The second installment in the Killer mini series from 1984, this abandons mystery for a disturbing story about murderous obsession. Anthony Valentine plays seemingly mild mannered dentist Robin Fraser who is first seen spying on a couple canoodling together through a window and taking photographs of them. It turns out the woman is a prostitute called Charlie Stevens (Molly Radlove) who Robin has been seeing, but of late she has been giving him the cold shoulder. When he rings her up to ask where she's been, she is typically mocking, and it seems he is not the first she has bedded and then booted into touch. Unfortunately for her, this time she has bedded someone who does not take kindly to his chosen one being with other men and decides that she must be taught a lesson. Surprisingly when he rings up to arrange another date, she agrees and after meeting in a creepy car park he takes her to his place, where he gives her a valuable ring before inviting her in to look at his dark room. This should of given her fair warning as it is, but despite him showing her photos he's taken of her with her latest client, she is still happy to drop her dress. But before she can complete the trick, he's injected her and the next day her body is found in woodland near a lake.
Anthony Valentine is effectively creepy in this as the demented dentist, but he is surprisingly not the creepiest bloke in this thriller. That actually goes to the police squad investigating the case, whom young female copper Detective Sgt Gill Parsons (Dearbhla Molloy) is part of the team. She is ambitious to move up in rank, but also knows she is still an underling and as such has to tolerate and endure the sexist attitudes of her higher ranking colleagues in order to do so. And I don't mean the woke lobby's idea of sexism of wolf whistling or "banter" - the chaps she has to work with here are downright sleazy and disturbing. Chief protagonist is Det Insp George Hawthorne, who is contemptuous of her ambition when lower in rank than him and also of her aloof manner towards him - mainly because she spurns his advances towards her. "You don't think she's a bit dykey, do you?" he ponders at one point to his colleague, the more amiable Det Sgt Boyd (Leonard Gregory). Played by John Forgeham, Hawthorne is a truly sleazy and unlikable character, and even more peculiarly his voice has clearly been dubbed with an atrocious Scottish accent that becomes ever absurd as the case continues. Surely his own bad impersonation would of been better than this dubbing nightmare, who could not of made him sound more ridiculous if they'd asked Joe Pasquale to do the job!
Despite this, he still isn't as creepy as their boss, Det Superintendent Harrison, played by Michael Sheard (aka Grange Hill's very own Mr Bronson). Initially he seems okay, but when Gill ill advisedly suggests a reconstruction of the dead woman's movements, Harrison decides she would be perfect for the role, with her colleagues more than happy to set her up for it. Gill's reaction is surprisingly hysterical and rather shrill, but Harrison cuts her down by reminding her she has a promising career ahead of her. "You're worried about making an exhibition of yourself - tough!" he tells her. Gill is judgmental and uncomfortable about the sort of woman the deceased was, but not nearly as uncomfortable as Harrison makes her when she later dresses up for the part. "It's not enough just to look like Charlie. I want you to behave like her, " he tells her up close. Not surprisingly she is a little disturbed by this, and begins to wonder if all blokes are like this. As it turns out, there is one chap who is polite, charming and courteous who has captured her attention - unfortunately for her it happens to be her dentist Robin Fraser, the man who murdered Charlie Stevens! While it's true Fraser is nothing like her work colleagues, it doesn't say much that her preferred man is a disturbed serial killer who emanates creepiness. When Gill first visits Fraser at the dentists she spots a photograph of a woman he has taken and remarks on how striking her eyes are. "Like looking into the heart of darkness," replies Fraser. "That was what she always used to say." Gill notes the use of past tense, but Fraser never elaborates any further, leading you to wonder how many he may of killed already.
This thriller pervades a dark and unsettling atmosphere throughout, but it's relentlessly sleazy intonation makes for very uncomfortable viewing. Nearly every place looks sinister, with the night scenes in particular emanating a soulless sense of dread, but it also leaves us very much fearing for Gill Parsons safety in all of this. She has little comfort to turn to in her sexist colleagues, but it leaves her particularly vulnerable as the one person she feels safer with because they are unlike the others is the one that she is at greatest risk from. In a way all the sinister and sleazy connotations help add to the impression that Gill is very much vulnerable in this, and although there is an attempt to make Foregham's character seems a bit more sympathetic late on, her character is very much on her own in a dark and scary world. Like the previous Killer installment, this has a somewhat peculiar ending, but it may make a little more sense to some than the first story. Dearbhla Molloy is okay in the main role as Gill Parsons, but she - like most of the cast - are upstaged by Anthony Valentine in a truly unnerving performance as the disturbed love lorn dentist that is far better than this thriller probably deserves. And as for Grange Hill fans, you will of never seen Mr Bronson quite like this before!
