MacManus and sidekick break in again and are caged in the study. When his wife arranges for them to go away he engineers an excuse to stay at home. Peter decides to fit security shutters that completely block off his study room. Ray Smith appears in one of his endless roles as a copper, Sergeant Newman, and advises that at some point the perpetrators will return. The robbery pressures the couple’s relationship, causing arguments, as Peter suspects the burglars acted on inside information. Meanwhile, Mark MacManus, appearing in a role the polar opposite of his signature Taggart (ITV, 1983-), leads a band of thugs that ransacks the Astle’s home. Roger Marshall, who had created the drama series Public Eye (ABC/Thames, 1965-75), wrote the pilot, ‘ Did You Lock Up?‘ (17th June 1970), starring Michael Craig and Gewn Watford as Peter Astle and his wife Moira celebrating an anniversary with a night away from home. There was then a hiatus of two years before another single episode screened in 1973. The series began with a pilot episode in 1970 with a full season of nine one hour episodes following in 1971. It set the tone of what was to follow perfectly. The title sequence evocatively touched upon the interior nature of the stories, evoking a sense of urban isolation and desolation, and together with Roger Webb’s unsettling title music, they formed one of the more memorable credit sequences of the era. This isn’t a dream or nightmare, but the animated title sequence to the Thames anthology series Shadows of Fear offered psychological scares and suspense over eleven episodes between 19. The door opens and we are swallowed by the darkness within… The piano melts away repeating a single sharp note. There is an abrupt cut to a pale blue front door and words appear: Shadows of Fear. We come to a halt and the dummy turns to look directly at us. A small child is smiling at what appears to be an anatomical dummy, the ribs exposed under peeled back skin. There is a person in the window and they look frightened, but we do not stop until we see the next window. Voices, possibly children playing, tumble alongside the piano on the soundscape. The area seems less urban and we pass a lone house and more trees before a closer view of a brick wall and window slides into view. The journey starts again and we pan past another tree, silhouetted underneath are figures waving or signalling to us. Perhaps they are bald with their back to us as we can distinguish no facial features, just a smooth oval.Īs hazy piano stumbles over another chord the image dissolves again leaving the solitary figure in front of a tree and the gable end of a street. It quickly fades to two of the many block windows and we can see what appears to be a solitary figure. We come to a high rise block and the image rushes forward to the building. Faces are reflected in the shop windows screaming out to us for help but we hurry past. Melting, ringing piano chords start to form a woozy tune as the view changes to buildings on a street and we pass a shop front. We are in a cityscape with rows upon rows of crowded streets rushing by. T here is tumbling of strings and piano as an image emerges from the black.
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