At Occupier's Risk - Episode 3 - Tuesday 19th January 1971

The story...

A young woman called Judith checks into a remote hotel. The hotel is run by a very intense couple called Mr and Mrs Darbon; Judith is the only guest and it’s not clear that she is entirely welcome. Judith has a mechanical problem with her car and Mr Darbon offers to get it fixed but when he returns he says he was involved in an accident and it has been damaged. However it later transpires that the car sustained damage in a more disturbing way and that the Darbons have a dark secret that they wish to keep hidden.

Review

Another very fine episode, just a little below the rank of the series’ best efforts. The Shadows of Fear style of a very small cast and with almost all the scenes set inside the same property is very much to the fore here but the mood is even more gloomy and anxious than in most of its counterparts. Three characters predominate on screen – the Darbons and Judith - and all three are very intense, preoccupied characters. Tragedy seems on the cards and Judith seems to have stepped into very dangerous territory. All three seem troubled in some way and the only character who even raises a smile is the briefly-seen, unnamed hitchhiker. A jack-the-lad type character, he is seen arriving with Judith but it is clear they have had an awkward encounter with her unreceptive to his advances and glad to be rid of him. Later on he turns out to have a more important role than anticipated,  There are typically-fine performances by Anthony Bate, Annette Crosbie and Gemma Jones as the lead characters with Tom Chadbon providing a striking contrast as the cocky hitch-hiker.

Judith (Gemma Jones) surveys her new surroundings

Again the series picks up on anxieties many have encountered such as the uncertainty when picking-up a hitch-hiker (for both parties) but much more significantly on-screen the strangeness and unease that can be felt away from home (with perhaps less obvious the concerns hoteliers may have when opening-up their property to guests they’ve never seen before). The rather spartan and not very welcoming atmosphere of the hotel is also rather different to the glamorous accommodation and cheery staff more often seen in TV and film.

Anthony Bate as Mr Darbon

The script was by Richard Harris who – like many others on the series – was a very versatile writer who had worked in many genres with great skill. This story though does offer a noted departure from many of its counterparts in providing a striking twist near the end. While “the twist” is very common in thrillers (especially Brian Clemens’s Thriller a few years later) it was rarely used in Shadows of Fear which was much more focused on suspense than surprise. The direction by the equally versatile Peter Duguid contributes to the austere and forbidding mood although there is a brief peculiar scene which attempts to depict a character just outside the hotel by a rather primitive special effect but given the theatrical atmosphere of the series it’s less jarring than it would be in other productions. Many episodes of the show had no incidental music but this has a little in the form of plaintive harpsichord pieces and it is suitably sombre.

Shadows of Fear was a show that prioritised atmosphere, mood and character over pace and this is even more prominent here. Maybe it is a little too much to the fore and perhaps the episode needed just a touch more pace, incident or livelier dialogue to raise it to higher levels but these are small points and it stands as a fine outing with even better to follow.

Notes

There are some similarities between this episode and one in 1974 of Brian Clemens’ s Thriller – Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are. In both a young blonde woman checks into a hotel run by a married couple who have an awkward relationship and secrets to keep. The young female guest also has an uncomfortable relationship with the couple and both episodes feature a striking twist near the end. It’s not known if the Thriller episode was influenced by this and the similarities could simply be coincidence but both are certainly worth a comparison by viewers.

Shadows of Fear - Series Overview and Analysis

Shadows of Fear, the early 1970s Thames TV suspense / thriller anthology series, is sadly a little-known and largely neglected production but for me one of the very best British contributions to the genre. Individual blogs will look more closely at each episode but here is an overview of the series as a whole with some comments on its production background although unfortunately little is known about this.

