When various trustees of the Van Traylen Orphanage begin dying in close order, it's at first written off as a coincidence. But, when a school bus accident very nearly takes out three more of them along with a group of orphans, Col. Bingham and his pathologist friend, Mark, begin looking into the deaths. They come to think the answer lies with one of the girls on the bus, who has vivid memories of things she could not possibly have seen.
Christopher Lee
Col. Charles Bingham
Peter Cushing
Sir Mark Ashley
Diana Dors
Anna Harb
Georgia Brown
Joan Foster
Keith Barron
Dr. Haynes
Gwyneth Strong
Mary Valley
Fulton Mackay
Cameron
Michael Gambon
Insp. Grant
Duncan Lamont
Dr. Knight
Kathleen Byron
Dr. Rose
John Robinson
Lord Fawnlee
Morris Perry
Dr Yeats
Shelagh Fraser
Mrs Alison
Andrew McCulloch
Malcolm
Paul Humpoletz
Angus
Stanley Lebor
Policeman
Beatrice Kane
Helen Van Traylen
Janet Bruce
Naureen Stokes
Geoffrey Denton
Paul Anderson
Director
Peter Sasdy
Novel
John Blackburn
Screenplay
Brian Hayles
May 27, 2023
5
Christopher Lee ("Col. Bingham") is the retired policeman who recruits the help of renowned pathologist "Sir Mark Ashton" (Peter Cushing) to help out when the trustees of a children's charity start to dying in what, he thinks, are mysterious circumstances. It all starts with a bus crash that left charred remains when there was no fire, and ends up on a remote Scottish island where perhaps even the children at at risk. There's a great deal of over-acting here - especially from Diana Dors as the mother of one of the children "Mary"; and from a young Gwyneth Strong as that very child. Fulton Mackay is really miscast as the chief constable - a man who seems to hold that rank whilst having only about twenty officers and a few dogs; and Georgia Brown's "Miss Foster" investigative journalist role seemed uncertain as to quite what her point in the story was. It is great to see Cushing and Lee together, but neither are on much form here and the whole thing really does lurch, quite absurdly at times, along for 90 minutes. Pretty mediocre television fayre, this.
Status:
Released
Original Language:
English
Budget:
$0.00
Revenue:
$0.00