Into the Blue

Apparently author Robert Goddard was not happy with the adaptation of his novel. It does seem clear to me that John Thaw was miscast, although this was a star vehicle for him.

The made for television movie starts with a flashback. A schoolboy finds a box from the railway line, it contained a baby.

In later years two women have been attacked and found dead.

In the the present day. Harry Barnett (Thaw) is house minding a property in Rhodes for politician Alan Dysart.

Harry is a failed businessman but Dysart has helped him out. Only Dysart was a government minister who had to resign over a scandal.

Now Harry is involved in a scandal of his own. A young woman called Heather Mallender bedded him and has now disappeared. Harry knows she was snooping about Dysart's house looking for something.

Harry returns to Britain to clear his name. He finds that Dysart had been involved with Heather's sister who was found drowned.

Maybe there is a dark side to Dysart, he seems to be involved with dodgy business dealings.

By the end the various plot elements all makes sense. It is just not that good.

The 1997 one ! There are so many films with this title! When a young lady goes missing on the island of rhodes, the authorities come knocking on harry's door (john thaw). They had gone on a couple dates, and took a day trip into the hills together. The coppers are sure harry has knocked her off, but he manages to get back to london. And following the clues, he bumps into several people who might be behind the missing girl. But finding the truth might be hazardous to his health. It kind of drags in the middle, but it's mostly good. A couple more dead bodies. Directed by jack gold. I had seen a few of his other films, and they are pretty good. He's won a couple baftas. Currently playing on multiple streamers.

A British expatriate living on the island of Rhodes investigates the mysterious disappearance of a woman with whom he has had a brief affair.

Outside of Morse, The Sweeney and Kavanagh I have found John Thaw as not very credible. In this he plays Joe Average and he is not convincing, neither is his affair with a girl young enough to be his daughter. It just looks embarrassingly wrong.

The storyline is convoluted and has a twist at the end that may have been original in 1997, but not in 2025.

This is one of those films where it might pay to remember the opening scene throughout. I completely forgot about it.

Robert Goddard's splendidly crafted novel brought to the small screen. But Goddard must have been heartbroken to see how his work was changed for television production. John Thaw seems to struggle with a role for which he is completely miscast; and with the whole tenor of the plot changed for compression into a two hour format, this must be one of the more disappointing television adaptations of recent times.

Harry, a man who's down on his luck, meets a beautiful young woman whilst house sitting in Rhodes, all is going well until she vanishes, and he's accused of her murder.

I wanted to see this after reading the book, and having only recently filmed it, I'd have to question how much of the book was adapted, it almost feels like an entirely different story.

If you're a fan of mysteries, and a fan of the late great John Thaw, I think you'll enjoy this, if you're looking for a faithful adaptation, you'll be sorely disappointed.

It had a great start, decent core, and a very confusing, but exciting ending. The conclusion was the only poor element for me, not all events were explained, it felt very vague and ambiguous.

Great location work, fine acting and some excitement. The acting was great I thought, and for me John Thaw was very well cast.

I enjoyed it, 7/10.