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''Virtual Murder'' was an unusual investigative drama series shown on
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
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television in 1992. It starred
Nicholas Clay
Nicholas Anthony Phillip Clay (18 September 1946 – 25 May 2000) was an English actor.
Early life
Clay was born in Streatham, London on 18 September 1946, the son of a professional soldier in the British Army's Royal Engineers. The famil ...
as Dr John Cornelius, a psychology lecturer at a provincial university, and
Kim Thomson
Kim Ellen Thomson (born 30 October 1959) 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 of America.
Early life
Thomson was born on 30 October 1959, altho ...
as his vivacious, ginger partner, Samantha Valentine.
Subject matter and cast
''Virtual Murder'' was in the mould of some earlier off-beat series, such as ''
The Avengers'' and ''
Adam Adamant Lives!
''Adam Adamant Lives!'' is a British adventure television series that ran from 1966 to 1967 on BBC 1, starring Gerald Harper in the title role. The series was created and produced by several alumni from ''Doctor Who''. Proposing that an adventur ...
'', both shown in the 1960s. Like
Steed and
Emma Peel
Emma Peel is a fictional spy played by Diana Rigg in the British 1960s adventure television series '' The Avengers'', and by Uma Thurman in the 1998 film version. She was born Emma Knight, the daughter of an industrialist, Sir John Knight. She ...
or Adam Adamant and
Georgina Jones
Miss Georgina Jones is a fictional character played by Juliet Harmer in the BBC television adventure series, ''Adam Adamant Lives!'' (1966-7).
Genesis of the character
''Adam Adamant'' was created by Richard Harris and Donald Cotton, with signif ...
, 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 Akuwudike as Sergeant Gummer. Complementing the
occult elements and those of
virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), e ...
, 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
Carole Boyd is a British actress. She has had a career in theatre, television, and radio, and plays Lynda Snell MBE in BBC Radio 4's ''The Archers''.
Career
Boyd trained at the Birmingham School of Speech and Drama, where she won the principa ...
, best known for her role as Lynda Snell in BBC radio's ''
The Archers
''The Archers'' is a BBC radio drama on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now promoted as "a contemporary drama in a rural sett ...
'').
Production
The series was created and produced at the BBC's
Pebble Mill
Pebble Mill Studios was the BBC's television studio complex located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, United Kingdom, which served as the headquarters for BBC Birmingham from 1971 until 2004. The nine-acre site was opened by Princess Anne o ...
studios in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
by
Brian Degas
Brian R. Degas (2 October 1935 – 3 April 2020) was an English producer and writer, merchandiser, and creative packager of ancillary rights.
Early career
Degas was born to English parents on 2 October 1935 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. As ...
, a scriptwriter for the film ''
Barbarella'' (1968) and co-creator of the TV series ''
Colditz
Colditz () is a small town in the district of Leipzig, in Saxony, Germany. It is best known for Colditz Castle, the site of the Oflag IV-C POW camp for officers in World War II.
Geography
Colditz is situated in the Leipzig Bay, southeast of the ...
'' (1972), and
Harry Robertson, who is 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'', the original title of the script for what was intended to be the first episode, later renamed as "Dreams Imagic".
[
] As things turned out, "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 six episodes recorded between 12 August 1991 and 28 February 1992 at Studio A in Pebble Mill and on location in Birmingham,
Milton Keynes,
Kidderminster
Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it ha ...
, and
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...
.
All apart from "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 Martin; ''director:'' Philip Draycott; ''guest stars:''
Helen Lederer
Helen Margaret Lederer (born 24 September 1954) is an English comedian, writer and actress who emerged as part of the alternative comedy boom at the beginning of the 1980s. Among her television credits are the BBC2 sketch series ''Naked Video'' ...
,
Bernard Bresslaw,
Julia Foster
Julia Foster (born 2 August 1943) is an English stage, screen, and television actress.
Life and career
Foster was born in Lewes, Sussex. Her first husband was Lionel Morton, once the lead singer with the 1960s pop band The Four Pennies. She is ...
Valuable paintings in art galleries are melting spontaneously, with no evident cause. Cornelius assists the police investigation, and a criminal and his motive are discovered.
* ''Last Train to Hell and Back'' (broadcast 31 July 1992 at 9:48pm): ''script:'' Barry Smith; ''director:'' Philip Draycott; ''guest stars:''
Richard Todd
Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd (11 June 19193 December 2009) was an Irish-British actor known for his leading man roles of the 1950s. He received a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer – Male, and an Academy Award for Best Actor n ...
,
Anita Carey,
Colin McFarlane
Colin Andrew Ignatius Peter McFarlane (born 15 September 1961) is a British actor, narrator and voice actor. He is best known for his role as Gillian B. Loeb in two films of Christopher Nolan's '' The Dark Knight Trilogy'', Ulysses in the STAR ...
