DRAMA
Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson
ATV: The Protectors The Adventurer ABC: Public Eye THAMES: Special Branch SOUTHERN: Noah's Castle BBC: Paul Temple Francis Durbridge Sutherland's Law Lord Peter Wimsey |
COMEDY
BBC Dad's Army Bachelor Father My Honourable Mrs Wodehouse Playhouse Hi-de-Hi The Peter Principle LWT The Doctor Saga |
ATV
- The Squirrels
THAMES Father Dear Father David Nixon Show Harry Worth GRANADA Nearest and Dearest YTV - Fiddlers Three SOUTHERN: Hogg's Back Lord Tramp |
DOCUMENTARY
Six English Towns About Britain - coastline tour Motor SPORT Formula One -1986 to 2005 Moto GP - 1992 to 2005 Superbikes - Carl Fogarty era MISCELLANEOUS On We Go (BBC) It's a Knockout (BBC) Interceptor (Thames) Sale of the Century (Anglia) |
My award goes to the otherwise excellent Eurosport for Chess Skilling Open (Dec 12th) All credit for an attempt to present chess on tv, but really a dedicated tv channel is needed. For what we got in this programme was a distillation of nine days play in a mere twenty five minutes. It was a bit like watching a stream of all the goals in a World Cup tournament, but football is fairly easy to follow, with one ball: here we suffered mental indigestion amid snippets of numerous matches with barely time to catch your breath, certainly no time to work out what was going on. I am an experienced player and found it confusing, my wife watching with me was baffled. A panel of two (one man, one woman of course) gave their expert analysis, which was mostly gasps and jolly jokes, you longed for a slowed down version of this speed chess event. The set with the experts was in the attractive modern style, but the presentation was far too slick. We never ever saw anything approaching a complete game. I do hope the producers think carefully about the next round in this tournament, because this was, sadly, an embarrassing failure Picture Question: a comedy moment from which of the above series? Answer Main Dinosaur tv menu . . . . Hi de HiSimply the best comedy series ever! Simon Cadell as Geoffrey Fairbrother a university professor in charge of a holiday camp. A wonderful anachronism! Some outstanding support from old timers. All the cast are excellent, but we specially love Leslie Dwyer as the Punch and Judy Man who hates kids, and Barry Howard as the whingeing ballroom champion. When Simon Cadell left, David Griffin made a brave effort in the antithesis of the professor role, but the loss of Dwyer and Howard deprived the still superb series of that extra special magic. Pilot (Jan 1st 1980)- A beautifully executed portrait of Cambridge professor Geoffrey Fairbrother, "in a rut," but seeking a new life as Entertainments Manager at Maplin's Holiday Camp. "A fish out of water," he does at least try and join in the fun ("pies, pies, who wants a custard pie"), a stark contrast to the ebullient camp comic Ted Bovis. Briefly introduced are the host of characters that are to make up this sparkling cast, only rock star Gary Storm being inexplicably axed. Surprising, as his evocative guitar provides background to a lovely montage of the week's fun, before Geoffrey decides to pack it all in. A grateful camper changes his mind, and the series is born....
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 NORMA DOVE (Feb 26th 1991)- Since new secretary Norma arrived there's been nothing but chaos. But Ralph doesn't behave like the other "schoolboys". To Norma, he seems like a friendly dolphin in shark infested waters. But who's keeping HIM at bay?
. . . . . . . . . . Ian Carmichael starred. Also appearing in series 1 were Gerald Flood as Harry, Rona Anderson, and (after the first story) Joan Hickson as the housekeeper Mrs Pugsley.
1.1 Family Feelings - In which Peter's latest girlfriend Margaret leaves him, so it's "back to the monastery."
Neighbour Harry sympathises, until Peter resolves to start a family, a foster family. The best scene is his interview with the children's officer
(Colin Gordon), as two fine actors go through "the nice red tape."
Peter interviews helpers, buys a new home and is introduced to his first child, Johnny. Not hilarious, but in the hands of seasoned pros, it's pleasantly watchable.
