is a British adventure television series that ran from 1966 to 1967 on BBC 1, starring Gerald Harper in the title role.

The titular character was an adventurer born in 1867, who had been revived from hibernation in 1966, thus offering a satirical look at life in the 1960s through the eyes of a Victorian.

The main character originally went through a number of possible names: "Cornelius Chance", "Rupert De'Ath", "Dick Daring", "Dexter Noble", "Aurelian Winton", "Magnus Hawke" and even "Darius Crud" before Sydney Newman settled on Adam Adamant, named after the generic mineral term adamantine which, since medieval times, has commonly referred to diamond.

In fact, he is lured into a trap, whereupon he is captured and condemned to be frozen forever in a block of ice by his nemesis, the Face, whose identity is concealed behind a leather mask and who speaks in a sinister whispering voice.

Adamant immediately became embroiled in the criminal world of the 1960s when Georgina is threatened after almost being witness to the murder of her grandfather by protection racketeers at a disco.

Though in many ways a typical swinging sixties woman, Georgina had grown up idolising Adamant through tales of his turn-of-the-century exploits.

During the second episode, "Death Has a Thousand Faces", the events of which are set in Blackpool, he acquires a manservant in the form of former music hall artiste and Punch and Judy man William E. Simms.

The character was originally to have been played by John Dawson, who hurt his back lifting an actress during rehearsals for "The Sweet Smell of Disaster" and was unable to continue.

[1] Adamant was a colonel, and a member of the volunteer strength of the 51st Yeomanry since 1895, though he is listed on their official records as being "missing, presumed killed" since 1902.

The car was a special conversion: a "Mini de Ville" by Harold Radford Coach Builder LTD.[2] He occasionally does jobs for the British Government, as in "More Deadly Than the Sword".

Cotton and partner Richard Harris would write the first script, "A Vintage Year for Scoundrels", and would therefore come to be credited as co-creators.

When the rights to the character suddenly became unavailable, it fell to writers Cotton and Harris, along with script editor Tony Williamson, to come up with an alternative idea.

[8] Newman indicated near the end of his life that he had, indeed, been significantly involved in the rewrites, suggesting that his critic Mary Whitehouse had been partial inspiration for the character.

[citation needed] Gerald Harper chose to wear false eyebrows when playing the title role, based on those of his make-up artist.

"* Approximately four minutes from this episode exist on audio tape in a private collection, and is included as part of the Special Features on the DVD release.

It has been shown in public at the Missing Believed Wiped event, and is included in the Complete Collection DVD set.

Contains the first two episodes of Series One, "A Vintage Year for Scoundrels" and "Death Has a Thousand Faces", the latter replacing the previously considered "The Village of Evil".

: The Complete Collection Five-disc Region 2 DVD box set containing all 17 surviving episodes in digitally re-mastered form.

There was also a similarity with Granada's Mr. Rose (1967) in which William Mervyn as a retired police inspector was assisted by a youngish confidential secretary (Gillian Lewis) and a manservant (Donald Webster).

A Television Heaven review said that while the programme has been "long cited as the BBC's answer to The Avengers", it in fact "owes more to the slick style, tone and format of Lew Grade's phenomenally successful ITC stable of action series rather than the sleek and sophisticated antics of Steed and Mrs Peel".

[14][15][16] In particular, allusions are seen between the way in which Austin Powers, like Adamant, is revived from cryogenic sleep and befriended by an attractive woman who had known of his exploits before being frozen.

The formula is exactly reversed in Powers, however, in that his partner, Vanessa Kensington, is not impressed with his previous record of service, whereas Georgina Jones is a positive fan of Adamant.