Sleepwalker - Series 6 Episode 1 (Saturday 10th April 1976)

The story...

American writer Dan Summers is having a writing sabbatical in the UK and his daughter Katey is staying with him. However it is a difficult time for Katey who is not just sleepwalking but has bizarre dreams including one in which she sees an old man seeming to pore over a book, a young man in Victorian costume and ultimately the old man having a knife in his back. Katey is understandably troubled and her father worries for her safety while sleepwalking. One day she literally bumps into a psychology student with the odd name of Barnstaple. He is able to lighten her mood and offer some interesting insights on sleep and dreams; a friendship and later romance develops between them.

Matters though take an even more peculiar turn when a stranger calls at her house. He resembles the young man in the dream and tells her amazingly that he has been having exactly the same experience. At last it looks like there may be some answers but these may lead to a nightmare becoming reality...

Katey's vision of a young man - dream, hallucination or reality?

Review  

This was one of the Bravo repeats in 1996. As someone who had only recently discovered Thriller these were tremendous to see and most were a delight but this was one of the small number that left me underwhelmed; subsequent viewings hadn't much changed that opinion but on my most recent viewing I was much more impressed. My views are perhaps now more in line with the general viewer feeling that this is a solid mid-ranking instalment, rarely mentioned as a really big favourite but equally rarely attracting particular criticism. In many ways this episode is symbolic of the final series which it kicked off in the UK in April 1976. It is interesting and quite engaging but a little more low-key compared to the preceding offerings. The mood is certainly different with the emphasis very much on mystery rather than menace. There is no doubt that in the final series there were efforts to find some original angles and maybe depart from the formula to some degree. These moves weren't entirely successful but they did open up some fresh changes of approach and setting.

The most notable thing about this story within the final series is that it is the only one that involves telefantasy with suggestions of supernatural or mystical influence although Katey's experiences may have much more down-to-earth explanations. There is extensive use of dream sequences (more accurately nightmares) - or at least what appear to be dreams. These are filmed well with some astute use of visual effects and music.

Katey (Darleen Carr) pictured during one of her sleepwalks

The story overall has a certain mystery without ever becoming captivating. Katey's experiences are peculiar. Possibly the most interesting aspect is the concern it raises about her mental health, and clearly she is worried about this and the conclusions that others might draw. Most are sympathetic but the maid Esme for one finds it entertaining - and a source of opportunity.

Characters are not particularly striking. Katey's father Dan is clearly a warm man and concerned parent but he doesn't get much scope beyond that. He is a writer on the supernatural but no real use is made of it in the story except as something that might have unsettled Katey and exploring it more may have opened up new and unsettling avenues. The butler Parsons is tiresome with his deference although Esme does her best to bring him into the modern world. One does wonder whether a servant even from the 1970s would be quite so concerned about deferring to his employers even in private. That said Esme does take some liberties and he needs to be vigilant. It is one of the remarkable things about Thriller that despite being so recent so many stories had characters who were waited on hand and foot. These settings do give a certain air of tradition and are the only way many working class figures appeared on screen - essentially in servile roles such as these and in other stories as cleaners and caretakers. While this very traditional world would not have matched the experiences of the vast majority of UK viewers it might have been seen as the one non-UK viewers expected - a society divided between well-spoken men and women of immense wealth living in big houses or ultra-modern luxury flats served dutifully by their much more humble attendants (often Cockneys!)  It would though have been beneficial to have challenged these stereotypes a little. 

The arrival of the oddly-named Barnstaple provides an injection of vigour into events. He provides some humour and romantic interest for Katey but additionally some very useful insights. He has some provocative theories on sleep and dreams on offer which shed new light although they aren't able to solve the mystery of her experiences. Ian Redford was making a return to the show in quick time after his appearance in a minor role in The Next Voice You See. He acquits himself well in this more substantial part.

Another returning actor was Michael Kitchen - previously seen in Once the Killing Starts - as the young man Ian. Matters take on a new dimension when Ian comes on the scene. He provides a sympathetic and constructive companion perspective for Katey but this being Thriller the revelations lead to danger as well as an unexpected connection with another character.

The climax of the episode does offer some surprises in terms of exactly was going on in the dream and the resolution is certainly very different and distinctly low-key compared to what Thriller viewers were used to. Those typical resolutions were certainly dramatic but also arguably overused and formulaic and this should be commended for taking a different path even if it isn't entirely satisfying. In another pattern for the final series the ending also seems a little abrupt and maybe needed even a few more seconds of development. It all adds up to an episode that certainly provides intrigue but just feels a little lacking.

Notes

Darlene Carr was the youngest American lead actor in Thriller, aged just 24 when this episode was produced in June-July 1975. Her British co-star Ian Redford was actually slightly younger and alongside Michael Kitchen and Elaine Donnelly it meant four central characters under the age of 30, probably the youngest set of key figures in the series

Ian Redford's two appearances in Thriller in broadcast order were separated by just one episode - the shortest gap - but given that his appearances were almost a year apart in transmission this wouldn't have been so apparent to viewers.

This was one of two episodes broadcast by Bravo in its ITC movie version (Possession was the other). 

The episode in its ATV version was due to receive a repeat screening by Thames Television on Monday 20th August 1979 but industrial action took ITV off the air and neither this episode nor Thriller was rescheduled when broadcasting resumed in October 1979. The 1980s repeats of Thriller - including this instalment -  were only of the newly-made "movie" versions; ironically there is no record of Sleepwalker being shown in the London area within these repeats and it was generally across the UK one of the least repeated episodes although there is no clear reason why this was so.