Time For Murder (1985/Acorn Media DVD)

 

Picture: C     Sound: C+     Extras: C-     Episodes: B-

 

 

One of the last serious attempts at an anthology show after the huge success of Roald Dahl’s Tales Of The Unexpected was Time For Murder, a 1985 series launch that only produced six shows.  Each one was written by a different Mystery genre writer and for the most part, these are very good, so why it did not continue is the one mystery that will go unsolved.  The six shows are:

 

1)     Bright Smiler by Fay Weldon, starring Renée Asherton, Jeremy Nicholas, Jackie Smith-Wood, Emma Watson and Jane Asher in a story about revenge at a massage parlor.

2)     The Murders At Lynch Cross by Frances Galleymore, starring Jill Bennett, Joanna David, Barbara Jefford, Sylvia Syms and Alan MacNaughtan in a story about guests being murdered at a snowbound hotel.

3)     Mister Clay, Mister Clay by Antonia Fraser, starring Ian Ogilvy, Aden Gilbert, Joan Hickson, Edward Hardwicke, Eleanor Bron and Charles Kay about a killer on the loose at a strict prep school.

4)     This Lightning Always Strikes Twice by Michael Robinson, starring Charles Dance, Amanda Root, Claire Bloom, Julia Goodman and Trevor Howard about a tudor who uncovers a dysfunctional family about to explode.

5)     The Thirteen Days Of Christmas by Gordon Honeycombe, starring Patrick Allen, Elizabeth Spriggs, John Wheatley, James Bree and Rhoda Lewis about a son who has come back home form a mental hospital just in time for the holidays.

6)     Dust To Dust by Charles Wood, starring Patricia Hodge, Michael Jayston, William Simons, Judy Campbell, Alan David, Susan Curnow and Andy Abrahams about a deadly dating ad placer and her hunt for victims.

 

 

Those are strong casts, something that will even be more obvious to those in the U.K., where these stars are under seen in The States (i.e., the U.S.) among other things.  Fortunately, the teleplays are able to back up the various story ideas and plots.  If you like mystery and suspense stories with real richness and depth, Time For Murder is more than worth your time.  I was very pleasantly surprised.

 

The 1.33 X 1 image is softer than it should be throughout for a later PAL analog taping, but it is still shot nicely.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 sound is better with the mono slightly boosted, though there are still audio flaws.  The only extras are text cast filmographies.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo