"Suspect" is a 1961 Australian television play. It was originally made for HSV-7 then presented as part of the ''

General Motors Hour ''The General Motors Hour'' was an Australian radio and television drama series. Radio The radio series was a regular one hour drama broadcast over the Macquarie Radio Network at 8 pm on Thursays. It is believed to have commenced in the late 1940 ...

'' It was produced by Peter Cotes, who had made '' Long Distance''. Cotes adapted the play ''Suspect'' by

Edward Percy Edward Percy Smith (5 January 1891 – 25 May 1968) was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom and a playwright under the name Edward Percy. Biography Born in Wandsworth, London, he was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for ...

and Reginald Denham which was based on the Sandyford murder case.

Plot

The son of Mrs Smith (née Maggie Wishart) is about to marry a doctor's daughter. A press baron, Sir Hugo, arrives who thirty years ago covered a trial where Maggie cut up her mother and father with an axe. Maggie claims she's innocent... but is she telling the truth?

Cast

*Joan Miller as Mrs Smith *Kenneth Burgess as Rev. Alfred Combermere *Moira Carleton as Goodie McIntire * Michael Duffield- as Dr. Rendle * Patsy King as Janet *Clement McCallin as Sir Hugo *

Fred Parslow Frederick Henry Parslow (14 August 1932 – 26 January 2017) was an Australian actor, who appeared in film, television and theatre. Acting career Parslow was notable in several film and TV roles, with parts in internationally successful TV so ...

as Robert * Bettina Welchas Lady Const

Production

The play had been adapted for US TV in 1948 and 1952 and for British TV in 1939, 1946 and 1958. The show starred Cotes' wife, Joan Miller, who had performed in the play on British TV for the BBC in 1958. It was one of four productions Cotes made in Australia, the others being ''Long Distance'', ''Candida'', and ''Shadow of the Vine''. He said he would have made more but for the credit freeze, which was blamed for a failure to find sponsors. While ''Long Distance'' was shown while Cotes was in Australia, they other three were not broadcast until months later.

Reception

The ''Bulletin'' called it "lunacy... most of the cast borrowed their dramatics from a time when over acting for the silents set the universal style... a fusty, trivial play. Condemnation must extend to those who accepted it as suitable for television, billed it as a thriller, designed a set that dominated most of the action, and made this worse by camera work that frequently gave the setting nine-tenths of the picture.". ''The Age'' said it "commanded attention."

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, episode 1960s Australian television plays 1961 television plays 1962 Australian television episodes The General Motors Hour