The Voice of Merrill

There's something of the theatrical about the opening to this: a glamorous woman is shot - we hear the shot, see her fall but have no ideas as to the assailant. It transpires that she was a rather unsavoury blackmailer and we have quite a few potential suspects for "Insp. Thornton" (Garry Marsh) to get to grips with. The investigation into her murder is really only tangential to the storyline. The real story centres around the snobbish writer "Jonathan" (James Robertson Justice) who has an heart condition and a wife "Alycia" (Valerie Hobson) who is keen on up-and-coming writer "Hugh" (Edward Underdown). It turns out that JRJ's business partner "Parker" (Henry Kendall) also has some skin in this game - having embezzled some £3,000 from his company's funds. Things all start to come to an head when "Alycia" concludes that she must dispose of her ailing husband so she can be free to be with her new beau... At times it's a well written mystery featuring a solid effort from the curmudgeonly star, but for the most part the melodrama between Hobson and her unlikely gentleman friend Underdown dominates and drags the thing downunder. Still, it's quite enjoyable as the pieces of the jigsaw gradually fit into place - and the ending has quite a nice twist to it too. Worth a watch.