SEASON ONE

The Straight And The Narrow

TX : 29th September 1970
Director : Joan Kemp-Welch
Script : Alun Richards

Cast : Freddie Jones (Elystan Griffiths), Jane Hylton (Mona), Rachel Thomas (Mrs Griffiths), David Garfield (Mr Williams), Rosalind Lloyd (Cheryl), Seymour Green (The Londoner), Margaret John (Sylvie), Talfryn Thomas (The Waiter), Hubert Rees (Joe), John Bryans (The Area Manager), Christopher Timothy (David), Michael Forrest (The Stockbreeder) and Artro Morris (The Sergeant).
Synopsis : Mona was feeling lonely and Elystan was so very mild and well-behaved - but Mona should have known better. Mona accepts an invitation from farmer Elystan Griffiths to go back to his remote farm, where his mother seems to be sizing her up as a prospective daughter-in-law, but why does she hang on to a cleaver and who did those clothes belong to?

Notes : Episodes were originally transmitted 9:20pm to 10:35pm on BBC 2. The signature tune for the series was composed by Don Harper.

Good Morning, Yesterday!

TX : 6th October 1970
Director : James MacTaggart
Script : Edward Boyd

Cast : Roddy McMillan (Dan Britt), Madeline Christie (Aunt Margaret), Maggie London (The Model), Tony Roper (The Photographer), Julian Holloway (Peter Lovell), Harry Jones (The Librarian), Phil McCall (The Shopkeeper), Effie Morrison (The Woman), Harry Webster (Father McNaffey), Winefride Madigan (The Housekeeper), Joe Quigley (The Window Cleaner), Anne Kristen (Bernadette Doyle), Bill McCabe (Briit's Neighbour), David Gallacher (The Paper Boy), Phyllida Law (Mrs Tetley), Norman Rough (The Large Man), James Grant (Ben Hetherington), Beth Robens (Sweet Sam), W D Joss (The Roadman), Alex Macavoy (The Barman), Charles Carson (Presume), Jan Waters (Lady Dorriton) and John Franklyn-Robbins (Lord Dorriton).

Publicity : Jolly Jordan Masterminds A World Of Menace - Elizabeth Cowley introduces the new thriller series which promises "to leave the viewer asking for more":

It would be difficult to imagine anyone less menacing than Menace producer Jordan Lawrence. He's plump and jolly and looks a bit like Benny Hill. His private title for these mint-new, specially commissioned thrillers is "Damocles is alive and well and only waiting for the thread to snap". He says he sometimes wishes, a little wistfully, that he could be a bit more sinister and enigmatic - "like those lovely old heavies Sidney Greenstreet and Alfred Hitchcock". But in the meantime, he's been able to "sublimate" his fantasies in Menace. "It's all in the scripts," he beams benignly, spreading them out in a huge fan on his desk. "Take The Straight And The Narrow. In that the menace is physical … clues - a torn dress, a lost shoe, something not quite right somewhere. A bit Hitchcocky - understated - unnerving. Lovely! Good Morning, Yesterday! Filmed in Glasgow by Jimmy MacTaggart. He's in love with Glasgow - he's used its slum backgrounds to build up a fantastic sense of menace.

Roddy McMillan plays a detective who gets beaten up by a bunch of thugs. And there's a blind pianist who knows something and won't talk. Everyone will go potty about this one. And number three, Crack-Up. 1Action packed,' as they say. Actually we're screening it tomorrow if you'd like to see it…". Crack-Up certainly is "action-packed". A Hungarian refugee (the impeccable Lee Montague) loses his memory and finds himself in the flat of a luscious, if naïve, model - Caroline Mortimer. He is certain that he's on the run for murder. She is just as certain that he isn't. And a bunch of menacing characters from his past are out to prove he's right and she isn't. "But don't go giving away the twist - not before it goes out," said Lawrence, positively jumping with excitement. Of the thirteen seventy-five-minute plays, which is his own personal favourite? "Oh oh what a question. I'd say ten out of the thirteen are positive winners - but it might prejudice the viewers if I told them which ones. But the best? They're each so different. Apart from the theme of menace running through all of them - and the fact that they're all modern, and set somewhere in the United Kingdom - you just can't compare them. Thirteen writers wrote them, eleven different directors plumped for whichever ones appealed to him or her. So each has a unique personality stamped all over it. But if you insist, well, I think I'd choose Nine Bean Rows by Hugo Charteris. That, and Killing Time. Bean Rows isn't due till December - but believe me, it's an absolute bomb. About a murder in an Irish stately home. With Constance Cummings, who's super … And Killing Time? That's in rehearsal right now. Come and see".

