Columbo has always been a favourite, it is a lot of fun and very clever. Playback is one of my favourites of the series, alongside Any Old Port in A Storm, A Stitch in Crime, Ashes to Ashes, Etude in Black, By Dawn's Early Light, Blueprint for Murder and How to Dial a Murder. The story is somewhat simple, but because of how intriguing it actually is, how satisfying the ending is and how well the playback worked it was effective in its simplicity. The script is full of suspense and humour, the production values are striking, the music is haunting and adds so much to both the setting and the atmosphere and the direction is adept. The acting is wonderful, Peter Falk continues to be a joy as Columbo apart from his rather fake sneezing and Oskar Werner is very smooth, sleazy and edgy, in short one of the more interesting Columbo murderers. I also think Playback has one of the better supporting casts of the series, Gene Rowlands is excellent and Martha Scott is wonderfully nasty. Overall, classic Columbo and one of my favourites, always was and will continue to be so. 10/10 Bethany Cox
Review of Playback
