Virtual Murder
Encyclopedia
Virtual Murder was an unusual investigative drama series shown on BBC
television in 1992. It starred Nicholas Clay
as Dr John Cornelius, a psychology lecturer at a provincial university, and Kim Thomson
as his vivacious, red-headed partner, Samantha Valentine.
and Adam Adamant Lives!
, both shown in the 1960s. Like Steed
and Emma Peel
or Adam Adamant and Georgina Jones
, Cornelius ("JC") and Valentine investigated a succession of rather eccentric or bizarre occurrences. They often did so in cooperation with the police, represented by Stephen Yardley
as Inspector Cadogan and Jude Akuwuike as Sergeant Gummer. Complementing the occult
elements and those of virtual reality
, there was a thread of playful, sometimes dark humour running through the scripts and an underlying sexual frisson between Clay and Thomson.
Other regular characters were Professor Owen Griffiths (Alan David
) and Phoebe Littlejohn (Carole Boyd
, best known for her role as Lynda Snell in BBC radio’s The Archers
).
by Brian Degas
, a scriptwriter for the film Barbarella
(1968) and co-creator of the TV series Colditz
(1972), and Harry Robertson, best known as a composer of film music (mostly under the name of Harry Robinson). The original title of the series was Nimrod but this was changed to Virtual Murder – this was the original title of the script for what was intended to be the first episode, later renamed “Dreams Imagic”. As things transpired “Dreams Imagic” was, in fact, the last episode to be broadcast. Direction of the episodes was shared between Philip Draycott and Peter Rose with the episodes recorded between 12 August 1991 and 28 February 1992 on location in Birmingham, Milton Keynes
, Kidderminster
and Wolverhampton
as well as at Studio A in Pebble Mill. All but “Dreams Imagic” had an array of guest stars.
in The Times
summing it up as “The Avengers re-written by someone who heard about it once but never actually saw it”. Another commentator, who, on balance, judged the series a failure, described it as being pitched "uncomfortabl[y] somewhere between the camp
of The Avengers and the dark fantasy of The X-Files
", although the latter highly-acclaimed American science fiction
series post-dates Virtual Murder by over a year. Others have blamed the summer evening scheduling for jeopardising its chances of success.
Ratings fell from 6.53 million for the opening episode to 4.9 million for the fourth episode and the series was not renewed for a second season. Virtual Murder is well regarded in some quarters: for example, the eminent television historian Andrew Pixley, recalling the show in 2002, wrote, “Finally, I thought, somebody had been brave enough to craft a modern thriller which, while captured on videotape, boasted all the style, fun and imagination of the great British film series of the 1960s such as The Avengers and Department S
”. However, the series remains largely forgotten today and, as of late 2010, has never been repeated, nor released in any video
format.
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
television in 1992. It starred Nicholas Clay
Nicholas Clay
Nicholas Anthony Phillip Clay was an English actor.-Early life:Born in Streatham London, to Bill and Rose Clay, he studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and began his acting career in the early 1970s with small parts in film and television.-Career:Clay also appeared in several West End...
as Dr John Cornelius, a psychology lecturer at a provincial university, and Kim Thomson
Kim Thomson
Kim Thomson is an English actress who has appeared on stage, television and film since the early 1980s in both the United Kingdom and the United States.-Early life:...
as his vivacious, red-headed partner, Samantha Valentine.
Subject matter and cast
Virtual Murder was in the mould of some earlier off-beat series, such as The AvengersThe Avengers (TV series)
The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...
and Adam Adamant Lives!
Adam Adamant Lives!
Adam Adamant Lives! is a British television series which ran from 1966 to 1967 on the BBC. Proposing that an adventurer born in 1867 had been revived from hibernation in 1966, the show was a comedy adventure that took a satirical look at life in the 1960s through the eyes of an Edwardian .- Character...