In the dimly-lit gallery, overlooking a series of seedy parlour-and-bedroom sets, we watched the making of Killing Time. "You could call it birth pangs," whispered veteran director Anthea Browne-Wilkinson (also the script editor for the series). "But it's coming, it's coming. Shaping up. Could you get that boom out of shot? That's the second time today. And tell Paul the script may say he's asleep, but he isn't supposed to take it seriously … Okay, cue George and cut". We left George Cole looking very menacing indeed as he puffed cigarette smoke up at a naked light bulb. Jordan eased himself out of his seat. "In that play - written by Hugh Whitemore - it's what you don't see that makes it horrific…of course there are murders in it, but it's the gradual break-up of George's personality that's so eerie…". He thought for a moment. "You know there really are quite a few murders in these plays. Ten - yes, then altogether. Or as many as five-hundred-and-ten if you count the doomed village in...but that would be telling".

Changing the subject briskly - "Have you checked our cast lists? We're really rather proud of them: Sheila Hancock, Peter Sallis, Rosemary Nichols, Gwen Watford, Freddie Jones … Jones is absolutely tremendous in the first play as a shy little Welshman dominated by his Mam. That's Rachel Thomas. No, I couldn't be more pleased about the whole series. It really is the high point of my career". Lawrence's career has been an impressive one. An actor till the war, he served with the Eighth Army in Italy during it. "Then I worked with the Old Vic for a year and directed at Leatherhead for eight. I drifted into television work from there … BBC, Rediffusion, then back to the BBC again".

Among his television successes have been the highly-rated Crane for ITV, two series of Champion House for BBC - and the most recent Detective stories. The only sad thing about his present ambitious - and obviously compelling - series, is that it is scheduled to end at Christmas. But Jordan Lawrence isn't worried. He's already bustling ahead with a new series on the Tower of London…and as for his beloved "Damocles"…"We'll get the audience so hooked on their weekly jab of `menace' they'll be demanding repeats before the thirteen have even finished their run!". Good Morning Yesterday!: Fifteen years after serving on a jury which condemned John Smith for murder, Peter Lovell's aunt has a troubled conscience. Forced to investigate the possibility of Smith's innocence, Peter (Julian Holloway), hires private detective Dan Britt (Roddy McMillan).

They tour Glasgow looking for evidence which is hard to come by, but someone is determined to stop any stirring of the dust. Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed?: A young couple lose their way and arrive at an unlocked, deserted farm house. Exploring the house, they find out various facts about the owners, named Cleaver. The girl (Georgina Hale) insists on staying to discover more. Gradually events convince them that the house is not as empty as it seems: one of the Cleavers must still be on the farm. Then they find the grave … Nine Bean Rows: Herky (Peter Blythe), ten years a mercenary in Africa, arrives at his mother's home in Ulster. She has remarried and Perky suspects that her new husband, Mick, has misused the money held in trust for his younger brother Pip and himself. He delivers an ultimatum: either he gets his money at once or he kills Mick. Can Mick and Pip deal with Herky before he carries out his threat?

Crack-Up: The man (Lee Montague) that Candy (Caroline Mortimer) has brought home from a club is suffering from amnesia and is haunted by a nightmare that ends with a woman's scream. They discover that he is a Hungarian refugee, but as he uncovers his past he becomes more and more agitated about the bizarre events that are taking place. The curious object they find only adds to the mystery. The Innocent: Just released from prison, an artist (John Turner) inherits a dilapidated cottage. Tackling the task of renovation with Susan (Rosemary Nichols), he finds his life threatened. Why? The Millicent Sisters: "Mrs Pepper's the place for theatricals at rest". Ideal lodgings for Mark and Toni Patra (Mark Kingston and Sheila Hancock), but they stay longer than they had intended… (Radio Times, October 1, 1970 - Article by Jordan Lawrence).

