Original title
The Troubleshooters
Released
7/7/1965
Origin country
GB
Genre
Drama
Production companies
BBC
Status
Ended
Number of seasons
7
Number of episodes
136
The Troubleshooters is a British television series made by the BBC between 1965 and 1972, created by John Elliot. During its run, the series made the transition from black and white to colour transmissions. The series was based around an international oil company – the "Mogul" of the title. The first series was mostly concerned with the internal politics within the Mogul organisation, with episodes revolving around industrial espionage, internal fraud and negligence almost leading to an accident on a North Sea oil rig.
Robert Driscoll is sent out to take over negotiations for an important Middle East oil concession after the mogul representative has been killed in the desert. Driscoll antagonises the men on the spot, particularly the area manager Charles Andrews, who thought that he should have had the job.
Wildcat drilling is a calculated risk for Mogul. But for an African executive backing his own judgment it brings still greater hazards.
The desert is like the sea. It takes possession of a man's soul. For a young geologist seeking to prove himself it is exciting. But like the sea the desert is dangerous.
Motor racing means excitement; it also means danger. Driscoll faces personal risk when he opposes Stead and tries to steer Mogul into Grand Prix racing.
Trouble erupts around Mogul's new North Sea rig when a few unguarded words open old wounds in a Tyneside shipyard.
The glittering world of advertising is a wonderful dream for Miss Mogul, Sandra Spratt. But others have a different view - and create a headache for Derek Prentice and Mogul.
Prejudice has deep roots. Driscoll is involved in an explosive situation in northern Canada when Mogul takes an Iroquois Indian for an important job.
Freedom is very desirable. But when Peter Thornton envies the life of a Mogul tanker driver he finds that no man is as free as he seems.
A beautiful girl and a heart attack combine to make Brian Stead want to retire. But attacks from within Mogul rouse his fighting instincts and complicate his decision.
A bomb explodes as Stewart arrives at Saigon Airport. Soon he becomes heavily involved in the conflicts of a warring people.
Trouble boils up for Stead during a cross-country car rally. Izard has to put his personal life before Mogul
The building of a new super tanker for Mogul in a Tees-side shipyard becomes a seven milion pound headache for Thornton.
Izard faces a desperate threat to his position at Mogul. As usual he views the crisis with amused detachment - although this may be just a protective front.
Thornton faces great danger when a hurricane strikes Mogul's new Caribbean drilling rig.
Stead faces a crisis when an African state seizes a Mogul refinery.
Professional and personal conflicts have broken out between two Scots engineers at one of Mogul's pumping stations in North Africa. Glaswegian MacCallum and Garvie from Edinburgh have presented totally different schemes for re-equipping the station and their conflict has now reached the point where Stead has to send out Thornton to arbitrate.
A joy-ride becomes a nightmare for Alec Stewart, driving through France in an international rally.
Trapped in the Arctic wastes of Spitsbergen, one mistake could cost Peter Thornton his life.
There is strong local opposition to Mogul's plan to build a thirty million pound refinery on the west coast of Wales.
Trouble flares for Alec Stewart when a hero from his past intrudes on his present.
Looking for a new drilling site, a survey team has been working in Northern Ontario for two years in vain. Time is running short and Thornton is sent out to hurry things along. He finds himself in an explosive sitaution.
Is Mogul's new chemical crop spray a killer? Stewart must judge when a scientist rebels.
Blackmailer, fraudster, agitator - or brilliant young exceutive? Finding out the truth about Brady is one of Thornton's toughest assignments.
Mogul is the only major oil company which has so far failed to strike gas in the North Sea. Bad weather has put all the drilling rigs out of action and the company is in danger of having to forfeit its concession. Stead orders an all-out effort and puts Stewart and Thornton in charge.
Find this man and bring him here, Stead orders Thornton. But the man in question is crossing the Sahara Desert!
Why was Ann Rendell sacked? Izard fights an injustice, but finds himself enmeshed in a sinister operation.
Thornton faces danger in the international power boat race. But for Mogul there are greater risks on shore.
Adesert sheik tries to buy Eileen O'Rourke. But Szabo thinks this is too high a price for an oil concession.
