New material about ‘The Persuaders’ uncovered

Exciting new material about the filming of ‘The Persuaders’ TV series has been uncovered in the Archives of the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust (based at the Heritage Motor Centre in Gaydon, near Warwick) during a major re-cataloguing project.

‘The Persuaders’ celebrates its 40th Anniversary having debuted on British TV in September 1971. The stars of the show were Sir Roger Moore and the late Tony Curtis, who drove an Aston Martin DBS and a Ferrari Dino 246 GT respectively. Sir Roger Moore was re-united with the actual Aston Martin DBS used at a recent event, to commemorate the anniversary and the release of the series on Blu-ray DVD.

Photographs, film production records and correspondence relating to this classic Seventies TV series have come to light in the personal collection of the late Roger Stowers. Roger Stowers worked at Aston Martin Lagonda Limited from 1966 until 2000 and was for many years the company's historian. The Archive team at the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust are beginning to catalogue and conserve this significant collection.

In 1970, the producers of ‘The Persuaders’ approached Aston Martin for a car to be driven by Brett Sinclair, the character played by Roger Moore. The Aston Martin DBS supplied was in distinctive Bahama Yellow and for the filming featured the car registration BS1. The actual BS1 number plate was at the time owned by Billy Smart, the circus entrepreneur, whose permission for its use had to be sought.

It is anticipated that the Roger Stowers Collection will be accessible to the general public at the end of next year.