Synopsis : Fifteen years ago John Smith was found guilty of murder, but Aunt Margaret has always thought he might have been innocent. When she forces her nephew to find out the truth, he starts on an impossible task that suddenly becomes dangerous.

Crack-Up

TX : 13th October 1970
Director : Philip Dudley
Script : Moris Farhi

Cast : Lee Montague (The Man), Caroline Mortimer (Candy), Christopher Robbie (Bowen), Claire Nielson (Angela), Peter Baldwin (The Bartender), Barry Keegan (O'Rourke), Shirley Cooklin (Jean Nagy), Bill Nagy (Nagy), Joanne Tope (The Clerk), Eric McCaine (Matthews) and Robert Macleod (Gray).

Inheritance

TX : 20th October 1970
Director : Peter Moffatt
Script : Jacques Gillies

Cast : Gwen Watford (Hilly), Beatrix Lehmann (Kate), Gerald Flood (Gerald), James Bree (Arnold Watson), Arthur White (Cullinane) and Lockwood White (Doctor Cobb).

Synopsis : Hilly and Gerald would, of course, be sad if their mother died. Their sorrow, however, would be lightened by the knowledge that they are joint heirs to the Parsloe estate.

The Millicent Sisters, Edward de Bruno and Ruth - Where Are They Now?

TX : 27th October 1970
Director : Peter Moffatt
Script : Roy Clarke

Cast : Sheila Hancock (Toni Patra), Peter Sallis (Sonny Waters), Megs Jenkins (Mrs Pepper), Mark Kingston (Mark Patra), Raymond Barry and James Garrett (The Domino Players), Michael Mulcaster and Bay White (The Married Couple) and Arthur Hewlett (Lomas Winstanley).

Synopsis : There's something nasty in Mrs Pepper's lodging house as singer Toni Patra discovers from Sonny Waters.

Man With A Mission

TX : 3rd November 1970
Director : Raymond Menmuir
Script : Patrick Alexander

Cast : Robert Lang (Michael Grant), Robert Urquhart (Frank Smith), Alethea Charlton (Alice Campbell), Clifton Jones (Lusaka), John Scholes (The Cipher Clerk), James Cossins (The Controller), Heather Canning (Joan Grant), Fred McNaughton (The Special Branch Sergeant), Brian Vaughan (The Special Branch Constable), Michael Bates (Chief Superintendent Shepherd), James Drake (Blake), Joan Humphrey (Armstrong), John Wentworth (The Minister Of State), Louis Mahoney (Lusaka's Secretary), Patrick Connor (The Special Branch Man), Valerie Bell (The Woman Detective), Max Latimer (The Special Branch Detective), John Caesar (The Van Driver), Philip Anthony (Sergeant Clifford) and Alan Travell (The Guard)

Killing Time

TX : 10th November 1970
Director : Anthea Browne-Wilkinson
Script : Hugh Whitemore

Cast : George Cole (Douglas Willett), Annette Crosbie (Jean Crowe), Margery Withers (Nora Brazier), Patrick Durkin (Ted Brazier), Paul Dawkins (Stan Brazier), David Wood (Mr Martin), Frederick Treves (The First Man In The Pub), Gabriel Woold (The Second Man In The Pub), Veronica Ridge (Ted's Girlfriend), Barrie Cookson (Inspector Fielding), Derek Chater (The CID Man) and Myles Hoyle (The Reporter)
.

Trespasser

TX : 17th November 1970
Director : Gilchrist Calder
Script : Noel Robinson

Cast : Moira Redmond (Laurie), Gordon Jackson (Lander), Thorley Walters (Thatcher), Geraldine Newman (Pauline), Robin Askwith (Robbie Clay), Gerald Rowland (John Clay), Roberta Tovey (Annie Clay), Barbara Lott (Mrs Clay), Nick Brimble (The Locksmith) and David Quilter (The Doctor)
.

Something Cries Out

TX : 24th November 1970
Director : Gareth Davies
Script : John Wiles

Cast : Hannah Gordon (Francesca), John Carson (Harry Selter), John Bailey (Dodimead), Ray Lonnen (Clint), Geoffrey Whitehead (Detective Sergeant Crown), Helen Lindsay (Marie-Jeanne), David Swift (Inspector Dundy), Guy Deghy (Schiff), Donald Hewlett (Robert Amro), Patricia Lawrence (Anna), Michael Guest (The Police Constable Driver) and Aimee Delamain (Aunt Pippa).

