WHOEVER HEARD OF A GHOST DYING? • REVIEW

WHOEVER HEARD OF A GHOST DYING? • DECLASSIFIED

• Pre-Titles Teaser... The scene opens on a covert view, shot from the cover of some bushes, of Jeff Randall sitting on a park bench. He is in the middle of what appears to be a two-way conversation, but only his side of it can be heard. There is no-one near him apart from the occasional passer-by, none of whom pay him any attention. He is bemoaning about the unhealthy financial state of the business and complains that they could have wrapped up their last case quickly and collected their "fattest fee in years" if his invisible, unheard companion hadn't been so temperamental. The scene changes and we see that what we are watching is a film projected on a screen that is being studied by two men, a crook named Hellingworth and an equally crooked clairvoyant by the name of Cecil Purley, and an attractive young woman in her early twenties, Carol Latimer. Purley is very impressed with Randall, who he describes as "a veritable saint" when Carol suggests that the man is clearly crazy. Hellingworth says that he's had Randall followed for weeks and that it's clear that what he is seen doing in the film is not an isolated incident - "he does it all the time". Purley explains that it is "a perfect example of ethereal intervention". Carol is unconvinced, suggesting that mental aberration is more likely. Hellingworth enquires of Purley whether it is possible that Randall's deceased colleague is still very much around. The clairvoyant confirms that this is undoubtedly the case and that when they come into contact he will be able not only to sense Hopkirk's vibrations but actually see and talk to him. Hellingworth is delighted, and when Carol asks what use it will be to their operation, he replies that, "From now on, the late Mr Hopkirk is going to be working for us!"

• Production Brief... Whoever Heard of a Ghost Dying?, the tenth episode to be filmed, was the third script for the series by Tony Williamson. Meanwhile, director Ray Austin, fresh from filming the Department S episode Black Out, returned to Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) having previously directed the fifth episode, You Can Always Find a Fall Guy.

• In terms of the series development, this is a significant episode in that it introduces the popular semi-regular character Inspector Large, played wonderfully by Ivor Dean. The character has undeniable parallels with that of Chief Inspector Teal that Dean had played so successfully in The Saint between 1963 and 1968. Large was a tenacious detective who disapproved of unofficial freelance crime solvers like Jeff Randall, much in the same way as Teal viewed Simon Templar. His belief was that detection should be left to the professionals, and even though on occasion Randall's dogged hard work and oft-unexplainable methods got results, he would just as likely pin a crime on Randall as on the real perpetrators. Where Inspector Large was concerned, Randall's inability to adequately explain how he came by information would often lead to suspicion of collusion with criminals.

• Exact filming dates for this episode are unknown, but in his DVD liner notes, Andrew Pixley states the filming commenced in October 1968. A production slate can be seen on surviving film trims, revealing the date of the Harley Street location filming as 17th June 1969, some three months after the episode was reportedly completed in March 1969. Due to this anomaly, we can only assume that the episode was not in fact completed until some time after the Harley Street shoot. In the absence of more specific information, we have noted the completion date as 'Summer 1969'.

• On Location... Locations for this episodes were modest, the main one being New Southgate Cemetery, which provided the new location of Marty's grave. A part of the ABC Elstree Studios backlot, near the water tank, was used to film the opening sequence featuring Jeff on a park bench talking to an invisible Marty. Other locations featured in second unit filming with visits to Totteridge, Harley Street in the London Borough of Westminster, Brookside South in Barnet and The Institute for Grocery Distribution in Letchmore Heath which featured as Hartford Hall. More details in Locations: Whoever Heard of a Ghost Dying?

• Seeing Things... Whoever Heard of a Ghost Dying? received its first UK broadcast on Friday 24th October 1969 at 7.30pm when it aired in monochrome in the ATV, Granada, Ulster and Yorkshire ITV regions.

• It was first shown in colour on ITV on Sunday 7th June 1970 at 3.45pm as an unscheduled repeat in the LWT region.

• Trivia... Jeff becomes involved in this case, despite it being against his best judgement, because he realises that the potential reward for success (£50,000) is impossible to turn down when the business is doing so badly. He should have listened to his own advice as he comes out of it with no financial recompense, but on the upside he manages to save the business' greatest asset - his spectral partner Marty Hopkirk - from being exorcised!

• At the police station's firing range, both Inspector Large and Jeff Randall show themselves to be expert marksmen, despite Jeff's first shot richocheting all around the room when he fires at the table to avoid shooting the materialising Marty. Even though the bullet will travel straight through Jeff's ghostly partner, Marty reacts as if it will kill him - even for a ghost, this is a perfectly understandable reaction, as is Jeff's desire not to fire at his friend.

• Jeff does remarkably well in a fight for once, taking on three of Hellingworth's hoods and flooring the lot of them. Unfortunately, despite the satisfied look he allows himself as he dusts himself down, he has not noticed Hellingworth himself, who has crept up behind him. Predictably, he is knocked out.

• Despite Jeannie's inability to see Marty, and her ignorance of his presence, the closing tag scene suggests that there is perhaps some subconscious link between her and her late husband when she repeats something that he has said - "You can say that again!" - when she cannot have heard it.

• The night filming at New Southgate Cemetry was so cold and uncomfortable that when work on the episode was over, actress Alexandra Bastedo presented Annette André with her sheepskin gloves as a parting gift. She hoped that they would make subsequent location shoots more comfortable for her friend. In later life, the actresses remained good friends and Annette supported Alexandra's ABC Animal Sanctuary, a charitable venture she established in West Sussex. It remains in operation following Alexandra's death in 2014.

• Only You, Jeff? In this episode, Marty can be seen, heard, and have his 'vibrations' sensed by Cecil Purley, an unscrupulous clairvoyant. Purley remarks that Marty's vibrations are so impressive that were they any stronger, they could knock the house down. We also learn that Marty can be exorcised, and that he can be made to feel ill by an outside influence.

• Ghosts and Ghoulies... Marty is the only ghost we see in this episode, and he very nearly becomes an ex-ghost at the hands of Cecil Purley.

• The Vehicles... Appearing in this episode were the following wonders of transport...

	1968 Vauxhall Victor FD 2000 Registration RXD 996F Driven by Jeff Randall	Also appeared in: Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) - used extensively throughout the series Department S - 'The Last Train to Redbridge', 'The Man from X'
	1965 Austin A60 Countryman Registration BKR 166C Driven by Cecil Purley
	1968 Ford Zephyr Deluxe MkIV Registration PXD 976F	Also appeared in: Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) - 'My Late Lamented Friend and Partner', 'A Sentimental Journey', 'You Can Always Find A Fall Guy', 'Who Killed Cock Robin?', 'The Trouble With Women', 'Never Trust A Ghost', 'Vendetta for a Dead Man', 'A Disturbing Case', 'Somebody Just Walked Over My Grave'  Department S - 'The Bones of Byrom Blain' and other episodes

• Seen It All Before? The hallway set was redressed to become Hartford Hall, the home of Lord Manning, while parts of the casino set seen in The Trouble With Women, were re-employed and altered slightly to represent the dance club where we find Jeff almost getting off with a pretty young thing before Marty arrives to party poop.

• A very familiar part of the backlot of ABC Elstree Studios was used to represent the exterior of the Penguin Company, the fur traders' that Hellingworth's gang broke into. This had featured extensively in just about every contemporary era ITC series ever made! This building was one of those demolished after land belonging to Elstree Studios was sold off to Tesco plc. The building's footprint now accounts for part of the supermarket service road and car park.

• Also reappearing from use in other series was the lift in the Hackley, Mathers and Jones diamond merchants, which was from stock and had previously seen action in several episodes of The Champions and Department S.

• Cock-ups... The first cock-up of note happens straight away, when we see the covertly filmed, hand-held footage of Jeff talking to 'himself' on a park bench. At just 18 seconds into the episode, the scene changes and we realise that the footage is being shown using a cine projector to three characters. The film on screen is of a square format, whereas the footage we had seen initially was rectangular. This could be explained by the projection overlapping the screen, but there is no evidence of this (due of course to the film footage being inserted via a matte). It's worth mentioning that there were no 1:1 square colour film formats available at the time.

• Not so much a cock-up as a production decision, but Marty's grave is relocated in this episode (and later, in Somebody Just Walked Over My Grave). It no longer sited on the Elstree Studios backlot (as depicted in My Late Lamented Friend and Partner and The Smile Behind the Veil), but in a more densely populated cemetery (in reality at New Southgate Cemetery, Brunswick Park Road),the appearance of which is quite markedly different from the original location. British viewers will have been very familiar with how the cemetery and Marty's grave usually looked as it was seen in the opening title sequence of every Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) transmission until the original intended titles were reinstated for the 1980s ITV repeats.

• A more avoidable cock-up can be seen in the scene where Jeff explains to Marty about the house where "Silky" is known to plot his robberies. In the two-shot, Jeff holds the photograph firmly with the left hand and lightly with the thumb and index finger of his right. However, the second unit close-up pick up shot (most likely with Harry 'Aitch' Fielder doubling for Jeff), shows all four fingers of the left hand holding the photo.

Images © ITV Studios, 1968

• Adding insult to injury, the photograph we see Mike Pratt carrying around shows a different building entirely, Aldenham House at Haberdashers’ Aske’s School. The reverse of this photograph carries the building's fictional address, handwritten: it suggests the property is "THREADNEDLE HOUSE, HIGH LANE, MILLBROOK" (with 'threadnedle' probably being a misspelling of 'threadneedle').

• Later in the corner of Lord Manning's library, where Jeff has retreated to to converse unobserved with Marty, Inspector Large goes up to him and spins him around to face him. The camera cuts to a new shot and Jeff and the Inspector have jumped some three feet to the left of frame.

Images © ITV Studios, 1968

• At 41 minutes and 02 seconds, Marty is dumped in the roadside from Purley's car as it speeds off into the night. The only problem is that the shots inside the car (filmed in studio) depict a very black night, while the location shots are filtered rather unconvincingly as day-for-night.

• And Finally... This story, or at least the lead-in to it, would require some serious re-thinking in the modern era. Hellingworth becomes suspicious of Jeff Randall having a supernatural liaison when he spots the detective talking to himself. He follows Jeff and films a one-sided conversation that he has sitting on a park bench. When he shows the film to Cecil Purley, the clairvoyant proclaims that Hellingworth's suspicions are correct. In the 21st century, Hellingworth would simply assume that Jeff was carrying out a conversation using a Bluetooth mobile telephone!  

Plotline: Scoton Productions / ITC • UK Transmissions by Simon Coward and Alan Hayes
Review by Alan Hayes • Declassified by Alan Hayes
with thanks to Vince Cox, Geoff Dodd, Jonathan Gibbs, Alys Hayes,
John Holburn and Andrew Pixley

All timings given on this page relate to the Blu-ray editions of this episode