Armchair Thriller (1978–1981) User Reviews

Only one decent review for this?

[khunkrumark · 8/10 · 4 January 2019]

As another (excellent) reviewer has pointed out, the stories are hit or miss. Unfortunately, there's no way to review each one and so we'll have to deal with the series of stories as a whole.

Armchair Thriller ran for four years from 1978 to 1982. It features fantastic TV acting talent bu loses points for script editing. That creepy opening music was written by Roxy Music legend Andy Mackay.

For older viewers there is tremendous nostalgia value to be had here. The stories are on par with similar series' that were out at the time, like Thriller, Tales Of The Unexpected, Chiller, Hammer House Of Horror, etc.

It was a time when the money-making independent TV channels (LTW, Anglia, Thames, etc) were raking in the dough and had the cash to splash on making great TV.

This compendium of tales differs a little bit from the others in as much as the stories were in several half-hour weekly shows. Some as few as four episodes and some as many as six. Back then we had a bit more patience! But the parts were introduced nicely with still shots and an explanation of what had happened in previous episodes.

Thoroughly enjoyable for us older folk... but perhaps there's nothing left in these vintage series' for the younger set.

From the Excellent to the Downright Dreadful!!

[kidboots · 8/10 · 24 February 2012]

It is hard to know what rating to give this show. I have a DVD which has series 2 and 3 (from 1978). The first series was from 1967. On the one hand there are 10 mini series which give you simply loads of viewing but on the other hand they range from excellent to downright dreadful. I think the series was designed to adapt books from topical authors into gripping serials but it was very hit and miss. The serials adapted from still known writers such as Patricia Highsmith seemed to work best.

The two I could remember watching back in the day, "Rachel in Danger" and "A Dog's Ransom" are among the best. "Rachel in Danger" is about a little girl who comes to London to stay with the father she has not seen in years. Unbeknownst to her he has met with a nasty accident and the leader of a group of terrorists has taken his place. Yes it is improbable and even over the top but it is wonderful to see how this bright little girl outsmarts them. The little girl was a real find but if I remember, she did not have a huge career. "A Dog's Ransom" is from Patricia Highsmith's chilling novel and although, instead of New York professionals, the couple are now an ordinary married couple living in a rural English town, the story is still the same. This would be, in my opinion, Highsmith's bleakest novel with an over lying hopelessness about the Nixon era - obviously that is gone now but it is still a gripping story.

"Dying Day" we liked just as much, a very young Ian MacKellar plays an eccentric young man who finds a cassette on a train in which he is marked as the next murder victim. When he takes it to the police, the plot can no longer be heard - what is he to do!!! This had us on the end of our seats and the ending did not disappoint!!! In the "Just as Good" category "The Limbo Connection" - James Bolam (from "When the Boat Comes In" and "The Beiderbecke Affair") is a writer with a drinking problem. When his successful wife disappears from a health clinic, he puts all their troubles behind them in an effort to find her. The ending seemed a bit contrived but it was from the writer of "The Naked Civil Servant" (the TV series with John Hurt caused a sensation at the time). Also of note was "Quiet as a Nun" taken from a novel by Antonia Fraser. This was when "Armchair Thriller" was experimenting with cliff hanger endings and it really worked with this particular story. This one,which introduced Jemima Shore to TV viewers, was about an investigative journalist who visits her old convent and finds her favourite nun has starved herself to death!!!

Then there are the not so good by a long way (in my opinion). "The Girl Who Walked Quickly" involved espionage and was about the disappearance of a young student with a paralysing fear of lifts, brainwashing is involved. "The Victim" is about a man who decides to find the kidnappers of his daughter himself and disregard police ( a distinctly odd episode if I remember). "Fear of God" was about the connection of a girl's suicide with a religious cult.

To the downright dreadful!! - "The Circe Complex" was about a jewel robbery and a woman who was irresistible to all men (a very tall order, she was pretty in a 1970s dolly bird type of way, not what I would call an enchantress). Then there was "The Chelsea Murders", it was made as a six parter but released only in a heavily edited movie version and watching the movie it is not hard to see why. I lasted one episode of the mini series (which is included), I thought how bad can it get - the answer - very, very bad. The movie was all over the place and very confusing.

