Person Unknown - 1967 Anglia TV review

Thanks to YouTube, I've just watched Person Unknown, an ITV 'play of the week' made by Anglia TV back in 1967 which was previously unknown to me. The script was written by David Butler and adapted from a play called A Person Unknown by Olive Chase and Stanley Clayton. I know nothing about the writers, but it seems that Chase and Clayton wrote a number of crime-themed stage plays together.

This is a reasonably good whodunit set in a modern university, around a women's hall of residence. The stage origin of the story are abundantly clear from the way almost all the action takes place in the office and home of Jane Canning, who is in charge of the place. Low-budget, yes, but definitely not without merit.

The strength of the show comes from the quality of the cast. One of the minor roles, that of the student Beth Gray, is played by Felicity Kendal; it must have been one of her earliest TV parts. She and her friend Margo (Wendy Varnals, whose career didn't last nearly as long) become concerned when a fellow student goes missing. They report her absence to Jane Canning (Elizabeth Sellars) - see the above photo. Jane just happens to be romantically involved with a detective superintendent, played by the super-reliable John Gregson. Soon a body is found...

Suspicion falls on Jane's brother Gilbert, who is played by John Wood with characteristic nervous energy. Wood was an eminent thespian, though on occasion here perhaps his performance, although arresting (no pun intended), lacks subtlety; maybe that can be blamed on the script. But there are one or two nice twists before all is finally revealed. I enjoyed this one, even if it showed its age in terms of production values.