It was based on the literary character Simon Templar created by Leslie Charteris in the 1920s[2] and featured in many novels over the years.

Chief Inspector Claud Eustace Teal is his nominal nemesis who considers Templar a common criminal, but often grudgingly tolerates his actions for the greater good.

NBC picked up the show as a summer replacement in its evening schedule in 1966 because of the strong performance in the United States of the first two series in first-run syndication.

Roger Moore had earlier tried to buy the production rights to the Saint books himself, and was delighted to be able to play the part.

He was reportedly offered the role of James Bond at least twice during the run of the series, but he had to turn it down both times due to his television commitments.

(Coincidentally this episode also features David Hedison who appeared alongside Moore in the Bond film Live and Let Die.)

The Saint began as a straightforward mystery series, but over the years adopted more secret agent and fantasy-style plots.

Some episodes, such as "Iris", broke away from the formula and had Templar address the audience for the entire pre-credit sequence and referring to himself by name, setting up the story that followed.

Some of the later scripts were novelised and published as part of the ongoing series of The Saint novels, such as The Fiction Makers and The People Importers.

The first of these books, which gave cover credit to Charteris, but were actually written by others, was The Saint on TV, and the series of novelisations continued for several years after the television programme had ended.

Volvo supplied their recently introduced car in 1962 for its promotional value, after Jaguar had rejected a request from the producers to provide an E-type.

Two two-part episodes from series 6, "Vendetta for the Saint" and "The Fiction Makers", were made into feature films and distributed to theatres in Europe, and often show up on late-night television in America.

Look-alikes were used for location shoots where the Saint is seen in the distance entering a well-known building or driving past the camera at speed.

[7] Where it was not possible to do it in the studios, some scenes were shot in North London, such as the block of flats Embassy Lodge in Regents Park Road NW3, which is shown in 5-15 The Persistent Patriots.

The club fell under the control of honorary chairmen, Sir Roger Moore (prior to his death) and Ian Ogilvy (who played Templar in the 1970s revival series, Return of the Saint).

The three unscreened episodes plus "The House on Dragon's Rock", which in some regions was not broadcast because it was thought unsuitable for children, were then mixed in with series six for transmission.

A&E Home Entertainment, under licence from Carlton International Media Limited, released all the episodes on DVD in Region 1.

The boxsets feature numerous extras including a series of audio commentaries recorded in 2004 with surviving members of the cast and crew, ranging from guest stars to Roger Moore.