The Protectors

The Protectors
Genre	Action Adventure Crime Thriller
Starring	Robert Vaughn Nyree Dawn Porter Tony Anholt Anthony Chinn Yasuko Nagazumi
Theme music composer	Mitch Murray Lyrics: Peter Callander
Opening theme	"Avenues and Alleyways", instrumental version
Ending theme	"Avenues and Alleyways", sung by Tony Christie
Composer	John Cameron
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	52
Production
Producers	Gerry Anderson Reg Hill
Cinematography	Brendan J. Stafford Frank Watts
Editors	Mike Campbell David Lane Bert Rule John S. Smith Geoffrey Mackrill
Running time	25 minutes
Production company	Group Three Productions for ATV
Original release
Network	ITV
Release	29 September 1972 (1972-09-29) – 15 March 1974 (1974-03-15)
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The Protectors is a British television series, an action thriller created by Gerry Anderson. It was Anderson's second TV series to exclusively use live actors as opposed to marionettes following UFO, and his second to be firmly set in contemporary times post The Secret Service. It was also the only Gerry Anderson–produced television series that was not of the fantasy or science fiction genres. It was produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment production company. Despite not featuring marionettes or any real science fiction elements, The Protectors became one of Anderson's most popular productions, easily winning a renewal for a second series. A third series was in the planning stages when the show's major sponsor, Brut, ended its funding which forced the series' cancellation.

The Protectors was first broadcast in 1972 and 1973, and ran to 52 episodes over two series, each 25 minutes long—making it one of the last series of this type to be produced in a half-hour format. It starred Robert Vaughn as Harry Rule, Nyree Dawn Porter as the Contessa Caroline di Contini, and Tony Anholt as Paul Buchet.