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Murder, She Wrote: Sing a Song of Murder (1985)
In the "So bad it's good" category
I've only been watching this series during lockdown, recorded them all on series link from 5usa in the UK, just as something to watch now & again and obviously has the same creators as Columbo which I adore. Columbo has a similarly awful episode (Dagger Of The Mind), but even that can't match this!!
This is the only Murder She Wrote I won't delete so far.
It is toe curlingly awful, the sets are utterly ridiculous, clearly filmed in California (with St Paul's cathedral and/or Big Ben superimposed onto the background) , the accents from American actors are just bizarre!! If you knew you had an acting gig on a prime time or successful TV show you, reading this, could do a better job, it couldn't be worse!
It was quite a good idea to have Angela Lansbury play two roles, but even though she's from the UK she gets pronunciation wrong with one of the characters, it's just not consistent, though I admit she is a good actress and pulls it off pretty well.
Lansbury plays Emma & obviously Mrs Fletcher, I finally laughed out loud with the line "your resemblance to Emma is remarkable, almost frightening"
It has to seen to be believed.
Even good old Patrick Macnee tries to do some silly Irish/Scottish/Cockney/northern accent (I don't know what on earth it is!) he clearly isn't comfortable with & fails miserably
Pretty average mystery, it's ok.
Have to give it 2/10, for UK viewers probably 8/10 just for the absurdity of it!
The Mad Death (1983)
Good mini series, but ultimately disappointing
3 part mini series produced by BBC Scotland & broadcast in 1983
The first part of this series is probably the part viewers in the UK remember, it's genuinely chilling and really extremely good, I was surprised it was a 12 rating, there are some quite uncomfortable scenes, brilliantly acted by Ed Bishop and part one is 9/10.
Unfortunately, parts 2&3 descend into standard drama and by part 3 you have to remind yourself that Rabies is even the subject of the series.
This could easily have been a six part series, for all I know it could have been originally, it feels as though there are 2 or 3 episodes missing, and they could have explored a Rabies outbreak much further, especially given they wasted budget (IMO) on helicopter shots in part 3 that don't really add anything, it seems a wasted opportunity.
It feels as though the first part was written, but they ran out of ideas, who knows!?
Anyway, all in all, although I've been pretty negative, this is worth a revisit, it's not bad by any means, and at 3hrs a good evenings entertainment.
if you're of a certain age or even if it's new to you it's worth watching, especially for part 1
Pt1 9/10
Pt2 7/10
Pt3 6/10
7/10 overall