Andrew Graves defines the cult appeal of Sapphire and Steel (1979-1982) a bizarre and often spooky TV show starring David McCallum and Joanna Lumley...

Opposite: A striking publicity image of Joanna Lumley and David McCallum that was used on the cover of the 1981 Sapphire and Steel Annual

Being 8 and seeing it for the first time, I was convinced that Sapphire and Steel was the weirdest TV show ever made. Being 54 and watching it for the umpteenth time I am still convinced that Sapphire and Steel is the weirdest TV show ever made. Just describing this idea even at its basest level – two interdimensional elements, insert themselves into specific periods in history to ward off ghosts and evil forces - sounds more like a fever dream than an actual pitch. And throw a preAbsolutely Fabulous Joanna Lumley and David ‘Invisible Man’ McCallum into the mix and you have a famously kooky piece of prime-time TV. But what is perhaps more surprising is how popular this confusing and convoluted offering actually was. At its height, Sapphire and Steel could easily pull around 11.5 million viewers and considering it was a deeply strange, often terrifying slice of dark fantasy, weaving science fiction with the supernatural, it was no mean feat.

As its dark and foreboding intro suggested –Sapphire and Steel sprang out of that odd era when the brown/orange 70s were staggering bleary-eyed into the silvery sheen of the 80s. Often episodes of Top of the Pops or Tomorrow’s World from this time resembled something troublingly but fascinatingly alien, as musical tastes and technological changes advanced rapidly toward a new age.

“All irregularities will be handled by the forces controlling each dimension. Transuranic heavy elements may not be used where there is life. Medium atomic weights are available: Gold, Lead, Copper, Jet, Diamond, Radium, Sapphire, Silver and Steel. Sapphire and Steel have been assigned.”