My copy of this episode lists the title as 'One On An Island'. Where the desert came from I have no idea. Possibly it was used on different prints.
It was based on a story by Donald E.Westlake, who as 'Richard Stark' wrote the classic crime novel 'Point Blank' and its numerous sequels.
Brandon De Wilde is 'Alec Worthing', a banker who uses his inheritance to buy a boat, which he names 'The Victoria', in honour of his dead mother. He intends travelling the world.
During a gale, the boat is wrecked, marooning him on a tropical island, whose only other inhabitants appear to be goats. With no hope of rescue, Alec grows used to his new home, but experiences agonising loneliness.
One day, he sees a beautiful girl stepping out of the sea. She is called Vicki, the sole survivor of a ship wreck. Alec and Vicki become lovers.
But a serpent enters this Eden in the shape of 'Joe', a pilot washed ashore in a dinghy. Alec worries that Vicki will be attracted to him. Keeping her out of sight, he murders the interloper and conceals the body...
Like 'Eve', this is also about a loser who seeks refuge in a fantasy world. When it transpires that Vicki has the same name as Alec's late mother, I thought for one moment she was going to turn out to be a reincarnation, in which case an element of incest would have arisen, definitely unsuitable for 1969 television audiences. Thankfully that's not the case.
Suzanna Leigh is the gorgeous 'Vicki'; among her other credits are the Bulldog Drummond adventure 'Deadlier than The Male' from 1966. David Bauer, cast as 'Uncle George', cropped up an awful lot in I.T.C. shows such as 'The Saint' and 'The Prisoner'.
I have no idea where it was filmed, but it looks like they used a real island, and wisely did not try to mock up the whole thing in a studio. De Wilde, best remembered for his role as 'Joey Starrett' in 'Shane' in 1953, died in a road accident two years after this was made.
It was based on a story by Donald E.Westlake, who as 'Richard Stark' wrote the classic crime novel 'Point Blank' and its numerous sequels.
Brandon De Wilde is 'Alec Worthing', a banker who uses his inheritance to buy a boat, which he names 'The Victoria', in honour of his dead mother. He intends travelling the world.
During a gale, the boat is wrecked, marooning him on a tropical island, whose only other inhabitants appear to be goats. With no hope of rescue, Alec grows used to his new home, but experiences agonising loneliness.
One day, he sees a beautiful girl stepping out of the sea. She is called Vicki, the sole survivor of a ship wreck. Alec and Vicki become lovers.
But a serpent enters this Eden in the shape of 'Joe', a pilot washed ashore in a dinghy. Alec worries that Vicki will be attracted to him. Keeping her out of sight, he murders the interloper and conceals the body...
Like 'Eve', this is also about a loser who seeks refuge in a fantasy world. When it transpires that Vicki has the same name as Alec's late mother, I thought for one moment she was going to turn out to be a reincarnation, in which case an element of incest would have arisen, definitely unsuitable for 1969 television audiences. Thankfully that's not the case.
Suzanna Leigh is the gorgeous 'Vicki'; among her other credits are the Bulldog Drummond adventure 'Deadlier than The Male' from 1966. David Bauer, cast as 'Uncle George', cropped up an awful lot in I.T.C. shows such as 'The Saint' and 'The Prisoner'.
I have no idea where it was filmed, but it looks like they used a real island, and wisely did not try to mock up the whole thing in a studio. De Wilde, best remembered for his role as 'Joey Starrett' in 'Shane' in 1953, died in a road accident two years after this was made.
