
The Troubleshooters is a BBC drama series about the boardroom battles and frontline dangers of a fictional British oil company, Mogul Oil.
Concessions in the oil-rich Middle East are hard won. A young man hurled into the political bargaining must be shrewd, fast, and often ruthless.
The desert is like the sea. It takes possession of a man's soul. For a young geologist seeking to prove himself it is exciting. But like the sea, the desert is dangerous.
Motor-racing means excitement: it also means danger. Driscoll faces personal risk when he opposes Stead and tries to steer Mogul into Grand Prix racing.
Trouble erupts around Mogul's new North Sea rig when a few unguarded words open old wounds in a Tyneside shipyard.
The glittering world of advertising is a wonderful dream for Miss Mogul, Sandra Spratt. But others have a different view-and create a headache for Derek Prentice and Mogul.
Prejudice has deep roots. Driscoll is involved in an explosive situation in northern Canada when Mogul picks an Iroquois Indian for an important job.
Freedom is very desirable. But when Peter Thornton envies the life of a Mogul tanker.driver he finds no man is as free as he seems.
A beautiful girl and a heart attack combine to make Brian Stead want to retire. But attacks from within Mogul rouse his fighting instincts, and complicate his decision.
Mogul's world water-speed attempt hits trouble. Stewart must decide which is the danger-driver, boat. or sabotage?
A Mogul geologist blows himself up. When his fiancee arrives in Trinidad at carnival time she brings a crisis for Thornton.
Stewart and Jane are sent to Rumania. Their mission-to buy a man for Mogul.
Peter Thornton faces a revolution and the collapse of his marriage when he tries to replace Mogul's manager in a new Asian state.
The first aircraft using Mogul's new fuel crashes. Who was to blame- Mogul or the pilot?
A A pleasant voyage on a supertanker becomes a nightmare for Thornton and Jane when there are threats to blow up the ship.
Mogul is guilty of swindling and blackmail-says Roy Binns. How could Jane fall for such a man?
Emotional problems cloud the excitement of homecoming when Peter Thornton goes back to Australia after his divorce
A bomb explodes as Stewart arrives at Saigon airport. Soon he becomes heavily involved in the conflicts of a warring people.
Fire, explosions and dangerous break outs in Mogul's new rig in the Persian Gulf. Stewart and Thornton clash head-on in their efforts to save it.
Trouble boils up for Stead during a cross-country car rally. Izard has to put his personal life before Mogul.
The building of a new super tanker for Mogul in a Tees-side shipyard becomes a seven-million-pound headache for Thornton.
Thornton faces great danger when a hurricane strikes Mogul's new Caribbean drilling rig.
Stead faces a crisis when an African state seizes a Mogul refinery.
Thornton finds himself involved with the problems of Scotland—in the Libyan desert.
A joy-ride becomes a nightmare for Alec Stewart, driving through France in an international car rally.
Trapped in the Arctic wastes of Spitzbergen, one mistake could cost Peter Thornton his life.
Fierce emotions are roused when Mogul plans a new refinery in Wales. Stewart has the tough task of dealing with hostile locals.
Trouble flares for Stewart when a hero from his past intrudes on the present.
Every year in his report the chairman of The Mogul Oil Company outlines the plans for future drilling. This year there are none. The only possibility of a new site is an area in Northern Ontario where a survey team has been working in vain for two years.Time is running short, and head-office man Thornton is sent out to Canada to hurry the team along. He finds himself in an explosive situation.
Is Mogul's new chemical crop spray a killer? Stewart must judge when a scientist rebels.
Blackmailer, fraud, agitator-or brilliant young executive? Finding the truth about Brady is one of Thornton's toughest assignments.
Danger in the North Sea—maro hazards on the dry land of Europe— when Stead's son joins Mogul Thorn. ton is threatened with disaster.
Danger and fear lurk 300 feet below the sea when Thornton goes underwater for Mogul.
Stewart's job. hopes, and home are In danger when a plan backfires.
A dream of greatness brings crisis for the troubleshooters-Stead decides to leave Mogul.
Stead's life is in Thornton's hands when the Rhodesian oil ban takes them to Africa.
An Easter tragedy forces Alec Stewart to choose between his personal life and Mogul.
