The
lowdown: 'Jemima Shore Investigates' is a British
crime/drama series that was first broadcast on ITV1 from
8 June to 23 August 1983.
One season comprising 12 episodes were made, and the series is based on
a series
of novels by Antonia Fraser.
It stars Patricia Hodge in the title role, as an investigative journalist
for a television
network. Her TV show is,
surprisingly enough, called "Jemima Shore Investigates". Shaw's investigative
skills often
see her become involved
in mystery and intrigue, typically among the British upper class. The series
was preceded
by a six-part serial in
1979, which featured Maria Aitken as Shaw. This serial ultimately served
as a pilot for the full
series.
The
episode: 'Dr. Ziegler's Casebook'
was the fifth episode of the series, and was first broadcast on 6 July
1983.
Tom Baker stars as Dr. Norman
Ziegler, the director of the Woodside Clinic and its resident psychotherapist.
He is
using violent criminals
in an experiment involving regression therapy. He is trying to regress
his patients back to an
earlier period of their
life when they were not criminally insane. Jemima Shaw discovers that Ziegler
has a contract
with a secret government
agency, which apparently wants to use his "cured" patients as security
operatives. Ziegler
must report his progress
regularly to the head of this agency, Sterling Stanley, whose agents have
Ziegler under
constant surveillance. Ziegler
is having second thoughts about his experiments, particularly with regard
to a patient
named Kern. Ziegler reveals
to Jemima Shaw that he has regressed Kern back to a previous life, rather
than just his
own past. It turns out that
this past life is none other than Jack the Ripper, and when Kern escapes
from the clinic,
the Ripper-style killings
begin again...
The
verdict: 'Jemima Shore Investigates' is an entertaining
enough series, although it seems to lack the gravitas
of many British crime shows
of the era. And given that it was made in 1983, it seems very dated now,
perhaps
more so than many shows
made during the early 1980s (if there is any doubt about when the series
was made,
some of the hairstyles are
a dead giveaway!). Patricia Hodge is good in the title role, but she is
great in almost
everything she has been
in - and it is a shame we see her so rarely on TV these days. Unfortunately,
some of the
guest stars left much to
be desired, although of course Tom Baker is excellent in this episode,
one of his first roles
after leaving Doctor Who.
Strangely enough, Jemima Shore Investigates' has never been released on
VHS or DVD,
which is why the video clips
and screen shots on this page are of low quality.
Video clips: Regression
therapy 6.7mb
Ziegler's confession
7.9mb |
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