1980s Repeats of Thriller - London region (LWT / Thames TV)

In the 1970s all the broadcasts of Thriller were on London Weekend Television (LWT) as it aired on Saturday nights but the 1980s repeats were shared between LWT and Thames, the latter showing Thriller episodes for the first time. Repeats Friday-Saturday were by LWT and those from Monday to Thursday were Thames.

ITC's new title for "Kill Two Birds", the first Thriller repeat in the London area

Episode	Date	Day	Time
Cry Terror!	26.4.81	Sunday	11.25pm-12.45am
Sign It Death	3.5.81	Sunday	11.30pm-12.50am
Killer with Two Faces	10.5.81	Sunday	11.30pm-12.50am
Mirror of Deception	17.5.81	Sunday	11.30pm-12.50am
Dial a Deadly Number	24.5.81	Sunday	11.30pm-12.50am
The Killing Game	16.10.81	Friday	11.35pm-12.45am
Murder in Mind	23.10.81	Friday	11.35pm-12.45am
Murder on the Midnight Express	30.10.81	Friday	11.35pm-12.45am
The Devil's Web	4.1.82	Monday	11.20pm-12.40am
Not Guilty	12.2.82	Friday	11.35pm-12.55am
Once the Killing Starts	19.2.82	Friday	11.35pm-12.55am
Only a Scream Away	26.2.82	Friday	11.35pm-12.55am
A Place to Die	12.3.82	Friday	11.35pm-12.55am
One Deadly Owner	19.3.82	Friday	11.45pm-12.55am
The Double Kill	22.3.82	Monday	11.15pm-12.35am
Screamer	26.3.82	Friday	11.45pm-12.55am
Death in Deep Water	19.4.82	Monday	11.00-12.25am
Color Him Dead	26.4.82	Monday	11.15-12.35am
Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are	10.5.82	Monday	11.15pm-12.25am
Death in Small Doses	7.6.82	Monday	11.00pm-12.25am
Anatomy of Terror	21.6.82	Monday	11.15pm-12.25am
The Death Policy	28.6.82	Monday	11.15pm-12.55am
The Fear Is Spreading	5.7.82	Monday	11.00pm-12-35am
The Eyes Have It	22.7.82	Thursday	10.35-11.55pm
Murder Is a One Act Play	29.7.82	Thursday	10.30-11.55pm
If It's a Man - Hang Up!	5.8.82	Thursday	10.30-11.55pm
I'm the Girl He Wants To Kill	12.8.82	Thursday	10.30-11.55pm
In the Steps of a Dead Man	19.8.82	Thursday	10.30-11.55pm
A Killer in Every Corner	26.8.82	Thursday	10.30-11.55pm
Kiss, Kiss, Kill, Kill	2.9.82	Thursday	10.30-11.55pm
Murder Motel	11.11.82	Thursday	10.30-11.50pm
File It under Fear	18.11.82	Thursday	10.30-11.50pm
Melody of Hate	25.1.82	Thursday	10.30-11.50pm
The Carnation Killer	2.12.82	Thursday	11.00pm-12.30am
Look Back in Darkness	3.1.83	Monday	11.00pm-12.25am
Someone at the Top of the Stairs	16.6.84	Saturday	11.45pm-12.55am
The Next Victim	23.6.84	Saturday	12.15am-
The Savage Curse	30.6.84	Saturday	12.30-1.50?am
Appointment with a Killer	No record of broadcast
Possession	No record of broadcast
Sleepwalker	No record of broadcast
Spell of Evil	No record of broadcast
Terror from Within	No record of broadcast

This is an unusual pattern of repeats. The London area saw 38 of the 43 episodes but 35 had been repeated by early January 1983 - one of the highest figures at that time. There was then a wait of almost eighteen months for three more repeats with the very last coming on what seems to have been the deadline for ITV stations to repeat the show. That screening of "The Savage Curse" (i.e. Kiss Me and Die) also began - and finished - later than any other ITV repeat of the show. Almost certainly it will be the last-ever broadcast of Thriller on terrestrial TV in the UK. Overall LWT aired 18 of the repeats and Thames the other 20. Another feature of the London repeats - and a welcome one for fans of the show - was that no episodes were postponed and rescheduled, one of the few areas where this did not happen.

The movie version of Kiss Me and Die - the last-ever broadcast of Thriller on UK terrestrial TV 

There is an irony in Sleepwalker being one of the episodes that missed out on a repeat as it was scheduled to be repeated by Thames in its ATV version on 20th August 1979 but industrial action meant that was cancelled. The previous week (11.8.79) it had been due to repeat Murder in Mind but that did actually appear in its ITC movie format in October 1981 - on LWT!

Thanks to Martin Marshall for these details.