Brian Clemens Thriller (1973-76).

[HawkMan]

Gary slumped in his chair, still trying to fathom it out.
G (to himself) " why , it doesn't make sense WHY!!?"
He has an idea, he runs over to the phone book and thumbs through it, he gets the number of the Sharpe residence. After dialling,
G " hello is that the Sharpe residence "
A manservant has answered the call.
Man " yes who is this ?"
G " let me speak to Mrs Sharpe "
Man " Mr Sharpe is dead"
G ( shouting) " I know I want to speak to his wife"
Man " Mr Sharpe wasn't married "
G " look don't mess with me, I've seen her"
Man " another crank call, can't you people show respect to the dead, we're burying Mr Sharpe today , don't call again "
The phone is slammed down.

Later that day, the funeral cortege leaves the huge mansion. Line of black cars slowly proceed down the driveway. The front car with the coffin passes down the bush lined driveway, Gary is there, hiding behind a bush, he edges forward as the second car passes. In the back is Blondie , dressed in black.
She turns her head left momentarily, their eyes meet. Gary stunned, as the cortege moves on.

Burton is at the hotel reception.
B " I'm checking out today can you prepare my bill please "
Girl " certainly sir"
The girl goes into the office, Burton looks out of the window at the town centre. Gary is there!! Walking along the street with a newspaper in his hand. By the time the girl comes back to the desk Burton is gone.

Gary arrives back home, he runs into the living area and starts thumbing through the paper.
" you won't find anything about me in there"
It's Blondie, wearing a tan coloured raincoat.
Bl " the police were kind about that, they kept the press boys at bay. Why did you have to come to the house today, today of all days. Tomorrow I'd have been gone and you'd never see me again. It was out of character, unexpected. You told me you never left this place, never went into town. It was careless of you showing yourself like that. I gambled on you being a pro."
G " I buried you !!"
Bl " yes I thought you would, you didn't let me down there. No connection eh Gary. You buried Helen Wiles, we looked superficially alike, build, hair, only the face was different and there wasn't much left of the face to identify was there. Very alike, I suppose that's why uncle Walter fell for her. Yes he was my uncle. He brought me up, adored me, everything he had was promised to me, then he met Helen. In a month they'd be married, husbands tend to make wills favouring their wives, and what would I have had, a quarter share of the fortune, or half, I've never done anything by halves Gary. Oh I wish you hadn't turned up today. It was so perfect, the police thinking Helen had gone off to bury her grief, and you thinking I was dead."
Gary smiles almost in admiration, he's been suckered.
G " you killed her?"
Bl " I had to, it made the circle complete, the perfect circle"
G " and now?"
Gary leaps onto the bed and lifts up the pillow, the gun is gone. Gary looks up, Blondie has it, pointing it at him.
Bl " you're getting careless Gary, and you drink too much, I told you that"
G" it won't work"
Bl " on the contrary, the circle is still perfect. The whole world knows there's a price on your head, so, someone collected "
G " maybe someone saw you come here"
Bl " I came by bus, and walked the last mile, and even if someone did see me, so what, there's no connection between us, never has been "
G " someone will see you leave"
Blondie undoes the buttons on her coat to reveal a black bikini.

Edited March 4 by HawkMan

[HawkMan]

Bl " no one will see me leave "
Gary is desperate,
G " Blondie I loved you"
Bl " I know "
Gary moves towards her arms outstretched,
G ( smiling) " hey ...the two of us together...yeah Blondie?"
She fires, Gary is thrown backwards, dead on the bed. Blondie slips off her coat and shoes and runs, downstairs and out the back doors to the bay. She doesn't notice Burton hiding under the stairs, he is a professional with a job to do , he runs up the stairs, sees Gary and fires, another bullet in Gary.
Blondie is at the waters edge on the quayside. She places the coat on the ground, puts the gun and her shoes on top and ties it all up in a bundle. She hurls it into the water. Takes a run up and leaps into the water........just as glass breaks.

Burton is staring at the dead body of Gary, he picks up the phone and dials.
B " yeah, it's me tell New York the deal is closed. And he had a friend with him, so I gave her a contract too just to be safe. Yeah I'm on my way home"
Burton goes over to the shattered remains of the window and looks out , a devilish smile on his face, the expert assassin in one smooth movement after shooting Gary smashed the window with his gun butt and fired, good shooting, he savours his handiwork..........on the surface of the bay , face down in the water, arms out by her side is Blondie ........dead.

THE END   

Cast;

Gary Stevens.....Bradford Dillman

Blondie.....Suzan Farmer

Burton...Philip Stone

Doonan.....Ian Bannen

Helen....Diane Weston

End of thread,  hope someone or two enjoyed reading these classic stories.

Edited March 4 by HawkMan

[unapologetic pedant]

On 03/03/2024 at 08:16, HawkMan said:

NOTE-Certain similarities to The  Omen,  but this came first ! Make of that what you will.

Interesting to speculate whether certain plots from Thriller might be successfully remade as feature films. 

And vice versa. For instance, Pamela Franklin was in a couple of Thriller episodes. How would "And Soon The Darkness" or "The Legend of Hell House" work as episodes of Thriller?

[unapologetic pedant]

On 18/02/2024 at 12:37, unapologetic pedant said:

While we're in nostalgia corner. There's a picture of Jan Francis above. Anyone recall the epic BBC children's drama series Jan starred in called "The Long Chase"? Broadcast in 1972 and repeated in 1974. In my mind, this remains the most exciting thing ever. Never had an opportunity for my illusions to be shattered. And never will, since apparently the tapes have been wiped.

Extraneous postscript almost certainly of no interest to anyone -

After posting the above, I checked for the umpteenth time. Knock me down with a feathered serpent! All 13 episodes of "The Long Chase" were uploaded to a YouTube channel a few months ago. 

"Took me several years and a lot of looking in faraway places" was the channel owner's response to a query.

Amazing how things turn up after such a long time.

[HawkMan]