An anthology of multi-part suspense serials which revived the tradition of the television thriller for a new generation.
As an offshoot of the celebrated Armchair Theatre play strand, this anthology series presented eleven self-contained serials, each broadcast in twice-weekly, half-hour episodes. The stories typically followed ordinary individuals caught in conspiracies and life-threatening situations far beyond their control. Narratives included the political tensions of A Dog’s Ransom, a tense psychological drama in a convent in Quiet as a Nun which introduced investigative journalist Jemima Shore (Maria Aitken), and the Francis Durbridge-esque The Limbo Connection. The format allowed for the gradual building of suspense, using cliffhanger endings to ensure audience retention across the week.
Armchair Thriller is defined by its commitment to sustained, slow-burn dread. A deliberate move away from the single-play format, its multi-episode structure gave it a novelistic quality that was rare in television suspense of the period. Its identity was cemented by a memorably unsettling title sequence: a shadowy figure approaches a dust-sheeted chair, accompanied by an eerie, sax-led theme from Roxy Music’s Andy Mackay. The programme’s success was significant, leading directly to a spin-off series, Jemima Shore Investigates. A final serial, The Chelsea Murders, was completed for the series but remained unscreened, eventually being broadcast in 1981 as a heavily edited, single feature-length programme. A later DVD box set restored The Chelsea Murders to it’s original six part length.
Broadcast: ITV – Thames/Southern, 54 Episodes, 21 February 1978 – 10 April 1980
Creator: Andrew Brown
Script Editor: Robert Banks Stewart
Producers: Andrew Brown, Jacqueline Davis, Brenda Ennis
Theme Music: Andy Mackay
Main Cast: James Bolam, Maria Aitken, Ian McKellen, Denis Lawson, Cherie Lunghi, Ian McShane, James Grout, Patricia Hodge, Larry Lamb, Beth Morris
