Armchair Thriller
| Armchair Thriller | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Genre | Horror, Thriller |
| Theme music composer | Andy MacKay |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 55 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Andrew Brown |
| Producer(s) | Andrew Brown, Jacqueline Davis, Brenda Ennisp |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | c. 23-26 minutes per episode |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV |
| Picture format | PAL 4:3 |
| Audio format | Mono |
| Original release | 21 February 1978 – 30 December 1981 |
Armchair Thriller is a British television programme, broadcast on ITV in two series in 1978 and 1980. Owing something to some of the offshoots of the earlier Armchair Theatre, the new series used scripts adapted from published novels and stories. Although not properly a horror series it included several supernatural elements. Armchair Thriller was produced by Thames Television, but it included serials made by Southern Television. The format was of a twice weekly 25 minute episodes, usually screened on a Tuesday or Thursday at 20:00-21:00.
The opening titles consisted of a shadow-figure walking to an armchair and then sitting down, accompanied by music composed by Andy MacKay of pop group Roxy Music. Trailers for the series were equally memorable by showing an armchair soaked in blood and a screaming, maniacal face, which received criticism in that they were considered too horrific for pre-watershed viewing. Also significant was the Thames Television ident, which normally showed a London landscape in daytime, but for this series was changed to a night-time setting.
Amongst the first series was the story Quiet as a Nun. Starring Maria Aitken it introduced the character of Jemima Shore to television, who was later spun off into her own ITV series. This story proved to be particularly memorable, famous for its cliffhanger sequence of "The Black Nun". Rating increased, reaching a high of 17 million viewers during the broadcast of the first episode of The Limbo Connection. Other actors to appear included Ian McKellen and Denis Lawson.
All shows produced by Thames Television except where highlighted.
26 episodes (21 February - 18 May 1978)
29 episodes (8 January - 10 April 1980, 30 December 1981)
* Originally made as a 6-episode story, but unscreened, finally appearing edited into a single feature-length standalone programme (i.e. not under the Armchair Thriller title).
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Wikipedia