Armchair Thriller

Armchair Thriller is a British television drama series broadcast on ITV in 1978 and 1980 in two seasons. Taking the form of a sequence of unconnected serials, scripts for Armchair Thriller were adaptations of published novels and stories. Although not strictly a horror series, it did sometimes include supernatural elements. Armchair Thriller was mainly produced by Thames Television, but it included two serials from Southern Television. The format was of 25-minute episodes broadcast twice-weekly, usually on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 8 pm and 9 pm.

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
Production companies	Thames Television Southern Television
Original release
Network	ITV
Release	21 February 1978 (1978-02-21) – 30 December 1981 (1981-12-30)

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. Some trailers for the series showed the same armchair soaked in blood and a screaming, maniacal face; these received criticism from those who considered them too horrific for pre-watershed viewing. For Armchair Thriller broadcasts Thames Television changed the station ident it used; normally it showed a London landscape in daytime, but here it was the same view as though seen at night. Ratings reached more than 17 million viewers during the broadcast of the first episode of "The Limbo Connection" in May 1978.

The first series included an adaptation of Antonia Fraser's 1977 novel Quiet as a Nun. This introduced to television the character of Jemima Shore—who was later spun off into her own ITV series—and starred Maria Aitken. "Quiet as a Nun" features a cliffhanger sequence where the 'Black Nun' appeared. Other actors to appear included Ian McKellen and Denis Lawson.

Episodes

Series 1

No.	Title	No. of episodes	Directed by	Written by	Cast	Production company	Original air date
1	"Rachel in Danger"	4	Waris Hussein	John Bowen	Della Low (Rachel), Stephen Greif (Juan), Eiko Nakamura (Aiyako), Neville Jason (Peter), George Waring (Police Sergeant), John Joyce (C.I.D. Sgt.), Harry Littlewood (Caretaker)	Thames	21 February – 2 March 1978 (21 February – 2 March 1978)
2	"A Dog's Ransom"	6	Donald McWhinnie	John Bowen	Benjamin Whitrow (Edward Reynolds), Zena Walker (Gina Reynolds), Susie Blake (Marion Dowell), Paul Angelis (Tom Choley), Brian Stirner (Clarence Duhamel), Leon Eagles (Kowajinski), Prentis Hancock (Desk Sergeant), Neville Barber (Chief Superintendent), David Hargreaves (Ken Holbrook), Ray Armstong (Duty Inspector), Linal Haft (Cookson), Rayner Bourton (Jim), Frank Wylie (Inspector Craig)	Thames	9–23 March 1978 (9–23 March 1978)
3	"The Girl Who Walked Quickly"	4	Brian Farnham	Ray Jenkins	Denis Lawson (David Cooper), Phyllida Nash (Liz), Clive Merrison (Godolt), Barry Stanton (Swift), John Gregg (Everly), Oliver Smith (1st Helper), Luke Hanson (2nd Helper), Derek Benfield (Mr. Cooper), Colin McCormack (Det. Sgt. Bowen), Martin Fisk (Explosive Officer), Neil Hallett (Commander Lambert), Martyn Whitby (Sniper No. 2)	Thames	28 March – 6 April 1978 (28 March – 6 April 1978)
4	"Quiet as a Nun"	6	Moira Armstrong	Julia Jones	Maria Aitken (Jemima Shore), Renée Asherson (Mother Ancilla), Brenda Bruce (Sister Elizabeth), David Burke (Tom Amyas), Patsy Kensit (Tessa), Mary Healey (Beatrice O’Dowd), James Appleby (Joe), Susan Engel (Sister Agnes), James Laurenson (Alexander Skarbek), Sylvia Coleridge (Sister Boniface), John Bryans (Sir Charles)	Thames	11–27 April 1978 (11–27 April 1978)
5	"The Limbo Connection"	6	Robert Tronson	Philip Mackie	James Bolam (Mark Omney), Rosalind Ayres (Annabella Fraser), Michael Culver (Dr. Walcott Brown), Beatrix Lehmann (Blanche Terraine), Vass Anderson (Soames), Alan Ford (Bill), Christopher Benjamin (Det. Inspector Tarrant), Peter Welch (Mechanic), Aimée Delamain (Mrs. Franklyn), Arthur Blake (Mr. Dyer), Milton Johns (Tim Kennaway), Rosamund Greenwood (Mrs. Woldingham)	Thames	2–18 May 1978 (2–18 May 1978)

