1980s Repeats of Thriller on HTV (West)

Like its Welsh counterpart, the repeat schedule of HTV West is difficult to compile because the two sister stations sometimes broadcast the same Thriller episode, other times they aired different episodes and on others still only one showed Thriller with the other screening different programming.

ITC's new movie title for "Nightmare for a Nightingale", one of the first Thriller repeats on HTV West

Episode	Date	Day	Time
Kiss, Kiss, Kill, Kill	27.9.81	Saturday	11.15pm-12.30am
Melody of Hate	4.10.81	Sunday	11.30pm-12.50am
Killer with Two Faces	11.10.81	Sunday	11.00pm-12.15am
Screamer	7.12.81	Monday	11.00pm-12.20am
The Carnation Killer	18.12.81	Friday	11.00pm-12.20am
Appointment with a Killer	22.12.81	Tuesday	11.00pm-12.30am
One Deadly Owner	9.4.82	Friday	11.20pm-12.45am
Color Him Dead	3.7.82	Saturday	11.15pm-12.45am
A Place To Die	23.7.82	Friday	10.30pm-12.00am
The Fear Is Spreading	13.8.82	Friday	11.00pm-12.20am
Anatomy of Terror	20.8.82	Friday	11.00pm-12.25am
If It's a Man - Hang Up!	3.9.82	Friday	11.00pm-12.30am
Death in Deep Water	20.9.82	Monday	10.30pm-12.00am
The Devil's Web	27.9.82	Monday	10.30pm-12.00am
The Eyes Have It	11.10.82	Monday	10.30-11.50pm
In the Steps of a Dead Man	25.10.82	Monday	11.00pm-12.20am
The Killing Game	1.11.82	Monday	11.00pm-12.20am
Look Back in Darkness	8.11.82	Monday	11.00pm-12.20am
Mirror of Deception	15.11.82	Monday	11.00pm-12.20am
Murder in Mind	22.11.82	Monday	11.00pm-12.20am
Murder Is a One Act Play	29.11.82	Monday	11.00pm-12.20am
Murder Motel	6.12.82	Monday	10.30-11.50pm
Murder on the Midnight Express	13.12.82	Monday	10.30-11.50pm
Terror from Within	21.1.83	Friday	11.00pm-12.20am
Death in Small Doses (postponed 820723)	28.1.83	Friday	11.00pm-12.20am
The Double Kill	4.2.83	Friday	11.00pm-12.20am
A Killer in Every Corner	11.2.83	Friday	11.00pm-12.20am
Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are*	18.2.83	Friday	11.00pm-12.20am
The Savage Curse	25.2.83	Friday	11.00pm-12.20am
Dial a Deadly Number	11.3.83	Friday	11.00pm-12.20am
Sleepwalker	18.3.83	Friday	11.00pm-12.20am
Someone at the Top of the Stairs	25.3.83	Friday	11.00pm-12.20am
Cry Terror!	20.5.83	Friday	11.15pm-12.35am
The Death Policy	13.6.83	Monday	11.00pm-12.00am
Once the Killing Starts*	20.6.83	Monday	11.00pm-12.20am
File It under Fear	No record of broadcast
I'm the Girl He Wants To Kill	No record of broadcast
Not Guilty	No record of broadcast
Only a Scream Away	No record of broadcast
Possession	No record of broadcast
Sign It Death	No record of broadcast
Spell of Evil	No record of broadcast
The Next Victim	No record of broadcast

* Although most sources list Once the Killing Starts as the episode for 20.6.83 the Daily Mirror lists again Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are suggesting that it had been postponed from 18.2.83. It's therefore unclear which episode aired on 20.6.83 but if Once the Killing Starts were replaced it doesn't seem to have been rearranged.

There is some doubt about whether the first repeat - Kiss, Kiss, Kill, Kill (i.e. A Coffin for the Bride) - took place as it was only noted in the Daily Mirror as a general HTV programme suggesting both Wales and West screened it. The lack of mention in other papers might indicate it was a late addition - or a programme that had been dropped. However if it had been dropped it would then be strange that neither Wales nor West rescheduled it even though they had plenty of time to do so. Therefore overall this seems a likely repeat and it's in line with their other early screenings of Thriller.

Even if that episode is counted HTV West still seems not to have repeated eight others, a high rate for an English station of "no-shows". What is also striking is that its last broadcast was as early as 20th June 1983, just over a year from when the rights for all station to repeat Thriller ran out. By coincidence - or maybe not - HTV Wales also screened its last Thriller repeat on the same night. If both had maintained their previous repeat rate they would have shown all of them. So what happened?

This is something of a mystery. One possibility - somewhat unlikely - is that they both stopped as they had actually shown them all but with the "missing" episodes screened as last-minute schedule changes that would have eluded the newspaper listings. However it would be very surprising if as many as eight were repeated in such a way - two, maybe three would be a likelier number. 

Another possibility - maybe the likeliest - is that HTV decided in June 1983 that it had screened enough Thriller repeats and didn't feel it needed to air them all. A final one is that for some reason the episodes were no longer available to HTV after June 1983. It's hard to see why this would be the case but maybe they had a separate agreement to do their repeats by that date which would then allow other stations more access to the repeat copies (although each station had rights to repeat all 43 episodes it doesn't seem they always had 43 in their possession and had to wait in some cases for copies to be passed on). After all this time the answers are unlikely to emerge but the fact that both HTV stations left a lot of Thriller episodes unrepeated suggests some common issues. 

Another striking pattern was a clear alphabetical run of episodes from Death in Deep Water through to Murder on the Midnight Express. This alphabetical tendency occurred to some degree at other stations but is very evident here with viewers seeing all four episodes starting with "Murder..." in a row in late 1982! Probably issues with tape availability explain the breaks in these alphabetical patterns and may also explain why certain episodes were not screened. There is no evidence that stations chose running orders based on what they perceived as the strength of particular episodes or omitted others for reasons of quality or content - practicality seems to have the dominant factor. 

TV Times listing for "The Death Policy" (i.e. Lady Killer) on HTV West

Thanks to Martin Marshall for some of these details including transmission times.