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ACTION
TV ONLINE EPISODE GUIDE
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Publicity : "I'm not at all fierce really," says Juliet Hammond-Hill, who will be taking on a Meinhof-type gang-leader in Bloody Money (BBC-1, 9:35pm). "One thing that terrorists don't have is a sense of humour. If they laughed at themselves, they would lose their anger". Juliet, whom you will also see shortly with David Bowie in Brecht's Baal, had a stint with the Royal Shakespeare Company and was in that famous production of Nicholas Nickleby at first, but she feels a bit contricted "in large companies, with fifty actors competing for parts". Odd, I said, to have a double-barrelled name (although it didn't harm the Forbes-Robertsons). She finds it a bit awful herself. "It's too long, but it was my father's name and I was stuck with it. I tried to drop the Hill, but there was another actress with a similar name". (Radio Times, September 5, 1981). Synopsis : Young Rupert Fitzcharles is kidnapped from school by unidentified terrorists. Rupert's father is Administrator General of the United Nations. Who are these terrorists? What are they after? Notes : The series was originally transmitted 9:35pm to 10:05pm on BBC 1.
Synopsis : Following up on the kidnapping of young Rupert Fitzcharles, the police have little to go on. Led by Chief Superintendent Meadows, they start their routine searches. Captain Percival of Special Intelligence intervenes.
Synopsis : The initial ransom demand has been made but police searches have been complicated by the intervention of Captain Percival of Special Intelligence. Young Rupert Fitzcharles is learning a new and rougher way of living in unfriendly surroundings but he may have found an ally.
Synopsis : Police routine is beginning to pay modest dividends in the kidnapping of the boy, Rupert Fitzcharles. Possible identities of the terrorists are being examined.
Synopsis : Most of the terrorists are now known to the police but not their whereabouts. Tension builds on both sides as the deadline draws near and the boy's life is endangered.
Synopsis : The terrorists' hide-out has been located. All the technical resources of the police and Special Intelligence are brought to bear upon the terrorist gang which has kidnapped young Rupert Fitzcharles. The police must solve the problem of how to get him out alive.
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Blood
Money became the first of Arden Winch's loose trilogy of thriller
serials featuring a small number of recurring characters, spanning three
years and attracting critical and audience acclaim along the way. Over
the course of six half-hour episodes, Winch lured viewers into
an intricate web spun from concerns arising out of the contemporary concern
of an increasing in terrorist activity around the world.
The story concerned the terrorist kidnapping of the son of the Administrator General for the United Nations', Rupert Fitzcharles (Grant Ashley Warnock), in a bid to sway the opinion of the august body towards a seemingly deprived European state. Their demands are specific, but the United Nations refuses to negotiate with terrorists, and as such it falls into the hands of the police to seek and locate the lost boy before any "blood money" is paid out. However, after the ransom demand is issued, their investigations are hampered by the intervention of the highly-secretive Special Intelligence Service (SIS), headed by Captain Percival (Michael Dennison), who clashes almost immediately with Chief Superintendent Meadows (Bernard Hepton). The pair are forced to work together in the pursuit and identification of the terrorist cell responsible for the kidnapping. They succeed in locating the parties responsible, but whilst the SIS are prepared to launch all the services at their disposal in an endeavour to crush the cell, it falls to the police to guarantee the young boy's safety in the ensuing conflict. A gripping, tautly-scripted serial which harnessed all the best aspects of the thriller genre, the programme was produced by the renowned Gerard Glaister and directed by reliable BBC hand Michael E Briant. The series featured supporting performances from Juliet Hammond-Hill, Stephen Yardley (who would continue his long association with Gerard Glaister in the nautical romp Howards' Way), Jack McKenzie, Daniel Hill, Dean Harris and Brian Croucher. McKenzie and Hill would later reprise their roles in the six-part serial Skorpion, the second instalment in the trilogy of thriller serials. This serial was neither globally exported nor released in any commercial format to date. The series was created and written by Arden Winch, directed by Michael E Briant and produced by Gerard Glaister. Text © Matthew Lee, 2005. |