A man hears a mysterious recording of two people plotting his own murder. RICHARD PHILLIPS-JONES continues series two of his Armchair Thriller episode guide with Dying Day
BROADCAST: In four parts 12-21 February 1980
STARRING: Ian McKellen (Antony Skipling), Maurice Kaufman (1st Interrogator), Prentiss Hancock (2nd Interrogator), David Howey (Foster), David Ryall (Lane), Patrick Malahide (Police Sergeant), Michael Troughton (Police Constable), Anton Phillips (Roger)
WRITER: John Bowen
DIRECTOR: Robert Tronson
Armchair Thriller: Dying Day Review
Antony Skipling is a solitary man, a divorcee whose daily routine consists of his commute by moped-then-train to work in London, back home for dinner and a blast of Mozart’s requiem before bedtime.
The routine gets a shake-up when Skipling meets an eccentric man on the train home, carrying a tape recorder. He insists on playing Skipling his collection of nature sounds captured out in the field and, so engrossed is the man that he almost misses his stop, leaving one of his cassettes behind as he flees into the night.
Skipling pockets the cassette and, curiosity getting the better of him, he plays it when he gets home. It’s not a nature recording, but sounds like a conversation being had in a busy pub, with two unknown people discussing their plans to carry out a murder in just a few days’ time, on February the 28th.
They do name their intended victim, though – one Antony Skipling.
The police are cynical, even more so when a constable agrees to hear the tape at Skipling’s home and the conversation is missing from the recording – only the other ambient pub sounds remain.
If the local constabulary consider Skipling to be unstable, their suspicions are only doubled when the troubled commuter reports that he has seen the eccentric sound recordist again on his way home.
This time, the unfortunate fellow is outside the train, screaming, with blood streaming from his eyes…
And with another nightmare-inducing image under its belt, Armchair Thriller was back on macabre territory – just when it looked like its second series was settling into a decidedly earthbound groove in comparison with its predecessor, along comes this truly bizarre curveball, equal parts Prisoner-esque strangeness and 70’s conspiracy thriller, with some moments of pure absurdism, bordering on the surreal.
Dying Day saw the very welcome return of Robert Tronson in the director’s chair and John Bowen at the typewriter and was further bolstered by securing the services of Ian McKellen, still some years away from mega-stardom and a knighthood but certainly not a stranger to theatregoers.
McKellen certainly has his work cut out for him here with Skipling as the focal point of almost every scene, his descent into paranoia unfolding as he scrabbles around for answers before the fateful date arrives.
Does Skipling have an ally in his former Samaritans’ counsellor, who starts a fling with him whilst remaining unconvinced that he is in any danger? Is Skipling’s ex-wife, working as a nurse for a wealthy, reclusive and somewhat eccentric business tycoon up to something?
Does the conclusion feel like the (eventually revealed) villains have gone to overly convoluted (not to say, far-fetched) lengths to get their desired outcome? Is it all a tad ridiculous, even? Maybe, but frankly it doesn’t matter one jot when it’s this much fun.
Just go along with the ride, and Dying Day is a true high point of Armchair Thriller’s second run.
TRIVIA POINTS: John Bowen’s third and final contribution to Armchair Thriller. He would produce the series Sunday Night Thriller for Thames’ London rival LWT in 1981 and bowed out from a distinguished TV career by co-creating Hetty Wainthrop Investigates (BBC 1996-98) and writing a number of episodes.
Worth noting are the episode titles which recall the weekly movie-serials of earlier days: Mr. Skipling is Sentenced to Death, Mr. Skipling Finds a Friend, Mr. Skipling Fights Back and Mr. Skipling’s Day of Reckoning.
Gwyneth Powell’s second Armchair Thriller appearance, after playing the W.P.C. in series one opener Rachel In Danger. Powell was about to start an 11-year run as head teacher Mrs. McCluskey in Grange Hill.
Patrick Malahide would soon gain a promotion in the police force, becoming Arthur Daley’s frequent irritant, DS Albert Chisholm in Minder (1979-94).
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Read our Armchair Thriller Episode Guide: 1978-81 Anthology Series
