A fortune in stolen jewels, a devious plot to recover them and some equally devious and ruthless participants. Armchair Thriller ends its second series as RICHARD PHILLIPS-JONES looks at The Circe Complex
BROADCAST: In six parts 25 March-10 April 1980
STARRING: Beth Morris (Val Foreman), Trevor Martin (Tom Foreman), Alan David (Ollie Milton), Michael Deeks (Cat Devlin), James Hazeldine (Dave), Derek Ware (O’Brady), Geoffrey Colvile (Prison governor), Maggie Wilkinson (Miss Davis), Eric Francis (Mr Evans), Marc Boyle (First policeman), Gareth Forwood (Dr Crampton), Jestyn Phillips (Second policeman), Tony Scannell (Connally)
WRITER: David Hopkins (from a novel by Desmond Cory)
DIRECTOR: Robert D. Cardona
Armchair Thriller: The Circe Complex Review
Tom Forman is serving life in prison for killing a police officer. He’s also the only person who knows where £400,000 worth of jewels are hidden.
Tom’s wife is Val, a devious sort who is all too happy to manipulate men to her own ends. Hoping to find out where the jewels are hidden, she ropes in her current paramour, psychiatrist Ollie Milton.
Under the ruse of giving Tom psychiatric support, Milton contrives a plan to break Tom out by having him sent to hospital with a self-inflicted injury. He also enlists ex-con Cat Devlin to help, but Cat is soon having a fling with Val.
The escape plan triggered, Tom is hidden in a remote cottage and Milton uses his professional skills to unethical ends, trying to get the required information from the clearly unwell Tom, who dies after giving one mysterious clue:
“Want some bread. Palace gates. Piece of cake.”
Milton frames Cat for Tom’s murder, sending events on a whole new trajectory as Cat protests his innocence with such conviction that the investigating officer starts to take him seriously, Val uses her cunning to rope in another accomplice and a jealous Milton drives himself to the edge of sanity trying to decipher the riddle….
So… On the one hand, anyone hoping for a return to horror-esque weirdness for the final Armchair Thriller might have been disappointed.
Scrape below the surface, however, and The Circe Complex saw the series back at the top of its game, focusing on the very real-life horrors of the worst attributes of humanity, a vein which had been brilliantly tapped in series one’s A Dog’s Ransom.
If it wasn’t quite as dark a journey into human transgressions as that story, The Circe Complex could still boast qualities sorely lacking in some more recent entries: consistency, tight plotting, plenty of momentum and some crazy, entertaining twists and turns, leading to a denouement which threatens to start the whole saga off again, back where it began, like a gordian knot of a puzzle.
Thames were often inclined to shoot in and around London but here they headed out of their home patch to Cardiff, making good use of the source novel’s locale and the action is tightly handled by Thriller alumni Robert D. Cardona.
Lead performances are a series highlight: Alan David charts Ollie’s journey from criminal brainbox through lovesick wreck to, finally, the man who holds the balance of power in the closing moments. Beth Morris, meanwhile, gives a convincing turn as the manipulative Val, who might seem like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth at first glance, but soon has the male principal cast wrapped around her finger, bringing out the very worst in them in the process.
Every single criticism that might have been levelled at series two opener The Victim is addressed in spades in The Circe Complex and, had it opened series two, we can only ponder on whether the show’s fortunes might have been different. Still, as a parting shot it was a fine and respectable way for Armchair Thriller to bow out.
Except… that wasn’t quite the end of the story…
TRIVIA POINTS: Alan David (still active at the time of writing) has been incredibly prolific over a 50+ year career, but was probably best know at the time as Harry in Eric Chappell’s ATV sitcom, The Squirrels (1974-77).
That cryptic title, explained at the end of the final episode, refers to an enchantress in Greek mythology – read more on Circe here.
FOOTNOTE: And so, Armchair Thriller ended its second, very mixed bag of a run. There would not be a third – it may have been that the considerably lower ratings for series two discouraged Thames from committing further.
Additionally, with Andrew Brown no longer working for the company, the show’s creator was no longer there to fight its corner. If his new bosses at Southern Television had any ambitions of taking on the show, or a new programme with a similar format, they would soon no longer be in any position to do so.
I’ll explain why next time, for Armchair Thriller had a loose end to be taken care of, one which would finally appear on screens some 20 months later…
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Read our Armchair Thriller Episode Guide: 1978-81 Anthology Series