Willy Izard tries to repay a debt to his former boss. But loyalty can cloud a man's judgment - as Willy learns to his cost.
A loan Mogul desperately needs for a new refinery is being blocked by the Bank. Stead thinks that the manager is mentally unbalanced.
Alec Stewart, now chief of the New York office of Mogul, battles with America's oil giants. But has he made a fatal mistake?
Zenith drop a bombshell into the world of Mogul. The repercussions will influence the company for a long time to come.
Thornton is sent to Singapore on a secret mission.
How much is one man worth? When Ted Kihi is trapped in a Malaysian cave Peter Thornton turns the whole resources of Mogul, and his own skill as an oil man, to the rescue operation.
The lovely Mrs. Foss, wife of Mogul's founder, turns up in London in the middle of a takeover battle. Inevitably she brings chaos and confusion - particularly to Alec Stewart.
Stead's plans for expansion in Europe as part of his fight against Zenith take a knock when a French multi-millionaire marries a film starlet.
Alec and Roz Stewart find themselves in the uncomfortable world between east and west when they arrive in Japan, where the traditions of a thousand years conflict with life in the twentieth century.
Why should the manager of Mogul's Malaysian station insult the local sultan? Why does he not remember things? Why does he turn against Thornton, an old friend, when he tries to help? This is one of Thornton's most puzzling assignments, and even when he solves it he does not believe what he finds.
Mogul faces protests and demonstrations when a group of redundant employees occupy a distribution depot. A situation which starts as something small quickly develops into tension and danger.
Are Stewart and Stead trying to bribe their way to an important refinery project in Scotland? And what part does Zenith play in the attempts to corrupt a Scots official?
Angola spells trouble for Mogul when Thornton becomes a pawn in the struggle between African rebels and the Portuguese authorities.
Thornton faces incredible hardship in Alaska. But added to the dangers and difficulties is the knowledge that the whole future of Mogul could depend on his success or failure.
A remote island in the Indian Ocean may seem the perfect drilling location. No population, beautiful weather, not even a foreign government to deal with for it is British owned. But - there's this bird, see.... and birds, feathered of course, spell trouble for Mogul.
The executives of Mogul's South African subsidiary think their office boy Zeke is only capable of 'totin' barges and liftin' bales', but Willy Izard has other ideas. Zeke has secret ambitions - and qualifications - which Willy decides to further. He expected to come up against apartheid, but another completely unexpected obstacle crops up which calls for uncharacteristic forcefulness from the normally gentle Izard.
Eccentric individualists cannot be successfully absorbed into big organisations, but Brian Stead decides to take up the challenge. He realises that an inventor has got something that Mogul needs. The big question is: what has Mogul got that the inventor needs?
Papuan headhunters are not a common danger to Mogul. But they are only one of the hazards Peter Thornton has to face. Why does the Australian District Commissioner try to stop him going to see Dr. Liebling? And what is Dr. Liebling doing there anyway? It takes a terrifying experience to clear up the mystery.
Ghislaine Foss's hand is sought by both Zenith and Mogul. Why? Because besides having a young and glamourous millionairess at the end of it it also contains a fistful of Mogul shares. Vital shares as the Mogul - Zenith battle reaches its climax.
Brian Stead takes the entire board of Mogul International across the Atlantic on the Queen EWlizabeth II. But this is no empty gesture. The moment of decision has arrievd in the merger battle. For the crucial board meeting the directors must be away from outside interference.
Is Alec Stewart a spy? The Algerian authorities think so. It is possible. He travels all over the world, is accepted everywhere without question and he moves in the highest circles. But he has never expressed strong political opinions and he certainly doesn't need the money. So why should he spy?
Memories of 1945 come flooding back to Brian Stead when he revisits Berlin, where Mogul are drilling for natural gas. He served there at the end of the war, and an incident twenty-four years old is dragged up in an attempt to discredit him.
Thornton questions his loyalty when he is lost in the Australian outback without radio and without salt tablets. Struggling to survive he wonders whether Mogul's demands are too great.
Thornton resigns from Mogul. Lying peacefully on a beach in Fiji he resists attempts from Stead and Izard to change his mind. But Stead has a few tricks to pull before he admits defeat.