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Francis Durbridge Serials
To black/white Durbridge serials: A Game of Murder, Bat Out of Hell
The Passenger (1971)
Typically watchable Francis Durbridge thriller, starring Peter Barkworth, as the police inspector, who offers one typical line, "it's not quite as simple as that." Or how about, "there's something damn funny about this case."
1- On a whim, David Walker, with problems at Cavalier Toys and in his marriage, picks up a hitchhiker, young and attractive. Next thing he knows, Det Insp Denson (Peter Barkworth) is questioning him about Judy, who has been strangled. Fortunately the policeman is shrewd enough to see that David might have been framed. Is it by Roy, who's having an affair with David's wife? Or Andy, his wife's brother? Or Sue, David's secretary, who also happens to be Denson's separated wife? The focus is mainly on the detective unravelling the case. Part 1 ends with a second death
2- Has David committed suicide, as his typewritten note suggests? The alternative is murder. Did he knew Judy as the facts suggest? Judy's landlady finds £300 under her mattress, marker 'Victor.' That is a winning horse owned by Col Reams (Derek Bond). His wastrel nephew Tom knew Judy, according to a friend, Ruth. However she and Tom are killed in a car accident. Someone is covering for Roy. Sue tells Denson, "it's no use," soon before a corpse turns up in his room
3- The dead woman is landlady Mrs Brodley. Denson asks Mrs Walker about his chief suspect, name not revealed to us. It's a calculated risk to lure out the killer. As he listens to Brahms, he is attacked, luckily Sue turns up to prevent another death. Recovering, he tells her Andy Mason is his target, but news comes in that he has just died in another car smash. Mrs Walker is distraught. But Denson proves the body isn't Mason, who is off to an airfield for his private plane. After a struggle he takes off. What he doesn't know is that one of his own bullets has pierced his fuel tank. He crashes. Not badly injured, he is arrested. Footnote- Sue and Martin Denson are together again
The Doll (1975)
Part 1
Peter Matty "is doing odd things." He had met Phyllis on a flight from Geneva to London. She is a widow, her husband had died recently in a boating accident. The couple had been arguing about a doll that she had forgotten to bring on the fatal trip. He was a gossip columnist.
"It sounds odd." Later the doll had shown up in her bath!
Peter lets Phyllis drive his Jag to the Isle of Wight. He is going to see to his luxury boat, she visiting an acquaintance, Sir Arthur.
Next morning the police return the Jag, undamaged. No sign of Phyllis. Peter drives to Forestgate Manor, Sir Arnold's home. He says he does not know this Phyllis. Peter sees a little girl called Sarah at the house, clutching a doll.
Peter tells all this to his brother Claude, a famous concert pianist. So why should he find a doll in his bathroom?- it looks like Sarah's.
Police bring Peter the keys of his car, found on the body of a dead woman, Linda. She was a friend of Phyllis, whom Peter had briefly encountered.
Peter finds Sarah holding her own doll, so where did Peter's doll come from?
"Have you examined the doll?" Clauds suggests to Peter, who takes it to pieces, "nothing here."
Phyllis leaves a message for Peter, asking him to phone her. But the number she has left is incorrect. It's the home of Sir Arnold.
In a photographer's shop, Peter spots Phyllis's picture. Apparently this girl "was killed in an air crash." She was Sir Arnold's daughter. "A most extraordinary story"
Part 2
The photographer Mortimer Brown repeats his statement that Sir Arnold's daughter had died in an air crash. Since Sir Arnold is a big fan of Claude, Peter takes Claude to meet him. It's an excuse to ask about the photo. Sir Arnold shows them a picture of his daughter, "it's not Phyllis!" When they return to the shop, they find the photograph has been chanegd. Brown denies it all.
Peter returns to London to ask his friend Max to find Phyllis. Start with Sir Arnold and Mortimer, Peter suggests. In fact Claude meets the former again, who is puzzled by Peter's behaviour. Claude also meets the latter, who insists the photo had not been changed.
>br>Max reports that he has decided after all not to take the job. His reason sounds unconvincing, he says he has a job in Stockholm.
Peter receives an anonymous note, stating that Phyllis will be at the dentist tomorrow. However the time he is given is incorrect, "you've just missed her."
