Bird of Prey (TV serial)

This article is about the 1982 British TV serial. For the 2002 American TV series, see Birds of Prey (TV series). For other uses, see Bird of prey (disambiguation).

Bird of Prey
Freeze-frame from the computer block-graphic style animated title sequence
Genre	Drama
Created by	Ron Hutchinson
Starring	Richard Griffiths Carole Nimmons
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	8
Production
Producer	Michael Wearing
Production company	BBC
Original release
Network	BBC1
Release	22 April 1982 (1982-04-22) – 27 September 1984 (1984-09-27)

Bird of Prey is a British techno-thriller television serial written by Ron Hutchinson and produced by Michael Wearing and Bernard Krichefski for the BBC in 1982. It was directed by Michael Rolfe. The second series was co-written with Lee Montague.

The series starred Richard Griffiths and Carole Nimmons as Henry and Anne Jay: Henry is a humble civil servant who finds that he and his wife are drawn into an international conspiracy involving the mysterious Le Pouvoir organisation. A sequel, Bird of Prey 2 followed in 1984.

Plot outline

Series 1

Henry Jay, a lacklustre and predictable government clerk compiling statistics and writing reports on computer fraud, suddenly finds himself with the threads of an international computer fraud in his hands. Forced to flee his wife and home when bodies start littering his path, he unexpectedly evades pursuit long enough to realise that his one chance at survival is to complete the puzzle and turn the tables on his pursuers – thus turning this very unlikely candidate into a "bird of prey".

Series 2

Again under attack, Henry Jay must escape the clutches of a professional assassin who is interested in having a piece of the action and the country they are in, find a way to eliminate the dangers, and permanently safeguard his wife and himself.

Cast

Series 1

• Richard Griffiths as Henry Jay
• Carole Nimmons as Anne Jay
• Nigel Davenport as Charles Bridgnorth
• Christopher Logue as Hugo Jardine
• Jeremy Child as Tony Hendersly
• Roger Sloman as Harry Tomkins
• Trevor Martin as Chambers
• Pamela Moiseiwitsch as Miss Lucas
• Richard Ireson as Detective Sergeant Vine
• Jim Broadbent as Detective Inspector Richardson
• Michael O'Hagan as Detective Constable Slater
• Billy Hamon as Detective Constable Morrisey
• Stephen Thorne as Bank Manager
• Edmund Pegge as Lanchbury
• Sally Faulkner as Hannah Brent
• Mandy Rice-Davies as Julia
• Nicolas Chagrin as Louis Vacheron
• Rudi Delhem as Hotel Porter
• Wolfe Morris as Mr. Martin
• Henry Stamper as Dalgleish
• Guido Adorni as Mario
• Eddie Mineo as Dino

Series 2

• Richard Griffiths as Henry Jay
• Carole Nimmons as Anne Jay
• Michael Cashman as Reeves
• Roland Curram as Mr. Adrian
• Jan Holden as Mrs. Lucas
• Hugh Fraser as Kelner
• Lee Montague as Roche
• Valerie Minifie as Irene Benson
• Jack Chissick as Fred Benson
• Richard Miles as Art Gallery Assistant
• Elaine Ford as Thelma Dent
• Terence Rigby as Duggan
• Heather Tobias as Halston
• Bob Peck as Greggory
• Joan Blackham as Kaye Greggory
• Timothy Bateson as Mr. Jorry
• Bara Chambers as Jenks
• Patrick Jordan as Mr Miles
• Stephen Churchett as Mr. Conry
• Marian Kemmer as Matron
• Stephane Vasseur as Spook
• Enrique Massari as Trapdoor

Filming locations

Bird of Prey (first season) makes heavy use of outdoor locations around the Docklands and the City of London, while Bird of Prey 2 includes the newly built Blackfriars in London and Silbury Boulevard in Milton Keynes. The outside of Richard Griffith's house, supposedly in Pinner, was filmed in Selly Park, Birmingham.

DVD release

Bird of Prey and Bird of Prey 2 were released together on DVD x 2, BBC 2 Entertain, CCTV30316 (Region 2 + 4 colour PAL, UK) in 2006.

External links

• Bird of Prey at IMDb
• Bird of Prey 2 at IMDb
• Bird of Prey at the BFI's Screenonline
• Episode Guide, Action TV
• DVD review, zetaminor.com
• Tony Smith, Bird of Prey: 1980s IT on the small screen, The Register, 7 November 2012