In sharp contrast to later anthologies such as Thriller and Tales of the Unexpected, Shadows of Fear was not centred around the work of one particular writer / creator such as Brian Clemens or Roald Dahl. Numerous writers worked on the show and their backgrounds were very diverse but without any particular association with working within the broad thriller / suspense genre. While there may have been advantages in using writers, production crew and actors steeped in this genre it can lead to predictability and the use of more general writers, crew and performers probably helped in bringing a freshness of approach. In particular there seems to have been an attempt to generate suspense out of "ordinary" people and situations with nods to social realism. Writer and producer John Kershaw said the aim was "stories in which fear comes from ordinary, even everyday situations". In the same article he noted that it would be "difficult without resorting to death at the ciimax - death is after all the thing that people fear most" (Daily Mirror, 12.1.1971, p14). He stressed though the aim was to produce "suspense plays, not just murder stories". Therefore there is a noted absence of stories about serial killers, psychopaths or supernatural entities and none were set in mansions, castles or pagan villages as tends to be the case with many other works in the genre. Further excellent comments on the style of the series comes on the rear of the DVD released by Network in 2011 (bottom of page): "fear can visit us in many forms - perhaps most disturbingly when it stalks us in familiar or cherished surroundings... eleven plays in which every character has one thing in common - each has someone or something to fear". 

The opening titles also helped reinforce this theme. These were animated, largely monochrome titles depicting rows of bleak-looking houses and other equally bleak-looking neighbourhood scenes, ultimately with the door to one of the houses opening-up as if to herald the story to follow. The implication was that fear could lurk inside any of these seemingly-ordinary dwellings. All this was accompanied by the eerie, chilling theme music by prolific and versatile Roger Webb who wrote much excellent music for TV and film.

Rows of houses from the opening titles - in each fear may reside

The suspense / thriller genre can be linked to others such as horror, murder-mystery, police, detective, espionage / secret agent, military, superhero and more broadly action / adventure. While these are different in many ways they have the core similarity in stories based around overcoming a threat or villain, usually challenged by a hero or heroine (or heroic organisation). Broadly these are hero versus villain narratives or even tales of good versus evil or - less starkly "our side" versus "their side". Academics have termed these "mythic" texts or narratives as battles between heroes and villains or good versus bad are timeless. These mythic tales almost always end with the villain or threat being defeated and "good" triumphing. This may be at great cost with much tragedy on the way and there are commonly new villains, threats and plots to defeat in the next episode or story. However the basic story of threats being defeated remains.

Another stark image from the opening titles

This has certainly been a general feature of thrillers - at the end of the episode or film the villain is defeated, usually by the hero, sometimes arrested after a struggle but occasionally killed in a final conflict in which they are commonly trying to kill the hero / heroine or someone else. In this sense thrillers can be seen as "moral" genres because they show that crime and villainy does not pay - there is reassurance in seeing killers taken out of society and paying for their crimes (sometimes with their lives). However one of the most striking features of Shadows of Fear was the frequency with which episodes end just after a crime has been committed with the villain still at large. Of course it's possible - probable even - that most of the villains would later have been caught but at the point the stories ended they were still free. There wasn't the closure that typified stories in the thriller and mythic genres more generally. This was a bold departure from formula and a refreshing and realistic turn: villains can be difficult to apprehend and may get away with their actions for some time. Another advantage of this approach is it encourages viewers to speculate on what might have happened next in these narratives - would the offenders have evaded justice? If not how would they be caught and what would happen before that time?

Another realistic aspect was the way the show blurred the usual distinctions between heroes and villains or villains and victims. In one episode a victim of crime later exacts terrible revenge on the perpetrators - an avenging hero dispensing "natural justice" or a cruel, clinical vigilante? Meanwhile the original villains have themselves become victims but do they deserve sympathy? In a couple of other cases the offenders kill out of a sense of terror - a belief that they otherwise will be killed. One of these is almost certainly a tragic misunderstanding, the other has more justified cause for concern but in neither of these instances was the killer under immediate threat; they would struggle to argue self-defence in court and they would almost certainly be convicted of manslaughter if not murder. A couple of other episodes see an innocent person framed for a killing they did not commit. However even in these instances they are not simple victims - one has already been shown to be a feckless individual while the other tries to bargain with the real killer and offer his services to cover up the crime. The Shadows of Fear world is not a simple one of black-and-white, clear-cut heroes, villains and victims and shows a more complex picture of flawed and scared individuals, some of whom will do desperate things when cornered or put under pressure.