Death brings opportunity for Mogul, a test of loyalty for Thornton.
Thornton hits trouble in Africa and faces a perilous journey with strange companions.
One man blocks Mogul's hopes for North Sea gas. Can Stewart buy him —or break him?
Izard fights Stead and Stewart when they take over a German firm. Stead's plan is brilliant-but Izard finds powerful friends.
Stead and Stewart clash bitterly In this fight there can be no second place. The loser must go.
' Find this man and bring him here,' Stead orders Thornton. But the man is crossing the Sahara-and doesn'want to return.
A desert Sheik tries to buy Eileen O'Rourke. But Szabo thinks this is too high a price for an oil concession.
Willy Izard tries to repay a debt to his former boss. But loyalty can cloud a man's judgment-as Willy learns to his cost.
Stead mourns when Thornton disappears in a Moroccan disaster. But for Stead and his new assistant, this is only the start of Mogul's troubles.
One man's jealousy blocks Mogul's plans in Singapore. Stead sets out to destroy him, but finds himself torn by personal problems.
Fire in a refinery,mars Mogul's happy Christmas. For Thornton, duty conflicts with friendship, while Stead finds a business deal threatened by the arrival of his grandchildren.
Thornton risks his job when he refuses to threaten an old friend for Mogul. But the friend faces greater dangers from others.
Thornton learns a hard lesson from a glamorous woman M.P. when he fights the British Government over new plans for the Channel Tunnel.
Returning to the Sudan arouses forgotten memories for Stead. But Thornton and Eileen are faced with saving a tanker from shipwreck.
Thornton gets involved with gun-runners when he is sent to Europe to find the secret of an African Power struggle.
Mogul strike oil off Scotland. But when Thornton disappears, Stead discovers there can be more problems at home than in the desert.
Personal conflict flares when Stewart and Grandmercy try to carry a dangerous cargo into the Venezuelan Jungle.
A Russian rig starts drilling for oil in a Mogul North Sea area. Stead needs all his wits and strength to get them out. But Stead is not well...
Thornton takes a chance In Thailand -and lands Mogul in trouble.
Stewart clashes bitterly with IzanJ and Stead, when the biggest project In the world threatens the homes of a hundred simple people.
A false newspaper story brings trouble for Thornton and Izard in Iraq. But who started the story? Stead and Eileen find the answer is very complicated.
When the gas bubble exploded in the North Sea recently, every newspaper called The Troubleshooters' office. They knew the series' reputation for forecasting events, was anything similar planned? The answer, inevitably, was: We received the script last week.' Once again Mogul got there first!In tonight's story, however, the explosions in the Mediterranean are much bigger. And it is only the start of Mogul's headaches. While Stead copes with the international repercussions, Thornton is sailing a relief rig through a Caribbean hurricane and Izard faces trouble of a different sort in Sicily. They are all backed by some spectacular real-life film never before seen by the public.
What happens to men like Wallace Nichols? Mogul's top brass find the answer is by no means easy.
As Britain reeled under the recent gales Ray Barrett , director Alan Gibson and his crew were anxiously watching the shipping forecasts. They were due to sail aboard an oil tanker to film for tonight's episode. In the event, the gale at sea was a mere force eight. Cold and tough-but not unsuitable. For the action features an approaching hurricane.
Stead and Stewart reach the final stage of their battle for power when Mogul is threatened by a senior Cabinet Minister
In tonight's story, Zenith drop a bombshell into the world of Mogul. The repercussions will influence the company for a long time to come.
Street food stalls at night, teeming crowds, the great harbour, gleaming new hotels, wartime gun sites, and Changi jail itself.
How much is one man worth? When Ted Kihl is trapped in a Malaysian cave, Peter Thornton turns the huge resources of Mogul and his own skill as an oil man on to a rescue operation.
The lovely Mrs. Foss, wife of Mogul's founder, turns up in London in the middle of a take-over battle. Inevitably, she brings chaos and confusion-particularly to Alec Stewart.
Tonight, Stead's plans for expansion in Europe as part of his fight against Zenith take a knock when a French multi-millionaire marries a film starlet.
Tonight Troubleshooters penetrates the fascinating world of Japan. Stewart and Roz find themselves in the uncomfortable world between East and West, where the traditions of a thousand years conflict with life in the twentieth century.
Why should the manager of Mogul's Malaysian refinery insult the local sultan? Why does he not remember things? Why does he turn against Thornton, an old friend, when he tries to help?
Protests and demonstrations have recently become part of our way of life, as have mergers and takeovers. In tonight's story, Mogul faces the effects of both when a group of redundant employees occupy a distribution depot. A situation which starts as something small quickly develops into tension and danger.
'Blackmail, Mr. Stewart. Bribery and corruption.' Are Stewart and Stead trying to bribe their way to an important refinery project in Scotland? And what part does Zenith play in the attempts to corrupt a Scots official?
Angola spells trouble for Mogul when Thornton becomes a pawn in the struggle between African rebels and Portuguese authorities.
The life of an oilman is always tough. He must drill in gale-swept seas, baking deserts, steaming jungles. But the toughest location of all is the Arctic. There, one false move could mean certain death.Thornton faces Incredible hardship this week in Alaska. But added to the dangers and difficulties is the knowledge that the whole future of Mogul could depend on his success or failure.
A remote island in the Indian Ocean may seem the perfect drilling location. No population, beautiful weather, not even a foreign government to deal with for it is British-owned. But-there's this bird, see ... and birds, feathered of course, spell trouble for Mogul.
The executives of Mogul's South African subsidiary think their office boy Zeke is only capable of 'toting barges and liftin' bales,' but Willy Izard has other ideas. Zeke has secret ambitions-and qualifications-which Willy decides to further. He expected to come up against apartheid but another completely unexpected obstacle crops up which calls for uncharacteristic forcefulness from the gentle Izard.
Eccentric individualists cannot successfully be absorbed into big organisations, but Brian Stead decides to take up the challenge. He realises that an inventor has got something Mogul needs. The big question is: what has Mogul got that the inventor needs?
Papuan headhunters are not a common danger to Mogul. But this week they are only one of the hazards which Peter Thornton has to face. Why does the Australian District Commissioner try to stop him going to see Dr. Liebling? And what is Dr. Liebling doing there anyway? It takes a terrifying experience to clear up the mystery.
Ghislaine Foss 's hand is sought by both Mogul and Zenith. Why? Because besides having a young and glamorous millionairess at the end of it, it contains a fistful of Mogul shares! Vital shares as the Mogul-Zenith battle nears its climax.Everything seems to be coming to a head-and not only in the business sense. All along the line the female of the species is the catalyst. For Alec Stewart , this means trouble from all directions.
'Let's show the Yanks what it is to be British,' says Brian Stead. And to prove it he takes the entire board of Mogul International across the Atlantic on the Queen Elizabeth 2. But this is no empty gesture. The moment of decision has arrived in the Mogul-Zenith merger battle. For the crucial board meeting the directors must be away from outside interference.
Is Alec Stewart a spy? The Algerian authorities say yes, Mogul says no. It is possible: he travels all over the world, is accepted everywhere without question, and moves in the highest circles. But he has never expressed strong political opinions and he certainly doesn'need the money, so why should he spy? Stewart's close friends and colleagues think and think again while he is in captivity. Guilty or no, he can certainly never be regarded in exactly the same light again.
Olive McFarland is a member of The Century Theatre CompanyMemories of 1945 come flooding back to Brian Stead when he revisits Berlin, where Mogul are drilling for natural gas. He served there at the end of the war as a Major organising petrol supplies for the Allied Forces and an incident twenty-four years old is dragged up now in an attempt to discredit him.
Brian Stead is the only man who would dare ask Peter Thornton to travel direct from Alaska to Western Australia—a temperature change of 134 degrees! What is more, Stead is the only man Thornton would do it for. Thornton questions his loyalty, though, when he is lost in the outback without radio or salt tablets. Struggling to survive he wonders whether Mogul's demands are too great ...
' Peter Thornton not interested in oil? That's like Laurence Olivier saying the theatre's a bore.' That's the reaction when Thornton, exhausted after being frozen in Alaska and fried in Australia, resigns from Mogul and turns his back on the world of oil.Can Stead get his number one troubleshooter to change his mind? Thornton, lying peacefully on a beach in Fiji, says no. Willy Izard , lecturing hippies in California, has his doubts but agrees to try.Exotic Fiji, peace, and a beautiful girl (of course) are powerful influences on a disillusioned Thornton. But Stead has a few tricks to pull before he will admit defeat.
