Produced by Monty Berman and filmed on location in France and at Elstree studios in the UK with theme music by John Barry, this 1971-72 ITC action-adventure series starred American actor Gene Barry (Burkes Law, The Name of The Game) as Gene Bradley, a wealthy, jet-setting movie celebrity who indulged himself in business ventures of all kinds, but whose real job involved secret assignments for U.S. Intelligence. Using his acting skills, Bradley would take on various disguises as an international knight who came to the rescue of threatened women, defecting scientists and others in need of assistance. His assignments were given to him by his 'manager', (Mr. Parminter played by Barry Morse of The Fugitive and Space 1999 fame), and he was accompanied by fellow agent Gavin Jones (Garrick Hagon-Moonbase 3 and A Perfect Spy). Diane (Catherine Schell-Space 1999) was his contact with his agency.

The series was made by Scoton Productions, a company formed by Dennis Spooner and Monty Berman. The first of the company's productions was The Champions which was a fantasy/action/thriller series about secret agents who are endowed with extra-sensory, almost super human powers.

The Champions was filmed mostly on the backlot of Elstree studios, which doubled for a number of exotic locations, which in turn made the series relatively cheap to produce, a major factor in getting ITC chief Lew Grade to bankroll the project. Under Grade's leadership ITC had specialised in action/adventure series like The Saint and Danger Man, which were deliberately aimed at the widest international audience. This proved massively successful for the company although by the time The Adventurer went into production Grade found himself being accused of making TV shows which didn't take any risks and, in their adoption of a commercially viable transatlantic style, lacked any real national identity.

In April 1971, Grade was asked to find two new shows to fill two thirty minute timeslots in the USA who at that time were ITC's largest overseas purchaser. Even the lead actor (or at least one of them-as in the case of The Champions) was frequently American in many ITC shows, which made them even more US sale-able. Grade sanctioned two half-hour action shows to fit the bill. The first was The Protectors which was made by Gerry Anderson, the creator of ITC's Supermarionation series such as Stingray and Thunderbirds and who had been dying to make a live-action series for years. The second was Scoton's final series. The Adventurer was billed as "Everybody's pin-up - nobody's fool". But even casting a big star like Gene Barry failed to lift the show out of the very, very ordinary and lent weight to many critics claim that Grade's latest crop of shows were bland and formulaic. Viewers may well have been forgiven for thinking they had seen it all before and ironically, in the USA, for where the series had originally been made, it disappeared from the schedules without explanation after just 2 episodes.

The Adventurer was made at a time when ITC was moving away from television production to focus on major feature films and in spite of having some of Britain's best known names from its Golden Television Era working on the show the whole series has something of a 'contractual obligation' feel to it. Directors such as Cyril Frankel and Val Guest and writers like Donald James and Brian Clemens should have elevated it above the norm, but instead the viewer is left with the distinct impression that they were simply going through the motions. It seems that even with ITC's reputation and universal appeal there are some shows that will find difficulty in getting into television heaven.

A number of ITC's stable of actors appeared in the series in supporting roles; Ed Bishop ("UFO"), Stuart Damon ("The Champions") as well as a number of other instantly recognisable faces that make up a veritable who's who of the British television industry. Many of these went on to have starring roles in other TV series and became major stars in their own right. Sadly, it didn't improve the quality of the series. For those that get a chance to see the series again forget about the plots and keep an eye out for; Dennis Price (in a recurring role), Judy Geeson (“Mad About You”), John Savident ("Coronation Street"), Anthony Ainley ("Doctor Who"), Barbara Murray ("The Power Game"), Patrick Mower ("Callan"), Pamela Salem (“EastEnders”), Cyd Hayman ("Manhunt"), Jennie Linden ("Doctor Who and the Daleks"), Cyril Luckham (“Doctor Who”), Burt Kwouk (Kato in the 'Pink Panther' series of movies), Donald Houston (“Moonbase 3”), Anouska Hempel (“Tiffany Jones”), Freddie Jones (“Emmerdale”), Paul Daneman (“Not In Front Of The Children”), Sylvia Sims (“My Good Woman”), Kevin Stoney (“Doctor Who”), Sydney Tafler (“Citizen James”), Dawn Addams (“Father Dear Father”), Richard Vernon ("Stranger on the Shore"), Roy Kinnear (“The Four Musketeers”), Lance Percival (“Lance At Large”), George Sewell (“UFO”), Natasha Pyne (Father Dear Father), Norman Bird (“Up The Workers”), Alexandra Bastedo ("The Champions"), Ingrid Pitt (numerous Hammer horror films), Jane Asher ("Crossroads"), Paul Eddington ("The Good Life" and "Yes Minister"), Stephanie Beacham ("Dynasty"), Alfred Marks ("Albert and Victoria"), Alan Lake (numerous TV and films and famously the husband of Diana Dors), Peter Vaughan (“Porridge”), Reginald Marsh (“Terry and June”), Adrienne Corri (“Love In A Cold Climate”), Gabrielle Drake (“UFO”) and Ben Kingsley (“Ghandi”).

Episode Guide: Miss Me Once, Miss Me Twice, And Miss Me Once Again: Poor Little Rich Girl: Thrust And Counter-Thrust: The Bradley Way: Return To Sender: Counterstrike: Love Always, Magda: Nearly The End Of The Picture: Deadlock: Has Anyone Seen Kelly?: Skeleton In The Cupboard: Target!: Action!: Full Fathom Five: I'll Get There Sometime: To The Lowest Bidder: Going, Going ...: The Not-So Merry Widow: Mr. Galloway Is A Very Cautious Man: Double Exposure: The Case Of The Poisoned Pawn: The Solid Gold Hearse: Make It A Million: Icons Are Forever: Somebody Doesn't Like Me: The Good Book.