, both shown in the 1960s. Like Steed
John Steed
John Steed is a fictional character and the central protagonist on the popular British series The Avengers and The New Avengers, played by Patrick Macnee and Ralph Fiennes in the movie....
and Emma Peel
Emma Peel
Emma Peel was a fictional spy played by Diana Rigg in the British 1960s adventure television series The Avengers. She was born Emma Knight, the daughter of an industrialist, Sir John Knight.-Casting:...
or Adam Adamant and Georgina Jones
Georgina Jones
Miss Georgina Jones was a fictional modish young woman living in the Soho area of London in the mid 1960s. Played by Juliet Harmer , she was the main supporting character in the BBC television adventure series, Adam Adamant Lives! which starred Gerald Harper as Adam Adamant.-Genesis of the...
, Cornelius ("JC") and Valentine investigated a succession of rather eccentric or bizarre occurrences. They often did so in cooperation with the police, represented by Stephen Yardley
Stephen Yardley
Stephen Yardley is an English actor, known for his work on British television between 1965 and 2004.Best known for his role as Ken Masters in the British TV drama Howards' Way , Yardley most recently appeared in the British TV comedy Hex .He made early appearances on TV in the 1960s, in series...
as Inspector Cadogan and Jude Akuwuike as Sergeant Gummer. Complementing the occult
Occult
The word occult comes from the Latin word occultus , referring to "knowledge of the hidden". In the medical sense it is used to refer to a structure or process that is hidden, e.g...
elements and those of virtual reality
Virtual reality
Virtual reality , also known as virtuality, is a term that applies to computer-simulated environments that can simulate physical presence in places in the real world, as well as in imaginary worlds...
, there was a thread of playful, sometimes dark humour running through the scripts and an underlying sexual frisson between Clay and Thomson.
Other regular characters were Professor Owen Griffiths (Alan David
Alan David
Alan David is a Welsh television actor. Living in London, he is married with two sons.David was born in Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan. He has had many television credits ranging from Coronation Street in 1973 to Virtual Murder , Honey for Tea and "The Unquiet Dead", an episode of Doctor Who in 2005...
) and Phoebe Littlejohn (Carole Boyd
Carole Boyd
Carole Boyd is a British actress. She has had a career in theatre, television and radio, and plays Lynda Snell in BBC Radio 4's The Archers....
, best known for her role as Lynda Snell in BBC radio’s The Archers
The Archers
The Archers is a long-running British soap opera broadcast on the BBC's main spoken-word channel, Radio 4. It was originally billed as "an everyday story of country folk", but is now described on its Radio 4 web site as "contemporary drama in a rural setting"...
).
Production
The series was created and produced at the BBC’s Pebble Mill studios in BirminghamBirmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
by Brian Degas
Brian Degas
Brian Degas is a screenwriter and producer. He has worked in both film and television.He is the Father of the actor Rupert Degas.He created the popular Colditz television series with Gerard Glaister....
, a scriptwriter for the film Barbarella
Barbarella (film)
Barbarella is a 1968 Franco-Italian science fiction film based on Jean-Claude Forrest's French Barbarella comics. The film was directed by Roger Vadim and stars Jane Fonda, who was Vadim's wife at the time.-Plot:...
(1968) and co-creator of the TV series Colditz
Colditz (TV series)
Colditz is a British television series co-produced by the BBC and Universal Studios and screened between 1972 and 1974.The series deals with Allied prisoners of war imprisoned at the supposedly escape-proof Colditz Castle when designated Oflag IV-C during World War II, and their many attempts to...
(1972), and Harry Robertson, best known as a composer of film music (mostly under the name of Harry Robinson). The original title of the series was Nimrod but this was changed to Virtual Murder – this was the original title of the script for what was intended to be the first episode, later renamed “Dreams Imagic”. As things transpired “Dreams Imagic” was, in fact, the last episode to be broadcast. Direction of the episodes was shared between Philip Draycott and Peter Rose with the episodes recorded between 12 August 1991 and 28 February 1992 on location in Birmingham, Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes , sometimes abbreviated MK, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, in the south east of England, about north-west of London. It is the administrative centre of the Borough of Milton Keynes...
, Kidderminster
Kidderminster
Kidderminster is a town, in the Wyre Forest district of Worcestershire, England. It is located approximately seventeen miles south-west of Birmingham city centre and approximately fifteen miles north of Worcester city centre. The 2001 census recorded a population of 55,182 in the town...
and Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
as well as at Studio A in Pebble Mill. All but “Dreams Imagic” had an array of guest stars.
