# The Third Man (TV series)

The Third Man is a TV series which ran from 1959 to 1965. It was based on the novel and film The Third Man and starred Michael Rennie as Harry Lime. In the TV series, Lime is an international private investigator.
The series was a co-production between the NTA Film Network and the BBC. The first twenty episodes were shot at 20th Century Fox studios in Hollywood. Later episodes were filmed at Shepperton Studios and Associated-British Elstree Studios (Associated British Picture Corporation) in England.
Initially eight episodes were lost due to the BBC’s junking policy, but on 4 October 2024, the Film Is Fabulous project announced the episode "The Man Who Wouldn’t Talk" had been recovered and returned to the BBC archive. In addition, they announced the recovery of a version of "The Man With Two Left Hands", which was in better quality than the one that existed.

## Cast

* Michael Rennie as Harry Lime
* Jonathan Harris as Bradford Webster

## Episodes
### Season 1 (1959–60)

| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 1 | 1 | "One Kind Word" | Cliff Owen | Iain MacCormick | 2 October 1959 (1959-10-02) |
| 2 | 2 | "The Man Who Died Twice" | Paul Stanley | A.J. Carothers | 9 October 1959 (1959-10-09) |
| 3 | 3 | "Death of an Overlord" | David Orrick McDearmon | David Swift | 16 October 1959 (1959-10-16) |
| 4 | 4 | "The Best Policy" | Julian Amyes | John Player | 23 October 1959 (1959-10-23) |
| 5 | 5 | "The Indispensable Man" | Paul Stanley | Jack Laird | 30 October 1959 (1959-10-30) |
| 6 | 6 | "Sparks from a Dead Fire" | Paul Stanley | Robert Yale Libott | 6 November 1959 (1959-11-06) |
| 7 | 7 | "Three Dancing Turtles" | Julian Amyes | John Kruse | 13 November 1959 (1959-11-13) |
| 8 | 8 | "Hollywood Incident" | Paul Stanley | Richard Berg | 20 November 1959 (1959-11-20) |
| 9 | 9 | "A Question of Price" | David Orrick McDearmon | Harry Brown | 27 November 1959 (1959-11-27) |
| 10 | 10 | "The Importance of Being Harry Lime" | Julian Amyes | Iain MacCormick | 4 December 1959 (1959-12-04) |
| 11 | 11 | "Barcelona Passage" | Cliff Owen | Gilbert Winfield | 18 December 1959 (1959-12-18) |
| 12 | 12 | "Listen for the Sound of a Witch" | Arthur Hiller | Hagar Wilde | 1 January 1960 (1960-01-01) |
| 13 | 13 | "A Collector's Item" | Julian Amyes | John Player | 8 January 1960 (1960-01-08) |
| 14 | 14 | "How to Buy a Country" | Paul Stanley | Robert Yale Libott & A.J. Carothers | 15 January 1960 (1960-01-15) |
| 15 | 15 | "Dinner in Paris" | Anthony Bushell | Iain MacCormick | 22 January 1960 (1960-01-22) |
| 16 | 16 | "The Third Medallion" | Paul Stanley | Milton Gelman | 29 January 1960 (1960-01-29) |
| 17 | 17 | "The Angry Young Man" | Arthur Hiller | Richard Berg | 5 February 1960 (1960-02-05) |
| 18 | 18 | "High Finance" | Julian Amyes | Anthony Steven | 12 February 1960 (1960-02-12) |
| 19 | 19 | "Castle in Spain" | Arthur Hiller | Stanford Whitmore | 19 February 1960 (1960-02-19) |
| 20 | 20 | "Toys of the Dead" | Anthony Bushell | John Kruse | 26 February 1960 (1960-02-26) |
| 21 | 21 | "The Girl Who Didn't Know" | Arthur Hiller | Iain MacCormick | 4 March 1960 (1960-03-04) |
| 22 | 22 | "A Deal in Oils" | Julian Amyes | Alun Falconer | 11 March 1960 (1960-03-11) |
| 23 | 23 | "A Man Takes a Trip" | Paul Stanley | Jameson Brewer | 25 March 1960 (1960-03-25) |
| 24 | 24 | "A Pocketful of Sin" | Arthur Hiller | László Görög | 1 April 1960 (1960-04-01) |
| 25 | 25 | "The Man Who Wouldn't Talk" | Anthony Bushell | John Player | 8 April 1960 (1960-04-08) |
| 26 | 26 | "The Tenth Symphony" | Anthony Bushell | Iain MacCormick | 23 April 1960 (1960-04-23) |
| 27 | 27 | "Trouble at Drill Hill" | David Orrick McDearmon | David Swift | 13 May 1960 (1960-05-13) |
| 28 | 28 | "The Man with Two Left Hands" | Julian Amyes | John Warwick | 27 May 1960 (1960-05-27) |
| 29 | 29 | "As the Twig Is Bent" | Arthur Hiller | David Chandler | 3 June 1960 (1960-06-03) |
| 30 | 30 | "A Box of Eyes" | Julian Amyes | John Kruse | 10 June 1960 (1960-06-10) |
| 31 | 31 | "An Experiment with Money" | Julian Amyes | Margot Bennett | 24 June 1960 (1960-06-24) |
| 32 | 32 | "Broken Strings" | Paul Stanley | Richard Collins & Milton Gelman | 1 July 1960 (1960-07-01) |
| 33 | 33 | "Five Hours to Kill" | Arthur Hiller | Oliver Crawford | 8 July 1960 (1960-07-08) |
| 34 | 34 | "The Widow Who Wasn't" | Anthony Bushell | Lindsay Galloway | 15 July 1960 (1960-07-15) |
| 35 | 35 | "Death in Small Instalments" | Julian Amyes | Rex Rientis | 22 July 1960 (1960-07-22) |
| 36 | 36 | "Harry Lime and the King" | Anthony Bushell | John Graeme | 29 July 1960 (1960-07-29) |
| 37 | 37 | "Dark Island" | Paul Stanley | Ed Adamson | 5 August 1960 (1960-08-05) |
| 38 | 38 | "Confessions of an Honest Man" | Paul Stanley | Merwin Gerard | 12 August 1960 (1960-08-12) |
| 39 | 39 | "An Offering of Pearls" | Cliff Owen | Margot Bennett | 19 August 1960 (1960-08-19) |

