464 We, the Accused

First  viewed  :  September  1980

This  adaptation  of  Ernest  Raymond's  classic  crime  novel was  broadcast  on  BBC 2  on  a   Wednesday  evening  with a  repeat  on  Saturdays. Apart  from  that  it  has  never  been  re-broadcast.

Ian  Holm  starred  as  Paul  Presset  , a  decent  mild-mannered  man  with  a  ghastly  wife. After  finding  love with  a  younger  woman , life  with  his  wife  becomes  unbearable  and  he  is  driven  to  kill  her. When  the  police  become  suspicious  he  and  his  mistress  go  on  the  run. My  mum  was  watching  it  from  the  start; I  came  in  when  they  were  already  fugitives.

This,  I  think,  was  when  I  first  became  aware  of  my  mum's  animus  towards  Iain  Cuthbertson who  played  the  pursuing  police  detective,  Boltro. She  just  kept  going  on  about  how  bad  an  actor  he  was  whenever  he  entered  the  scene.

There  was  no  happy  ending  to  the  story . The  mistress  rightly  got  off  the  murder  charge  but  the  series  ended  with  Presset  at  the  end  of  the  judicial  rope.