The stories of Neil Munro (written between 1905 and 1932) have been adapted for both the big and small screen several times. Their first TV appearance was "Para Handy - Master Mariner" which was recorded in 1959 in black & white and featured Duncan MacRae as Para Handy. No episodes are thought to have survived. The Vital Spark series 1&2 were recorded in 1965-66 in black & white and featured Roddy McMillan as Para Handy. Again no episodes are thought to have survived. The third and final series was recorded in 1973-74 again featuring Roddy McMillan as Para Handy. These stories were essentially remakes of previous scripts but in a more contemporary setting. They were filmed in colour and at least four issues are known to have survived and have been released on DVD. In 1994 the BBC released "The Tales of Para Handy" which featured Gregor Fisher as the captain.