Peter Thornton returns to the fold-straight into the thick of a row between the New Zealand government and Mogul over the shifting of a drilling rig from that country to Indonesia. Why should Thornton want to return to do Stead's dirty work? Because he wants to win a seat on the Mogul Board. Also, the man who is leading a mutiny on the rig is an old mate, Ed Ahu Riri.Ultimately, the friendship proves to be a hindrance rather than a help and Thornton's loyalties are stretched to breaking point.
An important contract can be won in Ceylon. But Mogul's manager there, Henry Burton, does not seem to be trying. Thornton is on his own. He must not only find out why but also take the decisions needed to put things right. Including, if necessary, sacking Burton. His investigations give him an insight into the ways of the country and plenty of surprises-including a powerful astrologer.
Stead sends Peter Thornton to a Caribbean island paradise-where he is taken prisoner! 'King' George Watt is the benign but powerful ruler of the island and if he says he doesn'want a Mogul invasion, there won'be one. He is supported by a French woman anthropologist, Dr. Yvette Leduc, who is dangerously using the islanders in a sociological experiment. She doesn'want Mogul there either, and it is she who triggers off an explosive situation by helping Peter Thornton escape.
Alec Stewart is holidaying in Israel, in a bid to put the horror of his stay in an Algerian jail behind him. Incredibly, he hits another load of trouble and this time it's not only his reputation that is threatened, but his whole future.This week's episode explores the war-torn Arab-Israeli border troubles and demonstrates the very delicate way in which both sides have now to be handled by big business in order to protect their interests.
Is Stead over the hill, about to die? Can Thornton really be sacked? Can Stewart survive in Mogul after his recent disasters? Will Izard retire when Stead goes?The future of just about everybody is in jeopardy in this, the final episode of the current series.
Stead's back in his haven, all's right with the world. But his quiet trip to the Caribbean on a Mogul supertanker produces unexpected developments.
Stead's visit to a Mogul refinery in Africa causes problems for Peter Thornton. The simple job of organising a ceremonial event becomes highly dangerous when a sacked engineer threatens to blow up the refinery.Exciting film sequences shot in Africa range from a modern refinery to the ruins of a lost city in the jungle, and a desperate drive across hundreds of miles of African bush.
A world-famous leprosy hospital lies in the path of Mogul's exploration teams in East Africa. The ageing Dr Hoffmann who runs it is idolised by millions, including Willy Izard - who, with Thornton's help, has to cope with the problems involved.
Mogul's drilling operation in Alaska is disrupted by one Eskimo with a high-powered rifle. But is it just one man? Life on the North Slope is tough. But during the ballyhoo of an oil-men's convention in Fairbanks, Stead and Thornton discover that there are human problems in Alaska too.
What is the price of a bride? When the government of the African State of Manzaya decide to throw out Mogul's manager, three men are faced with this question: Ralph Grant , the manager with a South African wife; Jack Robbins , who lives upcountry with an African girl; and Peter Thornton himself.
What is it like to be captured by dangerous mercenaries in an African civil war? Willy Izard finds out the hard way when he replaces Thornton on a trip to Ebon.Mogul's frantic efforts to free him centre on Jane Webb, Stead's former secretary (Philippa Gail), and her husband - a mercenary officer played by John Barcroft, best known for his performance as George Forsyte in "The Forsyte Saga".
When management efficiency experts arrive, rumours of redundancy swamp Mogul head office.
In the desert, water can be just as valuable as oil - and as explosive, as Peter Thornton finds out to his cost.
How do you tempt a man who has everything? Mogul's future in South America depends on the answer, which occupies Stead, Thornton and Izard.Their attempts to pin down a multi-millionaire to talk business take them to a health farm, the Cannes Film Festival, a Continental casino, and a Scottish cattle sale.
