Armchair Thriller: Set 1

This long-running British anthology series—some episodes of which played in the U.S. on PBS' Mystery!—produced a slew of remarkable thrillers in both single- and multi-episode configurations. The Armchair Thriller yarns aren't orthodox whodunits of the Hercule Poirot or Lord Peter Wimsey variety (although murder and mystery figure prominently), but instead traffic in gripping psychological suspense of the type commonly found in vintage American radio programs such as Inner Sanctum and Suspense. The episodes feature exceptionally fine writing and acting, and although they may lack feature-film-level production values, all are nevertheless serviceable. This four-disc set presents a quartet of especially good stories, the best of which, “Dying Day,” is a 1980 chiller in four parts that features a young Ian McKellen as Anthony Skipling, a lonely man who by a strange turn of events hears the tape-recorded conversation of two men plotting to kill him. Why, when, and how are the key questions, and Anthony nearly goes mad trying to escape his unseen would-be executioners. Another excellent entry, the six-chapter “Limbo Connection” (1978), involves a despondent husband (James Bolam) trying to cope following the mysterious disappearance of his wife. “The Victim” (1980), which bears thematic similarities to the feature films Hardcore and Taken, stars John Shrapnel as a distraught dad determined to find his kidnapped daughter. Rounding out the set is “Rachel in Danger” (1978), a slightly less engaging but still worthwhile tale of a young girl who falls into the hands of a terrorist. Recommended. (E. Hulse)