The Baron is a British television series made in 1965 and 1966, based on the book series by John Creasey (written under the pseudonym Anthony Morton) and produced by ITC Entertainment. Thirty episodes were produced, and the show was exported to the American ABC network. Overview The show starred an American actor, Steve Forrest, as John Mannering, an antiques dealer and sometime undercover agent working in an informal capacity for the head of the fictional British Diplomatic Intelligence, Templeton-Green (Colin Gordon). He is assisted by Cordelia Winfield (Sue Lloyd) and David Marlowe (Paul Ferris). In Creasey's original novels, Mannering is British and, after the first few novels, married. In transforming him into a bachelor and casting a Texan in the role, the producers decided that 'The Baron' would be nicknamed after the cattle ranch once run by his grandfather, described as being "200,000 acres [809.371 km2] 300 miles from Dallas". In the books he is a reformed jewel thief (the first few novels describing Mannering's "career" from his deciding to steal to his going straight) whose criminal ties served him well in investigating jewel, art, or antiques-oriented mysteries. For the TV series, Mannering's persona is depicted as absolutely straight with no suggestion of past criminality, a fact underlined by his being co-opted by British intelligence. In the episode "Red Horse, Red Rider", it is revealed that Mannering had been a US Army Captain during the Second World War, serving in the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program where he recovered art works from the Nazis. Following the war, he owned three antique stores and was a "charter member of the jet set". Cast and characters Steve Forrest as John Mannering (alias "The Baron") Sue Lloyd as Cordelia Winfield Colin Gordon as John Alexander Templeton-Green Paul Ferris as David Marlowe Although not regular cast members, Reginald Marsh and Derek Newark also appeared in three episodes (once reprising earlier roles, and once playing different characters). Occasionally actors were used twice but in different roles in the same run of episodes, including Paul Maxwell, Peter Bowles, George Murcell and Edwin Richfield. Production Like other ITC shows, The Baron shared a lot of its production crew with the other productions of the time (Danger Man, The Saint etc.), including guest cast members Peter Wyngarde and Bernard Lee, and directors Roy Ward Baker and Robert Asher. The lion's share of the scripts were by Dennis