Sapphire & Steel

Name: Sapphire & Steel
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Released: 1979-07-10
Rating: 7.3
Cast: Joanna Lumley, David McCallum, David Collings, Christopher Fairbank

“All irregularities will be handled by the forces controlling each dimension.”

★ 7.3 /10 (26) • 1979–1982

Drama Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Creator Peter J. Hammond

Director Shaun O'Riordan

Screenplay Peter J. Hammond

Sapphire & Steel is a British television science-fiction fantasy series starring David McCallum as Steel and Joanna Lumley as Sapphire. Produced by ATV, it ran from 1979 to 1982 on the ITV network. The series was created by Peter J. Hammond who conceived the programme under the working title The Time Menders, after a stay in an allegedly haunted castle. Hammond also wrote all the stories except for the fifth, which was co-written by Don Houghton and Anthony Read. None of the stories had onscreen titles, or any official titles assigned by the writers. The Region 1 Complete Series DVD release gives the titles "Escape Through a Crack in Time", "The Railway Station", "The Creature's Revenge", "The Man Without a Face", "Dr. McDee Must Die" and "The Trap", respectively. These titles have often been cited as having been created by science fiction magazine Time Screen.

Seasons

Episodes

Country

—

Status

Ended

Cast

David Collings

Silver · 10 eps

Gerald James

Tully · 8 eps

David Cann

Pilot · 7 eps

David Gant

Eldred · 6 eps

Patience Collier

Emma Mullrine · 6 eps

Jeffry Wickham

Felix Harborough · 6 eps

👤

Nan Munro

Felicity McDee · 6 eps

Davy Kaye

Lord Mullrine · 6 eps

Catherine Hall

Rothwyn · 6 eps

👤

Stephen MacDonald

Dr George McDee · 6 eps

👤

Steven O'Shea

Robert Jardine · 6 eps

👤

Tamasin Bridge

Helen Jardine · 6 eps

Christopher Fairbank

Johnny Jack · 4 eps

Edward de Souza

Man · 4 eps

Alyson Spiro

Liz · 4 eps

Bob Hornery

Shape · 3 eps

Shelagh Stephenson

Ruth · 2 eps

Reviews

★★★★★

Trailer

Official trailer

Sapphire & Steel

Where to Watch

Streaming

Amazon Prime Video fuboTV

fuboTV

Shout! Factory

Pluto TV

Plex

Tubi TV

ITVX

Rent or Buy

Amazon VideoBuy

Episode Guide

Assignment I: Escape through a Crack in Time (1)

10 Jul 1979 · 25 min

On an ordinary evening, a mother and father sing nursery rhymes to their daughter Helen before bed. Their teenage son Robert becomes alarmed when all the clocks in the house stop working. He hurries upstairs to find that his parents have vanished. Left alone with Helen and no neighbors nearby, Rob calls the police for help. But a pair of strange, time-traveling agents named Sapphire and Steel arrive instead and inform Rob that they are his only hope in getting his parents back.

Assignment I: Escape through a Crack in Time (2)

12 Jul 1979 · 25 min

Sapphire and Steel determine that Helen's bedroom is the location of a time break caused by the recitation of nursery rhymes. After narrowly avoiding a disaster, Steel boards up Helen's door to prevent the creatures inside from breaking loose. Rob begins to distrust the mysterious agents and sees a chance for escape when a policeman finally arrives in the morning. Sapphire is one step ahead of him, however, and traps the policeman in a time loop to prevent interference.

Assignment I: Escape through a Crack in Time (3)

17 Jul 1979 · 25 min

Sapphire and Steel investigate the upstairs hallway after Rob sees a pair of ghostly soldiers on the landing. Unbeknownst to them, a living pool of light has escaped from Helen's room and now lies in wait in a portrait at the top of the stairs. Sapphire walks right into the trap and disappears from the house. Only faintly able to communicate with Steel and Rob, Sapphire tells them she is stuck in a freezing cottage with the sensation that something sinister is there with her. Steel and Rob discover that Sapphire is trapped in the portrait and must work quickly to avoid losing her.

Assignment I: Escape through a Crack in Time (4)

19 Jul 1979 · 25 min

Steel's drastic measures to save Sapphire and trap the pool of light prove effective, if extremely dangerous. Sapphire places the pool of light in a freezer to keep it from escaping again and tends to Steel's recovery. She also enlists Rob and Helen's help in removing all the objects in the house that could become hiding places for other pools of light. Sapphire and Steel welcome the arrival of fellow agent Lead, a gentle giant with a huge personality to match his huge stature.

Assignment I: Escape through a Crack in Time (5)

24 Jul 1979 · 25 min

The time break strengthens after a nursery rhyme hidden in a book becomes stuck in Helen's head. Sapphire burns the nursery rhyme book and Steel and Lead barely succeed in stopping the time break from spreading. The kitchen is left a windblown mess and Helen and Rob help Sapphire with the clean-up effort while Lead and Steel keep watch upstairs. Everything takes a turn for the worse when two more pools of light escape from the bedroom and Rob suddenly goes missing.

Assignment I: Escape through a Crack in Time (6)

26 Jul 1979 · 25 min

Lured by a vision of his father, Rob walks into a trap in the basement. A pool of light has taken him back in time to the 1700s when the house was first being built. Sapphire and Steel fear the worst when they discover that all three pools of light are there in the trap with Rob. However, Steel figures out that the creature that controls the pools of light has made a mistake and decides to gain the upper hand by using Helen as bait. Sapphire objects but follows through with the plan because it is their last chance to save Rob, bring back his parents, and return ...