Another interesting and often under-explored outcome is covered in another episode. In this one the offender leaves the scene some time before the end having achieved what he wanted - there is no great climax in which he makes a violent and ultimately unsuccessful attempt at escape or is stopped at the brink from committing a final, terrible crime. At the end of the episode he has evaded justice. However as the remaining minutes on-screen make clear there is no "closure" for those he has targeted. They may not have been killed or seriously injured but they will have to deal with the trauma of their experience for years to come - maybe for the rest of their lives. This is a highly realistic outcome that tends to be brushed-over in crime dramas. Even being the victim of a "minor" crime can haunt the victim for long to come but those caught-up in life-threatening situations or who witness killing can face terrible trauma. In another episode the villain appears to have been defeated but comments by his intended victim indicate that his influence is far from over whether that is in terms of the terrible memory of his deeds or even his villainy having "passed on".

In terms of general production style the show was remarkable for its intensity. Casts were very small with only a handful of characters each episode and even then there was often a predominant focus on just two or three of them. With the exception of a few filmed scenes in The Death Watcher all the action was recorded on video-tape in the studio; there were a few shots set outside the places depicted but even these were generally tight shots of doorsteps and exteriors and recreated in the studio. While many shows in those days were studio-bound the show was unusual in the degree to which it was so profoundly studio-focused. Most episodes had no incidental music and this also can be seen as contributing further to realism and an austere atmosphere. The focus was very much on the writer, director and actors to create tension. This is certainly a big difference from Thriller which appeared a few years later and in which the incidental music of Laurie Johnson was a central element. This is certainly not to knock the use of such music in suspense and other shows (indeed when it is used in Shadows of Fear such as in Sugar and Spice it is used very well) but it is a bold move to avoid using it and it can contribute to a starker atmosphere. In another difference with Thriller there was no use of American guest stars but the British acting talent on show was certainly very impressive and given the small casts those actors got a lot of screen-time and dialogue to develop their characters.

These points essentially apply to the first ten episodes that aired from June 1970 and (the great majority) in early 1971. There was then a two year wait for the final episode in January 1973 - The Party's Over. This is a very untypical outing that has little in common with the rest of the series. This is not just because it was designed for a 30 minute slot and had a period setting but because it has a very different, generally lighter atmosphere and elaborate set design for an opulent Edwardian setting. Actually a good, entertaining episode on its own terms - and with some impressive use of suspense at times - it really would have fitted better into a different anthology or even as a one-off production in its own right. Information about its circumstances is lacking but it seems very likely that - like the first episode Did You Lock Up? - it was a pilot but this time for a potential relaunch of the show with a shorter running-time and maybe different production style. It was given a late-night slot which would have greatly limited its audience prospects and it's quite possible that the decision not to carry on had already been made before transmission although whether the producers felt the new format hadn't really worked or it was unsuccessful in getting the better slot required isn't known. As it transpired there were no more and the show ended with the unusual number of eleven episodes - ten in original style and the final untypical one.

Overall I consider six of these eleven episodes to be excellent and all the others are good outings which have their merits, including The Party's Over although it is a shame that more were not made in the original style of the opening ten. Fortunately the show is readily and cheaply available on DVD and has received screenings from Talking Pictures TV and is certainly well-worth checking out.

Front cover of the DVD released in 2011 by Network

Episode list (original broadcast dates in brackets). Broadcast times 9.00-10.00 pm except where noted:

1. Did You Lock Up? (17.6.1970, repeated on Thames only on 25.3.1971)

2. Sugar and Spice (12.1.1971)

3. At Occupier's Risk (19.1.1971)

4. The Death Watcher (26.1.1971)

5. Repent at Leisure (2.2.1971)

6. Return of Favours (9.2.1971, 8.50-9.50 pm)

7. The Lesser of Two (16.2.1971, 10.30-11.30 pm)

8. White Walls and Olive Green Carpets (23.2.1971)

9. Sour Grapes (2.3.1971)

10. Come Into My Parlour (9.3.1971, produced in black-and-white)

11. The Party's Over (31.1.1973, 11.00-11.30 pm)

Back cover of the DVD

Notes - possible production dates

Video Tape Recording (VTR) numbers can give an indication of production order for a series and are available for Shadows of Fear - normally episodes produced earlier in the year have the lowest VTR numbers. Using those numbers the order would seem to be as follows:

