Law And Order

Survivors (1970s series)With her community having suddenly accumulated so many people – Paul, Arthur Russell and Charmian, simple-minded Barney, Tom Price (again), the children, Wendy and Mrs. Cohen, and the crippled Vic Thatcher – Abby finds herself in charge of a disharmonious group. She attempts to set some ground rules for living in the burgeoning community but meets some resistance; to ease the tension a bit, Abby decides to throw a party, even going so far as to break out some of the wine that Vic had stashed in his caravan.

The next morning, Wendy is found dead, brutally murdered. Now Abby has to find a murderer in the midst of her community – suspects must be singled out and questioned, and a verdict much be reached, voted on by everyone else. And then the group must decide what action to take against the guilty party, up to and including a death penalty. But can a unanimous jury be found within the already-fractious group?

written by M.K. Jeeves
directed by Pennant Roberts
music by Anthony Isaac

Cast: Carolyn Seymour (Abby Grant), Ian McCulloch (Greg Preston), Lucy Fleming (Jenny Richards), Talfryn Thomas (Tom Price), John Hallett (Barney), Julie Neubert (Wendy), Hana-Maria Pravda (Emma Cohen), Michael Gover (Arthur Russell), Chris Tranchell (Paul Pitman), Eileen Helsby (Charmian Wentworth), Stephen Dudley (John), Tanya Ronder (Lizzie)

Notes: This rather shocking episode is, perhaps, more startling for what it implies than for what it makes explicit. No one ever states it directly, but it is strongly implied that Wendy has been raped as well as murdered. There’s also a question left hanging over whether or not the guilty party is a serial rapist, an incredibly dark subject for prime time TV on either side of the Atlantic in 1975.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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