, the art thief who plotted to steal the Mona Lisa; Thalia and her monosyllabic brother Dalbiac, who stole a top-secret sleeping gas that made people die while having nightmares; Ceribraun, a wheelchair-bound chessmaster, who plotted to steal a mesmeric diamond and Mr. Stabs and his associates, the wicked Luko and the beautiful Polandi, who plotted to steal a key from Tarot needed to unlock the secret of the Seven Serpents. As an aside, the characters of Mr. Stabs, Luko and Polandi would turn up again over ten years later in an episode of Dramarama, written again by Trevor Preston, although instead of Russell Hunter, Ian Trigger and Harriet Harper in the roles, the parts were recast with David Jason, the late David Rappaport and Lorna Heilbron instead.
For many, the first two seasons were the best. Trevor Preston, the series' creator, contributed not only One And One And One Are Four, but also two others ( The Smile and Seven Serpents, Sulphur and Salt ), along with other writers such as Don Houghton and P.J. Hammond, who would later return to fantasy with his own series, Sapphire And Steel. Changes, however, were to happen when the series returned for its third, and unfortunately, final season. Judy Loe decided to move on, feeling that the unfortunate 'dollybird' label was being applied to Lulli and she wanted to pursue other work. Tony Selby decided not to stay on either, later citing lost work and the absence of Trevor Preston, a good friend, as reasons not to continue. So for the third season, two new companions were needed to aid Tarot. Lulli and Sam gave way to Mikki and Chas Diamond, sister and brother played by Petra Markham and Roy Holder. Chas was a photographer by trade, and Mikki was a journalist who had also done some modelling. When Tarot meets them in the first story of the final season, The Meddlers, the East End market street where Chas has a studio is being threatened by an insidious property developer's heavies, who beat up anyone unwilling to move away, and who employs other tactics including the exploitation of a curse thought to have plagued the market for years. Mikki was also seen to have a telepathic link with Tarot, when she forsees Tarot in danger early on in the story. Petra Markham had started acting early on, and had appeared in various serials before being cast as Mikki; one of the most notable was a BBC adaptation of Captain Maryatt's The Children Of The New Forest. Roy Holder had had a similar career to Tony Selby, although with his lighter build he would more often attract the coward or loser parts. He first came to fame at the age of eight in the film Whistle Down The Wind with Alan Bates, and has since played many guest roles in sitcoms. There were changes behind the scenes which were due to have a lasting impact on the series. The show's producer, Pamela Lonsdale, left to work on other shows, and although her replacement, John Russell, kept the series very much in the same style as his predecessor had, he was perhaps less able to fight the programme's corner with Thames' bosses. This, of course, wasn't to be noticed by the general audience, who watched the show as they had before.
Throughout the season, which ran from July-November 1972 and was seven episodes longer than previous seasons, Tarot and his new friends battled foes which ranged from Mama Doc, who would turn people into dolls which bled when they broke, through Mr. Peacock, who could spin illusion into reality, to John Pentacle aka Quabal, Tarot's original stage partner, who lured him to Egypt and the Valley of the Kings for revenge. They were still able to call on Mr. Sweet for aid, although his appearances were more infrequent, as he had moved from his bookshop residence to the halls of residence at the local university.
article copyright PPS / M.Hearn 1999 |