Stan Kay is an American jazz pianist visiting the UK. On a routine call to the bank there is an armed robbery in which his wife is killed and he is blinded. Ten years later Stan returns to the UK and is about to play at an upmarket party. While playing he hears the voice of the robber from the past. He is totally shaken and determined to find him but how can a blind man do this? Unfortunately Stan finds that he is not the only one who is determined to find his man...
Review
Quite deservedly this is one of the most popular episodes. It is a top-class effort - the last script written by Terence Feely (as always from a story by Brian Clemens) and is a splendid farewell.
Blindness had been covered before by Brian Clemens in the film Blind Terror and the first series episode The Eyes Have It (also scripted by Terence Feely). Neither of these is a particular favourite of mine, although Eyes is an improvement on the film and very popular in the fan community. For me this story though is clearly superior to either predecessor. The virtues of both earlier efforts are achieved but the limitations are avoided. Blindness offers great potential for fear and suspense. In The Eyes Have It this is well demonstrated but the fact that the blind students were not themselves the target of the assassins limited the impact. Additionally the students had the benefit of being a group with a strong sense of solidarity which partly subdues the threat. On this occasion Stan Kay is most definitely the target. There are sighted people who can offer help, but no one who is blind and truly understands his perspective. This heightens the level of tension very effectively. In the film the blind Sarah was the target. However the episode avoids the film's pitfalls in which the miseries and terror inflicted on her border on the gratuitous. In general the unattractive goriness of the film is astutely avoided. The most effective thrillers in general are not graphic and the TV series almost always left matters rightly to the viewers' imagination.
Stan has already been through a dreadful experience with the murder of his wife. He was blinded in the same incident. In the intervening ten years he has adapted well - at least on the surface. He is a hugely likeable and talented man. One could understand him being bitter and cynical but he remains positive. However someone who has faced trauma - in this instance a double trauma - may never truly recover. Terrible memories and anxiety can recur. Any reminder can be devastating and that is exactly what he receives when he hears the killer's voice. Maybe only someone with a musician's aural sensitivity could have picked out a stray voice in such an environment. The moment when he makes this shocking discovery is superbly handled on screen. To the assembled guests Stan's loss of composure can appear to be just lack of professionalism or even drug-induced. He has no time though to dwell on his reputation. He is determined to find the man but how can a blind man do so? It's a great scenario but becomes even more powerful. When someone is searching, he might well soon find that the hunter becomes the hunted and so it proves. Very quickly the killer knows he is being pursued and Stan is now in terrible danger.
In addition to the efforts of Stan and the killer to find each other, there is also a fine whodunit. Who is the killer? What would he be doing at a society party? The episode cleverly challenges the stereotype of "the criminal", and "the armed robber" in particular. There is an assumption by Julie which many would share that it is inconceivable that wealthy individuals could be criminals or have a criminal past. However as Stan quite correctly says, "Criminals don't look like criminals these days." Wealth sometimes does derive from crime, and a criminal can buy themselves into apparent respectability. Almost playfully, reference is made to a whole array of characters having dramatically risen to financial success about ten years earlier. However with just a snatch of conversation the viewer is left confounded. When we see the killer in action we only see his shoes (a clear echo of Blind Terror) or his torso so we are none the wiser. Although this is a whodunit it is not a conventional one as the viewer has so many potential suspects (just about every man at the party) and so little to go on.
Only in the later stages is the killer revealed and in a very shocking way - for me one of the most chilling moments in Thriller. This then leads to Stan being sought-out by a particularly odious villain who seems to delight in exploiting Stan's lack of sight and trying to defeat his aural abilities. These scenes are almost painful to watch and there is a particular claustrophobia with the stalking late taking place in a wine cellar. Unlike other Thriller episodes where the villain tries to catch and kill the hero or heroine (the classic case being I'm the Girl He Wants To Kill but A Killer in Every Corner on a smaller scale) there is neither room nor need for chasing but the the tension can be just as great when the search is more slow and deliberate as here. The climax is certainly dramatic, poignant and it defies some of the usual cliches.
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| Julie (Catherine Schell) offers Stan (Bradford Dillman) a sympathetic ear |
Stan is one of the finest characters in Thriller - a man of amazing strength and dignity. He inspires great affection but he is not alone in this respect. Stan's chaperone Julie is very warm and kind and the two are an excellent combination. Despite her initial scepticism she takes Stan seriously and tries both to help him find the killer but also save him from danger. The host Sir Peter also provides a warmth towards Stan that is very welcome. Some of the other attendees at the party are rather less supportive but they provide important contrast with some such as Ludo (played by a young Nigel Havers) coming across as spoiled brats while others are only too ready to suspect Stan's distracted behaviour as caused by being under the influence. The security chief Tamplin is initially abrasive and tactless but he eventually offers support but like Stan he is to find that the cat can become the mouse.
In acting terms Bradford Dillman gives one of the great Thriller performances. Catherine Schell and Geoffrey Chater (Sir Peter, a very different part to the distinctly dodgy, somewhat heartless character he played in The Colour of Blood) give him great support. Ray Smith is always a fine actor and does a sterling job as Tamplin, although his cockney accent is somewhat wayward and would probably have been best avoided. The direction by Robert Tronson is exceptional, especially in the final stages. Laurie Johnson's music if, of course, perfect. All these factors add up to an utterly memorable Thriller.
Notes
This had the largest cast of any Thriller episode with twenty-three credited actors, most of them playing guests at the party.
Robert Tronson also directed Geoffrey Chater in his earlier Thriller appearance.
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