I have such a fondness for sixties crime dramas, especially anything from the pen of Francis Durbridge. The Desperate People is a clever, smart mystery that will have you baffled from start to finish, as it develops you wonder if everyone is lying, and what motives they'd have for doing so. A great set of characters, an intriguing mystery, and a list of suspects will fulfil the demands for many mystery fans. It is well acted, Dennis Quilley is particularly suave, very charismatic and a strong lead. Well supported by Renny Lister, Hugh Cross and Stanley Meadows, one of the best elements must be Nigel Hawthorne's Fletcher, he's great at playing a bad guy. Considering it was made back in 1963 it looks particularly good, the picture quality is good. The filming is as you'd expect, solid rather then stylish, as for the music I can't decide if it would have fitted into a Western or Doctor Who (Fans of the latter would recognise some of the music from the Hartnell era I'm sure,) but it's wonderful. Fantastic costumes, cars, shops etc, it's wonderfully nostalgic, a time passed by. I would recommend watching in stages, not all in one go, as the clues and twists are plentiful.
Review of The Desperate People
