There was a time when there were no boy bands, no X Factor, no celebrity magazines and only two soap operas on TV (Crossroads and Coronation St) and neither of them featured handsome men.
Young girls growing up in the 70's had to make do with unlikely heartthrob's such as Ben Murphy and Pete Duel from BBC 2 cowboy drama, Alias Smith and Jones (actually looking at them now, they were quite handsome!) John Boy Walton and Richard O'Sullivan from Man about the House.
Ok, admittedly we had Donny Osmond and David Cassidy, but neither of them of them quite did it for me, and my need for glamour, excitement and a major crush, really wasn't satisfied until the launch of the ITV show, The Persuaders.
Starring Tony Curtis as Danny Wilde, a self made millionaire from the Bronx and Roger Moore as Lord Brett Sinclair, an English aristocrat. The show followed the adventures of the two international playboys and made much fun of their cultural differences. There were fast cars, glamorous locations, dolly birds (a popular phrase at the time) and most of all, two gorgeous completely unattainable men. I have to admit to having a poster of them on the underside of my school desk, which shows my age in oh so many ways.
The series was cancelled after just 24 episodes and as we were in the technology free 70's, there were no videos or boxed sets, so it remains a nostalgic distant memory.
Listening to the opening credits, I am instantly transported back to 1971, when, as a not very confident girl on the brink of growing up, I could tune in every week and escape to a glamorous world, filled with beautiful people and very dishy (another 70's word) men.
Tony Curtis may have been fabulous in Some Like it Hot, but to me he will always be Danny Wilde. RIP Danny.