Peter spots her leaving in a taxi, and jumps in, "I've got to know what all this is about."
She jumps out, and after a struggle, the taxi driver forces Peter to the police station, where he is charged with trying to steal Phyllis' handbag.
But after a phone call, Peter is not charged, and sent away.
Phyllis phones the next day, apologising for her behaviour, but definitely refuses to see Peter again.
Peter has a few too many drinks, returning to his flat to find it ransacked. Max did this. Peter accosts him. He denies it. A mysterious Mr Osborne warns Peter off. Mrs Cassidy, Sir Arnold's housekeeper phones saying that she has something to tell Peter, but she is murdered...
Part 3
"She was shot"- that's Mrs Cassidy, dead in Mortimer Brown's shop.
Police question Sir Arnold who is baffled, "it just doesn't make sense." Later he repeats this to Claude, "I don't know what to think." Sir Arnold does admit that Osborne had questioned him about the death of Phyllis' husband. Peter and Claude get an explanation of this dead man's blackmailing activities. Special Branch had once suspected Peter of being the dead man's agent in Britain, name of George Delta. Phyllis had been advised to go into hiding for her own safety.
With everything more or less explained, Claude has to dash off to Scotland and Peter returns to his work. Max phones Peter asking to see him urgently about a "very important" matter. What about? George Delta.
After a quick lunch with Phyllis (who apparently does not need to hide utterly), Peter keeps his appointment with Max, only to find him lying on the floor, dead. Claude is there too, with a gun. "You don't think I killed him."
Claude explains Max was George Delta, Claude had known one of his blackmail victims. Peter sees Phyllis again and tells her his brother's "extraordinary" story. Apparently Max had written Peter a letter before he died, and this is used by police as a trap to lure the killer.
The denouement is complicated, as you'd expect, two flashbacks make it all as confusing as the plot
Breakaway - The Local Affair
Part 1: Supt Harvey travels to Market Cross in Suffolk to investigate the death of Rita Black, murdered on her way to stay with her unlikeable sister Isobel.
She had been strangled by a person wearing gloves, given to her by the unknown 'Mitch.' Becky Royce had spotted Rita on the night she died, standing on a street corner. Her former fiance Ernest Clifford confirms this. Becky had seen him with famous agent Scott Douglas, who claims not to know the dead woman.
2: Isobel owes the taxman £800. Clifford, her accountant, discovers some gloves in his briefcase. A Mr Galbraid has been receiving threatening letters accusing him of murdering Rita. His wife had left him for a time because Rita had claimed they had once had an affair. The gloves prove to belong to the killer. They are identified as the property of Douglas. One thing we know- Douglas badly wants a letter he had written to Rita: a Miss Hathaway is blackmailing him over it. Giles Stafford, a friend of Becky's, hands over to Supt Harvey, a set of keys found near the body- are they the keys Douglas had reported missing?
3: Douglas is the elusive Mitch. Harvey checks Becky's account of her movements on the night she says she saw Douglas with Rita. She says she went to Scotland, but she was seen in London. Archie, who had found the corpse, is phoning someone- is he making threatening calls to Galbraid? No, he says he is phoning his daughter. Douglas has traced Geraldine, whom he had hopefully given as his alibi. He offers her a job if she'll confirm his tale. He receives a telegram from Jo Hathway, ordering him to meet her. She demands $200,000 for his letter, the one that proves he had an appointment with Rita on the night of her death. Douglas counteroffers $10,000. While Geraldine waits to dine with him, she is attacked.
4: Douglas finds Geraldine dead in his flat. Giles and Becky tell Harvey they didn't know Geraldine. But she did know golf pro Galbraid, even though he denies it, because Ernest Clifford his account says so. Well, Galbraid had not seen her for four months. It turns out Harvey is being a little unorthodox, as it is he who had sent Galbraid the threatening letter!
