I'm the Girl He Wants To Kill - Series 3 Episode 2 (Saturday 8th June 1974)

The story....

A young woman returning home from a party is surprised to discover a silent, anxious-looking man by her doorway. Moments later he stabs and kills her. Some time later Ann Rogers - an American secretary working in London - is also returning home and sees the same man on the stairs leading to her flat. When opening her front door she sees the dead body of another young woman lying in the entrance to a neighbouring flat and feels the man may have been the killer. 

She goes to the police and is interviewed by detective Mark Tanner. The enquiries aren't successful and the killer remains at loose but the meeting between Ann and Mark does lead to a relationship. One day she is looking in the window of a jewellers and is horrified to see the man working in the shop. He also spots her and although she runs off he pursues her. She reaches her office building but does not feel entirely safe, even when Mark tells her the killer has been apprehended. Unfortunately the arrested man turns out to be a crank. The real killer has been able to enter the building and after the rest of the staff leave at the end of the day he sees his chance to eliminate the woman who can testify against him.

Review

One of the best-remembered and most popular of episodes. Again there is no mystery about who is the villain but that makes his appearances all the more unnerving. Clearly the outing has the qualities needed to make a real impact and there are certainly remarkable things in store here.

The teaser sets the tone with the appearance of Robert Lang's "The Man". Prior to the murder he makes no sound but actually seems scared - or at the least edgy. The killing is another in the non-realist style of Thriller violence as the woman falls with not a mark on her.  The second murder we do not see - only the body of the victim in her doorway as Ann enters her flat. This is an excellent scene, better for its lack of violence. The sight of the woman lying on the floor, visible to the viewers but out of Ann's immediate eye-line is shocking enough but becomes even more powerful as Ann spots her and takes in the horror. This warrants more appreciation, as does Ann's encounter with the man beforehand as he leaves the house as she enters. Once again his demeanour is utterly disconcerting but it is only later that the full realisation that he has just killed her neighbour emerges.

That ushers in Ann's involvement with the police and Mark Tanner in particular. Ann is naturally shocked and frightened, not just in the immediate aftermath but sometime thereafter. Mark's later involvement with her certainly raises the issue of professional distance, if not misconduct. However we are used, even in the modern day, of screen detectives having these dubious personal involvements with victims, witnesses and even suspects. It is a forgiveable story device that does lend another dimension to the story although it could easily have been rewritten without them being romantically attached at all.

However the story really hits home and achieves its classic status from the moment Ann spots the man purely by chance while looking through a jewellers' window. As they make eye-contact both make a terrifying discovery that will have drastic consequences: he knows he can now be exposed; she knows he is aware she has seen him and she is now at terrible risk. The first chase ensues but the real drama takes place within the apparent safety of the Parker building.  

The whole action within the building is superb. Ann remains extremely scared although she does not tell her colleagues. Unbeknown to her the man has slipped into the building. The scenes of stalking and chasing are justly acclaimed and provide some of the tensest in Thriller. They take place with no dialogue, except for one brief sequence, It's easy to overlook the physical demands made upon actors Julie Sommars and Robert Lang in these sequences of running, chasing, hiding and occasional skirmishes. Excellent use is made of camera work - particularly shots from Ann's perspective running down the corridors and of darkness. Director Shaun O'Riordan and the production crew alongside the actors make these some scenes some of the best in the show's history. The arrival of the police adds to the drama and the final minutes - if not as frantic as the chase sequences - are still tense and powerfully done. 

Julie Sommars gives one of the best acting displays in the whole of Thriller as Ann. The other Thriller heroines have very demanding roles in emotional terms but hers requires a great deal of physical action as well which she handles in exceptional style. Robert Lang though may be even better as "the man". There is no role like this at all in Thriller - or very few other productions. The character only delivers a couple of lines in the whole episode so the emphasis is heavily on gestures and facial expressions but it is conveyed superbly. The man is both frightening and, it appears, frightened, maybe due to a terrible conflict over what he is doing or fear of being caught. So many screen-villains are talkative, giving away all their motives and plans and toying with their victims - indeed it becomes something of a cliche - so it is marvellous to have one who creates so much mystery. Mark and Keston conjecture, with some plausibility, that his motive is at least in part sexual but we never know. One of the great Thriller villains.

Robert Lang as "the man"

There are other attractions as well. It is great to see comic actor Ken Jones in a straight part as the security guard Sam and he gives a fine account of a very sympathetic figure. Indeed the humour comes more from his colleague Freddy whose fear of missing a date with his wife leads to a fateful swapping of shifts. The presence of a crank claiming to be the killer, something that frequently plagues the police, is a welcome and highly realistic touch.

The episode isn't perfect and Mark Tanner's "trendy copper" look is thoroughly 1970s and his permed hair a real fashion faux-pas. Some of the dialogue could have been better (with Mark the victim of most of the bad lines) and perhaps the actual climax could have been a little less formulaic. However these scarcely detract from a very fine and justly renowned story.

TV Movie title-watch

The titles appear to be indebted to Psycho as well as including a gratuitous scene of the victim undressing. They appear to contradict the action in the ATV version. The killing in the US titles is clearly not one of those seen in the original. It therefore depicts an extra murder although the ATV dialogue makes clear that the killer has only killed two women.