Episodes
Six episodes of Virtual Murder were made and broadcast by the BBC on Friday evenings in 1992:- Meltdown to Murder (broadcast 24 July 1992 at 9:32pm): script: Philip MartinPhilip Martin (screenwriter)Philip Martin is an English television screenwriter.His early work included regular series such as Z-Cars in the late 1960s/early 70s, but his most famous work is the postmodern television series Gangsters. This was an examination of race seen through an increasingly surreal vision of...
; director: Philip Draycott; guest stars: Helen LedererHelen LedererHelen Lederer is a Welsh comedienne, writer and actress who emerged as part of the alternative comedy boom at the beginning of the 1980s.-Career:...
, Bernard BresslawBernard BresslawBernard Bresslaw was an English actor. He is best remembered for his comedy work, especially as a member of the Carry On team.-Biography:...
, Julia FosterJulia FosterJulia Foster is a British actress.Foster's credits include the films The Bargee with Harry H. Corbett, Alfie with Michael Caine, Half a Sixpence with Tommy Steele, and Percy with Hywel Bennett...
- Last Train to Hell and Back (broadcast 31 July 1992 at 9:48pm): script: Barry Smith; director: Philip Draycott; guest stars: Richard ToddRichard ToddRichard Todd OBE was an Irish-born British stage and film actor and soldier.-Early life:Richard Todd was born as Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd in Dublin, Ireland. His father, Andrew William Palethorpe Todd, was an Irish physician and an international Irish rugby player who gained three caps for...
, Anita CareyAnita CareyAnita Carey is an English actress, best known for playing Joyce Smedley in Coronation Street and more recently for playing Vivien March in Doctors. Carey has had starring roles in British television dramas since the 1970s.-Career:...
, Colin McFarlaneColin McFarlaneColin McFarlane is an English actor and voice artist. He has appeared in several TV series, including The Fast Show, Judge John Deed, Jonathan Creek, Randall & Hopkirk , Jeeves and Wooster, Black Books and The Thin Blue Line. He is also known for portraying Police Commissioner Gillian B...
- A Bone to Pick (broadcast 7 August 1992 at 9:47pm): script: Tom Needham; director: Peter Rose; guest stars: Tony RobinsonTony RobinsonTony Robinson is an English actor, comedian, author, broadcaster and political campaigner. He is best known for playing Baldrick in the BBC television series Blackadder, and for hosting Channel 4 programmes such as Time Team and The Worst Jobs in History. Robinson is a member of the Labour Party...
, Hywel BennettHywel BennettHywel Thomas Bennett is a Welsh film and television actor. Bennett is best known for his recurring title role as James Shelley in the television sitcom Shelley from 1979 to 1984 and its sequel The Return of Shelley from 1988 to 1992....
, Debbie ArnoldDebbie ArnoldJeanette Debbie Arnold is an English actress and voice artiste. She is best known for her work on British television, although she is also a veteran stage actress. She is one of the top voiceover artistes in England.-Career:Arnold was born into showbusiness...
, Richard ColemanRichard ColemanRichard Coleman was a British television and stage actor.-Early life:He was born Ronald Coleman in Peckham, London in 1930. Coleman was awarded the Leverhulme Scholarship to RADA in 1951, and graduated in 1953 with the Principal’s Medal...
- A Torch for Silverado (broadcast 14 August 1992 at 9:33pm): script: Tim Aspinall; director: Peter Rose; guest stars: Jon PertweeJon PertweeJohn Devon Roland Pertwee , was an English actor. Pertwee is best known for his role in the BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, in which he played the third incarnation of the Doctor from 1970 to 1974, and as the title character in the series Worzel Gummidge...
, Bernard HorsfallBernard HorsfallBernard Horsfall is a British actor.Horsfall was born in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire. He has appeared in many television and film roles including: Guns at Batasi , On Her Majesty's Secret Service , Enemy at the Door , Gandhi , The Jewel in the Crown , The Hound of the Baskervilles Bernard...
, John BluthalJohn BluthalJohn Bluthal is a Polish-born British film and television actor, mostly in comedy. He is best known for his work with Spike Milligan and for his roles in the television series Never Mind the Quality Feel the Width and The Vicar of Dibley.-Early life:Bluthal was born in Galicia, Poland, of Jewish...
