Alan Briscoe

Series 6 is still good but could have been rather better. It's not uncommon though for long-running shows to tail off a little towards the end. It's all relative and it only seems below par compared to its very fine predecessors.

I think there's almost some element of tiredness with Series 6. It was made very quickly after Series 5 & may have benefitted from more of a break to sharpen up story ideas. Perhaps it would have helped if other scriptwriters had contributed on some episodes so the onus was less on Brian Clemens...

Which series of ATV's Thriller are most popular or least popular with viewers? These results are based on IMDb ratings. Probably not a big surprise that Series 3 is easily the best-rated. Series 6 is lowest, maybe reflecting some changes in style & some more low-key stories.

"Possession", "Someone" & "One Deadly Owner" would all be in my ultimate Thrillers but you're right that the supernaturals generally aren't as highly rated. As you once mentioned they don't offer much room for twists & supernaturals always run the risk of seeming too outlandish for some viewers.

"Death To Sister Mary" is a big favourite of mine and would be well into my top half. "Kill Two Birds" would also be much higher for me but maybe its unconventional approach and focus on professional villains - not unlike those seen in shows like "The Sweeney" - has held it back for other viewers.

The viewer ratings for the 43 episodes of ATV series Thriller. It's always interesting to see how these compare to our own opinions - probably broadly similar but with us rating some much higher or lower. "Coffin for the Bride" is clearly in top place with "K Is for Killing" bottom.

Ray Brooks again on voiceover duties. Another motoring PIF filmed in and around Buckinghamshire. The "near miss" outcome is an interesting strategy, much more familar to motorists in real life and often encouraging them to drive more safely.

Keith Barron was very good at a highly authoritative voiceover - "put a grid on it!"

One of the most memorable stories but the show was consistently excellent and frequently very provocative. Two other unusual aspects are that later in the story the young defendant is put under hypnosis by a psychiatrist in the presence of the judge and barristers who have set aside their wigs.

Good detective work! Surprising he wasn't credited given he actually appeared on screen and wasn't just heard, certainly more deserving of a credit than Harold Bennett who wasn't seen or heard at all!

It's good that more people will get a chance to see this. It's an episode I hugely admire and a contender for my favourite Thriller. It shows the virtues of "less is more" with a small central cast and all the action inside the house. Many great performances and superbly unsettling.

I've not seen this before. It's easy to think that all the public information films were on the "Charley Says" DVDs from Network but there seem to be plenty that weren't released. It would have great if there had been more volumes as PIFs are such captivating viewing.

One of the notable features of the Jason King TV series (1971-1972) were the mock-up novels written by Jason about his fictional detective "Mark Caine" and which regularly featured in episodes.

Headed notepaper showing the Hereford address of the Bourne family featured in ATV drama "The Cedar Tree" (1976-1978). ATV shows occasionally referred to less well known parts of the region although in this case I'm not sure there was any filming in the Hereford area or anywhere beyond the studio.

With regard to that episode I only noticed recently that Annette Woollett who plays "Wendy Two" has five double letters in her name! Surely some kind of record, maybe her parents chose "Annette" as her first name for that very reason!

Actress Wendy Gifford in Crown Court in 1972. Wendy appeared in many shows but ATV's Thriller was not one of them. Despite this I can't shake off the idea she appeared in the episode "Good Salary - Prospects - Free Coffin", probably because it features characters called Wendy & one called Gifford!

It's always interesting to see pictures - especially in colour - from wiped episodes. These are from "The Old Folks at Home" (August 1973) from Series 1 of ATV police drama Hunters Walk. Actor Ken Jones was best known for his comic roles but like many comic actors acquitted himself well in drama.

Article extract from June 1974 about Mark McManus. Now best remembered as Scottish detective Taggart it's easy to overlook the variety of roles & accents he employed with great aplomb early in his career. In this extract he offers some fascinating thoughts on work, class and politics....

Border had one of the oddest examples of scheduling. After episode 2 (Exposed) showed Paul Foster joining SHADO in episode 3 he was trying to kill the man who appointed him! Kill Straker was produced much later than Exposed and should be shown much further in the run.

Border took the second longest to screen all 26 episodes of UFO; Tyne Tees though took even longer, also starting in September 1970 but not finishing until June 1975.

Border TV was the joint first channel to start showing Gerry Anderson's UFO in September 1970. After a strong start though screenings became more sporadic with a few new episodes mixed with repeats. It didn't complete a first run until May 1975, almost 5 years after starting.

One of the most memorable 1970s PIFs, Ray Brooks again on narration duties.

Malcolm Terris and James Bate appearing in the last episode of the 1972 Granada TV serial "The Intruder". By coincidence both appeared as detectives in episodes of ATV's Thriller. Both were also originally from the North East (Sunderland & Whitley Bay respectively).

Anthony Ainley & Geoffrey Beevers in a 1976 episode of prison drama Within These Walls alongside regulars Mona Bruce & Sonia Graham. Both actors later played incarnations of The Master in Doctor Who. Anthony was playing an MP here & described himself as "the Shadow Minister for Organised Chaos"!

That's also a bugbear of mine, less of an issue if the details are on the back cover of the DVD case but very often they're on an inner sleeve in small typeface or buried in a booklet when it would be much clearer to have them printed on the disc.

Special effects were not generally a strength of Thames' 1970 science fiction series The Tomorrow People but it did make some good use of optical effects such as in this colourful, psychedelic image from the 1974 serial "The Blue and the Green".

Yes - Patrick Troughton playing a character impersonating Jason King in the aptly-named episode "That Isn't Me - It's Somebody Else".

There is a clue in the word "Who"...

It's certainly not him and is of someone trying to impersonate him - but who?

Crime-writer, crime-fighter and playboy Jason King - or is it?