The lowdown: 'Cluedo' is based on the popular board game of the same name (and known as 'Clue' in some countries),
where the object is to guess the identity of the murderer, the weapon used and the room in which the crime took place.
A total of 25 episodes were made over four seasons, and broadcast on ITV1 between 25 July 1990 and 24 May 1993.
Each episode featured six celebrities who play the various characters from the board game in a short film, in which a
murder is committed at a mansion called Arlington Grange. Unlike the board game, a guest actor rather than the six
suspects was always the murder victim. The film depicts the events leading up to the murder, with a series of clues and
red herrings to keep the viewer guessing. The action then shifts to the studio, where two teams of celebrity detectives
must deduce who the killer is by questioning the six suspects and making accusations. In order to keep the show fresh,
the actors playing the six suspects changed with each series. They included a number of actors who are familiar to fans
of Doctor Who, including Kate O'Mara, Michael Jayston, Richard Wilson and of course Tom Baker as Professor Plum in
season three. After each episode the audience at home could win prizes.

The episode: 'A Hunting We Will Go' is the first episode of series three, and was broadcast on 4 May 1992. The guest
actor is Neil Morrissey, who plays the unfortunate murder victim, Gordon Ferrar. He is an animal rights activist who tries
to disrupt a fox hunt at Arlington Grange and gets beaten up by Colonel Mustard (Lewis Collins of 'The Professionals'
fame) for his trouble. The housekeeper Mrs White takes him to the house for medical treatment, and Gordon threatens
to call the police. It soon transpires that Gordon is the ex-boyfriend of Miss Scarlett, while he has an incriminating video
of Professor Plum engaged in an act of animal cruelty. Thus there are a number of suspects when he is murdered...

The verdict: 'Cluedo' is an entertaining enough series, although the films in which the crime is portrayed only go for about
10 minutes, and it would have been more interesting to have longer films in order to build up the suspense. Of course, the
main attraction of the series is watching British actors hamming it up in very different roles to what we are used to seeing
them in. As there were six episodes in each series and six suspects, each celebrity got to play the killer once. Those who
remember the 1970s may recall a similar show called 'Whodunnit', which was hosted by Jon Pertwee and featured a panel
of celebrities trying to guess the killer after veiwing a similar short film.

Video Clip:  Gordon Ferrar 5.5mb

 
 

 

  
<< Back to the Tom Baker page