Episode 18, "The Invisible Knife" stands out as one of the best, as Colonel March is retained to protect the notorious Basil Pennacott (Hubert Gregg), who has profited from the deaths of 5 different partners in Singapore, Bombay, Suez, Casablanca, and Tangier. 4 were made to appear as natural deaths, but the fifth, Edmund Hays, was very mysterious indeed- murdered by an invisible assailant with an invisible knife. Pennacott insists that the superstitious Hays was killed while attempting to summon The Devil during a black rite, and now the man's brother (Leslie Weston) has vowed to avenge him by killing Pennacott. A dead parrot (shades of Monty Python!), its beak dipped in poison, was apparently sent from a pet shop run by Hays and his daughter Alice (Henryetta Edwards); March seeks to convince them both that he can deal justice to the ruthless Pennacott, not wishing to see bitterness destroy their lives. The solution is a genuine surprise, even if the supernatural really isn't involved. Another surprising bit of irony is that Hammer veteran Terence Fisher directs his only entry, among the nearly three dozen TV episodes he did from 1952 to 1959.
Colonel March of Scotland Yard (TV Series)
The Invisible Knife (1955)
User Reviews
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Involved, supernatural-tinged thriller
Leofwine_draca27 September 2016
THE INVISIBLE KNIFE is definitely one of the better of the Colonel March episodes and a big step up from the stupid kidnapped poodle story that preceded it. This one's an involved little thriller in which murder is at the fore and there are plenty of plot ingredients to fill up the 25-minute running time. It also so happens to be directed by Hammer stalwart Terence Fisher who gives it a classy look.
March finds himself involved in the case of a man who is associated with many deaths occurring around the globe. One of them involved the titular weapon and another a dead parrot, amusingly enough. March traces the case to a pet shop owner, and it all bubbles along quite happily to an unusual and exciting climax involving devil worship and a big twist. Once again this is a story that flirts with the supernatural without ever being explicitly so and Karloff has more to get his teeth into than usual.
March finds himself involved in the case of a man who is associated with many deaths occurring around the globe. One of them involved the titular weapon and another a dead parrot, amusingly enough. March traces the case to a pet shop owner, and it all bubbles along quite happily to an unusual and exciting climax involving devil worship and a big twist. Once again this is a story that flirts with the supernatural without ever being explicitly so and Karloff has more to get his teeth into than usual.
This is a dead Parrot!!!!
Sleepin_Dragon9 December 2020
I wonder if the Monty Python team glimpsed upon this episode prior to writing their famous sketch.....
I thoroughly enjoyed this epsiode, once or twice when they've ventures into the occult or other worldly themes with the series, they've gone slightly off course, with this one however, they truly were on point, this was a really smart, well conceived episode.
The perpetrator and villain of the peace is one of the most memorable, cunning, suave and nicely performed. That stuff surrounding the parrot, the beak etc, was really smart, some nice horror shades here.
A flair for the dramatic indeed, 7/10.
I thoroughly enjoyed this epsiode, once or twice when they've ventures into the occult or other worldly themes with the series, they've gone slightly off course, with this one however, they truly were on point, this was a really smart, well conceived episode.
The perpetrator and villain of the peace is one of the most memorable, cunning, suave and nicely performed. That stuff surrounding the parrot, the beak etc, was really smart, some nice horror shades here.
A flair for the dramatic indeed, 7/10.
The Invisible Knife
Prismark106 December 2022
Warning: Spoilers
References to a dead parrot kept reminding me of Monty Python.
Colonel March trying out a bulletproof vest indicated that this would come into use later on.
Basil Pennacott visits Colonel March and requests his help. Both March and Inspector Ames have a dim view of Pennacott. To them he is a notorious man who has got away with murders in far flung places like Singapore, Suez, Bombay, Casablanca, and Tangier. The dead men were his business partners and all had life insurance in case the other partner died.
Pennacott believes that one of the men died while messing around with black magic. That is why there is no weapon found that killed him. The victim's brother, a pet shop owner thinks it was murder and sent a dead parrot with its beak dipped in poison to Pennacott.
Colonel March finds himself in a locked room with Pennacott. Maybe something supernatural would emerge. Instead Pennacott tells March that he intends to kill the Colonel.
I did like the references to the occult and how the knife might have been rendered invisible. Colonel March is not a glass half empty type of guy.
Colonel March trying out a bulletproof vest indicated that this would come into use later on.
Basil Pennacott visits Colonel March and requests his help. Both March and Inspector Ames have a dim view of Pennacott. To them he is a notorious man who has got away with murders in far flung places like Singapore, Suez, Bombay, Casablanca, and Tangier. The dead men were his business partners and all had life insurance in case the other partner died.
Pennacott believes that one of the men died while messing around with black magic. That is why there is no weapon found that killed him. The victim's brother, a pet shop owner thinks it was murder and sent a dead parrot with its beak dipped in poison to Pennacott.
Colonel March finds himself in a locked room with Pennacott. Maybe something supernatural would emerge. Instead Pennacott tells March that he intends to kill the Colonel.
I did like the references to the occult and how the knife might have been rendered invisible. Colonel March is not a glass half empty type of guy.
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