Robert S. Baker

The Saint was an ITC mystery spy thriller television series that aired in the UK on ITV between 1962 and 1969. It centred on the Leslie Charteris literary character Simon Templar, played by Roger Moore as a suave and sophisticated Robin Hood-like adventurer. The character may be nicknamed The Saint because the initial letters of his name are also an abbreviation for the word saint. When taking on an American persona, he would often use the name Sebastian Tombs.

As a result of the strong performance in the US of the first two black-and-white series in first-run syndication, NBC picked up the show as a summer replacement in its evening schedule in 1966. The programme therefore ended its run with both trans-Atlantic prime time scheduling and colour episodes. It also proved popular beyond the UK and US, eventually airing in over 60 countries, and made a profit in excess of £350m for ITC. With almost 120 episodes, the programme is exceeded only by The Avengers as the most productive show of its genre produced in the UK.