1. Did You Lock Up? 

2. Sugar and Spice

3. White Walls and Olive Green Carpets

4. The Death Watcher

5. Repent at Leisure

6. At Occupier's Risk

7. The Lesser of Two

8. Come Into My Parlour

9. Return of Favours

10. Sour Grapes

11. The Party's Over

All the fifty minute episodes seem to have been produced in 1970. The gap between episode 1 and episode 2 in both broadcast and VTR numbers with the first episode a probable pilot does suggest that Did You Lock Up? was produced well before the others. Given the impressive reception for episode 1 the others probably followed into production soon after, probably mid 1970. As episode 2 (Sugar and Spice) was written by producer John Kershaw and was in effect launching the series it is perhaps unsurprising if it went into production next. There is a gap in VTR numbers between The Lesser of Two and Come Into My Parlour which probably indicates a brief break in production.

There is a possible anomaly in the production order above as it seems almost certain that Come into My Parlour was the last of the fifty minute episodes produced - or at least the last in main production, This is because it is the only one in black-and-white which means it was made during the technicians strike which ran from November 1970 to February 1971. The two episodes that are listed as following would also have been in monochrome had they been produced later in 1970. It's possible Come into My Parlour was originally planned for earlier production but pushed back or maybe there was a little post-production work on the others which led to them having later VTR numbers. Come Into My Parlour most likely was produced in November 1970 just after the action started with production on Return of Favours and Sour Grapes probably in October..

What then happened is most uncertain. Ten episodes had been made at that point but series would usually run for at least thirteen. It's possible that the producers decided to pause the series at that time and either wait for colour production to resume (which might have happened quickly but in fact did not) or just to produce another series at another time. Other series continued in production throughout those months leading to numerous episodes in monochrome but given that Shadows of Fear didn't have any recurring cast there would have been fewer problems in halting production. If all this were the case production could potentially have resumed in March 1971 or very soon after but maybe an enforced break in production was used as an opportunity to rethink the series. 

it's not known exactly when the final episode - The Party's Over - was produced but lead actress Suzanne Neve mentioned her role in it in a Daily Mirror article on 7th February 1972 - almost a year before it appeared on-screen. It seems likeliest it was made in late 1971 but then held back for a long time, maybe while discussions over a potential new series were taking place and perhaps in the expectation that it would be shown in the same run as any other new episodes. As no others were made it was then transmitted as a late-night one-off in January 1973. 

Notes - music

The theme music by Roger Webb is now available to stream or purchase on services such as Amazon Music in long and short versions, both longer than the theme heard on the episodes. It is also available (including on 7 inch vinyl) from Trunk Music who released the tracks - more details here.

Shadows of Fear Episode 2 - Sugar and Spice (Tuesday 12th January 1971)

The story....

Anne Brand (Sheila Hancock) is an exasperated, demoralised wife and mother. The most obvious source of her frustration is her heavy-drinking, unreliable, unfaithful husband Vic (played by Ronald Hines) who has apparently ended an affair but she remains unconvinced. Her young son Michael has failed to return from school, something which his older sister Judy (Suzanne Togni) seems to know something about but isn't telling - but why?

Judy and her father at odds

Review 

Shadows of Fear had made its debut with a one-off episode Did You Lock Up? back in June 1970. Despite that the TV Times billed this as a "new series" and a Daily Mirror article previewing this episode stated that the predecessor had been a well-received pilot that "topped the ratings". This episode was written by series producer John Kershaw who - similar to Roger Marshall who wrote the opener - was more of a general TV writer rather than one steeped in the suspense genre. In another similarity with Roger Marshall, it should not be so surprising that he later worked extensively on the socially realistic fellow Thames series Public Eye and in its setting this is one of the most socially realistic episodes in Shadows of Fear even if it plunges into rather disturbing subject matter. Director Patrick Dromgoole contributes greatly to the unsettling ambience and he and Kershaw deserve great credit along with the actors for the results on-screen - one of many excellent outings in the show's short history and for me probably its best.

