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."

Have always been quite fond of 'Murder She Wrote'. It is a fun and relaxing watch that makes you think as you try to unwind in the evening. If one wants more complex, twisty mysteries with lots of tension and suspense 'Murder She Wrote' may not be for you, but if you want something light-hearted and entertaining but still provide good mysteries 'Murder She Wrote' fits the bill just fine.

"Night of the Headless Horseman" is a lesser episode of Season 3 for me, better than "Dead Man's Gold" but it is an episode that was perfectly watchable and just about decent if leaving me a little cold with how the premise was executed. Still feel the same. The characters are stereotypical somewhat (the somewhat promiscuous waitress that has her heart in the right place, a universally hated womanising town bully and a truly dim-witted sheriff).

Story-wise, it's fun but apart from the reveal and how the murder was done it's predictable stuff and the whole headless horseman stuff is under-explored and not dark or atmospheric enough. It is very obvious who the victim will be, having victim written practically on his forehead (very often on 'Murder She Wrote' it is a character loathed by all who deserves to be done in), it can be very formulaic and despite him being a liar the accused innocence is never in doubt, even looking at them you would never think they are capable of such a brutal crime. Thom Bray's Dorian is a little bland, though never Grady, Donna or Howard bland. The sheriff is also so stupid that one wants to beat him around the head and questions how he ever got the job.

On the other hand, the production values are high in quality as to be expected, with slick photography and a beautiful rustic and nostalgia-filled location. The music has energy and has presence but also not making the mistake of over-scoring, while it is hard to forget or resist the theme tune.

The script is thoughtful and suitably amiable and the story is fun despite its predictability and well-paced, some of the campiness is endearing. Other than Nate and the sheriff, the characters do have a lot of likability even with their stereotypical nature Angela Lansbury is great as always and the guest star acting is near-across the board good. Barry Williams in particular enjoys himself in a juicy role.

In conclusion, decent and perfectly watchable but doesn't do as much for me with a premise that isn't fully lived up to. 6/10 Bethany Cox

"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.

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.

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.