User Reviews

This episode hails from the fifth series of Brian Clemens's "Thriller" anthology. It is one of the few stories not written by him but by prolific writer Dennis Spooner, although Clemens still provided the basic storyline. It's also one of the best, although little seen.

Garard and Filton are two escaped convicts. Filton is small-time - unlike Garard who is a certified psychopath and a great danger to the public. To make matters worse Garard soon steals a shotgun and the pair go looking for a hideout. The place they find is occupied by a distinguished doctor and what appears to be his wife. Garard makes it quite clear that blood will be spilled if either of them raise the alarm. Meanwhile a young American journalist is heading to visit the doctor's wife to discuss her priceless collection of poster art. She could not be calling at a worse time...

An extremely professional outing. Garard is a superb character - utterly dominant, extremely threatening but with the clean-cut looks and ability to turn on the charm that can make him quite plausible. His accomplice Filton is essentially a bully's mate, a seemingly pathetic figure who is also terrorised by Garard if he steps out of line. However his suggestive behaviour in the presence of the doctor's "wife" indicates that he may not be as unthreatening as he appears, at least as regards women.

The doctor is an intriguing figure. A top heart specialist, he is clearly unnerved by events. However it is clear his nervousness betrays a wider unease and we do see a rather different aspect of his character at times. His "wife" Hilary is terrified but again it may not just be Garard and Filton scaring her. All these parts are distinguished by impressive acting but the performances of Denholm Elliott as Dr. Henson and Anthony Valentine as Garard are quite exceptional. Elliott especially shows what a top-class actor can do, aided by fine writing and direction.

The police room scenes were often a weak spot in "Thriller" and while these ones are not perfect they are far stronger than usual. Alan Browning turns in a sharp display as the forceful Superintendent Brook. Brook is a man who knows his mind and gets his way while officers below him squabble. There is a very impressive scene when he rebukes a Sergeant who thinks he will get in Brook's good books by criticising the Inspector whom Brook has just over-ruled. Brook is not happy at this insubordination and defends the Inspector.

The part of the journalist Tracy Loxton (Tandy Cronyn) is fairly small but she plays a very important part when events take a very unexpected turn late in the action. Her journey to the house is also enlivened by her talkative, somewhat wet, taxi-driver, played by Ken Parry.

The tense story comes to a strong climax. Not untypically for the show one ends up feeling sympathy for Garard after the tables are turned on him in a very underhand fashion. It's definitely well-worthy of attention. However if you do get to see it, hopefully it will be the original UK ATV version and not the US movie one which features some of the worst animated opening titles you could see, added long after the event. However even if you do see them, just enjoy the great story that follows.