Almost the whole episode is occupied by the three characters of Anne, Vic and - most of all - Judy. All the scenes take place at night in the humble family home or on its doorstep (filmed in the studio rather than an exterior). This gives the setting a claustrophobia and intensity than isn't present on a more expansive production with many sets or outside filming. This could easily have been performed in the theatre. A dripping kitchen tap and a stagnant pool of washing-up (literal kitchen-sink drama!) help exemplify the humbleness of the setting and stand as a symbol or the deterioration of the household as a whole.

The title "Sugar and Spice" is certainly an ironic one. Anne and Vic's daughter Judy is anything but nice and while she does crack an occasional smile it always seems to be at someone else's expense. Her moodiness is something that many parents of teenagers will be all too familiar with but it's clear that problems run deeper than that. Judy is devious, sometimes defiant and certainly manipulative. One can understand why her parents find her so difficult to deal with. Her father calls her "a bully" in terms of her treatment of Michael and the way she responds to a neighbouring girl Mary suggests her unpleasant behaviour may not be confined to the family. However there are also a few moments when she shows a more vulnerable side - troubled and not just troubling. The viewer is left to speculate on how the family - especially Judy - has come to this and what she actually knows or is capable of doing.

The malevolent Judy (Suzanne Togni)

Experienced actors Sheila Hancock and Ronald Hines give strong accounts as the parents with Sheila giving a particular fine performance as the dispirited wife and mother. However the most memorable acting display is by Suzanne Togni as Judy. Before this she was largely best-known for appearing in visual, slapstick-style comedy such as one of the team in The Magnificent Six and a Half children's films (precursors to Here Come the Double Deckers) and Ronnie Barker's dialogue-free short film Futtock's End.) This role is far removed from such humour and she showed great potential as a dramatic actress here. However for whatever reason her screen career ended very shortly after this episode. This isn't so unusual for child / teenage actors but in this instance at least it seems unfortunate she wasn't seen in future productions.

There is an atmosphere of foreboding throughout given the disappearance of the family's son Michael which only his mother seems to take seriously. While it is possible that Michael may be somewhere safe and well, disturbing events most definitely do happen in the family home that evening and what compounds them even further is the reaction of those involved (including one of them in particular). Shadows of Fear also defied many of the suspense conventions in its endings and this is also seen here. It's a dark and troubling, even shocking conclusion typical of a series that didn't try to have everything neatly wrapped-up and the viewer is left to ponder what would have happened to the characters afterwards. An excellent offering but the series had many in store.

Notes

This is one of the few episodes that used some incidental library music including several pieces from the 1967 KPM album Tension and Suspense such as "Dread and Danger" and "Forewarning" (Syd Dale) and "Sixth Sense" (David Lindup). The music after the opening theme music by Roger Webb is "Empty Buildings A" by Don Banks from the Conroy album Drama-Tension.

The pop / rock group pictured in a magazine seen while Judy and Mary are talking is Shocking Blue, a Dutch band best-known in the UK for the song "Venus" which was later covered by Bananarama.

Shadows of Fear Episode 1 - Did You Lock Up? (Wednesday 17th June 1970)

The story...

Peter and Moira Astle have just returned from a romantic break when they discover to their horror that their home has been burgled. Many valuable items have been stolen as well as there being considerable damage. For the couple it is a shattering experience. Insurance is able to compensate for the stolen items and repair the damage but the emotional wounds are much harder to heal. A visit from Detective-Sergeant Newman who is investigating the crime doesn't offer much consolation. He offers useful security advice but admits there is little chance of catching the offenders and - most ominously - that they are likely to be back when they believe the valuables have been replaced. The last two pieces of information are dispiriting but they also give Peter Astle ideas. He is not content to just put the matter behind him and hope improved security deters them - he wants to catch the offenders in the act and ensure they don't get away with their crime. That may prove not to be the end of matters but only the beginning... 

