TECX
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TECX is a British television crime drama/action series created by Ian Kennedy Martin, that aired on ITV for two series and thirteen episodes between 22 March and 15 August 1990. The series revolved around a Brussels-based private detective agency called TECX (a play on "tecs," short for detectives).
Plot
Tecx dealt with the cases of a group of international detectives who were based in Brussels but roamed all over Europe. Their headquarters was Souverain Associates. Kate Milverton (Jenny Agutter) was in charge and much of the action centred around Chris Tierney (Rob Spendlove)
This was another of those pan European glossy cop shows that could have been an ITC shows from the sixties like The Champions or Department S. Tecx has all but been forgotten these days and the show suffered somewhat at the time from a semi disjointed run of episodes with a two month gap from the schedules halfway through.
Lots of good guest stars popped up though including the likes of John Stride, Stéphane Audran, John Castle, Geoffrey Bayldon, Keith Barron, Abigail Cruttenden and a young Mark Strong.
Cast
- Rob Spendlove as Chris Tierney
- Urbano Barberini as Fabio Cavalcanti
- Ulrike Schwarz as Anna Holz
- Stéphane Audran as Isabelle Souverain
- Jenny Agutter as Kate Milverton
Episodes
Series overview
| Series | Episodes | Originally released | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | ||
| 1 | 7 | 22March1990(1990-03-22) | 3May1990(1990-05-03) |
| 2 | 6 | 11July1990(1990-07-11) | 15August1990(1990-08-15) |
Series 1 (1990)
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Deep Water | Alan Cooke | Robert Smith | 22March1990(1990-03-22) |
| Chris and Fabio, two would-be detectives are given their first big case by an influential Parisian lawyer. Hired to protect a disgruntled former employee of a shipping company who is being threatened, Chris and Fabio are joined in their investigation by Anna. They find themselves in a world of lies, frauds and disappearing ships. | ||||
| 2 | The Wine Business | Antonia Bird | Patrick Harbinson | 29March1990(1990-03-29) |
| TECX overstep the mark. Asked by Kate Milverton, an English lawyer in Isabelle's practice, for some minor background information on a client's case, they dig up more than requested. There's resentment all around especially as Kate seems to be developing more than a business partnership with her wine merchant client, Hugo. | ||||
| 3 | The Sea Takes All | Antonia Bird | Michael Baker | 5April1990(1990-04-05) |
| An unknown client hires the TECX agency to investigate a suspicious toxic waste transporter. Fabio is drawn to a "Green" activist who provides him with information but then disaster strikes. | ||||
| 4 | A Question of Chemistry | Renny Rye | Jane Hollowood | 12April1990(1990-04-12) |
| The TECX agency investigate unfair competition among NATO equipment suppliers. The trail takes them to Germany where Anna's past returns to haunt her. | ||||
| 5 | Dead End | Renny Rye | Pete Barwood | 19April1990(1990-04-19) |
| The detectives of the TECX agency are hired by a powerful Japanese conglomerate to find a "missing person" with whom they have unfinished business. However TECX are not the only ones looking for him. | ||||
| 6 | 17k | Lawrence Gordon Clark | Robert Hammond | 26April1990(1990-04-26) |
| TECX investigates the brutal murder of a Chinese shopkeeper in Amsterdam. Isabelle defends the dead man's daughter against a charge of attempted homicide in Brussels. The case drags up disturbing memories from Anna's past. | ||||
| 7 | Rock a Buy Baby | Gabrielle Beaumont | Barbara Machin | 3May1990(1990-05-03) |
| A small town politician receives blackmail notes concerning the adoption of his son - someone has discovered how he and his wife secretly bought a baby. With an election approaching, the politician turns to the TECX agency for help. |
Series 2 (1990)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 1 | Needle in a Haystack | Gabrielle Beaumont | Timothy Prager | 11July1990(1990-07-11) |
| A multi-national food company is being blackmailed - someone is trying to poison its fruit. TECX agents are sent to Marseilles to try and catch the culprit. | |||||
| 9 | 2 | Previous Convictions | Alan Cooke | Guy Meredith | 18July1990(1990-07-18) |
| A ghost from Fabio's past causes problems when she turns to him for help. | |||||
| 10 | 3 | Getting Personal | Antonia Bird | Jack Chaney | 25July1990(1990-07-25) |
| Anna and Fabio investigate a series of damaging leaks from the nuclear waste committee. | |||||
| 11 | 4 | Fall from Grace | Lawrence Gordon Clark | Robert Smith | 1August1990(1990-08-01) |
| A high flying Euro MP asks the TECX agency for help when a beautiful young translator starts sending him stolen documents which threaten to compromise his career. Soon it's a murder investigation. | |||||
| 12 | 5 | Writing on the Wall | Antonia Bird | Andy de la Tour | 8August1990(1990-08-08) |
| The TECX agency are in London trying to have a holiday when a distraught "new-age hippy" asks them to find his stolen van, which is full of chunks of the Berlin Wall. | |||||
| 13 | 6 | A Soldier's Death | Renny Rye | Susan Wilkins | 15August1990(1990-08-15) |
| The TECX team are about to fly home when they learn that Kate's father is ill. His family bank is blackmailed and large sums of money are disappearing. Kate urges him to employ TECX. |
Home media
Notably, the series has neither been repeated since broadcast, nor is available on any form of home media.
External links
- atIMDb