[Deadite]

Episode 3.03 Death to Sister Mary

Main Cast: Robert Powell (Rook), Jennie Linden (Sister Mary/Penny Stacey), George Maharis (Mark Fields), Antony Newlands (Tony Barton), Joan Haythorne (Mother Superior), Derek Foulds (Dicky), Leigh Lawson (Larry Turner), Gerry Cowen (TV Director), Windsor Davies (Detective Moore).

Jennie Linden plays the part of Penny Stacey who plays the part of Sister Mary in a soap opera called 'Saints & Sinners' on telly. The cast and hangers on of the show start having 'accidents', there's also a mugging, a hit and run – well you get the picture, even if the people involved don't.

I can't really reveal more without going into spoiler territory, so i'll shut up about the story now and say that this Thriller seemed designed to get under my skin. I found it squirm inducing at times – which is testament to the direction and performances involved. My only reservation is that the victims at the centre of the events seem a little slow on the uptake about what's happening. This episode also has Windsor Davies in a straight role as a police detective! He only appears quite late in the piece, however, and seems less able than the non-police characters! Antony Newlands hams it up a tad too much as well.

A bit more of my likes are presented below in spoiler space – don't read if you don't want to spoil it.

SPOILER:

Robert Powell gives a really creepy performance as Rook, who for some reason, no-one takes very seriously as a nut-job, he's just a 'harmless' nut. As a 'number 1 fan' he was bound to be unhinged and unlike other Thrillers i've seen so far, this one ran straight and true and there was no real twist – the guy's a nut and tries to kill Sister Mary after wooing her with plans of a fan club. I really liked the fact that at the end, he is shown to be physically ineffectual – he falls over running up stairs and when he throws a punch he misses, swings himself around and falls onto some glass!

Really good episode IMO.

4 out of 5