# King and Castle

King and Castle is a British television crime drama series, made by Thames Television and screened on ITV, that first broadcast on 20 August 1985. The series stars Derek Martin as Ronald King, a Detective Sergeant with the Metropolitan Police, who is obliged to leave the force when he is investigated by the anti-corruption squad. His first venture outside of the police involves setting up his own Debt Collection Agency, known as 'The Manor', where he partners with mild-mannered martial arts expert David Castle (Nigel Planer).
Created by Ian Kennedy Martin, who had previously devised The Sweeney for Thames, along with Juliet Bravo and The Chinese Detective for the BBC, King and Castle started out as an episode of Thames' Storyboard, a series of stand-alone dramas intended as potential pilots for series. Described as a combination of the rough-and-tumble of The Sweeney with the knowing wit of Minder, two series of six episodes each followed in 1986 and 1988. In 1986, a paperback tie-in novel was also released to accompany the first series.
The complete series of King and Castle, including the Storyboard pilot, was released on DVD via Network in April 2011 and July 2012 respectively.

## Cast

* Derek Martin as Ronald King
* Nigel Planer as David Castle
* Mary Healey as Miss Willmott
* Andrew Cruickshank Mr. Hodinett
* Laura Davenport as Deidre Aitken (1986)
* Rowena Roberts as Hilary McLean (1988)
* Paul Brooke as Edward Hallday-Mostyn (1986)
* Shirley Stelfox as Betty (1988)
* Lucy Speed as Susie (1988)

## Episodes
### Pilot (1985)

| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Airdate |
| 0 | "King and Castle" | Richard Bramall | Ian Kennedy Martin | 20 August 1985 (1985-08-20) |
| A dissatisfied young martial artist teams up with maverick ex-cop in a new debt collecting venture. |||||

### Series 1 (1986)

| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Airdate |
| 1 | "Exodus" | Peter Cregeen | Ian Kennedy Martin | 3 September 1986 (1986-09-03) |
| King and Castle are asked to trace a man who has sawn his house in half following the break-up of his marriage. Meanwhile, a local villain has a score to settle with King. |||||
| 2 | "Villains" | Henry Herbert | Ian Kennedy Martin | 10 September 1986 (1986-09-10) |
| A bereaved family hire King to find a substantial some money that disappeared after their relative died in a car crash. |||||
| 3 | "Partners" | Alan Bell | Ian Kennedy Martin | 17 September 1986 (1986-09-17) |
| A man called Devas hires King and Castle to secure debts owed to him by a Rodney Finch-Courtney. |||||
| 4 | "Friends" | Peter Cregeen | Ian Kennedy Martin | 24 September 1986 (1986-09-24) |
| King and Castle turn detective when the friend of a man they are chasing for large debts is imprisoned for a robbery he did not commit. This episode featured Terence Morgan's last ever acting role; it was noted that he gave a 'haunting performance'. |||||
| 5 | "Romance" | Henry Herbert | Ian Kennedy Martin | 1 October 1986 (1986-10-01) |
| Castle pursues a woman for £10,000 of debts, but King finds himself attracted to her. King discovers Medley's long-lost son. |||||
| 6 | "Rivals" | Alan Bell | Ian Kennedy Martin | 8 October 1986 (1986-10-08) |
| Castle deals with a child custody case. A rival debt collection agency moves into the area and successfully employs strong-arm tactics. |||||

### Series 2 (1988)

| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Airdate |
| 7 | "Kicks" | Peter Sasdy | Ian Kennedy Martin | 10 May 1988 (1988-05-10) |
| King has a cashflow problems, and Castle and Miss Willmott are owed nearly £2,000 in back pay. |||||
| 8 | "Dim Sums" | Laurence Moody | Ian Kennedy Martin | 17 May 1988 (1988-05-17) |
| A woman dies and leaves behind a lot of I.O.U.s signed by a Tony Chen. King and Castle are hired to find him. |||||
| 9 | "Hams" | Jan Sargent | Ian Kennedy Martin | 24 May 1988 (1988-05-24) |
| Castle acquires a wonderful recipe for cooking hams. Hilary and Carol clash. |||||
| 10 | "Floppy Discs" | Peter Tabem | Nigel Planer & Andy de la Tour | 31 May 1988 (1988-05-31) |
| King is hired to help find a stolen floppy disc that contains extremely valuable information. |||||
| 11 | "Class" | Laurence Moody | Nigel Planer & Andy de la Tour | 7 June 1988 (1988-06-07) |
| A friend of King's needs a touch of class, but is King the right man for the job? |||||
| 12 | "Cons" | Jan Sargent | Ian Kennedy Martin | 14 June 1988 (1988-06-14) |