Synopsis : Somebody is arranging evidence to prove that Harry Selter is a murderer. It could be any one of six people - or is there a seventh?

Nine Bean Rows

TX : 1st December 1970
Director : David Proudfoot
Script : Hugo Charteris

Cast : Constance Cummings (Rose), Charles Gray (Micky), Peter Blythe (Herky), Fanny Rowe (Caroline), Michael Gothard (Pip), Norma West (Freya) and Etain O'Dell (Rosannagh).

Synopsis : In the house near the Irish border the atmosphere is already tense with fear. An unexpected arrival makes a crisis inevitable.

Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed?

TX : 8th December 1970
Director : Peter Cregeen
Script : Martin Worth

Cast : Patrick Mower (The Man), Georgina Hale (The Girl), Sheila Fearn (The Woman), Tony Caunter (The Delivery Man), Eve Pearce (Doreen Robins), Donald Morley (Mr Gates) and Nicholas McArdle (Police Constable Cox).

Synopsis : The cottage is empty. The owners appear to have gone away - yet one of them could be dead.

The Elimination

TX : 15th December 1970
Director : Christopher Hodson
Script : John Gould

Cast : Derek Godfrey (X), Colin Gordon (The Colonel), Ronald Gough (Davis), Wilfrid Carter (The Civil Servant), Billy Murray (Luke), Sally James (Jane), Anthony Sagar (Raincoat I), Frederick Peisley (The Clerk Of The Council), Alan MacNaughton (Benson), Paul Thompson (Peter), Marion Mathie (Mrs Brown), Johnny Briggs (Clerk A), Tara Soppet (The Young Girl), Barry Ashton (Clerk B), Harold Bennett (The Elderly Man), Nicholas Bennett (Clerk C), Jill Bridges (The Middle-Aged Man), Victor Brooks (Commissionaire One), Sally Adams (The Senior Secretary), Sheila Kennedy (Miss Andrews), John Shorter (Raincoat II) and Malcolm Rogers (Man Seven).

Synopsis : When the strangers arrive without warning, the villagers are merely surprised - until they learn why they have come. The Colonel, one of the villagers photographed at the scene of a crime, wonders why the strangers are questioning everybody.

The Innocent

TX : 22nd December 1970
Director : Gilchrist Calder
Script : Arden Winch

Cast : John Turner, Rosemary Nichols, Hamilton Dyce (The Prison Governor), John Glyn-Jones (Hepple), Robert Sansom (Regan), Garfield Morgan (Barnard), Richard Hurndall (Whiteacre), Christopher Burgess (George), Geoffrey Rose (Tallow), Ian McCulloch (Croxley), Jane Walker (Mrs Croxley), Robert McBain (Wittering) and Michael Godfrey (Police Superintendent Grant).

SEASON TWO

Judas Goat

TX : 22nd March 1973
Director : Gareth Davies
Script : Jeremy Burnham

Cast : William Gaunt (Lord), Geoffrey Palmer (Major Ryder), Denise Buckley (Alison Ryder), Jackie Farrell (The Van Driver), James Copeland (Craig), Michael Gambon (Ellis), Leslie Schofield (Henley), Godfrey James (Bowen), Malcolm Terris (Street), Garfield Morgan (Jarrett) and Victor Winding (Newman).

Publicity : "It's A Delusion Thet Actors Are Soft" - When Judas Goat Was Filmed At Aviemore The Actors Were Put Through A Real Test: The Fall Below Was Not In The Script. Colin Mackay Reports: High up on an almost perpendicular rock face, a cluster of scarlet figures in crash helmets, anoraks and Alpine boots clung motionless. Suddenly a voice echoed across the gully:

"Settle down … Quiet everyone … Turn over, please … ACTION … Climb when you are ready …". Gingerly the roped figures edged across the frozen face of the mountain. One by one, they hoisted themselves to a narrow ledge about the size of a park bench. The only sounds were the whirr of a generator, feeding an outsize arc light, and the occasional clink as boots tested the steel pitons driven into the rock face. I was watching a BBC film until sent to Aviemore in the Cairngorms to shoot Judas Goat, a thriller in the Menace series. Six urban executives are set a number of endurance tests to find the man best suited for a seat on the board: a sort of deadly Outward Bound exercise, filmed as realistically as possible in the middle of winter.

