Ace of Wands

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Ace of Wands was a fantasy-based British children's television show on CITV between 1970 and 1972, created by Trevor Preston and Pamela Lonsdale and produced by Thames Television. The title, taken from the name of a Tarot card describes the principal character, called "Tarot" (played by Michael Mackenzie) who combined stage magic with supernatural powers. Tarot had a pet Owl named Ozymandias.

Ace of Wands ran for two seasons of thirteen episodes and a third season of twenty. Many, if not all, of the first 26 episodes are believed to have been wiped, although the final season is intact. In the first two series Tarot was assisted by Sam (Tony Selby) and Lulli (Judy Loe). In the final series this pair were replaced by brother and sister Chas (Roy Holder) and Mikki (Petra Markham) who played very similar roles.

The most fascinating aspect about this programme is that it was quite daring for its time, an occult detective who used various magical powers to fight evil forces. Sadly there appears to be no official video or DVD of the programme; but you can check out a fragment of the opening piece on You Tube

The theme music, "Tarot" was written and performed by Andy Bown (now with Status Quo). It was available at the time as a single.

[edit] External links

• Official Ace of Wands website
• Ace of Wands fansite
• Classic cult television theme song lyrics: Ace of Wands