Thriller (UK TV series)
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| Thriller | |
|---|---|
 UK opening titles |
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| Format | Anthology, Thriller |
| Created by | Brian Clemens |
| Starring | Various |
| Country of origin | UK |
| No. of episodes | 43 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 63-67 Min. |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ITV |
| Audio format | Mono |
| Original run | 14 April 1973 – 22 May 1976 |
Thriller is a British television series, originally broadcast in the UK from 1973 to 1976. It is an anthology series: each episode has a self-contained story and its own cast. As the title suggests, each story is a thriller of some variety, from tales of the supernatural to down-to-earth whodunits.
Contents |
[edit] Background
The series was created by Brian Clemens, who also scripted the majority of the episodes and storylined every instalment, and produced by John Sichel (the first 3 series), John Cooper (series 4) and Ian Fordyce (the final two series) for Associated Television (ATV) at their Elstree studios north of London. It evolved from Clemens' previous work, in particular two films of a similar style, And Soon the Darkness (EMI-ABP 1970) and Blind Terror (aka See No Evil (Columbia 1971). The latter shared plot similarities with the Thriller episodes "The Eyes Have It" and "The Next Voice Your See". Original music, including the theme tune, was by Clemens' regular collaborator Laurie Johnson. Some of the storylines were based on episodes of The Avengers and the future series The New Avengers, that Clemens had either written or produced. 'The Eyes Have It' was based on The Avengers storyline 'Take Over' and 'Murder In Mind' became The New Avengers story 'Medium Rare'. 'The Colour of Blood' featured some elements from The Avengers storylines 'Don't Look Behind You' and 'The Joker'.
The stories are often set in the English home counties "stockbroker belt", but most episodes, especially from the second season onwards, feature at least one American character, mostly portrayed by an imported US guest star, to appeal to the American market. After originally being screened late night in the US under the ABC Wide World of Entertainment billing from 1973, in 1978 some episodes were retitled for US syndication and all had additional opening sequences shot, with new titles and credits. Since these were made without the original cast they often feature menacing figures seen only from the neck down. These replaced original UK and US title sequence that featured a sequence of shots through a fisheye lens, bordered in bright red.
Following a worldwide audit in 2003/4, by the then licence holders Carlton, all the original UK PAL fisheye titled original 2" videotapes of "Thriller" were located and remastered onto modern digital tape by the British Film Institute. (One exception was the story "Nurse Will Make It Better". However this too exists in PAL/original format as a 1" dub from the original master tape. This version was repeat broadcast on the satellite channel Bravo in 1996).
[edit] Episodes
[edit] Series 1 (1973)
[edit] Series 2 (1974)
[edit] Series 3 (1974)
| Episode title | Original transmission | Notable cast |
|---|---|---|
| A Coffin for the Bride (US title: Kiss Kiss, Kill Kill) |
1 June 1974 | Michael Jayston, Helen Mirren, Tony Steedman, Josephine Tewson, Arthur English, Hugh Morton, Richard Hampton |
| I'm the Girl He Wants to Kill | 8 June 1974 | Geoffrey Whitehead, Anthony Steel, Robert Lang, Tony Selby, Julie Sommars, Annette Woollett |
| Death to Sister Mary (US title: Murder is a One-Act Play) |
15 June 1974 | Jennie Linden, Robert Powell, Derek Fowlds, Windsor Davies, Leigh Lawson, Anthony Newlands, Norman Mitchell |
| In the Steps of a Dead Man | 22 June 1974 | John Nolan, Skye Aubrey, Richard Vernon, Christopher Benjamin, Faith Brook, John Garvin |
| Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are | 29 June 1974 | Lynda Day George, Peter Jeffrey, John Carson, Colette O'Neil, Bernard Holley, John Line, Molly Weir, Kevin Brennan |
| The Next Scream You Hear (US title: Not Guilty) |
6 July 1974 | Richard Todd, Edward Hardwicke, Dinsdale Landen, Suzanne Neve, Frank Wylie, Belinda Mayne |
[edit] Series 4 (1975)
| Episode title | Original transmission | Notable cast |
|---|---|---|
| Screamer | 4 January 1975 | Pamela Franklin, Jim Norton, Peter Howell, Derek Smith, Wolfe Morris |
| Nurse Will Make It Better (US title: The Devil's Web, US video title: Night Nurse) |
11 January 1975 | Diana Dors, Michael Culver, Patrick Troughton, Ed Bishop, Cec Linder, Andrea Marcovicci, Wendy Williams |
| Night is the Time for Killing (US title: Murder on the Midnight Express) |
18 January 1975 | Judy Geeson, Charles Gray, Jeffrey Wickham, Duncan Preston, Milos Kirek, Robert MacLeod, Aimée Delamain, Edward Burnham, Reg Pritchard |
| Killer with Two Faces | 25 January 1975 | Donna Mills, Ian Hendry, Hazel McBride, Roddy McMillan, Robin Parkinson, Ralph Ball |
| A Killer in Every Corner | 1 February 1975 | Patrick Magee, Don Henderson, Petra Markham, Eric Flynn, Joanna Pettet, Max Wall, Peter Settelen |
| Where the Action Is (US title: The Killing Game) |
8 February 1975 | Edd Byrnes, Ingrid Pitt, Trevor Baxter, Patrick Magee, George Innes, Frank Coda |
[edit] Series 5 (1975)
[edit] Series 6 (1976)
A particular trademark of the series' story-telling was to hook the viewer with a simple yet totally baffling situation, of the kind seen in films such as Les Diaboliques. Come Out Come Out, Wherever You Are takes place at a creaky country house hotel where a female guest begins asking where her travelling companion has disappeared to. The owner claims there was no such guest with her upon her arrival last night. None of the other guests initially recall seeing her, and yet the hotel owner has a secret in his past that could well be causing him to lie. One episode, Screamer concerns a rape victim who murders her attacker only for the man to then turn up on her doorstep the following evening. Perhaps the most ingenious episode is the Dial M for Murder style The Double Kill, in which a man hires a hitman to kill his wife, but makes a fatal error in his otherwise meticulous planning.
Other memorable episodes include Someone at the Top of the Stairs, one of a handful of forays into the supernatural, in which two female students move into a boarding house and begin to notice that none of the other residents ever go out or receive any mail, and the well-remembered I'm The Girl He Wants to Kill, in which a witness to a murder finds herself trapped in a deserted office block overnight with the killer and is forced to play a deadly game of cat and mouse with him to survive, there is barely any dialogue throughout its second half. Brian Clemens's own favourite episode, A Coffin for the Bride features a performance from a young Helen Mirren.
