User Reviews

I will try hard not to spoil any of the surprises Patricia Highsmith springs on you in this dark story, but you have to appreciate that her view of the world we live in is badly skewed from the standpoint of most folks. You really can't trust any one or any of the institutions supposedly created to protect us. Briefly, a psychopathic Polish émigré is bitterly envious and resentful of a contented couple he knows of. To harass them, he kidnaps their pet poodle "Tina" and demands a small ransom. When that is paid, he demands another and gets it. I hardly need say that "Tina" is never returned. Not content with that harassment, the fellow continues with some really loathsome tricks, which the police refuse to investigate. After all, it all started over a dog, so who cares, eh? One rookie policeman, though, does attempt to investigate and identify the culprit. The only real result of this is that he is suspended as a police constable, and his girl friend does "kick him out". This is only the minor tragedy though, there is worse to come, but I think I have told you enough. You won't like what Highsmith relates, but it's difficult to break away from her.

This is a well produced episode of the "Armchair Thriller" TV series with a convincing cast and good production values. The director has not softened the harshness of the story one bit. Unlike another Patricia Highsmith novel, "Strangers on a Train", brought to the screen filtered through Alfred Hitchcock, in this one Highsmith is given you undiluted. The actor playing a senior detective who resents the rookie, really knows how to be totally revolting! He's a man you learn to "love to hate" quickly. Likewise, the actor limning the rookie treads the line skilfully between looking like he might really be "girlie", but at the same time actually being very manly. Don't go out for popcorn or to fill up your glass. You might miss something really dreadful!

I can remember this vividly from seeing it on its first broadcast, when I was 12 - so I grabbed Network DVD's new release of the series when I saw it in a bargain bin in Soho. The series certainly lives up to my remembrance.

It begins with as high-concept an inciting incident as you could imagine - a middle class couple have been receiving poison pen letters, and now the letter-writer dognaps their beloved poodle. The police are too busy to investigate but a fresh-faced young Oxbridge graduate constable steps in to help them, carrying out his own investigation and discovering that the kidnapper is a mean-spirited old Pole with a Winston Churchill fetish. The plot thickens and thickens, with the dog, the dognapper and the investigating constable all meeting their demise by the final episode. In the process, what has been uncovered by the series is a 70s Britain riven by class resentments, sexual politics, violence, homophobia and racism.

It's almost impossible to get one's head around the fact that this stuff was going out pre-watershed to millions of viewers. It's subversive, intelligent writing full of witty dialogue, complex characters and nasty incidents (s**t disguised as chocolate; football thuggery; creepy sexual stalking by officers of the law). I haven't read the Highsmith novel the piece derives from (that was set in New York) but this displays her usual caustic view of a society and its citizens flailing about in an existential no man's land.

The direction, editing and acting are a bit stiff, formal, slow and dated for today's taste - but in terms of ambition and scope not to mention intellectual content, A Dog's Ransom leaves nearly everything on British TV today in the shade (and it was made not by the BBC but by a commercial channel). Bring back real writers like John Bowen on TV!

I have very early memories of A Dog's Ransom and recall it was one of the best Armchair Thrillers.

I remember all the frustration when the couple was trying to go along with the ransom and the dog was already dead. Tina, the much loved white poodle, was floating in the river.

Its great to see the older programmes as they have a twist at the end. It was certainly a good ending for some anyway!

I have just watched it, and its as good today as almost 30 years ago! If anyone has any other Armchair Thrillers, I would love to see them!

I can remember basically all of the ARMCHAIR THRILLER shows produced , some more than others though I often can`t remember plot details . Perhaps that less than five people have voted on A DOG`S RANSOM and I am the first person to comment on it shows how unregarded it is

!!!! SPOILERS !!!!

This starts with someone getting their dog stolen and recieving a ransom note along the lines of " Give me money or I`ll sell your doggie to a South Korean gourmet chef " . The police are informed and a young PC is assinged to the case . Good job there wasn`t any human beings kidnapped because the police would be far too busy to do anything . As the story continues it`s revealed that a Polish immigrant is the kidnapper who is later murdered . He is actually murdered by a CID officer who at the end of the story kills the young PC in order to cover up the crime . How all this ties up I can`t remember

There is a very memorable scene in this very unmemorable thriller where two girls receive a pakage through the post .

" Yum . Chocolates " drools one as she opens the package that is addressed to her friend . She opens one of the chocolates , pops it into her mouth then suddenly gives a shocked expression

" What`s wrong ? " her friend asks

" It`s not chocolates "

" Then what is it ? " as she takes the box of chocolates and examines them " AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGHHHHH " She throws the box away as she finally realises that the box of chocolates addressed to her are composed of these things that come out of dogs bottoms and are very common on street pavements

"A Dog's Ransom" made such an impression on me when I viewed it as a young person, that it has only been in the last 10 years that I realised Patricia Highsmith was an American author. She wrote the book in the early 70s when critics were not praising everything she did and the reviews were mixed. The book was a scathing attack on the Nixon era, was very anti-establishment and had a typical explosive Highsmith ending (it actually reminded me, in an odd way of "The Blunderer"). It was set among the high society and the high livers in New York and contained a lot more violence than the TV series - the way Tina was killed, a subplot involving the couple's murdered daughter, even the wife Greta, was not the passive tea drinker of the show but attended political rallies etc.

By setting the series in England, it changed the dynamics of the story - even though it was supposed to be the city, the show had a distinct, country air to it. Edward and Gina have been receiving poison pen letters. When their little dog, Tina, goes missing they visit the police and are almost laughed out of the station by a very insensitive constable, who informs them that the police have real crime to solve (although the amount of time he spends standing moodily around and wandering London, it doesn't look like it)!!!

A young policeman Clarence Duhamel, observes the way they are treated. He has been educated at Cambridge and for three years has been on the receiving end of some appalling bullying (being called "girlie", questioned about his sexual preferences) by this same thuggish constable. He sees the couple as "the right sort of people" and on his own time, starts to investigate the dog's disappearance. His girlfriend works for the social services and she recognises the work of the poison pen letter writer instantly - he is a Polish refugee, a compulsive letter writer and a real troublemaker. Clarence goes to see him, to try to reason with him - big mistake, people like that cannot be reasoned with. Gina, the wife, comments during the show that Clarence is a real innocent and shouldn't even be in the police force - how right she is!!!

Events escalate from this small crime. Clarence is just too young and inexperienced to handle things on his own. The letter writer is extremely evil and as Clarence negotiates the ransom, things go completely wrong and the dog is killed. I watched it in one sitting and while the first 3 episodes were exciting and well paced, episodes 4 and 5 bogged down a bit, too much time was spent in police interviews, there were even a pair of investigators from Scotland Yard who must have been put in for comic relief. Although if you were watching it as it was meant to be watched, one half hour episode a week, you would have been eagerly awaiting each episode I think. Episode 6 bought the series to a shocking conclusion in a typical Patricia Highsmith fashion.

Highly, Highly Recommended.

A DOG'S RANSOM is a six-episode instalment of the ARMCHAIR THRILLER television series, with a self-explanatory title. A normal middle-aged couple have their poodle kidnapped in the local park and before long receive a ransom note demanding cash in return for the pooch's return. Things don't go according to plan, however. The source material is Patricia Highsmith, which is all well and good, but the execution here is strictly pedestrian. As expected this is a low budget, dialogue-heavy outing which fails to build any real suspense from the premise despite various twists and turns. The young, idealistic policeman is the closest we get to a hero, but he's singularly uncharismatic and way too much time is made up of endless padding concerning his relationship with his girlfriend. It all feels rather tired, and something of a chore to sit through.