Series 2

No.	Title	No. of episodes	Directed by	Written by	Cast	Production company	Original air date
6	"The Victim"	6	Gareth Davies	Michael Ashe	David Beckett (Frankie Martin), Lorna Yabsley (Sue Craig), Steve Morley (Len Trace), John Shrapnel (Vincent Craig), Paul Jerricho (Harry Turner), Godfrey James (Chief Supt. Lewis), Edward Burnham (Professor Manson), Alan Bennion (Praed), Bernard Kay (Neecham), Dominic Letts (Betting Shop Assistant), Jerold Wells (1st Dosser), Richard McNeff (Chief Prison Officer)	Thames	8–24 January 1980 (8–24 January 1980)
7	"Dead Man's Kit"	4	Colin Bucksey	Tom Clenaghan	Larry Lamb (CPO Chalkey White), Philip Locke (Cmdr. Lloyd), Maurice Colbourne (Lt. Cmdr. Kobahl), Clive Merrison (Commander Maybury), Paul Kember (Peters), Jamie Foreman (Operator 1), Timothy Block (Operator 2), Richard Kane (Winterman), William Russell (Senior Officer)	Southern	29 January – 7 February 1980 (29 January – 7 February 1980)
8	"Dying Day"	4	Robert Tronson	John Bowen	Ian McKellen (Anthony Skipling), Maurice Kaufmann (1st Interrogator), Prentis Hancock (2nd Interrogator), Patrick Malahide (Police Sergeant), Michael Troughton (Police Constable), Peter Childs (Sellars), Cyril Shaps (Mountjoy)	Thames	12–21 February 1980 (12–21 February 1980)
9	"Fear of God"	4	Robert Tronson	Troy Kennedy Martin	Bryan Marshall (Paul Marriot), Alun Armstrong (Trahearne), Peter Cellier (Maitland), Michael Sheard (Colonel Morgan), Garrick Hagon (Walters), Roger Brierley (Vic), David Graham (Vicar), David Healy (Anvil), Laurence Harrington (Sub-Editor), Lionel Sansby (Ambulance Man), Susan Sheridan (Voice of Rosamund)	Thames	26 February – 6 March 1980 (26 February – 6 March 1980)
10	"High Tide"	4	Colin Bucksey	Andrew Brown	Ian McShane (Peter Curtis), Wendy Morgan (Celia), Terence Rigby (Matthews), John Bird (Cyril), Malcolm Terris (Maxwell)	Southern	11–20 March 1980 (11–20 March 1980)
11	"The Circe Complex"	6	Robert D. Cardona	David Hopkins	Beth Morris (Val Foreman), Trevor Martin (Tom Foreman), Alan David (Ollie Milton), Gareth Forwood (Dr. Crampton), James Hazeldine (Dave), Geoffrey Colville (Prison Governor), Eric Francis (Mr. Evans), Marc Boyle (Policeman), Derek Ware (O’Brady), Neil Daglish (Det. Sgt. Rees), Victor Winding (Det. Insp. Sayers)	Thames	25 March – 10 April 1980 (25 March – 10 April 1980)
12	"The Chelsea Murders"	1	Derek Bennett	Jonathan Hales	Michael Feast (Steve), Guy Gregory (Artie), Antony Carrick (Summers), Chris Gannon (Publican), Lucy Griffiths (Mrs. Bulstrode), Doug Sheldon (Otto), David Yip (Denny), Richard Hampton (Editor), Ian Liston (Policeman), Ishaq Bux (Arab Servant)	Thames	30 December 1981 (1981-12-30)
"The Chelsea Murders" was originally made as a 6-episode story for Armchair Thriller, but was unscreened in this form. The story was eventually broadcast over 20 months later than originally intended, but as a cut down feature-length (104 mins.) standalone programme, and not under the Armchair Thriller umbrella title.

Home release

The ten Thames-produced serials were released by Network in 2008, both as separate stories and as a box-set, with the untransmitted six-part version of "The Chelsea Murders" also included. The Southern Television-produced "Dead Man's Kit" and "High Tide" were released separately, in 2009 and 2010 respectively, by Simply Home Entertainment.

External links

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