The series was originally to be called
McGill.
It was changed to Man in a Suitcase after 3 episodes had been made.
Man in a Suitcase was to be the title of the pilot episode which was eventually released as Man From The Dead.
Other working titles included:
My Brother Giulio - released as
Find
The Lady.
Love of Venus - released as The
Girl Who Never Was.
The Mercenary - released as The
Whisper.
The Mine - released as Essay
In Evil.
The two part story Variation On A Million
Bucks, was re-edited and released as an American TV movie called To
Chase
A Million in 1967.
The theme music to the series composed
by Ron Grainer has since been used as the theme tune to TFI Friday.
Whilst filming the series, Richard Bradford
and his family lived in a rented house in North London which was once owned
by snooker legend, Joe Davis.
Apart from London, the majority of outdoor locations used for the series were around Pinewood Studios in villages such as Fulmer and Denham. Black Park and Black Park Lake were also used.
For the episode All That Glitters, the picturesque Cotswolds village of Lower Slaughter in Gloucestershire was used.
During the series, McGill drove a variety
of vehicles. The main one being a lime green Hillman Imp registration FHP
198C. Others included a red Imp, FPX 672C, a grey Imp, 109
GXH, a white Singer Chamois, JML 272B, and a grey Ford Zodiac, EJU 444C.
McGill’s address changed quite often. A few examples of where he lived are:
Flat 7, 56 Clive Mansions, SW3 - Day
Of Execution.
Flat 7, The Mansions, Park Street, NW1
- Variation On A Million Bucks.
Flat 12, Halcourt Mansions, Beaufort Street,
Chelsea, SW3 - Who’s Mad Now?
Room 15, Crescent Hotel, London - Why
They Killed Nolan.
The episode that attracted the most viewers
was Web With Four Spiders when it was shown on Wednesday 6th March
1968 at 8.00pm.
Some of the many guest stars of the series
went on to appear in other well known shows:
Terence Alexander as Charlie Hungerford
in Bergerac
Simon Williams as James Bellamy in Upstairs,Downstairs
Ed Bishop as Cmdr Ed Straker in UFO
Rodney Bewes as Bob Ferris in The Likely
Lads
Garfield Morgan as DCI Haskins in The
Sweeney
Mark Eden as Alan Bradley in Coronation
Street
Jacqueline Pearce as Servalan in Blakes
7
Robert Rietty (Rietti) is a highly respected
and talented voice-over artiste,
having dubbed the voices of many a well-known
celebrity over the years
Other examples of Man in a Suitcase guest stars appearing in other well known series include:
Patrick Cargill - Father, Dear Father
Stuart Damon - The Champions
Anthony Nicholls- The Champions
Roger Delgado - Doctor Who
Noel Howlett - Please Sir
Felicity Kendall - The Good Life
John Bluthal - The Vicar of Dibley
Trevor Peacock - The Vicar of Dibley
George Sewell - The Detectives
& UFO
John Savident - Coronation Street
Anton Rodgers - Fresh Fields &
May
To December
Bill Owen - Last Of The Summer Wine
Dandy Nichols - Til Death Us Do Part
Nicola Pagett - A Bit Of A Do
Some even went on to become well-known names in the movies, such as:
Donald Sutherland - The Dirty Dozen,
Klute,
& Ordinary People
Edward Fox - The Naked Runner,
A
Bridge Too Far, & The Day Of The Jackal
Bernard Lee - best known for his portrayal
of ‘M’ in the James Bond movies.