Dr Tucker says Isobel Black is "an impossible woman." She is certain Douglas killed her sister and attacks him with a knife, despite being allegedly confined to a wheelchair! Harvey finds her in distress after Douglas runs away, and she tells Harvey of a photo she found of Rita with Douglas. Harvey approaches Jo, warning her, "I think you'll be strangled." She goes straight to Douglas saying their deal is off, that letter is actually in Becky's hands
5 Becky admits to Harvey that she'd not travelled to Scotland- she'd been in London to open a new agency. Giles was strongly against this. Then her MG explodes, luckily noone inside at the time. Jo Hathaway arranges for the person with Scott's letter to meet him, in return she flies to New York, expenses paid. Except that Harvey intercepts her at the airport, and she admits Becky had asked her to act as a go-between. But by whom? It is Dr Tucker who calls on Scott...
6 "I should have told the truth from the start," Scott Douglass explains to the doctor. But later he agrees to pay £100,000 for his letter. He hands the cash to Becky who takes away the money for the blackmailer, who is also blackmailing her. Harvey sets a sneaky trap and captures blackmailer and killer by helicopter.
Note- most of the external Suffolk locations are in Southwold
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Noah's Castle (1980)Episode 1- "A crisis" is developing, nationally, as well as in the Mortimer home. While most of the youngsters loaf about on the sofa, only Geoffrey has the practical skills to help his dad build a storehouse in the cellar, so when the balloon goes up, they will have enough to survive on, enough to barter with
2- Philanthropic Cliff exhibits the opposite to Norman, for he is offering food aid for vulnerable people, but his lorry is hijacked, "we gotta help ourselves." Here's a challenging contrast in attitudes, Norman's daughter Nessie siding with bearded Terry, whose family is on the verge of poverty. Terry helps out at Cliff's food distribution centre, while believing stealing is the only option for some, "money doesn't mean a thing any more."
But dad's hoarded wealth enables him to suck up, with a slap up meal, to his boss Gerald (Jack May)
4- Norman believes the army will use "minimum force." but Terry doesn't find that when handing out free food. He has fallen out with Cliff over food distribution, as well as Ness. Terry pumps her about her dad's food hoarding, but she reveals nothing. However "evil" Vince Holloway's son is keeping watch on the Mortimer home. Mr Gerald is loafing in bed, Norman unbelievably sycophantic towards him, "it wouldn't do for me to leave." Gerald's slight blackmail extends to insisting he date young Ness. Barry's eyes are opened by Wendy, over her family's hardship, and how she could allieviate it if she were more pretty. He resolves to help by taking food from the store at dead of night, but dad discovers him...
6 Looters are being shot. Gerald guzzles as he watches shocking tv newsreel. Ness rows with dad and walks out with Terry. Longsuffering mum is next. Gerald finds it funny, and dad, exasperated finally, delivers him an ultimatum, work, or get out. That night the meal with dad and his two boys is interrupted by Vince, offering Swiss francs for half shares. Dad point blank refuses. Gerald surreptitiously helps himself from the cellar and packs his loot in his sports car and drives off.
7 Barricades up, Barry, Geoffrey and dad take turns keeping watch. Gerald has briefed Vince about the layout of the house- for a price, that isn't honoured. Encouraged by his mum, Barry tells Cliff and Terry about the hoard of food. That night, he lets them in the house, except the one knocking on the door is Vince with his gang. Luckily Terry and Cliff show up, "what a lot of people!" As Vince is outnumbered, he gives in gracefully, and despite Mortimer's protests, food is loaded into Cliff's van. However another gang shows up following more info from nasty Gerald, and looters grab everything they can, not a happy ending. The boys help dad clear up the mess, the family return, some consolation. What happens to the national crisis, we never discover