Thornton returns to the fold - straight into a row between the New Zealand government and Mogul over the movement of a drilling rig from that country to Indonesia.
An important contract can be won in Ceylon. But Mogul's manager there, Henry Burton, doesn't seem to be trying. Thornton must not only find out why but also take the decisions needed to put things right, including sacking Burton if necessary.
Thornton is taken prisoner on a Caribbean island paradise. 'King' George Watt doesn't want a Mogul invasion and he is supported by French anthropologist Dr. Leduc, who is using the islanders in a dangerous sociological experiment. She helps Thornton escape.
Stead is back in his haven, all's right with the world. But his quiet trip to the Caribbean on a Mogul supertanker produces unexpected developments.
Stead's visit to a Mogul refinery in Africa causes problems for Peter Thornton. The simple job of organizing a ceremonial event becomes highly dangerous when a sacked engineer threatens to blow up the refinery.
A world famous leprosy hospital lies in the path of Mogul's exploration teams in East Africa. The ageing Dr. Hoffman who runs it is idolised by millions, including Willy Izard, who, with Thronton's help, has to cope with the problems involved.
What is the price of a bride? When the government of the African state of Manzaya decide to throw out Mogul's manager three men are faced with this question: Ralph Grant, the manager with a South African wife, Jack Robbins, who lives up country with an African girl, and Peter Thornton himself.
What is it like to be captured by dangerous mercenaries in an African civil war? Willy Izard finds out when he replaces Thornton on a trip to Ebon. Mogul's frantic attempts to free him centre on Jane Webb, Stead's former secreatary.
When management efficiency experts arrive, rumours of redundancy sweep Mogul's head office.
In the desert water can be just as valuable as oil - and just as explosive, as Peter Thornton finds out to his cost.
The attempts of Stead, Thornton and Izard to pin down a multi-millionaire take them to a health farm, the Cannes Film Festival, a continental casino and a Scottish cattle sale.
Haiti is notorious for its voodoo and its secret police. Stead becomes involved in a desperate and dangerous battle for control of Mogul's local company.
Alec Stewart is involved in an explosive situation. Mogul's drilling rig on a Caribbean island has been sabotaged. Stead send Alec's old rival Thornton out to investigate.
Tribal quarrels, witch doctors, political double-dealing, a drunken hotel-keeper and a mysterious blow-back on a decrepit drilling rig - all hundreds of miles from nowhere in the African bush.
Mogul's experiments in shipping oil out of Alaska under the ice in giant submarine tankers have gone well. Now Izard, Stead and Thornton visit their submarine, not in Alaska but in the Caribbean. But even there things can go wrong, as Stead finds out on his first underwater dive.
Industry, pollution, overcrowding - Stead is feeling the pressures of them all when he gets to Nova Scotia. Here he finds the perfect site for Mogul's new refinery. But is it perfect? In the peace of a small country hotel, Stead finds time to think.
Stead, Thornton and Izard are on trial tonight. State secrets have been leaked to a foreign power, and the Ministry of defence investigator, Commander Frayne, says the leak must be from one of these three men.
An oil find in Scandinavia brings problems for Mogul, and a new man poses a threat to Stead.
The threat to Stead becomes reality as Langley takes up his post as Deputy Chairman and Willy Izard reaches the end of the road.
Trouble in the Peruvian Andes for Thornton in the shadow of the Spanish Conquistadores brings Langley his first test as Deputy Chairman.
Mogul seem to have struck it rich in the Bay of Biscay. But it means danger for Thornton and Langley.
Drama at sea as Peter Thornton and H.M.S. Ark Royal race to the rescue of a stricken tanker.
Disaster or triumph for Izard?
A Polynesian paradise - or is it? Thornton finds out that even the South Pacific has its share of difficult people.
Corsica's main export is brains, they say. It is also the birthplace of Napoleon - and Thornton, Izard and Langley find they are not allowed to forget it.
Traditions often die hard. But Thornton meets with more violent opposition when Mogul's New Zealand pipeline clashes with Maori interests.
A wage claim at Mogul's biggest chemical works brings Stead into an unlikely alliance with a communist shop steward in a head-on clash with Langley.
Is this the end of the road for Stead?
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