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Spectre is a 1977 made-for-television movie produced by Gene Roddenberry. It was co-written by Roddenberry and Samuel A. Peeples, and directed by Clive Donner. Spectre was intended as the pilot for a television series, but was rejected. William Sebastian (played by Robert Culp) is a criminologist who has taken to studying the occult to explain the problem of human evil. He has been cursed on one of his adventures, leaving him in constant need of medical attention. He summons an old colleague, Dr. Hamilton (played by Gig Young) to his home to help him. The two are soon summoned to England to investigate strange happenings involving a mysterious Satanic cult and the demon Asmodeus. The relationship between Sebastian and "Ham" is deliberately reminiscent of that of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, although there are also some aspects that recall the relationship between Roddenberry's own Spock and Leonard McCoy (Roddenberry previously revisited this relationship in an earlier failed pilot, The Questor Tapes). The movie also features Roddenberry's wife Majel Barrett in a small role as Sebastian's housekeeper, Lilith. It is implied that Lilith is a practicing witch. Other members of the cast include John Hurt, Gordon Jackson, Ann Bell, and James Villiers. Spectre was one of a surprising number of unsuccessful television pilots in the 1970s in the occult detective sub-genre. Others included: The Norliss Tapes (1973) with Roy Thinnes as a reporter investigating the supernatural; Fear No Evil (1969) and its sequel, Ritual of Evil (1970), starring Louis Jourdan as psychologist David Sorrell; The World of Darkness (1977) and its sequel, The World Beyond (1978), starring Granville Van Dusen as a man who battles the supernatural following his own near-death experience; and a British production, Baffled! (1973) starring Leonard Nimoy and Susan Hampshire as a pair of ghost-hunters. The most successful effort of this period was The Night Stalker (1972) with Darren McGavin which was made into a short-lived television series. After its rejection by American television, an extended version of Spectre was released in the UK as a theatrical film. The version currently in television syndication is a heavily edited version of the UK theatrical release.
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