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1.1 Troika
1.2 Smokescreen 1.3 The Promised Land 1.4 A Date with Leonidas 1.5 The Kazmirov Affair 1.6 A New Face 1.7 You Don't Exist 1.8 The Children of Delight 1.9 Reliable Sources 1.10 Short Change 1:11 Exit a Diplomat 1.12 Care of Her Majesty 1.13 Visitor from Moscow 1.14 Time Bomb |
2.1 Inside
2.2 Dinner Date 2.3 Depart in Peace 2.4 Miss International 2.5 Warrant for a Phoenix 2.6 The Pleasure of Your Company 2.7 Not to Be Trusted 2.8 Borderline Case 2.9 Love from Doris 2.10 Sorry Is Just a Word 2.11 Error of Judgement 2.12 Reported Missing 2.13 Fool's Mate |
3.1 A Copper Called Craven (1973)
3.2 Round the Clock 3.3 Inquisition 3.4 Assault 3.5 Polonaise 3.6 Red Herring 3.7 Death by Drowning 3.8 All the King's Men 3.9 Threat 3.10 The Other Man 3.11 You Won't Remember Me 3.12 Hostage 3.13 Blueprint for Murder |
4.1 Double Exposure
4.2 Catherine the Great 4.3 Jailbait 4.4 Stand and Deliver 4.5 Something About a Soldier 4.6 Rendezvous 4.7 Sounds Sinister 4.8 Entente Cordiale 4.9 Date of Birth 4.10 Intercept 4.11 Alien 4.12 Diversion 4.13 Downwind of Angels |
My reviews:
1.1 A Cry for Help (1973) 1.5 The Running Man 1.6 The Return 1.7 The Ship 1.8 The Runaway 1.9 The Climb 1.10 The Family 1.11 The House 1.12 The Prodigal |
1.13 The Killing
4:1 In at the Deep End (1975) 4:2 A Slight Case of Matrimony 4:3 No Second Chance 4:4 A Murmur of Malice 4:5 The Italian Debt 4.6 A Lady of Considerable Talent 4:7 Creatures in a Private Zoo 4:9 A Matter of Self-Defence 4:10 The Rag Doll |
4:11 The End of the Good Times
4:12 The Fixer 5:1 Jacob's Ladder (1976) 5:2 Blind Jump 5:3 Small Print 5:4 The Eye of the Chameleon 5:5 Murphy 5:6 Next Year... in Jerusalem 5:7 The Hot Water Boat 5:8 Shades of Black |
1 MISS ME ONCE, MISS ME TWICE, AND MISS ME ONCE AGAIN 2 POOR LITTLE RICH GIRL 3 THRUST AND COUNTER-THRUST 4 THE BRADLEY WAY 5 RETURN TO SENDER 6 COUNTERSTRIKE 7 LOVE ALWAYS, MAGDA 8 NEARLY THE END OF THE PICTURE |
9 DEADLOCK
10 HAS ANYONE SEEN KELLY? 11 SKELETON IN THE CUPBOARD 12 TARGET! 13 ACTION! 14 FULL FATHOM FIVE 15 I'LL GET THERE SOMETIME 16 TO THE LOWEST BIDDER 17 GOING, GOING... |
18 THE NOT-SO MERRY WIDOW
19 MR. CALLOWAY IS A VERY CAUTIOUS MAN 20 DOUBLE EXPOSURE 21 THE CASE OF THE POISONED PAWN 22 THE SOLID GOLD HEARSE 23 MAKE IT A MILLION 24 ICONS ARE FOREVER 25 SOMEBODY DOESN'T LIKE ME 26 THE GOOD BOOK |
An ageing star dating dolly birds in exotic locations, with incomprehnsible plots. But somehow fun! This was the last in the line of those ITC series that melded fantasy into reality, and unlike its Sixties counterparts, this really was filmed in such dreamy paradises as Nice and Monte Carlo. Not like The Saint where poor Roger Moore had to make do with a studio mock up. By now those swingers of a decade earlier had grown old and a little plumper, and this was their imaginings back into the glory days of the past. Gene Barry starred, far too old, and his absurd outfits are only matched by his absurd dialogue. Yet somehow, if you can suspend your disbelief and wallow in the outlandish abstruse plots, hidden deep down you can find a little of what made the ITC adventure genre so appealing. Reliable old directorial hands Val Guest and Cyril Frankel knew how to put across a good old heap of nonsense. I like the half hour format, this was back to the old days of the late Fifties, it allows more rigorous dialogue and tighter plot lines, but, if the characterisation isn't much shakes, who cares, if it's fun you're after, and glamour, and lashings of cream on your fantasies, take this millionaire Adventurer slob to your heart. Well recommended- the dvd release with insightful interviews with Stuart Damon and also Barry Morse. For the record, Gene's London address is 29 Westminster Mews- amazingly, John Steed had lived in this same mews in early episodes of The Avengers! . . . . . .
