Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) - Broadcast

Broadcast

The 26 episodes were made by ITC Entertainment in 1968/69 on 35mm colour film. They were initially screened on ITV in the United Kingdom in 1969/70 by ITC's sister company ATV and most of the other ITV stations, (1970/71 in some regions that waited until full colour had been implemented by all ITV contractors) repeats lasted until 1976 in most regions, it was repeated again on ITV in 1986/87, the Pilot was screened in 1992 on Channel4/S4C as part the Frank Muir series "TV Heaven" as an example of TV shows from 1969, later in the 1990s the series was bought by the BBC and shown at least 3 times on BBC2 between 1994 and 1996 (these were restored prints), this was the last time complete prints were screened in the UK. The series was also re-run on UK digital channel ITV4 from November 2005, (where the episodes were cut to 45-46 mins) until 30 October 2010. In the US they appeared in syndication from around 1972, retitled My Partner the Ghost (remembered by many as My Friend the Ghost) because audience research suggested that Americans would not understand the word "deceased".

Two versions of the show's opening titles were made. The original version, which was first seen in the UK when the series was repeated on ITV in 1986/87 and is the version on all subsequent TV re-runs and video/DVD releases, features events seen through images of a finger moving a glass on an ouija board and after shots of Marty shying away from the approaching car the animated spinning hand print gives way to the series title, which fills the screen. Then, specially shot sequences of Jeff, Marty and Jeannie coming out of their office building are seen through a red handprint. However when originally transmitted, and for all UK repeats in the 1970s, this sequence was replaced by a more explicit montage of shots from the Pilot which includes the final scenes at the graveside, but now with Marty explaining (a voice over by Kenneth Cope) that only Jeff can see him: "Jeff, it's all right Jeannie can't see or hear me, nobody can...Only you Jeff, only you..." This was also the version on US prints, but with the title changed to 'My Partner the Ghost'. It is unknown why the original handprint title sequence was replaced by the graveside titles for the first UK transmissions. The original ad break bumper film, available on Network DVD's 2008 release of the series, proves the current handprint title sequence is the original as it features exactly the same animation of the title graphics. Further evidence is the fact that a version of the handprint title sequence was made without the usual Annette Andre footage but with a clean shot of the office and a caption crediting Judith Arthy for the episode "The House on Haunted Hill".