One Deadly Owner - Series 2 Episode 4 (Saturday 16th February 1974)

The story...

Model Helen Cook is on the way up but her impulsive decision to buy a white Rolls Royce she can barely afford seems peculiar but she felt she "had to have it". Soon after buying it though strange things start to happen. She hears a scream from inside the car and the car drives itself to a remote location far from her intended destination. This and other evidence lead to her to believe the car is somehow connected with a murder but her photographer and boyfriend Peter believes it's all in her imagination and that overwork is leading her to a nervous breakdown. She does investigate with the previous owner - a tycoon called J.P. Jacey. Mr Jacey is rather world-weary and unsettled after his wife disappeared three months earlier. Despite this he hasn't called the police, apparently because she may have left him for another man but maybe there is a more worrying reason for her departure.

Helen Cook (Donna Mills) starts to notice something is very wrong with her car

Review

This is one of those instalments that sharply divides viewers - a huge favourite of some, one of the worst for others. I am very much one of its supporters and it is a contender for my favourite episode, and has been since I first saw it in 1994 on the second ITC video released. Thanks to that video release this will be a contender alongside Someone at the Top of the Stairs for the episode I have seen the most.

One of the oddities was that this was the only outing released on video in its movie format. This was entirely a mistake as the ATV version was available and indeed was broadcast by Bravo in 1996. Some viewers like myself skipped the Bravo repeat assuming the same version would be shown and therefore missed seeing the ATV original until it was released on DVD, Dolphin did quite a decent job on the new titles, with some astute use of clips. The new music ("Gear Shift" by Dave Richmond) was good and worked well. The original teaser, making clear that Mrs. Jacey had been murdered and her body transported in the boot of the Rolls Royce, though was completely excised - the only instance of a whole teaser being removed in the ITC versions. These sorts of cuts are never popular and the teaser was a strong one. Fans feel unhappy about the American producers adding their own "scenes" or animation but cutting from the original, which should be preserved intact, is a step too far. However one consolation of its disappearance, and maybe the logic of Dolphin, is that it created extra mystery about the fate of Mrs. Jacey until the final minutes, although the viewer would always suspect she had been killed. The DVD release though now means that viewers can see both openings.

The story is suitably unsettling and mysterious. Donna Mills became the first star to return to the show and deserves great credit for her performance - a classic Thriller heroine display. Her character generates a lot of affection. The interplay with Jeremy Brett as her partner and arch-sceptic Peter is very impressive. Again the sceptic role is a commonplace one, especially in the supernatural tales, but it is brought off extremely well. The exact nature of the relationship between him and Helen is never wholly clear. They are definitely professionally involved and probably romantically so as well but there is tension. Although much of this resolves around Helen's preoccupation with the car there are also arguments over her desire for independence and this friction creates another dimension to the story. 

This becomes one of the Thriller whodunits with various characters having had previous relationships with Mrs Jacey and seeming to have a motive for killing her. Writing and direction work well to pour suspicion on these figures but they are fine characters in any regard. J.P. Jacey's relationship with his wife leaves many questions unanswered and he appears to be a man with much going on under a very reserved exterior - including maybe a fancy for Helen. Freddy appears to have been another lover of the missing Mrs Jacey and while he seems to be helpful towards Helen can he really be trusted? His open-mindedness provides a neat balance between Helen's suspicions and Peter's scepticism, as does his warmth with Jacey's reserve. He is another of the Thriller charmers with an obvious attraction for Helen but it's suitably reined in on this occasion. Even Hawkins, the very proper butler, looks as if there might be more to him than meets the eye. However it is Hans who steals the show. He is a funny character but in the best style of the show he also exhibits menace and mystery (another former lover of Mrs Jacey as well as a business rival of her husband), and one never feels he is merely a comic diversion. There are a number of fine acting displays but Eric Lander in this role is excellent. 

The final fifteen minutes of the show are tremendous. Great use is made of darkness, contrasted with light from the car or a torch, to create a very creepy atmosphere. The pieces start to come together and the suspects start to move in. The final shot, of Helen's car back up for sale - with the viewer left to speculate on whether its "possession" has now been purged - is a fine resolution to this memorable outing.

Helen Cook finds herself in the spotlight in more ways than one