Monocled Alchemist

Article published in Look-In, 15th July 1972

Ace Of Wands | Tarot Guards, Tarot The Diamond Man . . . | THINK ABOUT A VERY BUSY MARKET-PLACE. What’s the first thing that comes to mind? The bright awnings over the stalls and the kaleidoscope of colours on barrows selling flowers and fruit? Or is it, perhaps, the noise, with boxes and crates clattering on the pavement and stall-holders yelling the praises of their wares? Or maybe you think first of the dense crowds of people milling around, looking for a bargain?

But now, think about the same market at night, when everyone has gone home and the stalls are bare. The lightest footfall echoes through the empty market-place and strange shadows dance across the littered ground. It could be pretty spooky, alone there in the dark.

Watney Street Market, off the Commercial Road in the London district of Wapping, is the setting for Thames Television’s new Ace Of Wands series, beginning next Wednesday in all regions. For the purposes of the story, it’s certainly a sinister place. supposed to be haunted by the ghost of a long-dead miser, a restless, evil spirit whose nightly wanderings turn fresh fruit rotten overnight and send ornaments and crockery crashing to the floor.

As before, ‘Tarot’ the master magician is played by Michael Mackenzie, whom you may remember reading about on LOOK-IN, last July. But ‘Lulli’ and ‘Sam’, his assistants in the previous series, have left him. ‘Lulli’ we learn, is now married, and ‘Sam’has gone into road haulage.

There’s danger in plenty, to both mind and body, in the sinister market, so Tarot soon enlists the aid of two young helpers, ‘Mikki’ (played by Petra Markham) and ‘Chas’ (played by Roy Holder), a brother and sister who live in the market and are anxious to save it from possible demolition.

“‘Mikki’,” says Petra Markham, whom you may remember as ‘Lydia’, the youngest daughter of a Victorian family in the comedy series ALBERT AND VICTORIA, “is a bit scatty. She’s romantic and dreamy – a bit like me.” ‘Mikki’ is also psychic: sometimes she gets a brief glimpse of the future.

“I don’t really know whether I believe in the supernatural or not,” says Petra. “I’ve had one or two dreams which seem to have foretold coming events – and last year I had my fortune told with Tarot cards (the ancient fortune-telling picture cards from which ‘Tarot’ takes his name), which turned up several correct prophecies.”

Supernatural Story

Roy Holder, who plays ‘Chas’, is more definite. “I think there must be something in the supernatural. After all, thousands of strange happenings are reported – and only one needs to be true to show that it’s not all a load of rubbish. Like many actors, I’m very superstitious. When I was filming in Singapore and India, I had my palm read by Eastern fortune-tellers, but I’m afraid I only listened to the good things they told me.”

But Roy has an even stronger reason for believing that there may be some truth in ‘magic’. “One of my neighbours, an old lady, often visits a gypsy fortune-teller. Some time ago, she warned me that the fortune-teller had told her that a local house would be burgled and that ‘the dogs would not bark’.

“A few weeks later, I was invited to a party given by the landlord of a local pub. While we were all having a good time downstairs, thieves broke into the rooms above and stole £250. And the landlord’s two ferocious alsatians, kept specially as guard dogs, didn’t utter so much as a yelp!”

And that just goes to show, there must be more to the mystery and magic of ‘Ace Of Wands’ than meets the eye.

Ace Of Wands | Tarot Guards, Tarot The Diamond Man . . .

Reporter MARK BARON investigates ACE OF WANDS

TAROT LAY HELPLESSLY on the floor of an airtight room. His assistants, Lulli and Sam were in an outer room, bound and completely unable to help their master. Thalia, the queen of crime, had one aim in mind. She was preparing to sell a deadly nightmare gas to a foreign power. A gas capable of giving victims horrifying hallucinations before causing death.

But before she could complete her deal, she had first to prove the effectiveness of the gas. The ‘guinea pig’ for her test was Tarot—known to thousands for his skill as a magician, and feared by the underworld for his exploits against crime.

Then . . . hisss! Tarot could hear the gas seeping into the room. He knew he had only twenty-three minutes left to live. During that time he would experience vividly-realistic hallucinations—then he would die.

Frantically, Tarot fought against his reeling senses. But he was already too late. He lapsed into a terrifying dreamworld of his own. Was this the end of Tarot or could he escape? You can learn the answer if you watch the second series of Ace of Wands, which begins on July 21st, produced by Thames Television.

Tarot, played by twenty-eight-year-old Michael Mackenzie, is the main character in this popular programme. He is a magician with a ‘duel’ life. One night he will be enthralling an audience with his deftness as a man-of-magic. The following night he may be solving a crime committed by top members of the underworld. Tarot could even be described as a twentieth century Robin Hood—with a pinch of Merlin and a dash of Houdini.

He uses all his magical skills in his fight against crime, including sleight of hand, escapology, hypnosis and telepathy. Though his methods are often unusual, his confrontations with the kings and queens of crime always end with a triumph for good over evil.

THE TEAM

Tarot has three associates —Lulli (played by Judy Loe), Sam (Tony Selby) and Mr. Sweet (Donald Layne-Smith). They all have their own particular places in Tarot’s organisation. Lulli is young, beautiful and intelligent. She met Tarot when she backed her beach-buggy into his ‘E type Jaguar. Then they discovered that they had a telepathic link—in other words they could communicate without speaking to each other!

Sam is Tarot’s right-hand man. He’s done everything and been everywhere—including prison. Mr. Sweet is an antiquarian bookseller who acts as Tarot’s frontman and go-between. Mr. Sweet is lovable, amusing and eccentric when necessary.

And last but certainly not least is Tarot’s pet, Ozyrnandias—Ozzie, for short. He is a Malayan fishing owl who has buttercup eyes and makes a whistling sound when he’s excited. You can see Ace of Wands on a Wednesday at 5.15 and it’s fully networked. The programme’s producer, Pamela Lonsdale, told me that it would be even more mysterious and intriguing than the first series. So if you want a dose of mysterious adventure, tune in! (Look-In, 1971)