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2. The Case of the Speckled Band 3. Murder on a Midsummer's Eve 4. Four Minus Four Is One 5. The Case of the Perfect Crime (identical storyline to #36 in the 1954 series) 6. The Case of Harry Rigby 7. The Case of the Blind Man's Bluff 8. A Case of High Security 9. The Case of Harry Crocker (plot very similar to #9 in the 1954 series) 10. The Case of the Deadly Prophecy (plot identical to #22 in the 1954 series) 11. The Case of the Baker Street Nursemaids (plot same as #26 in the 1954 series) 12. The Case of the Purloined Letter 13. The Case of the Travelling Killer 14. The Case of the Sitting Target 15. The Case of the Final Curtain (same storyline as #32 in the 1954 series) 17. The Case of the Body in the Case 18. The Case of the Deadly Tower 20. The Case of the Luckless Gambler 21. The Case of the Shrunken Heads 22. The Case of Magruder's Millions 23. The Case of the Other Ghost 24. The Case of the Close-Knit Family |
To Sheldon Reynolds' 1954 series starring Ronald Howard
To Menu . . . . .
1 A Motive for Murder
. . . . . A well made condensed version of the Conan Doyle story, only the music a little obtrusive, tension well maintained though you wish the budget might have stretched to getting Christopher Lee to play the evil Count. No Inspector Lestrade in this tale. A snake slinks into the bedroom of a young sleeping beauty. She screams. Downstairs, alone in the dark, an elderly man listens impassively.
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Four Minus Four is One
. . . . . The plot is identical to the 1954 Holmes story, The Case of The Neurotic Detective. It's a fun story, not surprising it was used again. Directed by Roy Stevens. 1886. State secrets are being stolen by London's greatest ever criminal. "What inn thunder are Scotland Yard doing about it?" thunders DrW. As if in answer, here is Inspector Lestrade ("not that I really need any help"), and he is inevitably
completely baffled. Even worse, SH refuses to offer his usual insights, claiming he is too busy. The latest robbery is of the royal ceremonial jewels from the National Museum.
Uncredited speaking part: female criminal
. . . . . A policeman is smoking on duty when he espies a man lying on the pavement, knifed in the back, in his hand a letter for Sherlock.
To the Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson Menu . . . . .
Blind Man's Bluff
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4am in a boys' school dormitory in Belgium.
A boy seems to be sleepwalking. Antoine leaves the building, walking down the street, followed by the matron Mlle Marie Grande and the headmaster Henri Carolan. The lad enters a church, then returns back to school. But on the floor of the church are chalked the words Death for Carolan. This is not his first prediction of a death.
To the Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson Menu . . . . .
The Case of The Baker Street Nursemaids
A basket is delivered to 221B Baker Street, and after much speculation SH opens it to reveal a screaming baby. SH knows many things, but he has to seek medical advice here, asking DrW if it's a boy. Enter L, "what's that?" he asked in surprised tones, and after the rather obvious suggestion, "you look," to see if it's a boy, the trio take turns in holding the child. "Make it a cup of tea," suggests the great detective, but after this comedy, he uncovers a note from the child's mother that seems to explain all.
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The Case of the Purloined Letter
SH plays cat and mouse in this story that featured Richard Greene as Lord Brompton.