Haiti is notorious for voodoo and its secret police, the dreaded Tonton Macoute. Stead becomes involved in a desperate and dangerous battle for control of Mogul's local company.All the location film for this story was shot in the Caribbean, with Geoffrey Keen , Ray Barrett , and Philip Latham plus the other star of the show-the Dangerous Green Impala itself.The Tonton Macoute are President ' Papa Doc ' Duvalier's personal and not very secret secret police force who use a combination of voodoo magic and good old-fashioned brutality to keep Haiti in ' Papa Doc 's ' good books.
Robert Hardy and Deborah Stan ford return tonight as the Stewarts, installed in the Caribbean. Alec is involved in an explosive situation. Mogul's drilling rig on the island has been sabotaged. Stead sends Alec's old rival Thornton out to investigate.
Tribal quarrels, witch-doctors, political double-dealing, a drunken hotel-keeper and a mysterious blow-back on a decrepit drilling rig -all hundreds of miles from nowhere in the African bush ...
Albert Lefioch, veteran of Verdun, stages a one-man strike and brings the whole of France's canal system to a halt. Since the barge traffic includes a vital consignment of secret oil for Concorde, Mogul is deeply concerned.Meanwhile, in England, another old man succeeds in stopping the Mogul refinery which produces the oil.
Negotiating for a refinery contract in Africa is never simple. But when Chinese, American, Rhodesian and African interests are all involved, the task becomes almost impossible. It is said that there are more spies per square mile in Kinsaka .than anywhere in the world - and most of them seem to be after the men from Mogul.
Giant submarine tankers have been a dream in the oil industry for years. Now, they are not only possible but necessary-to ship oil out of Alaska under the ice. Mogul's experiments have gone well. Now Stead, Thornton, and Izard visit their submarine - not in Alaska but in the Caribbean. Even there, though, things can go dangerously wrong - as Stead finds on his first underwater dive.
Industry, pollution, overcrowding - Stead is feeling the pressures of them all when he goes to Nova Scotia. Here, he finds the perfect site for Mogul's ne-v refinery.But is it perfect? In the peace of a small country hotel, Stead finds time to think.
Stead, Thornton and Izard are on trial tonight. State secrets have been leaked to a foreign power - and the Ministry of Defence investigator says it must be from one of these three men. In this final episode, the action all takes place in Mogul House as Commander Fayne (Patrick Allen ) conducts his interrogation.
The men from Mogul come thundering back. First stop is Scandinavia, with an oil find bringing problems for Mogul and a new man posing a threat to Stead.
The threat to Stead becomes reality as Langley takes up his post as Deputy Chairman, and Willy Izard reaches the end of the road.
Trouble in the Peruvian Andes for Thornton in the shadow of the Spanish Conquistadores brings Langley his first test as deputy chairman.
Mogul seem to have struck it rich in the Bay of Biscay. But it means danger for Thornton and Langley.
A computer brings Thornton and Izard into contact with an ambitious girl and an extraordinary man in the outback.
Drama at sea as Peter Thornton and HMS Ark Royal race to the rescue of a stricken tanker.
Disaster or triumph? Willy Izard faces the two extremes in the rarified air of Mexico City, as he tackles his toughest-ever test, both in business and his private life.
A Polynesian paradise - or is it? Thornton finds even the South Pacific has its share of difficult people.
Raising money is never simple-but even Willy Izard finds it tough when Stead and Langley demand several million pounds each, before four o'clock.
Corsica's main export is brains, they say. It is also the birthplace of Napoleon - and Thornton, Izard and Langley find they are not allowed to forget it.
Willy Izard intends to spend his South of France holiday nursing his wife back to health and forgetting about Mogul. But escape is not so easy, even on a camping site.
It's a nice thought. But men like Stead and Langley can'always separate their private lives from their business.
Traditions often die hard. But Thornton meets with more violent opposition, when Mogul's New Zealand pipeline clashes with Maori interests.
A wage claim at Mogul's biggest chemical works brings Stead into unlikely alliance with a communist shop steward, in a head-on clash with Langley.
Is this the end of the road for Brian Stead?
Complete episode guide for The Troubleshooters with detailed information about every season and episode including air dates, summaries, ratings, and streaming availability in United States.
This episode guide is organized by seasons, making it easy to track your viewing progress or find specific episodes. Use the episode information to plan your binge-watching sessions or catch up on missed episodes.