### Season 2 (1962–63)

| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 40 | 1 | "A Question of Libel" | Stuart Burge | Graham Greene & John Warwick | 2 July 1962 (1962-07-02) |
| 41 | 2 | "Mischka" | Robert M. Leeds | Graham Greene, Tom Gries, & Mary C. McCall Jr. | 9 July 1962 (1962-07-09) |
| 42 | 3 | "The Cross of Candos" | Robert M. Leeds | Graham Greene & Ben Perry | 16 July 1962 (1962-07-16) |
| 43 | 4 | "Happy Birthday" | Paul Henreid | Graham Greene & Philip Saltzman | 13 August 1962 (1962-08-13) |
| 44 | 5 | "Queen of the Nile" | Paul Henreid | Graham Greene & Robert Sherman | 20 August 1962 (1962-08-20) |
| 45 | 6 | "Calculated Risk" | Paul Henreid | Mary C. McCall Jr. & Fred Schiller | 30 March 1963 (1963-03-30) |
| 46 | 7 | "No Word for Danger" | Robert M. Leeds | Vincent Tilsley | 6 April 1963 (1963-04-06) |
| 47 | 8 | "Lord Bradford" | Robert M. Leeds | Anthony Steven & Vincent Tilsley | 13 April 1963 (1963-04-13) |
| 48 | 9 | "King's Ransom" | David MacDonald | Anthony Steven | 20 April 1963 (1963-04-20) |
| 49 | 10 | "Hamburg Shakedown" | John Newland | John Kruse & Mary McCall | 27 April 1963 (1963-04-27) |
| 50 | 11 | "The Unexpected Mr. Lime" | Robert M. Leeds | Peter Yeldham | 4 May 1963 (1963-05-04) |
| 51 | 12 | "Diamond in the Rough" | Paul Henreid | Richard Levinson & William Link | 11 May 1963 (1963-05-11) |
| 52 | 13 | "Portrait of Harry" | Robert M. Leeds | John Player | 18 May 1963 (1963-05-18) |
| 53 | 14 | "Man in Power" | Robert M. Leeds | Robert Leslie Bellem | 25 May 1963 (1963-05-25) |
| 54 | 15 | "Meeting of the Board" | Paul Henreid | Robert Sherman | 8 June 1963 (1963-06-08) |
| 55 | 16 | "Hansel and Son" | Robert M. Leeds | Lee Berg & Mary C. McCall Jr. | 15 June 1963 (1963-06-15) |
| 56 | 17 | "Act of Atonement" | Robert M. Leeds | Robert Sherman | 13 July 1963 (1963-07-13) |
| 57 | 18 | "Ghost Town" | Robert M. Leeds | Richard Levinson & William Link | 27 July 1963 (1963-07-27) |
| 58 | 19 | "Gold Napoleons" | Robert M. Leeds | P.K. Palmer | 3 August 1963 (1963-08-03) |
| 59 | 20 | "Bradford's Dream" | Robert M. Leeds | Anthony Steven & Vincent Tilsley | 10 August 1963 (1963-08-10) |
| 60 | 21 | "The Way of McEagle" | David MacDonald | John Player | 17 August 1963 (1963-08-17) |
| 61 | 22 | "Who Killed Harry Lime?" | Robert M. Leeds | Philip Saltzman | 24 August 1963 (1963-08-24) |

