Oct 30, 2024
Shadows of Fear: At Occupier's Risk (1.3, Thames, 1971)
"I happened to look into one of the other rooms and there were dust sheets."
"If there were other guests, you would have seen them."
"I once lived in a flat for six months and never saw anyone in the house. Heard them, yes, but never saw them."
"No. There's no one else here."
"Good."
#shadows of fear#at occupier's risk#1971#single play#horror tv#thames#classic tv#richard harris#peter duguid#gemma jones#annette crosbie#anthony bate#tom chadbon#john swindells#the best of the plays so far; feels like a notable upswing in quality‚ tho to be clear this is still a very visibly cheap production#all rickety sets and awful CSO backgrounds to suggest people are outdoors. but the get here is that cast: three peerless actors in their#prime. Jones and Crosbie were already making names for themselves but would go onto much bigger and better#Bate is one of my favourite actors and really deserved to be a bigger name‚ he was never less than phenomenal#the script is a winner here‚ too. it's much more consciously theatrical than the previous two‚ in that slightly unnatural way that much#tv drama of the 60s and 70s was (an acquired taste i suspect‚ but as a lover of british theatre of the mid 20th century suffice to say im a#fan). it's an intelligently written‚ and mischievously obscured play; difficult (imo) to guess exactly where it's going but easy to be#misled by some ever so helpful red herrings and delicately worked misdirection. the style allows for some shamelessly wordy scenes#between some seriously great actors‚ too‚ in which much is said but even more left unsaid or just implied (rightly or wrongly as it turns#out). yes a very decent old potboiler of an old spooky tale and i shouldn't be surprised if it turns out to be one of the most memorable#tho that said‚ i didn't remember it really at all from watching this series all those years ago...