Night of the Headless Horseman

Wenton, Vermont, maintains its rural Colonial charm from its railroad depot to its old-fashioned inn, from its stables to its covered bridge, from its proclivity to costuming to its conforming school for boys, Wenton Academy.

It is into this nostalgic community which poet Dorian Beecher (Thom Bray) accepts a teaching position. to succeed the late Gretchen Van Stotter, who perished from a mysterious accident one year prior to the action of this episode.

Gretchen's father, Dorn Van Stotter (Guy Stockwell), serves as Stablemaster at Wenton Academy, under the supervision of proprietor Edwin Dupont (Fritz Weaver) and Administrator Charlotte Newcastle (Hope Lange), who soon begin to encounter an investigation over swindled funds.

Gretchen's fiancé at the time of her passing, Dentist Penn 'Doc' Walker (Charles Siebert), welcomes Mrs. Beecher, Dorian's "mother" upon her arrival to Wenton. It seems that Dorian has become serious with Sarah Dupont (Karlene Crockett), daughter of the stern Edwin Dupont, and needs someone kindly to present. And so, when he invites his former teacher Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury), he doesn't relate the entire story.

Waitress Bobbie (Judy Landers) tends to serving Jessica and Dorian, as they gather at the Inn with Doctor Penn Walker, but festivities are interrupted by town bully Nate Findley (Barry Williams), who picks a fight with Dorian, who grabs a sword from the wall, but is interrupted by the entrance of Sheriff Sam Rankin (Doug McClure) and his assistants Deputy (Gary Pagett) and Uniformed Policeman (Tom Ohmer) when a brawl breaks out.

Those credited as 1st Man (Sanford Clark), 2nd Man (Forry Smith), 3rd Man (John England) and 4th Man (Brad Zerbst) appear at the mêlée and afterward, as they toss the sword from their truck upon finding Dorian by the creek. However, three of the combination are seen in either scene.

Because it happens to be a three-day autumn holiday at Wenton Academy, most of its pupils have left campus, with the exception of Todd Carrier (Donald Thompson), Robert (Brandon Douglas) and Brendan (Adam Ferris), who seem to enjoy the stable to the degree of founding a clubhouse upon its loft. They also seem to enjoy sleuthing around corners, and through the window of the loft.

So, on the "Night of the Headless Horseman," when a murder thickens the plot of romance from a distance, Dorian enlists Jessica to achieve "Poetic Justice."

"Night of the Headless Horseman" is a very odd episode...and very atypical for this show. It's obviously HEAVILY inspired by Washington Irving's story, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and at first I thought is was more tongue in cheek...a funny parody. But as I watched, I saw there were tons of parallels but it wasn't as funny as it should have been. Additionally, it is extremely odd that the episode did not air around Halloween but in the winter!

A goofy Ichabod Crane-like guy, Dorian, is in pretty much the same situation as the character from the Irving tale. Jessica Fletcher has been invited to see him at the Wenton Academy...and for no reason that made sense, Dorian has told everyone that Ms. Fletcher is his mother...not a famous novelist. What follows is a beheading and folks assuming Dorian did it because he was tormented just like Crane was in the original story.

I think this episode really missed the mark. Making it SO similar to the story only would have worked well had they made it more comedic. Instead, it's neither fish nor fowl...not really funny but not really serious either. I personally did not love the episode.

Dorian Beecher(Thom Bray) a nerdy poetry teacher is being plagued by a headless horseman in his small country town.

So he decides to get Jessica Fletcher to come out to the school and investigate. Dorian also tells people that Jessica is his mother.

Dorian is under pressure, he is engaged to a young woman named Sarah but her father is not happy.

He is also tormented by womanising Nate Findley who also has an interest in Sarah.

When Nate is found dead, Dorian becomes an obvious suspect. Jessica finds out that many other people had reasons to kill Nate.

A mystery inspired by the Sleepy Hollow story. It does have an atmospheric beginning but it all ended below par. Poor Dorien, he should had tried his luck with Bobbie instead.

I suppose all shows need to do a Halloween Special. Here Dorian (Thom Bray) swindles Jess Fletcher (Angela Landsbury) to come out to a private school where Dorian teaches poetry so she can pretend to be his mother. He is in love with the school's owner's daughter and has to come off as more of a polished legacy instead of his real history of being an orphan.

There is a town bully named Nate played by "Brady Bunch" famed Barry Williams. He's more corny than evil. But he also seems to be a womanizer.

He lives to torment Dorian (and the town) until one day they have a fight, and the next morning Nate ends up being beheaded.

What is genius about this particular episode is the blend between grim and humorous. While it's pretty clear a beheaded victim would come off, in this hoity toity town as a five alarm fire, some of this is played for slight chuckles. For instance a stablehand who walks with a scythe as he recollects moments of disgust for the people he works for. It's not laugh out loud funny, but some times played for a side-eyed smile.

Barry is the weakest part of this one. He seems to be phoning it in. Not committed to the bully role. Perhaps overdoing it.

The town dentist, Doc Walker (Charles Siebert) is phenomenal as is the always dependable Hope Lang as a mysterious stable mistress.

Give time, if this were to be extended as a feature, it would absolutely work.

The resolution is dark but honest. It's heartbreaking as much as it is emotionally painful. It somehow took a turn towards a lighter buoyant series into a more tragic one. Save for the tacked on epilogue which tries to make it fun again.

Excellent episode, even after a few stumbles. Look out for, what amounts to a cameo, from the lovely Judy Landers as Bobbie. Her Marilyn Monroe breathy speak is always a hoot.

I think I've seen virtually every episode of Murder She Wrote multiple times because it's charming, I love Angela Lansbury and it's an easy watch in the background when you're doing something else lol. But the one thing that always cracks me up about this episode is when Dorian introduces Jessica as his mother and the professor says, "Aren't you a little young to be Dorian's mother?" And I'm like, what is he talking about? She's clearly like decades older than him. So I checked Angela's birth year and the actor playing Dorian's birth year - and yep she was 30 years older than him! 🤣 Not too young to be his mother at all. Idk why they put that line in there, maybe because Angela thought she looked too young to be his mom -- which only makes me love her more. Lol.