Dramatic goings-on on the Empire Steam Preservation Railway, filmed on the
Severn Valley Railway
The Severn Valley Railway is a heritage railway in Shropshire and Worcestershire, England. The heritage line runs along the Severn Valley from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, following the course of the River Severn for much of its route, and c ...
. The opening titles feature the locomotive 6960 Raveningham Hall running at night. In another night-time scene, filmed at Kidderminster, a victim of the villain is about to be run over by a train but escapes in the nick of time.
* ''A Bone to Pick'' (broadcast 7 August 1992 at 9:47pm): ''script:'' Tom Needham; ''director:'' Peter Rose; ''guest stars:''
Tony Robinson
Sir Anthony Robinson (born 15 August 1946) is an English actor, author, broadcaster, comedian, presenter, and political activist. He played Baldrick in the BBC television series ''Blackadder'' and has presented several historical documentarie ...
,
Hywel Bennett
Hywel Thomas Bennett (8 April 1944 – 24 July 2017) was a Welsh film and television actor. He had a lead role in ''The Family Way'' (1966) and played the titular "thinking man's layabout" James Shelley in the television sitcom '' Shelley'' (1 ...
,
Debbie Arnold
Debbie Arnold (born 14 June 1955) is an English actress, producer and voice artist. She is known for her portrayal of April Branning in BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' between 1995 and 1996. Arnold has portrayed regular characters in ''EastEnder ...
,
Richard Coleman
Richard Coleman (20 January 1930 – 16 December 2008) was a British film, television and stage actor.
Early life
Richard Coleman was born Ronald Coleman in Peckham, London in 1930. He was educated at Wilson's Grammar School, Peckham. A ...
* ''A Torch for Silverado'' (broadcast 14 August 1992 at 9:33pm): ''script:'' Tim Aspinall; ''director:'' Peter Rose; ''guest stars:''
Jon Pertwee,
Bernard Horsfall,
John Bluthal
John Bluthal (born Isaac Bluthal; 12 August 1929 – 15 November 2018) was a Polish-born Australian actor and comedian, noted for his six-decade career internationally in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. He started his career ...
,
Paddie O'Neil
* ''A Dream of Dracula'' (broadcast 21 August 1992 at 9:35pm): ''script:'' Bennett Byron Sims; ''director:'' Philip Draycott; ''guest stars:''
Julian Clary
Julian Peter McDonald Clary (born 25 May 1959) is an English actor, comedian, novelist and presenter. He began appearing on television in the mid-1980s. Since then he has also acted in films, television and stage productions, numerous pantomim ...
,
Ronald Fraser,
Jill Gascoine
Jill Viola Gascoine (11 April 1937 – 28 April 2020) was an English actress and novelist. She portrayed Detective Inspector Maggie Forbes in the 1980s television series '' The Gentle Touch'' and its spin-off series '' C.A.T.S. Eyes''. In the ...
,
Alfred Marks
Alfred Edward Marks OBE (born Alfred Edward Touchinsky; 28 January 19211 July 1996) was a British actor and comedian. In his 60-year career, he played dramatic and comedy roles in numerous television programmes, stage shows and films. His self- ...
,
Peggy Mount
Margaret Rose Mount OBE (2 May 1915 – 13 November 2001) was an English actress. As a child, she found acting an escape from an unhappy home life. After playing in amateur productions, she was taken on by a repertory company and spent nine yea ...
* ''Dreams Imagic'' (broadcast 28 August 1992 at 9:32pm): ''script:'' Harry Robertson; ''director:'' Peter Rose; ''guest stars:''
Sean Pertwee
Sean Carl Roland Pertwee''England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007'' (born 4 June 1964) is an English actor, narrator and producer with an extensive career since the 1980s in television and cinema productions.
He is known ...
,
Tim Preece
Tim Preece (born 5 August 1938) is an English actor. He has appeared on British television since the 1960s and also acted on stage.
Early life
Preece was born in Shrewsbury in Shropshire and was educated at the Priory Grammar School for Boys, ...
Critical reaction
On the whole, the series received a lukewarm critical response with
Lynne Truss
Lynne Truss (born 31 May 1955) is an English author, journalist, novelist, and radio broadcaster and dramatist. She is arguably best known for her championing of correctness and aesthetics in the English language, which is the subject of her ...
in ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' 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
somewhere between the
camp
Camp may refer to:
Outdoor accommodation and recreation
* Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site
* a temporary settlement for nomads
* Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...
of ''The Avengers'' and the dark fantasy of ''
The X-Files
''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction drama television series created by Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), who ...
''", although the latter highly acclaimed American
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
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 , has never been repeated, nor released in any
video
Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syst ...
format.
Notes and references
External links
Newton’s Laws of Television
* {{IMDb title, 103577, Virtual Murder
1992 British television series debuts
1992 British television series endings
BBC television dramas
1990s British crime television series
1990s British drama television series
English-language television shows
1990s British mystery television series