My Thriller Journey - Personal Recollections Part 1 - the 1990s

My first Thriller memory came about in unusual circumstances and with unusual consequences. I saw the final ten minutes or so of an episode back in August 1982 in which I saw a man poisoned and at the end another man arrested. I wasn't really paying attention - it was just what other people were watching at the time. I was somehow aware that the show was Thriller and remember seeing the Welsh name "Angharad" on the end titles and a copyright date of 1974 (odd the details one notices, an episode I later learned was Once the Killing Starts) An added factor was that I was feeling quite ill at the time and although I was soon better I somehow associated the show with that uncomfortable memory and avoided it thereafter! I did catch a few seconds a week later of another episode and saw a white car in a garage and its doors either opening and closing (One Deadly Owner) but after that I didn't see the show (the movie versions were airing around that time) and it slipped-off my radar. That could have been the end of a very short Thriller journey.

End titles for Once the Killing Starts, my first glimpse of Thriller (including spelling mistake of Angharad!)

All this changed in 1994 when I came across Ian Kerr's excellent article in Timescreen on Thriller which for the first time got me fascinated about the show. I was finally able to identify the episode I'd briefly seen and the episode synopses were really tantalising. I also read another article by Ian in the magazine TV Zone which added further to my curiosity. All the same I had no episodes to watch until I found a reduced-price VHS release of two episodes of Thriller that August. This tape included Someone at the Top of the Stairs and An Echo of Theresa. The former was the first full episode of Thriller I ever saw and it made a huge impression on me as it has done for many other viewers, new and old. That episode got me hooked and while Echo made much less impact (again a common feeling among viewers) it was still pretty good and I certainly wanted to see more. This happened just a few days later I think when I bought the second Thriller tape. This included A Coffin for the Bride and One Deadly Owner and both episodes were a delight for me. I watched those episodes many times as they were all I had of Thriller at that time; even more than twenty-five years later the episodes on the tapes with the exception of Echo are probably the ones I've seen the most often.  

The Thriller VHS releases (picture by Ros Connors)

Unfortunately the VHS releases stalled at two tapes but in 1996 came a huge breakthrough for newer fans like myself when the Bravo satellite channel started to repeat the show. I didn't have satellite TV but fortunately someone was able to record the episodes and send them to me. Frustratingly for me the first few broadcasts were ones on the tapes so I skipped them - in one case mistakenly. The version of One Deadly Owner Bravo broadcast was the original ATV version, not the ITC movie on the tape but I just assumed they were showing the same one; this meant I had to wait years to see the original.

However the first "new" episode came along with Death in Deep Water. This was an exceptional outing and again has remained a very big favourite of mine with maybe nostalgia adding to the appreciation. Possession followed next (in its movie version) and again was another delight and another one of my most memorable episodes; its movie titles and music have always stuck with me perhaps because they are wrapped-up in that excitement of seeing a new episode.

Bradford Dillman in Death in Deep Water, the first Bravo episode I saw

The repeats continued to run over Summer 1996 and the tapes were received with great anticipation. There were though some hiccups on the way as four of the repeats weren't recorded for various reasons including a problem with the cable signal or service and I think a change of broadcast time at one point. I did end up with two or three minutes of Good Salary - Prospects - Free Coffin but the picture quality was dreadful although whether this was due to a bad cable signal or the fact it was telerecording - or both - I don't know.

Unfortunately at the end of August 1996 Bravo changed its schedule and dropped Thriller and it never reappeared. At the time the best hope of seeing more Thriller seemed to be more repeats on a satellite or cable channel but there was no sign. I was left with fourteen episodes which I then watched many times over the next few years. It seemed quite possible then that they would be the only ones I would ever see with the rest remaining as enticing episode synopses in magazines. All the same I was still very thankful for those I had. At the end of the 1990s these were the ones I'd seen in the order I'd seen them:

Someone at the Top of the Stairs; An Echo of Theresa; A Coffin for the Bride; One Deadly Owner (VHS releases).

Death in Deep Water; Possession; The Colour of Blood; Nurse Will Make It Better; Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are; The Next Voice You See; Sleepwalker; Killer with Two Faces; Lady Killer; Spell of Evil.

2000s recollections to follow...