The director, Gareth Davies, explained his policy: "We decided that the old-fashioned conventional film method of using doubles would be disastrous. I think audiences easily spot them. But we didn't choose the cast because they could climb rock faces: seventy-five percent was because of their ability to play the part. Anyway, it isn't necessary for them to be superb rock climbers. In the play they are near middle-aged executives. And none of them are Chelsea bar flies - it's a common delusion that actors are soft. Godfrey James was a Southern Counties swimming champion; Garfield Morgan, a diving champion; Leslie Schofield, a regular in the navy; Geoffrey Palmer, an instructor in the Royal Marines. The rest of them, with no particular aptitude, have got by with sheer guts - and an Equity card. I was sure that I couldn't do it," said Bill Gaunt.

"But this is the extraordinary part. You probably noticed that when I practiced the rope climbing today, I failed - never could do it in the school gym either. But later, when I knew the cameras were turning, suddenly I could do it. The secret is that either you can do it, or you can't. But, as an actor, you can always bring it off when it's for an audience - for real". Spontaneous praise for the cast came from Robert "Ginger" Warburton, professional instructor and adviser. "I am surprised how efficient they are. An actor may have to climb the rock six times in quick succession - which never happens to a mountaineer. This morning, their hands were freezing on the rock, and their bare fingers became iced up - solid. Then, when thawed out, the chaps were in agony. But they stuck it out, and just laughed at it. I don't think they are as frightened as they were at first. Beginners are frightened mainly because they are not in control of the situation, and don't understand the niceties. It's all a matter of calculation. If you can assess the objective dangers, you can reduce the fear". (Radio Times, March 15, 1973 - Article by Colin Mackay).

Synopsis : Someone under threat is the central figure in all the Menace plays. The threat can be against his life, or against his mind. It can come from outside or from the man's own soul. This week, Lord, sent to a lonely house in Scotland, finds he is not the only arrival. And he has a flair for making enemies. "You're crossing a river when the rope comes adrift. You float away and almost drown …". William Gaunt thought his Menace script was a joke. It wasn't - and nor is it for Lord.

Notes : Episodes were originally transmitted 9:25pm to 10:40pm on BBC 1.

Pick Up

TX : 29th March 1973
Director : Christopher Hodson
Script : Roy Clarke

Cast : Bryan Marshall (Mangham), June Barry (Sheffield), Dilys Lane (Carla), Leon Sinden (Batty), Brian McDermott (Drewer), Joyce Hemson (The Cashier), Lockwood West (The Old Man) and Jimmy Gardner (The Manservant).

Synopsis : When Mangham is offered a new job by his remote but powerful boss he has little idea of the danger involved. Mangham has searched outside the cottage for the intruder and can find nobody. But there was somebody - and there could be others. Mangham and those with him are trapped.

The Haunting

TX : 5th April 1973
Director : Gerald Blake
Script : Ken Hughes

Cast : Anthony Bate (The Reverend Charles Carter), Marilyn Taylerson (Emma Carter), Kristine Howarth (Mrs Braddock), Deena Martyn (Ethel), Tenniel Evans (Doctor Henderson), Charles Morgan (Archdeacon Ailsworth), Claire Faulconbridge (Sister Marie Therese), Kathleen Byron (Madame Ordine), Frank Lester (The Workman) and Michael Bangerter (Doctor Weisman).

The Sitting Tenant

TX : 12th April 1973
Director : Christopher Hodson
Script : John Peacock

Cast : Hilda Barry (May Gull), Eric Lander (Harry Granger), Ann Morrish (Jenny Granger), Michael Raven (The Young Boy), Clare Kelly (Betty), Guy Standeven (George Dutton) and Pamela Saire (The Cashier).

Synopsis : Old May lives all alone and has never heard of Harry who is on the run from the police. Harry manages to reach his flat - but his wife has a shock for him.