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The Case of the Travelling Killer
. . . . . Director: Aurelio Grugnola (the art director on this series). Philip Rayburn and Michael Lambert were key witnesses six years ago in the trial that convicted Peter Channing (Tony Caunter). Now Rayburn has been gunned down outside his own home. "I killed him," the evil Channing boasts to SH. "I'm going to kill Lambert too." Then he will do in SH, for the detective had been the one, of course, who had caused his arrest. "I'm going to enjoy breaking you." SH's response is to offer Channing a cup of tea. "The man is a psychopath," observes DrW, though SH has his own devious scheme to avoid assassination. Inspector Lestrade is his unwitting dupe. SH plants Channing's notebook on a murder victim, Muldoon of 46 Begley Road. Confidently L arrests Channing, but since he can provide an alibi, L has to release him. Next a corpse materialises in Channing's digs, and the man is rearrested. Released and fed up, he shoots SH as he paces his Baker Street rooms. Or rather he shoots at an outline of SH's figure, "you'll have to do better than that," SH teases him. So the wily Channing devises his own cunning plan. Channing's girl friend Sophie (Glynis Barber) is to pose as Lambert's niece in order to lead the great detective into a trap. As Priscilla Lambert, she spills a cock and bull story about her uncle. Naturally SH can see through her, and L agrees to follow Channing while SH plays the girl along. She leads him to an empty room, nothing there. Nobody there. Along a dark foggy street Channing has stalked them, and in a window he sees SH sitting, waiting. He shoots. That brings out L and his boys in blue to effect the arrest of Channing. His task had failed anyway, for SH yet lives and explains that in fact the criminal had been shooting at a mirror image of him, "extraordinary" Notes: the shooting at a mirror element of this story is reminiscent of the shooting in the 1954 story, #23 The Christmas Pudding. Tony Caunter, who plays the villain with a fine sense of evil, had appeared earlier in the series, as a different criminal. Uncredited speaking parts: 1 Rayburn. 2 PC Simpson Sherlock Holmes & Doctor Watson Menu . . . . . The plot is identical to the 1954 Holmes story, The Case of The Impromptu Performance. Directed by Val Guest. A condemned man's last request before he is executed is to see SH. Thus the great detective meets Edward Brighton in his prison cell. Briefly, for he is to die in five hours, he relates how he had been convicted of killing his wife Phyllis. They had only been married six months, but on the fatal night they had had their first mild argument over her make-up, though others claimed this was much more violent.
Uncredited speaking roles: 1 Priest. 2 Phyllis. 3 Actress on stage . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Case of the Deadly Tower
. . . . . . The Case of the Luckless GamblerDirector: Roy Ward Baker George Wharton (Derren Nesbitt) fears for his life. His young son Christopher, who wants to be a barrister when he grows up, asks SH to investigate his father's disappearance. As Inspector L insists he is dead, naturally SH knows he's not, and though Christopher is no budding actor, we can get the drift, that the lad's father is missing, presumably to escape his creditors. When questioned, L explains there must have been a violent struggle before George's abduction. A bullet had been found in his overcoat, from which L deduces that the man had been shot. Even though there's no body, he's dead, declares the Yard detective. At a prize fight, SH chats with the loser of a bout, with the unfortunate name of Powerhouse. He tells SH that George had owed money to the biggest of bookmakers Jack Driscoll (Tommy Godfrey). SH tracks him down to a race track. He owes me £100, claims Driscoll but as George is dead has little hope of recovering it. SH approaches Powerhouse and trains him how to fight properly, poor DrW getting a few knocks in the cause. Thus when Powerhouse wins, SH's bet with Driscoll wins him £200. This he can put to good use. To L, he disproves that theory of George's demise. RMS Glencastle is sailing for New York, and George is just embarking. SH gets George to participate in a little charade, in which he has apparently rounded up a dangerous spy, for which he receives a reward of £100. Thus Christopher still has faith in his father and George promises to reform for the sake of his family. However as evidence that he is a budding barrister, the young boy doesn't show himself as green as even SH believes, for he has seen through the subterfuge. The nice little touch is poor DrW with his black eye and bandage, all won in the good cause of helping Powerhouse win his bout. To the Sherlock Holmes andDoctor Watson Menu . . . . . . The Case of The Shrunken HeadsIn a parcel adressed to SH is a small head, "I've been expecting it!" Inspector L tells us how he sometimes deigns to asks SH's advice, as in the present case. He'd received a shrunken head