Moira Astle (Gwen Watford) looks on in horror at her burgled home

Review

This opening episode by prolific TV writer Roger Marshall and directed by Kim Mills (the pair had worked together many times, mainly on Public Eye) helps set the style for Shadows of Fear. There is a very small cast with Peter and Moira Astle (played very well by Michael Craig and Gwen Watford) on screen for most of the time. Aside from them, only the two burglars and Sergeant Newman appear other then very briefly. Although their home is set in the countryside with no neighbours nearby there is no location work. There is no incidental music to "set the mood". These aspects certainly create an intensity and claustrophobic atmosphere not seen in many other shows broadly within the thriller and suspense genre. Episode 2 did not arrive until six months later in January 1971 and it appears this was a pilot or trial episode which "topped the ratings" according to a later Daily Mirror article. The broadcast clearly made the required impact to allow a full series but it was certainly unusual to take this approach when British series generally had a continuous run from their first episode. The anthology title and format though gave the producers more freedom to air instalments intermittently should they have wished,

Some comparisons with the later Thriller are instructive. Brian Clemens and Roger Marshall were both versatile writers who wrote across genres and for both filmed and video-taped productions but Roger Marshall was also very much associated with the socially-realistic Public Eye which he had co-created and had been the most frequent writer. The production style of this episode and Shadows of Fear more generally has much in common with the sparse, more downbeat production style of Public Eye - also made by Thames - including the lack of incidental music. The Astles are certainly comfortably middle-class but not quite as affluent as the standard central Thriller characters and their home is certainly very pleasant but not a mansion although its remote rural location could certainly have fitted Thriller. None of the characters starts off violent intentions towards others but we see how events such as crime can lead to violent feelings and potentially violent consequences. This story could certainly have been readily rewritten as a non-thriller, non-suspense drama about the impact of a domestic crime on its victims and the efforts of a man to catch the culprits and it would have been an interesting affair on those terms but this being Shadows of Fear it hints at and ultimately takes a rather darker direction.

This is a strong opening if not one of the show's best. The subject of burglary and its impact on its victims has been surprisingly little covered on screen given that unfortunately it is a crime that many viewers have either experienced directly or have known happen to friends or family members. That in itself can make it an uncomfortable watch but also one that needs to be explored. The impact here is certainly well-covered and the upset and anxiety are very well-depicted. The mixture of anxiety and anger is evident. 

Peter and Moira inspect some of the damage in their home

Peter and Moira also diverge in terms of their longer-term responses. Both are understandably upset and badly affected but Moira tries to come to terms with events and move on. She doesn't want the couple to turn their home into a fortress and in effect become prisoners within it. She doesn't want to become too scared to leave the house and thereby miss out on the wider pleasures of life. She doesn't want to suspect long-trusted people of involvement in the crime. Peter though cannot move on, even when he has installed high-security measures within the home. For him resentment, anger and a desire for justice become the pervading emotions. He becomes suspicious of anyone who visits the home or has knowledge of it such as cleaners and tradesmen as well as those who might possibly have come across his stolen property. There is a fine scene when he visits a local antiques dealer - whom he suspects of being a "fence" for such items - and comes close to accusing him of having a clock stolen from the house.

Peter then develops an elaborate plan for catching the burglars and also for preventing some of their likely responses. It does have to be said there are elements of this which are a touch unlikely but it's still fascinating viewing. The offenders are certainly an unsympathetic pair with one played by a young Mark McManus, later renowned as Scottish detective Taggart but here with a London accent. This leads up to a remarkable final few minutes in which it seems Peter may have fatefully changed his plan; the outcome raises intriguing moral and legal questions with the viewers pondering what happened next and this indeed would be a feature of the series. This would have stood well even as a one-off play but thankfully many more episodes were to follow the next year. 

Notes

In an interview with Action TV magazine (Number 11, Spring 2005), writer Roger Marshall said that his own anger after being burgled led to him writing this script.

An ending with some similarities to this one occurred a few years later in one of the most acclaimed episodes of Thriller.

The end credits roll over the final scene without music. 

This episode was repeated on Thames (who produced it) on Thursday 25th March 1971 (11.00 pm-12.00 am). This seems to have been the only Shadows of Fear repeat on ITV.

Three years later Mark McManus played another character (with London accent) on the wrong side of the law - or at least suspected of being so - a man on trial for armed robbery in R v Bryant, one of the earliest Crown Court instalments.