Terry Adlam (Visual Effects)

Dick Spanner

Dick Spanner, P.I. is a 1986 British stop-motion animated comedy series which parodied Chandleresque detective shows. The title character and main protagonist was Dick Spanner, voiced by Shane Rimmer, a robotic private detective who works cases in a futuristic urban setting. The show made frequent use of puns and visual gags. The series consisted of 22 six-minute episodes, covering two story arcs of equal length: "The Case Of The Human Cannonball" and "The Case Of The Maltese Parrot". The programme was originally broadcast in the United Kingdom as a segment of the Sunday morning show Network 7 on Channel 4, and was later repeated on the same channel in a late night spot. Produced by Thunderbirds creator Gerry Anderson, the series was created and written by Terry Adlam, who had previously worked on effects for Anderson's Terrahawks. It was also the basis for the Anderson-created Tennants Pilsner advertising campaign using the Lou Tennant character.

Release Date1987-05-03

DepartmentCreator

JobCreator

Vote Count7

Nightbreed

A troubled young man is drawn to a mythical place called Midian where a variety of friendly monsters are hiding from humanity. Meanwhile, a sadistic serial killer is looking for a patsy.

Release Date1990-02-16

DepartmentVisual Effects

JobMatte Painter

Vote Count485

Dick Spanner P.I.

Compilation of a 1986 British stop-motion animated comedy series which parodied Chandleresque detective shows. The title character and protagonist was Dick Spanner, a robotic private detective who works cases in a futuristic urban setting. The show made frequent use of puns and visual gags. Produced by Thunderbirds creator Gerry Anderson, the series was created and written by Terry Adlam, who had previously worked on effects for Anderson's Terrahawks. It was also the basis for the Anderson-created Tennents Pilsner advertising campaign using the Lou Tennent character (voiced by Vivian Stanshall).

Release Date1987-09-27

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector

Dick Spanner P.I.: The Case of the Screaming Dame

Standalone short in two parts. After being resurrected, Dick visits Mae East and decides to tail a strange screaming woman whom he sees in her building. Dick follows the screaming woman to the theatre, where he learns of her association with Professor Innuendo.

Release Date2017-09-04

DepartmentWriting

JobWriter

Dick Spanner P.I.: The Case of the Missing Episode

The opener (and only episode, later restored as a short) for an unfinished third series finds a group of detectives assembled in Paris, where they're bumped off in the manner of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None (aka Ten Little Indians). Copyrighted in 1988, but unreleased until 2014, when it surfaced on The Lost Worlds of Gerry Anderson DVD. It was later included as a bonus feature on the 2017 Dick Spanner DVD set.

Release Date2014-01-01

DepartmentDirecting

JobDirector