Spell of Evil - Series 1, Episode 10, Saturday 16th June 1973

The story....

The action starts with the sudden and mysterious death of businessman Tony Mansell's wife. Some months later he unexpectedly decides to write to Modernmates, a marriage bureau. Almost as soon as he sends the letter he receives a reply from the seductively-voiced, glamorous Clara Panton. When they meet they immediately hit it off. That same afternoon Tony asks her to marry him.

The marriage seems a happy one. However Tony's housekeeper Mrs Roberts and secretary Liz are both suspicious of Clara whose background is a mystery. There are a few strange events and small accidents. However later things take a much more violent turn. Tony's secretary feels she must investigate while he seems totally unaware of the terrible danger he faces.

Review

This was the final episode in the UK of the first series of Thriller. I first saw it as part of the Bravo repeats in 1996 and remember having high hopes thanks to an enticing story premise. However it didn't live up to that promise and that underwhelmed response is common among fans. Subsequent viewings over many years didn't much change my feelings but on the last couple of occasions I have felt more positive and feel it has more to offer. While it's never been one of the big fan favourites it is fondly viewed by some. What can explain these contradictory opinions?

There are some powerful elements in place but generally the episode has suffered in comparison to the later witchcraft episode Nurse Will Make It Better, one of the best-remembered Thriller outings and certainly one of its most positively regarded supernatural tales. The contrast between the witch characters and actresses playing them in each has been seen as key. In the later story the deeply sinister character of Bessie is played by Diana Dors with remarkable aplomb. Despite the actress's reputation for glamour Bessie is played as a dowdy, androgynous figure and her seeming gentleness and lack of anger make the evil that she does seem much more disturbing. 

By contrast in Spell of Evil, Clara (Diane Cilento) is glamour and sultriness personified and the performance is anything but low-key.  Clara can be extremely warm - indeed seductive - but she is very quick to anger and far more likely to ring alarm bells. This isn't just in terms of personality but also outfit and her clothing make-up and jewellery is distinctly over-the-top - she literally rattles at times! Clara can still be very disturbing, notably when she is casting her spells (these scenes are very skilfully directed) - but the histrionic nature of her character can make her seem hard to take seriously.

An unnerving meeting with Clara for Tony's employees Liz (Jennifer Daniel) and Suzy (Linda Cunningham)

However more recently I've tended to see Clara and the very broad performance of her as much of a virtue as of a vice. The character can be a lot of fun and maybe there is an element of the pantomime villain about her which isn't always a drawback. There's some appealing humour. When Tony's colleague George first hears Clara on the phone he is clearly enthralled but warns Tony "I had an uncle with a voice like that"! Later when Tony tells Clara he's puzzled Modernmates never followed up their meeting she replies jokingly "You mean you got me for nothing!" Most teasingly when he enquires how she managed to find his ex-directory number she tells him, "Don't you know darling I'm a witch? All women are." There's some amusing frostiness between Clara and the other females in Tony's life, most notably housekeeper Mrs Roberts and secretary Liz who are both highly and rightly suspicious of her. Late on there is some black humour with the eccentric witchcraft expert with a broad Welsh accent - it was very unusual to hear any regional accents in Thriller. Actor William Dexter wasn't Welsh so there was a deliberate plan to use the accent for the part. 

Perhaps there is a something of an "end of term" feel to this story. Series 1 was concluding and had been a success and maybe this feeds through into a more carefree approach here. Earlier in the series or maybe in later series this story might have been focused in a much darker, more intense way, not unlike Nurse Will Make It Better. It would be wrong to think that this is a fairly frivolous affair and there is certainly still menace, most notably late in the proceedings, but on the whole it does offer some lightness of touch, whether that is appreciated is very much in the eye of the viewer and even that as in my case can vary over time. Even when one sees an episode can shape its rating. I saw this after Nurse Will Make It Better and it did seem to suffer by comparison but back on original transmission it is this story that came first and for some viewers the later witchcraft tale may have been the one seen as wanting. Whatever the case it's probably for the best that the producers turned out two very different takes on the subject rather than making both very dark - or somewhat light.