DVD Review: Armchair Thriller - A Dog's Ransom (1978)
Rather like the wait for buses, you wait 30 years for an Armchair Thriller - then two come along at once. However, A Dog's Ransom is a very different and much more complex tale than Rachel In Danger.
Based around a novel by Patricia Highsmith, A Dog's Ransom starts off as a fairly unassuming story about Edward and GIna Reynolds' kidnapped poodle. The dog is presumed lost, but letters start to arrive demanding money for its safe return. After a pay-off (but no dog return), the couple go to the police, who subsequently laugh it off as a minor crime. But one young, Cambridge-educated policeman (Clarence Duhamel, played by Brian Stirner) decides to get involved, visiting the couple (who he sees as 'his kind of people') to find out some details of the 'dognap', before using his girlfriend Marion (Susie Blake) to access social services information to track the culprit down.
All evidence points to a disabled Polish man called Kowajinski. Duhamel tackles him before reporting the crime to his superiors. But there's a sting in the tale - Kowajinski has framed Duhamel for bribery and as Kowajinski regains his freedom on bail, Duhamel finds himself under close investigation by the police force.
And that's not all. Kowajinski is intent on making life difficult for both Duhamel and Marion in the hope of pushing Duhamel over the edge. And when he does, it leaves Duhamel as both hero and villain - and with someone close to home desperate to see him face justice.
A Dog's Ransom is a much longer tale than Rachel In Danger, but it needs to be. There's at least three different stories packed into here, each one developing from the other. In fact, the event that kicked it all off (the loss of the dog) is almost forgotten by the halfway point, replaced in turn by police corruption, a failing relationship, football hooliganism and an ill-fated trip to Habitat.
Some of the tale is a bit far-fetched (coincidence plays a significant role here and I'm still not sure why a policeman is able to wear a uniform when suspended from duty). But that aside, this is TV drama on top of its game, with a strong cast and a tale that's never quite going the way you expect.
Well worth seeking out - and I'm already looking forward to the next in the series.
Extras on the DVD:
None
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