, Paddie O'NeilPaddie O'NeilPaddie O'Neil OBE was a British actress and singer.-Filmography:* Penny Points to Paradise * The Early Bird * The Adding Machine * Fanny Hill -External links:***...
- A Dream of Dracula (broadcast 21 August 1992 at 9:35pm): script: Bennett Byron Sims; director: Philip Draycott; guest stars: Julian ClaryJulian ClaryJulian Peter McDonald Clary is an English comedian and novelist, known for his deliberately stereotypical camp style, with a heavy reliance on innuendo and double entendre.-Early life and education:...
, Ronald FraserRonald FraserRonald Fraser was an English character actor, who appeared in numerous British films of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s whilst also appearing in many popular TV shows.-Background:...
, Jill GascoineJill GascoineJill Gascoine is a British actress and novelist. She is most widely known for her role as Detective Inspector Maggie Forbes in the 1980s television series The Gentle Touch and its spin-off series C.A.T.S. Eyes...
, Alfred MarksAlfred MarksAlfred Edward Marks OBE was a comic actor and comedian.-Biography:Marks was born as Ruchel Kutchinsky in Holborn, London. He left Bell Lane School at 14 and started in entertainment at the Windmill Theatre. He then served in the RAF as a Flight Sergeant in the Middle East where he arranged...
, Peggy MountPeggy MountMargaret Rose "Peggy" Mount OBE, was an English actress of stage and screen. She was perhaps best known for playing battleaxe characters, though her real personality was said to have been far removed from such roles. She was also well-known for her distinctive voice.- Early life :Mount was born in...
- Dreams Imagic (broadcast 28 August 1992 at 9:32pm): script: Harry Roberston; director: Peter Rose; guest stars: Sean PertweeSean PertweeSean Pertwee is an English actor known for his television, film and voice-over work.-Career:In the early 80s, he auditioned for a place at the Surrey County Youth Theatre where he was cast as Captain Fitzpatrick in the play Tom Jones, based on the novel by Henry Fielding...
, Tim PreeceTim PreeceTim Preece is an English actor, prominent in 1970s television.He played the politically correct Tom Patterson in two series of The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin and The Legacy Of Reginald Perrin and also had a role in Doctor Who in 1973...
Critical reaction
On the whole, the series received a lukewarm critical response with Lynne TrussLynne Truss
Lynne Truss is an English writer and journalist, best known for her popular book Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation.-Early life:...
in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
summing it up as “The Avengers re-written by someone who heard about it once but never actually saw it”. Another commentator, who, on balance, judged the series a failure, described it as being pitched "uncomfortabl[y] somewhere between the camp
Camp (style)
Camp is an aesthetic sensibility that regards something as appealing because of its taste and ironic value. The concept is closely related to kitsch, and things with camp appeal may also be described as being "cheesy"...
of The Avengers and the dark fantasy of The X-Files
The X-Files
The X-Files is an American science fiction television series and a part of The X-Files franchise, created by screenwriter Chris Carter. The program originally aired from to . The show was a hit for the Fox network, and its characters and slogans became popular culture touchstones in the 1990s...
", although the latter highly-acclaimed American science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
series post-dates Virtual Murder by over a year. Others have blamed the summer evening scheduling for jeopardising its chances of success.
Ratings fell from 6.53 million for the opening episode to 4.9 million for the fourth episode and the series was not renewed for a second season. Virtual Murder is well regarded in some quarters: for example, the eminent television historian Andrew Pixley, recalling the show in 2002, wrote, “Finally, I thought, somebody had been brave enough to craft a modern thriller which, while captured on videotape, boasted all the style, fun and imagination of the great British film series of the 1960s such as The Avengers and Department S
Department S
Department S is a United Kingdom spy-fi adventure series produced by ITC Entertainment. The series consists of 28 episodes which originally aired in 1969–1970. It starred Peter Wyngarde as author Jason King , Joel Fabiani as Stewart Sullivan, and Rosemary Nicols as computer expert Annabelle Hurst...
”. However, the series remains largely forgotten today and, as of late 2010, has never been repeated, nor released in any video
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
format.