Valentine

TX : 19th April 1973
Director : Moira Armstrong
Script : Leo Lehman

Cast : Norman Rodway (Tyndall), Mary Peach (Diana), Michael Hawkins (Tom), Sheila Ballantine (Polly), Brian Badcoe (Herew), Joanna Van Gyseghem (Rita), David Wood (Lennie), Shari Phillips (Frances), John Ringham (Chris), Nicholas Hoye (Greg), Patricia Hodge (Charmian), John Wentworth (Gourtay), James Appleby, Maurice Quick and Kenneth Thornett (The Members Of The Bridge Club), Frank Sieman (The Porter), Reginald Marsh (Orman), Steve Peters (The Waiter), Jacqueline Blackmore (The Maid) and Peter Jesson (Marlow).

Synopsis : Tyndall, successful and assured, suddenly seems to be the target for an enemy. Someone is trying to discredit him in every possible way. It could even be a conspiracy. Mary Peach makes a television comeback: "I don't know if I've ever been there to come back to," she says modestly, having taken time out to be with her family. She plays Diana.

Tom

TX : 26th April 1973
Director : Raymond Menmuir
Script : Ray Jenkins

Cast : John Thaw (Don), Rowena Cooper (Liz), Aubrey Woods (Frank), Beth Ellis (Maggie), Pascal King (Chrissy), Claire Davenport (The Barmaid), George Moon (The Man At The Bar), Karin MacCarthy (WPC Lambert), Paul Humpoletz (Detective Sergeant Allen), John Moore (Tom), Kenneth Waller (The Manager), Neil Hallett (Detective Inspector Wellesley) and Polly Perkins and Myra (The Pub Singers).

Synopsis : When their only daughter is threatened, both emotionally and physically, Liz and Don, by nature tolerant people, start a ruthless hunt for the person responsible.

Deliver Us From Evil

TX : 3rd May 1973
Director : David Sullivan Proudfoot
Script : Hugh Whitemore

Cast : John Gielgud (Frederick William Densham), Lewis Flaner (John Beste).

Synopsis : In answer to an advertisement, John Beste goes to Cornwall. The locked gate is disturbing, the dogs are alarming, but the Rectory and his prospective employer are quite outside his experience. "The story interested me; it was based on a real episode. He was a sad man with a prophetic feeling of the coming of the war and the corruption of the world," says Gielgud.

Comfortable Words

TX : 17th May 1973
Director : Brian Lighthill
Script : Fay Weldon

Cast : Sheila Hancock (Rose), Michele Dotrice (Sharon), Renny Lister (Molly), Helena McCarthy (Mrs Upwood), Sheila Fearn (Audrey), Brigid Erin Bates (Mary), Marguerite Young (Mrs Clifton), Barrie Gosney (Jack), David Rintoul (Bill), Joan Ogden (Mrs Ellis), Anne Irving (The Client), Tom Criddle (Peter Sinclair) and Natalie Kent (Mrs Gumbold).

Synopsis : When Sharon first came to the house she felt instinctively that there was an unseen malignant presence waiting for her and her baby. And she was right.

The Solarium

TX : 24th May 1973
Director : Simon Langton
Script : Ken Taylor

Cast : Georgia Brown (Ellen Foster), Sinead Cusack (Sylvia Terry), Terence Alexander (Gerald Foster), Mark Rogers (Harry Foster), Michael Burrell (Stephens), Margo Andrew (Bella) and Peter Pratt (The Singer).

Synopsis : Young Harry lives in a house of secrets. When he stumbles on part of the truth, the inevitable end is tragedy.

Boys And Girls Come Out To Play

TX : 31st May 1973
Director : Anthea Browne-Wilkinson
Script : James MacTaggart

Cast : Peter Jeffrey (Detective Inspector Sugden), Anne Kristen (Jennie), Sarah Sutton (Belinda), Samantha Reeves (Wendy), Robert Morris (Detective Constable Bolter), Maxine Gordon (Margie), Jay Neill (The Police Constable), Lisa Daniely (Mrs Brewer), Aubrey Danvers-Walker (The Old Man) and Audrey Muir (Schoolmistress).

Synopsis : Young Belinda's imagination is caught by the nursery rhyme. What seems to have escaped her is that it says "Come with a good will or not at all".

Notes : This episode was postponed from its original scheduled transmission date of 10 May, 1973.