Armchair Thriller

Armchair Thriller
Genre	Horror, Thriller
Theme music composer	Andy MacKay
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	55
Production
Executive producer	Andrew Brown
Producers	Andrew Brown, Jacqueline Davis, Brenda Ennisp
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	c. 23-26 minutes per episode
Original release
Network	ITV
Release	21 February 1978 – 30 December 1981

Armchair Thriller is a British television programme, broadcast on ITV in two series in 1978 and 1980. Owing something to some of the offshoots of the earlier Armchair Theatre, the new series used scripts adapted from published novels and stories. Although not properly a horror series it included several supernatural elements. Armchair Thriller was produced by Thames Television, but it included serials made by Southern Television. The format was of a twice weekly 25 minute episodes, usually screened on a Tuesday or Thursday at 20:00-21:00.

Overview

The opening titles consisted of a shadow-figure walking to an armchair and then sitting down, accompanied by music composed by Andy MacKay of pop group Roxy Music. Trailers for the series were equally memorable by showing an armchair soaked in blood and a screaming, maniacal face, which received criticism in that they were considered too horrific for pre-watershed viewing. Also significant was the Thames Television ident, which normally showed a London landscape in daytime, but for this series was changed to a night-time setting.

Amongst the first series was the story Quiet as a Nun. Starring Maria Aitken it introduced the character of Jemima Shore to television, who was later spun off into her own ITV series. This story proved to be particularly memorable, famous for its cliffhanger sequence of "The Black Nun". Rating increased, reaching a high of 17 million viewers during the broadcast of the first episode of The Limbo Connection. Other actors to appear included Ian McKellen and Denis Lawson.

Episode guide

All shows produced by Thames Television except where highlighted.

Series one

26 episodes (21 February - 18 May 1978)

1. Rachel in Danger (21 February - 2 March 1978) 4 episodes
2. A Dog's Ransom (9–23 March 1978) 6 episodes
3. The Girl Who Walked Quickly (28 March - 6 April 1978) 4 episodes
4. Quiet as a Nun (18–27 April 1978) 6 episodes
5. The Limbo Connection (2–18 May 1978) 6 episodes

Series two

29 episodes (8 January - 10 April 1980, 30 December 1981)

1. The Victim (8–24 January 1980) 6 episodes
2. Dead Man's Kit (29 January - 7 February 1980) 4 episodes - produced by Southern Television
3. Dying Day (12–21 February 1980) 4 episodes
4. Fear of God (26 February - 6 March 1980) 4 episodes
5. High Tide (11–20 March 1980) 4 episodes - produced by Southern Television
6. The Circe Complex (25 March - 10 April 1980) 6 episodes
7. The Chelsea Murders (30 December 1981) 1 x 104m episode*

* Originally made as a 6-episode story, but unscreened, finally appearing edited into a single feature-length standalone programme (i.e. not under the Armchair Thriller title).

DVD releases

The ten Thames-produced serials were released by Network DVD in 2008, as both separate stories, and as a collected box set. The Southern-produced Dead Man's Kit and High Tide were released separately by Simply Home Entertainment in 2009 and 2010 respectively.

External links

• Armchair Thriller at IMDb
• Die Krimihomepage: Armchair Thriller (German fanpage)