Yorkshire Television had one of the most unusual patterns of Thriller repeats. It was the last to begin them when it screened "Cry Terror!" (i.e. Kill Two Birds) on 8th January 1982. This started a run of repeats but these ended on 26th February and by the end of the year the region had by far the lowest number and looked as if it might end up far short of a full set. However starting on New Year's Day 1983 it repeated 32 episodes that year, a remarkably high figure which brought it very close to completion. Four more followed in May 1984 and it seems very likely that thereby Yorkshire achieved a full set...
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| The first episode repeated on Yorkshire TV also highlighting the artwork on Film-Rite's new title |
This hinges on what happened on 27th May 1983. Some - but not all - newspapers listed an episode of Thriller but with no title. Given that the channel broadcast all the other episodes this very probably leaves Sleepwalker as the otherwise unknown one shown on that date. it is possible though that the broadcast was postponed, maybe even that such a postponed episode was one of those definitely shown later on Yorkshire rather than being Sleepwalker. However postponements were not common and even if YTV had done so with Sleepwalker it would have had ample time to reschedule it, therefore it seems highly likely it was shown on that date thereby meaning that a full set was achieved.
|
Episode |
Date |
Day |
Channel |
Time |
|
Cry Terror! |
820108 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.00pm-12.25am |
|
Only a Scream Away |
820115 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.00pm-12.25am |
|
Sign It Death |
820122 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.00pm-12.25am |
|
Screamer |
820129 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.00pm-12.25am |
|
Killer with Two Faces |
820205 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.00pm-12.25am |
|
The Death Policy |
820212 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.00pm-12.25am |
|
File It under Fear |
820219 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.00pm-12.25am |
|
Mirror of Deception |
820226 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.00pm-12.25am |
|
Anatomy of Terror |
830101 |
Saturday |
Yorkshire |
11.20pm-12.45am |
|
In the Steps of a Dead Man |
830108 |
Saturday |
Yorkshire |
11.20pm-12.45am |
|
Appointment with a Killer |
830312 |
Saturday |
Yorkshire |
11.25pm-12.45am |
|
I'm the Girl He Wants To Kill |
830319 |
Saturday |
Yorkshire |
11.25pm-12.45am |
|
The Killing Game |
830326 |
Saturday |
Yorkshire |
11.25pm-12.45am |
|
The Carnation Killer |
830408 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.15pm-12.35am |
|
Color Him Dead |
830415 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.15pm-12.35am |
|
Come Out, Come Out Wherever You
Are |
830422 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.15pm-12.35am |
|
Death in Deep Water |
830429 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.25pm-12.45am |
|
Death in Small Doses |
830506 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.15pm-12.35am |
|
The Devil's Web |
830513 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.15pm-12.35am |
|
Sleepwalker |
830527 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.30pm-12.50am |
|
The Fear Is Spreading |
830617 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.15pm-12.35am |
|
If It's a Man - Hang Up! |
830624 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.15pm-12.35am |
|
A Killer in Every Corner |
830701 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.15pm-12.35am |
|
Kiss, Kiss, Kill, Kill |
830708 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.00pm-12.20am |
|
Melody of Hate |
830722 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.00pm-12.20am |
|
Murder Is a One Act Play |
830729 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.00pm-12.20am |
|
Murder Motel |
830805 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.00pm-12.20am |
|
Murder on the Midnight Express |
830812 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.00pm-12.20am |
|
The Next Victim |
830819 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.00pm-12.20am |
|
Dial a Deadly Number |
830826 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.00pm-12.20am |
|
Terror from Within |
830902 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.00-12.20am |
|
The Double Kill |
830909 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.00pm-12.20am |
|
One Deadly Owner |
830916 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.00pm-12.20am |
|
Look Back in Darkness |
830930 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.00-12.20am |
|
Murder in Mind |
831014 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.00-12.20am |
|
Not Guilty |
831028 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.00-12.20am |
|
Once the Killing Starts |
831104 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.00-12.20am |
|
A Place to Die |
831118 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.00-12.20am |
|
The Savage Curse |
831202 |
Friday |
Yorkshire |
11.00-12.20am |
|
The Eyes Have It |
840510 |
Thursday |
Yorkshire |
11.00pm-12.25am |
|
Possession |
840517 |
Thursday |
Yorkshire |
11.00pm-12.25am |
|
Spell of Evil |
840524 |
Thursday |
Yorkshire |
11.00pm-12.25am |
|
Someone at the Top of the
Stairs |
840531 |
Thursday |
Yorkshire |
11.00pm-12.25am |
I do wonder if 'Sleepwalker' was a late-replacement for other programming, maybe a feature film which missed out being billed in even the local newspaper listings? I see the date that 'Double Kill' was postponed from - 20 May 1983 - a movie called 'Darkroom' under the 'Thriller' umbrella title was billed in both The Guardian and Times. To air 42 but not 43 seems unlikely to me.
ReplyDeleteThose 1982 Yorkshire repeats completely passed me by, but I did catch three of the five Saturday screenings in early 1983 - 'Steps' (my first 'Thriller'), 'I'm the Girl' and 'Killing Game'
I also remember catching the first of that major run on Friday evenings throughout 1983 - 'The Carnation Killer' and, being hooked on the series by then, the majority of that extensive 'season' that concluded with 'The Savage Curse'. 'The Fear is Spreading', 'A Killer in Every Corner', 'Murder Motel' and 'Look Back in Darkness' particularly stuck in my mind.
Missed out on the final four 'Thursday' 'movie edits' as I was at Uni then and the TV aerial pointed towards a Tyne-Tees transmitter at the student house!
I think you're probably right that Yorkshire did air all the repeats and that "Sleepwalker" turned up at some point, maybe in that apparent film slot in May 1983. I agree that it would be strange for the channel to show 42, especially when they'd repeated four in May 1984 with ample time to show "Sleepwalker" if it hadn't been shown by then. Tracing any late-replacement broadcast which came too late even for the local papers though would be very difficult and maybe the best hope is that eventually a Yorkshire-based viewer says they saw it on YTV.
ReplyDeleteI am sure even dedicated fans of Thriller would have struggled to see all those late-night repeats. Many people still didn't have videos and might have missed episodes for all manner of reasons - not being able to stay up, someone else wanted to watch something else, having to go out for some reason, being away from home, even the TV breaking down (a frequent occurrence in those days!) That's not counting episodes missed through not spotting them in the schedules, mishaps with the VCR if a recording were possible and even falling asleep and missing the programme! Viewers these days are much more fortunate in being able to keep tabs on their favourite programmes.