Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense

This 1984 TV series co-produced with Fox was Hammer's creative swan song, 13 mini-thrillers reuniting some of its 1970s creative personnel, importing US guest stars and occasionally lacing the stories with a dash of the supernatural.

When first broadcast they seemed divorced from the studio's characteristic ambiance but time's been kind to them and, retrospectively, their period tics and stylings make them feel more like 'proper' Hammer movies.

They range from straight crime thrillers such as The Sweet Scent Of Death and the outstanding Czech Mate (a tale of paranoia in the Eastern bloc starring Susan George) through to a man haunting his own past in A Distant Scream, sixties rock stars hiding a ghastly secret in Black Carrion and the suspenseful In Possession and The Late Nancy Irving.

Excepting the odd plot contrivance and red herrings so unsubtle they might as well arrive on a bed of crushed ice, these are very entertaining, small screen dramas.