The Saint S01E09: The Effete Angler (1962) in Color — Starring Roger Moore & Patrick McAlinney

The Saint S01E09: The Effete Angler (1962) — Buy This Classic in Color

First broadcast on 29 November 1962, “The Effete Angler” is the ninth episode of the first season of The Saint, the British adventure series that turned Roger Moore into a television icon. Directed by Anthony Bushell, this episode belongs to the mystery-crime genre the series made its own, with Moore as Simon Templar, the charming modern-day Robin Hood. Here Templar crosses paths with a shady businessman, a glamorous woman and a fishing trip that is anything but relaxing. Guest stars include Shirley Eaton, Patrick McAlinney, George Pravda and Paul Stassino. Own this classic movie in color as a DRM-free MP4 digital download for just €15.00.

Plot Summary

Simon Templar, the suave adventurer known to friend and foe alike as the Saint, finds himself drawn into a quiet corner of the English countryside where a wealthy businessman named Marcus Tredgold has taken a fishing lodge. Tredgold is not there for the trout. He is there to meet a man named Karel Novak, and the meeting is meant to stay private. Templar, never one to mind his own business when someone else’s looks more interesting, notices that the lodge is being watched.

The watchers are not police. They are associates of a man named Voss, a financier with a taste for other people’s money and a talent for making sure no one can prove it. Voss has a scheme in motion, and Tredgold’s fishing holiday is the last piece of it. When Templar introduces himself, Tredgold is wary, then desperate, then grateful — in roughly that order.

Into this uneasy arrangement steps Laura Sheldon, played by Shirley Eaton, a woman whose connection to the affair is not immediately clear. She is poised, intelligent and plainly frightened of something she will not name. Templar, who has never met a mystery he could leave alone, decides that Miss Sheldon’s silence is worth more attention than Tredgold’s evasions.

The plot tightens around a ledger, a set of documents that Voss needs and Tredgold has, and a deadline that neither man can move. Templar works both ends of the problem, playing the careless idler to Voss’s face while quietly assembling the pieces. The episode’s title is a joke at Templar’s expense: the effete angler is the man who looks like he is only fishing, and who is in fact doing something else entirely.

As the deadline closes in, loyalties shift. A man Templar trusted proves to have his own arrangement with Voss. A woman who seemed a victim turns out to be keeping score. And the quiet lodge by the water becomes the stage for a confrontation that Templar has been engineering since his first afternoon on the riverbank.

What Templar must finally decide is not whether he can outwit Voss, but whether the person standing beside him at the end deserves the benefit of the doubt — and whether the whole affair was ever about the money at all.

Cast & Crew

Director: Anthony Bushell
Stars: Roger Moore, Patrick McAlinney, Shirley Eaton, George Pravda, Paul Stassino

Why Buy This Classic in Color?

This professionally colourised restoration gives “The Effete Angler” a texture that black-and-white broadcast could never quite deliver. The English countryside locations — the riverbank, the lodge, the long wet lanes — come alive in greens and greys that read as genuinely British weather rather than flat grey wash. Shirley Eaton’s wardrobe gains the period-accurate warmth of early-1960s fashion, and the interiors of the lodge reveal set dressing that was always there but easy to miss in monochrome. Roger Moore benefits most of all: the colorized image restores the blue of his eyes and the precise tailoring of Templar’s suits, details that carry the character’s effortless charm. The restoration has been handled with restraint, preserving the original contrast and grain rather than smearing it, so the performances remain the focus. If you have only ever seen The Saint in black and white, this is a genuinely new way to watch it. Buy it now at €15.00 with instant DRM-free MP4 download.

Historical Significance

The Saint ran on British television from 1962 to 1969, adapted from Leslie Charteris’s long-running series of novels and stories about Simon Templar. It was one of the first British series to be sold successfully to American network television, and it made Roger Moore a star on both sides of the Atlantic a full decade before he took on James Bond. The show’s formula — a debonair freelance troubleshooter, exotic locations, a rotating cast of guest villains — influenced a generation of adventure television that followed.

“The Effete Angler” comes from the first season, filmed in black and white before the series moved to colour production later in the decade. Anthony Bushell, who directed this episode, was a British actor turned director with a long career on both sides of the camera. The episode’s guest cast is notable for Shirley Eaton, who would become internationally famous two years later in Goldfinger, and for a roster of character actors — Patrick McAlinney, George Pravda, Paul Stassino — who between them appeared in everything from The Avengers to Doctor Who.

Episodes like this one are a snapshot of early-1960s British television at its most confident: tight 49-minute storytelling, a charismatic lead, and guest players who could carry a scene in a single look. Colorization brings this episode to audiences who might otherwise pass it by, and gives longtime fans a reason to revisit it.

Technical Details

• Format: MP4 / MKV digital download
• Resolution: Standard Definition
• Colorized: Professionally colorized from original black and white
• Audio: English original mono
• Runtime: 49 minutes
• DRM-free: Yes — watch on any device
• Instant download: Available immediately after purchase
• Price: €15.00 (token, rendered by the site)

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Movie-Specific Questions

Q: Who plays Simon Templar in this episode?
A: Roger Moore stars as Simon Templar, the role he played across all six seasons of The Saint before going on to play James Bond.

Q: Was “The Effete Angler” originally broadcast in colour?
A: No. This episode of The Saint was broadcast in black and white in 1962. This page offers a later professional colorized restoration, not a studio colour release.

Q: Which guest stars appear in this episode?
A: The guest cast includes Shirley Eaton, Patrick McAlinney, George Pravda, Paul Stassino and Jack Gwillim, alongside series regular Roger Moore.

Digital Download Questions

Q: What format is the download?
A: The film is delivered as MP4 and MKV files that play on virtually any device.
Q: Is there DRM on the file?
A: No. The download is completely DRM-free so you can watch it on any device without restrictions.
Q: How quickly can I watch after purchase?
A: Your download link is available instantly after payment, so you can start watching within minutes.

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