The Diamond Brothers: South by South East

United Kingdom

The story

The Diamond Brothers: South by South East is a 1991 British six-part comedy drama series produced by Television South for ITV, written and directed by Anthony Horowitz, and starring Dursley McLinden, Colin Dale, Monique van de Ven and Michael Gough. A sequel to the 1988 film Just Ask for Diamond, which is also based on the book series The Diamond Brothers by Horowitz, the series was novelised by Horowitz as South by South East, also published in 1991. The plot and title is a spoof of Alfred Hitchcock's 1959 film, North by Northwest.

Synopsis

The story begins in Camden Town, London, where an incompetent private investigator, Tim Diamond, lives in a flat above his office with his intelligent teenage brother, Nick. The two are completely broke, but their financial trouble seems resolved when a mysterious stranger named Jake McGuffin enters their office. McGuffin reveals he is an MI6 agent tracking a notorious paid assassin codenamed "Charon". Because the brothers' office telephone has been disconnected due to unpaid bills, McGuffin pays Tim £50 for his overcoat to use as a disguise so he can leave without being noticed.
Shortly after McGuffin leaves, Nick notices that the agent has left a hotel room key behind. When the brothers go to find him, they discover McGuffin has been shot inside a nearby telephone box. Before dying, McGuffin mutters his final words to Tim, as a train passes on the bridge overhead, which Nick deduces as "South by Southeast".
The Diamond brothers take over the investigation to find Charon and stop a major international incident. The plot quickly spirals into chaos as the brothers are mistakenly targeted by the police for armed bank robbery, hide in a guest house where the landlady holds them at gunpoint, escape via a train to Amsterdam, machine-gunned by a biplane in a cornfield, and pursued across the countryside by Charon's henchmen.

Production

South by South East was intended as a sequel to the 1988 film Just Ask for Diamond, which was based on the first novel in the Diamond Brothers series created by Anthony Horowitz, published two years prior to the film's release, The Falcon's Malteser (1986). There had been a second novel published the following year, Public Enemy Number Two (1987), however it was considered that some of the plot would have been too violent and impractical to film.
It is not clear whether the series is a direct adaptation of the third novel, South by South-East (1991), or vice versa. The series was produced by Red Rooster Films and IDTV, being sponsored by TVS and AVRO as broadcasters. It was filmed on location in London and Amsterdam, with scenes filmed at Jacob Street Studios.
Horowitz later described the series as "disappointing", and said: "I directed it myself. I wasn't really prepared for that. I had no training, no real idea what I was doing. It was a little bit of a nightmare."
Ron Burrage, a Hitchcock lookalike, makes an inconspicuous appearance in every episode. The exterior of Tim's office and flat was filmed above Chalk Farm station on The London Underground, near Camden Town. In a Radio Times article, Jenny Agutter stated she was invited to play her role, as she had given a 'very favourable review' of Just Ask For Diamond.
In an online article of The Telegraph referencing the series, Horowitz stated that lead actor Dursley McLinden was diagnosed with AIDS shortly after filming was completed.

Distribution

South by South East was originally broadcast from 26 March until 12 May 1991 as part of the CITV block on Tuesday afternoons at around 4:30pm. It later aired in the United States on Disney Channel in 1993.
Following its transmission, the series was neither released on home video nor rebroadcast on television. However, there was a shorter 97 minute version available.
Evidence of the series was confirmed by a British Film Institute (BFI) record of the series as well as a brief mention from Horowitz in the third edition of The Falcon's Malteser. In April 2020, Horowitz wrote on Twitter that he was "quite relieved" that the series was never released.

Episode list

As of the BFI record.

Cast

Dursley McLinden – Tim Diamond
Colin Dale – Nick Diamond
Monique van de Ven – Charon
Jenny Agutter – Bank Manager
Anna Massey – Mrs. Bodega
Michael Gough – Mr. Waverly
Ron Burrage – Discreet appearance by
Michael Feast – Chief Inspector Snape
Gordon Winter – Boyle
Michael Howe – Jake McGuffin
Leo Wringer – Ed
Tim Faulkner – Taxi Driver (Red)
Frans de Wit – Bulldog
Rodney Beddal – Scarface
Boris Isarov – Boris Kusenov
David Goudge – Ted
Ed Bauer – Mr. Marvano
John Bluthal – Mr. Webber
Peter Copley – Mr. Ferguson
Nigel Pegram – Police Commissioner
Edward Hibbert – Sotheby's Assistant
Marcia Warren – Mrs. Jackson
Jonathan Coleman – Mr. Blondini
Thom Hoffman – Hugo Rushmore
Jos Fluhr – Dr. Monika Bloem
John Quentin – Auctioneer
Sally Faber – Television reporter