Reunion TV movie
A reunion telefilm, The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E., subtitled The Fifteen Years Later Affair was broadcast on CBS in America on April 5, 1983, with Vaughn and McCallum reprising their roles, and Patrick Macnee replacing Leo G. Carroll as the head of U.N.C.L.E. A framed picture of Carroll appeared on his desk. The movie included a tribute to Ian Fleming via a cameo appearance by an unidentified secret agent with the initials “J.B.” The part was played by one-time James Bond George Lazenby who was shown driving Bond’s trademark vehicle, an Aston Martin DB5. One character, identifying him, says that it is “just like On Her Majesty’s Secret Service,” which was, of course, Lazenby’s only Bond film.
The movie briefly filled in the missing years. THRUSH had been put out of business, and the remaining leader was in prison. (His escape begins the story.) Illya had quit U.N.C.L.E. after a mission went sour and an innocent woman was killed, and now designed women’s clothing at Vanya’s in New York. Napoleon had been pushed out of U.N.C.L.E. and now sold computers, though he still carried his U.N.C.L.E. pen radio for sentimental reasons (which is how the organization is able to contact him after so many years).
Solo and Kuryakin were recalled to recapture and defeat Thrush once and for all, but the movie misfired on a key point: instead of reuniting the agents on the mission — and showcasing their witty interaction — the agents were separated and paired with younger agents. Like most similar reunion films, this production was considered a trial balloon for a possible new series, but none emerged.