### Season 3 (1964)

| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 62 | 1 | "A Question in Ice" | Robert M. Leeds | John Warwick | 27 June 1964 (1964-06-27) |
| 63 | 2 | "I.O.U." | Robert M. Leeds | Leslie Edgley (as Robert Bloomfield) | 4 July 1964 (1964-07-04) |
| 64 | 3 | "A Crisis in Crocodiles" | Robert M. Leeds | John Warwick | 1 August 1964 (1964-08-01) |
| 65 | 4 | "Judas Goat" | Paul Henreid | Robert Sherman | 8 August 1964 (1964-08-08) |
| 66 | 5 | "A Little Knowledge" | Robert M. Leeds | Raymond Bowers | 15 August 1964 (1964-08-15) |
| 67 | 6 | "The Day of the Bullfighter" | Paul Henreid | Philip Saltzman | 22 August 1964 (1964-08-22) |
| 68 | 7 | "Mars in Conjunction" | John Ainsworth | Phyllis White & Robert White | 5 September 1964 (1964-09-05) |
| 69 | 8 | "The Big Kill" | Paul Henreid | Robert Sherman | 12 September 1964 (1964-09-12) |
| 70 | 9 | "Frame Up" | Paul Henreid | Gene Wang | 26 September 1964 (1964-09-26) |

### Season 4 (1965)

| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 71 | 1 | "The Trial of Harry Lime" | Robert M. Leeds | Michael Gilbert | 16 July 1965 (1965-07-16) |
| 72 | 2 | "Members Only: Part 1" | Robert M. Leeds | Unknown | 23 July 1965 (1965-07-23) |
| 73 | 3 | "Members Only: Part 2" | Robert M. Leeds | Unknown | 30 July 1965 (1965-07-30) |
| 74 | 4 | "The House of Bon-Bons" | Robert M. Leeds | John Kruse | 6 August 1965 (1965-08-06) |
| 75 | 5 | "The Man at the Top" | John Llewellyn Moxey | John Warwick | 13 August 1965 (1965-08-13) |
| 76 | 6 | "Proxy Fight" | Unknown | Unknown | 20 August 1965 (1965-08-20) |
| 77 | 7 | "The Luck of Harry Lime" | Paul Henreid | Gene Wang | 27 August 1965 (1965-08-27) |

## Archive status

Out of a total of 77 episodes, seven are missing: three from the first series and two each from the second and fourth. On 4 October 2024 the Film Is Fabulous project announced the recovery of "The Man Who Wouldn't Talk", which brought the number of missing episodes down from eight to seven. They also announced they had located a 16mm film recording of "The Man With Two Left Hands" which was a significant improvement on the poor-quality domestic videotape copy previously known to exist.
* Series 1 Episode 5 30.10.1959 "The Indispensable Man"
* Series 1 Episode 22 11.03.1960 "A Deal in Oils"
* Series 1 Episode 23 25.03.1960 "A Man Takes a Trip"
* Series 2 Episode 7 06.04.1963 "No Word for Danger"
* Series 2 Episode 8 13.04.1963 "Lord Bradford"
* Series 4 Episode 5 13.08.1965 "The Man at the Top"
* Series 4 Episode 6 20.08.1965 "Proxy Fight"