Part 2 of 6 of the Francis Durbridge mystery. Guy is disturbed to find Melissa's record playing when he comes home, along with the missing gloves believed to be used to strangle her with lying nearby. But there are a lot of strange things happening to him since his murder, as Inspector Carter wonders if he is entirely telling the truth. For one, there is a prescription in his name and a appointment with a Dr Swanley, which he says he never made, but when they visit the surgery the doctor seems to know him intimately and reveals to Carter that he had confessed to obsessive suspicions that his wife Melissa was having an affair. Gut denies this, but later when Don Page - whose party Melissa was supposed to be at originally - turns up at his home to give him Melissa's deed box, he is surprised by what he finds, and a letter that seems to confirm that Melissa was intimate with someone called Peter Antrobus. But who is he?
Starring Tony Britton, Brian Wilde, Brian McDermott, Helen Christie, Kerry Jordan, Norman Scace, Elizabeth Weaver, Martin Jordan, Reg Pritchard, Ian Norris, Richard Aylen, John Marcus Powell and Sydney Dobson. Originally broadcast on April 26th 1964, this is the original version of Melissa, which has been remade twice since - in 1974 and a 1997 version - and was one of Francis Durbridge's many prolific and absorbing mysteries. Like all of his thrillers, it twists back and forth, with you never knowing who to trust. Even in modern eyes (and I loathe that phrase, but still), this holds up wonderfully today in pace as it rattles along at a cracking pace and I don't know why they are not repeated today. It benefits enormously by good performances from Tony Britton and Brian Wilde in wildly different portrayals. My only gripe might be with Kerry Jordan's posh boy act, which could be vastly improved and is no match for Ronald Fraser in the 1974 version - something I never thought I'd say.