too. They had been stolen from explorer James McIntyre of Hampstead. The heads are followed by a ransom demand, £50,000 or McIntyre will be killed. Signed Mendoza (Simon Oates), an old enemy of the explorer. Off to Hampstead, and another Mendoza note. Freddy, stepson of McIntyre has instructions where to take the money. SH and DrW keep watch on the place, as do L's minions, L himself is in disguise as an organ grinder. Freddy carries the money into a large building. Mendoza is spotted high on the roof. Gunshots and he topples to his death. No sign of the cash Freddy had handed him. Mendoza is none other than Harry, an East End crook. "We've been taken for fools," sighs SH. Freddy had devised the swindle, it's something to do with McIntyre's terminally ill wife. But why did Freddy want Harry killed? Freddy himself receives a shrunken head. Sent by SH! He tells Freddy how he had committed the crime, and why. But he has no proof. So SH promises that he will get rough justice. He'll inform Harry's East End cronies what Freddy has done. That stirs Harry into making "a run for it." There follows a slight novelty, a horse and carriage chase, but as in the gangster films, Freddy's cart overturns. At least it doesn't, as in the gangster films, instantly burst into flames. Freddy is killed. The cash is recovered and back at 221B SH discourses on why policemen's heads need to be square shaped. L listens in bafflement, and slightly insulted, makes an exit, in offended silence To the Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson Menu . . . . . . Magruder's MillionsDirector: Val Guest In his wheelchair, old Malcolm Magruder cries in vain for assistance. He's a recluse, his assistant Fred Kimberley has just been murdered. When his servants answer his call, Magruder fails to recognise either of them, neither Raikes nor Chesney (David Buck). His letter appealing to SH to help does not fall on deaf ears. SH first asks Inspector Lestrade about Kimberly. But according to L's version, there's no crime to investigate, the man shot himself accidentally. Further, in L's opinion, Magruder is "bats in the belfry." On arrival at Magruder's mansion, SH immediately spots that the butler is a "stooge," indeed the crooks have replaced Magruder with their own man. Miss Collins (Sue Lloyd) advises SH that her master is too unwell to see anyone, but the persistent SH refuses to go away, and so is ushered into the old man's presence. SH is given the quick brush off, but has noticed the deception and for that he's locked up, along with the real Magruder.. Escape seems impossible from their shuttered room. Enter L, who of course remains oblivious to the drama, and proves an unwitting accomplice to the crooks in their swindle of two Frenchmen, who are to pay them via Magruder a fortune. The great SH has naturally found a way of excape, a clue in Magruder's piano, notes played in the right sequence, a hidden lock in the fireplace opens, and the way out is through that dark passageway. As SH and DrW creep along it, they overhear the deal, the signing of documents by the Frenchmen. To a startled L, SH whispers the whole diabolical plot through the thick wall. Luckily L is on the ball and as per SH's instructions, announces "that money is counterfeit." Consternation among the crooks, and L is quickly able to effect their arrest. SH even praises him. To round the non drama off, he does also declare that Kimberly wasn't actually murdered at all. To Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson Menu . . . . . . Script: Tudor Gates, based on a story by Julian Fellowes. Director: Val Guest. The butler at Kindersley Hall requests that SH investigate the demise of Mary, a maid, who had been frightened to death by a ghost, tumbling downstairs. "There's a presence in the house," the butler concludes in sinister tones.
To the Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson Menu . . . . . .
The Case of the Close Knit Family (No Lestrade)
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Interceptor
Channel Four's innovative Treasure Hunt, had been running since the station began in 1982, but by 1989 was looking past its sell-by. Annabel Croft had recently taken on the glamorous job as Skyrunner, and it was she who hosted this new programme. However she was no longer 'in the helicopter' but confined to base, which was always an outdoor location. She provided charm, with her occasionally naive comments.
4 Cumbria (Aug 9th 1989) - Annabel was at Eskdale Green. Contestants Suzanne at Greendale Farm, Mike at Newtown move close together via a raft and narrow gauge train, on which the Interceptor pursuing his quarry, climbs over bemused passengers. Mike has to castigate his cameraman at one point for running too slowly. At the reunion, Annabel asks "did you enjoy yourselves?"!
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It'a a Knockout
Best of Knockout 73 St Ives 1975 Gourock 1975 Cambridge 1975 |
Jeux Sans Frontieres
Bristol: August 24th 1973 Paris September 14th 1973 Belgium August 27th 1975 |