The Champions (TV Series) Twelve Hours (1968) User Reviews

An act of terror underwater.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 6/10 · 3 May 2023]

President Drobnic, an Eastern European, along with his wife visits Submarine HMS Weatherby, along with Sharron and Richard. Terrorists have planted a bomb which goes off injuring and killing some of the crew. Sharron faces a job keeping Drobnic alive.

I'd say this is a middle of the road episode, there's nothing that unique or exciting, but it's a good story and pretty atmospheric. There is a good sense of claustrophobia here, Sharron and Richard are in for a breathless and bumpy ride.

It's yet another Submarine episode, and yet another foreign dignitary, this time an Eastern European, at least we're spared another South American dictator, so that's a plus.

I couldn't quite get what those opening sequences were about, with Stirling holding the gift boxes, they didn't seem to make much sense. There were some very dodgy voice overs if you look closely. The actual submarine footage looked great, perhaps the episode's best element.

I thought Mike Pratt and Peter Howell were both pretty good.

6/10.

Submarine sunk here

[ShadeGrenade · 9/10 · 23 July 2012]

Submarines featured prominently in three 'Champions' episodes - 'The Search', 'The Silent Enemy', and this - and with good reason. The producer had splashed out on a realistic set, and was determined to make good use of it. Donald James' 'Twelve Hours' starts with a Royal Navy supply van being ambushed on its way to the submarine base at Loch Trannith, Scotland. A mysterious box is placed aboard, and the police are told where to find the van. Visiting head of state 'Drobnic' ( Henry Gilbert ) is in Britain ( along with his talkative wife, played by Viola Keats ), and Tremayne wants Richard and Sharron to provide escort duty. Subversive elements in Drobnic's country want him dead. Part of the tour involves a trip around Loch Trannith in submarine H.M.S. Wetherby. As it sinks below the waves, a bomb goes off, killing the Captain, injuring Drobnic, and sending the sub to the sea bed. They have only twelve hours before the air runs out. The only way to escape is by using the pumping equipment. Barrett refuses to do so as Drobnic requires an immediate life-saving operation and the vibrations caused by the pumping will make it impossible. He comes into conflict with 'Raven' ( the late Mike Pratt ), a senior engineer, who wants the pumping to begin immediately and does not care if Drobnic dies or not. When Raven loses the argument, he and his men draw straws to see which one will murder the head of state...

A suspense-filled episode this, providing good roles for Richard and Sharron. Craig's main contribution to the plot is to telepathically transmit to Richard the information needed to operate the sub's pumping equipment ( most of the crew having passed out through lack of air ). It is interesting to see Mike Pratt before he became 'Jeff' in 'Randall & Hopkirk ( Deceased ). His character 'Raven' takes an instant dislike to Barrett, referring to him as 'our self-appointed boss'. There is a well-written scene as Raven and Barrett lock horns. Less impressive are the model shots of the sub on the sea bed, the scale of the bubbles giving the game away.

Also on view is the late Peter Howell as 'Admiral Cox'. Fans of 'The Prisoner' will recognise him as 'The Professor' from the classic 'The General' episode.

One of the 'Champions' comic strips in 'Joe 90 Top Secret' featured a sub which is stolen by villains wishing to destroy an undersea oil pipeline with a nuclear device - practically the same plot as the Bond movie 'The World Is Not Enough', only this was thirty years before!

Richard and Sharron go underwater

[bensonmum2 · 5/10 · 3 December 2015]

Richard and Sharron are asked to serve as bodyguards for an Eastern European leader, Drobnic, and his wife. Their schedule of activities while in the UK includes a submarine tour and ride. Richard and Sharron are unaware of the fact that a group hostile to Drobnic have placed explosives on the sub. The explosives are detonated sending the stricken sub to the bottom. With a limited oxygen supply, The Champions have just 12 hours to save everyone on board.

As my rating clearly indicates, I do not agree with the other IMDb reviewer when it comes to Twelve Hours. My biggest problem: I found much of the plot rather boring. After a great set-up where the terrorists plant the explosives, it doesn't work too well for me. The attempts to create suspense and drama felt forced. For example, after the sub sinks, almost every crew member immediately begins calling for Richard's head. None act as if they've received crises or disaster training. In reality, I would think more would have been on Richard's side. It all has a very manufactured type feeling to it. As a result, I cannot call Twelve Hours anything better than average - hence my average 5/10 rating.

Lacklustre

[Leofwine_draca · 4/10 · 2 October 2021]

A lacklustre episode, this one, which appears to have been written in a hurry. Once again there's a submarine centre stage and our heroes play bodyguards to a visiting foreign dignitary. Mike Pratt, from RANDALL AND HOPKIRK (DECEASED) gives a good guest performance, but that's about it here.