The
lowdown: 'Virtual Murder' was broadcast on BBC1
between 24 July and 28 August 1992, with one season of six
episodes. An off-beat mystery/drama
series in the style of The Avengers and Jonathan Creek, it
starred Nicholas Clay
as Dr John Cornelius, a
psychology professor who also acts as consultant on psychological matters
to the local police
force. Cornelius is aided
by Kim Thomson as his personal assistant, Samantha Valentine, with whom
he is romantically
involved. Stephen Yardley
was also a series regular as Inspector Cadogan.
The
episode: 'A Torch for Silverado' was the fourth episode
of the series, and was broadcast on 8 August 1992. It stars
Jon Pertwee as Luis Silverado,
a former brothel owner who establishment, "Silverado's Cabaret", was raided
by the police
and closed down many years
ago. He now works as a chef, a job which gives him little pleasure. Silverado
has a terminal
illness and wants to atone
for his past sins in the weeks he has left to live. He does so by planting
bombs in local brothels,
which he visits on the pretext
of being a client. Silverado is fond of using the phrase "Time for bang
bang!" when brothels go
up in flames. The case is
brought to the attention of Cornelius when the mother of one of his psychology
students seeks
his assistance. She works
for a telephone sex service and tells Cornelius about a "headcase" client
who keeps calling and
talking in rhyme, using
words such as "incineration", "extermination", "cauterisation" and "torching".
After torching several
brothels, Silverado dies
in hospital, but Cornelius believes that his reign of terror is not over.
He deduces that Silverado's
main target is the "Bucket
of Blood", a brothel that now stands on the site of Silverado's Cabaret,
which was shut down 20
years ago to the day. Cornelius
and Valentine find and disarm the bomb in the nick of time.
Who
connections: Stephen Yardley appeared in two Doctor Who
stories, as Sevrin in Genesis of the Daleks and Arak in
Vengeance of Varos.
Bernard Horsfall, who was in Doctor Who four times and is best known for
the role of Chancellor Goth
in The Deadly Assassin,
has a brief role here as Professor Donn, who provides Cornelius with useful
information on making
timing devices for bombs.
The
verdict: 'Virtual Murder' compares rather unfavourably
to classics such as 'The Avengers', which it tries to emulate but
without much success. However,
it does have its moments and is quite enjoyable if you view it on its own
merits and do not
try to compare it with other
shows. Some of the episodes have very memorable and humorous plots, although
sadly it has
never been repeated on TV
or released on VHS or DVD (and it seems highly unlikely that it ever will).
Video Clips: Goodies
Club 5.8mb
Bang bang time
8.1mb Silverado
dies 4.0mb |
 |
