The Desperate People

Fans of Francis Durbridge (I include myself) will enjoy this deadpan mystery set in the Home Counties. Everyone is lying about something, nothing is what it seems, the clues mount up, inexplicable development follows inexplicable development (and not all are explained), in the course of which a fantastical plot is revealed that doesn't quite seem worth the villains' while to concoct. Several familiar faces - Dennis Quilley, Stanley Meadows, Barry Jackson, Shirley Cain - take it all very seriously. That Durbridge standard, the hotel in Maidenhead, plays a major role, and there is some historically interesting footage shot in the beautiful town of Arundel in Sussex. All very entertaining, and the low budget rather adds to the enjoyment. Later novelised, with a few minor changes - for example, Mrs Curtis is more of a shrinking violet in the novel than she is in this serial. To cap it all, there is Nigel Hawthorne playing the heavy. About as realistic as the Marat/Sade, but way more fun.