I have given 8 out of 10, which is a high score, for the few I have mentioned which I think are quite riveting. A big problem for "Armchair Thriller" is that most of the series are in 6 half hour parts. At the beginning of each part is a summary of the story that has gone before, but I feel six parts are just too long to sustain attention.

A classic mystery series, some great, some are shocking.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 21 May 2023]

A series of mysteries with one thing in common, intrigue, suspense and all manner of sinister goings ons.

Expect kidnaps, robberies, dognapping, murder and much, much more, the show has a lot of variety.

If like I do, you enjoy the classic mysteries, Thriller, Hammer House of Horror, Tales of The Unexpected, Rivals of Sherlock Holmes etc, then I think this will be one you'll enjoy.

Don't expect consistency throughout, it does vary quite a lot in terms of quality. Quiet as a Nun and The Limbo Connection are two that I watch on quite a regular basis, both are terrific, intriguing mysteries, both have a subtle horror vibe, at the other end of the scale, The Girl who walked quickly and The Circe Connection, I found both quite painful, very slow, very dull, such a contrast.

Antonia Fraser's Jemima Shore character got her own series some years later on, but Patricia Hodge played the title character instead of Maria Aitken.

The main controversy I've always thought, The Chelsea Murders, often maligned, it sits almost the very bottom in the IMDB ratings, and yet I'm a fan of it, it was a production nightmare apparently, it wasn't finished, and underwent a huge edit to go out as a single, feature length production, it's one of my personal favourites, it's chilling, it's well paced, I think it's too easily overlooked.

I really did like the Night time Thames introduction, it's certainly a bit different, and gives you a vibe of something Dark and late night ahead of you, then come those wonderfully sinister opening sequences, and that tremendous music.

Expect a whole host of well known faces, you'll see James Bolam, John Shrapnel, Zena Walker and Maria Aitken, as well as many more.

8/10.

Brilliant distubing series

[m-akisanya · 9/10 · 28 July 2018]

I remember seeing this show when I was very young. It was really disturbing, to the point where I had trouble sleeping (particularly that intro sequence). The acting was brilliant, the stories were imaginitive. The show is high quality throughout.

Good concept but middling execution

[Red-Barracuda · 6/10 · 8 September 2022]

I remember in quite surprisingly clear detail the opening story of this series 'Rachel in Danger', considering I saw it last 44 years ago and I was only six years old. I recalled the little girl, her dad being stabbed in the back of the neck, the villainous imposter, the question 'but why did he take his glasses off?' and the ending in the park which made me forever think plasticene was a potentially fatal substance. Aside from this, the opening credits with the sofa and shadow with the scary hands was etched in my mind, along with the moody theme tune. I also recalled an episode set in a night-time park where a dog vanishes in a bush and another with a nun running in a field in the dead of night. So, with these indelible images in my head, it only seemed right to revisit this series and relive those moments and see what else Armchair Thriller had to offer.

Well, the truth of the matter is that my overall assessment is pretty mixed. Those early episodes were certainly interesting to revisit again on account of my childhood memories but they were often more ropey than I expected, which is something that could be levelled at the series as a whole. At its best, it could be very impressive television though, such as the standout for me 'Quiet as a Nun' which was very eerie and creepy on several occasions, with a nicely atmospheric soundtrack and setting. Mostly though, the stories were a little too routine, although they did occasionally offer genuine surprise, such as the seriously nihilistic ending to 'A Dog's Ransom', which reconfigured what had been a fairly messily told story up to that point. I don't think the series format was honestly to its advantage, with stories running for either four or six instalments. This resulted in the material being stretched out to breaking point quite often and resulting it quite a bit of tedium. Some stories did have arresting elements, even if they didn't add up to much by the end such as the weird scenes in a swimming pool in 'The Girl Who Walked Quickly', the sinister scene on the train in 'Dying Day' or the super creepy killer in 'The Chelsea Murders'. On the whole though, Armchair Thriller was probably a better idea than overall execution and I can't help but think it could have benefitted from a little bit more imagination in the story-lines - it was crying out for a bit more focus on horror and the supernatural I felt. Its worth a watch though and some of it is very good but at other times it can be a bit of a slog.