The four-parter was - apparently - a last-minute commission when a drama gap suddenly opened up in ITV's summer schedules... and Anglia (one of the mid-level companies in the system) were able to step in at short notice.
The first episode is a Hitchcock style bluff that sets things up for the meat of the three parts that follow. Anglia also produced a shorter done-in-one TV Movie version (which gives you a hint at the amount of padding in the full-length version) which was subsequently 'repeated' on ITV and released on VHS. It was probably also offered to overseas buyers as an alternative to the full multi-parter. The edited version sometmes goes under the how-many-meetings-did-it-take title MONKEY BOY. The original version has been released on DVD and is worth picking up for some undemanding chills... albeit with some dodgy performances and bad dubbing.
I'm not sure if I saw this at the time but I certainly read Stephen Gallagher's novels based on reviews in the STARBURST book column.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if he is on record as to what he thought of this adaptation.
I've only the vaguest memories of this. The BBC's FIRST BORN, about a human-gorilla hybrid, was much more memorable.
ReplyDelete