Tommy Carter (played by Peter Reynolds) loves the playboy lifestyle of London's West End, but unfortunately he does not have the money to pay for it and owes money to all and sundry. One evening his girlfriend, Julia Benton (played by Eunice Gayson), suggests he fake his own death by setting his car alight with a body inside, which would be left unidentifiable so they could claim his life insurance, which happens to be in her name. He doesn't appear to take this at all seriously but, on the following morning, Julia gets a call telling her that Tommy has been killed, his car burnt out with his body inside. Only his signet ring has provided any clue to his identity. Has he really done it? Meanwhile, Julia is told by the insurance company that she is due to be paid a substantial sum of money but that the inquest into Tommy's apparent demise has been adjourned for the police to make further enquiries. Meanwhile, it is revealed that Tommy has indeed carried out Julia's scheme. He murdered a tramp, put his body into his car and set it alight. He then fled to Ireland, as she had suggested, and is waiting for her to claim the money and join him there. However, Julia has no intention of meeting him, accepting a proposal from society man George Phillip-Whitcombe (played by Edwin Richfield) instead. It is only a matter of time before Tommy finds out that she has double crossed him since the marriage is announced in the papers. He begins phoning her repeatedly and she tells him that she no longer wants to know him. So he returns to England and he wants the insurance money he committed murder and fraud for believing he would be free of his debts and to begin a new life with her...
Taut half-hour, made-for-TV suspense drama featuring excellent performances from Reynolds who is perfectly cast as the shifty, untrustworthy spiv Tommy; the sort of role he played many times in countless British 'B'-pics. Future James Bond girl Eunice Gayson is also very good as his hard, scheming girlfriend who leads him on to commit murder and fraud before deserting him for another man once she has got what she wanted - the money - but, in the end, both get more than they bargained for. Director David Macdonald stages some tension, like when Julia fears that Tommy is coming back to avenge himself upon her for her betrayal. She phones friends asking if she can come over on the pretext of having a friendly drink or something, but really she just doesn't want to be left alone. She is told it isn't convenient and, finally, she books a room at a hotel. Macdonald makes clever use of sound effects to emphasise the stress and fear that she is feeling by overlaying the sound of a speeding train as she buries her head in her hands in agony before dissolving to a shot of Tommy sitting in a railway compartment on his way back to London to get even with her. Jimmy Wilson's black and white camerawork creates a strong atmosphere enhancing the tiny studio sets, which are also intercut with what was very likely stock footage of places like the Irish countryside. Edwin Astley's music also adds to the production values.
Taut half-hour, made-for-TV suspense drama featuring excellent performances from Reynolds who is perfectly cast as the shifty, untrustworthy spiv Tommy; the sort of role he played many times in countless British 'B'-pics. Future James Bond girl Eunice Gayson is also very good as his hard, scheming girlfriend who leads him on to commit murder and fraud before deserting him for another man once she has got what she wanted - the money - but, in the end, both get more than they bargained for. Director David Macdonald stages some tension, like when Julia fears that Tommy is coming back to avenge himself upon her for her betrayal. She phones friends asking if she can come over on the pretext of having a friendly drink or something, but really she just doesn't want to be left alone. She is told it isn't convenient and, finally, she books a room at a hotel. Macdonald makes clever use of sound effects to emphasise the stress and fear that she is feeling by overlaying the sound of a speeding train as she buries her head in her hands in agony before dissolving to a shot of Tommy sitting in a railway compartment on his way back to London to get even with her. Jimmy Wilson's black and white camerawork creates a strong atmosphere enhancing the tiny studio sets, which are also intercut with what was very likely stock footage of places like the Irish countryside. Edwin Astley's music also adds to the production values.