540 Badger By Owl-Light

First  viewed  : 8  April  1982

This  grim  and  nasty  three-part  thriller  has  never  been  repeated  and  remains  chained  up  like  a  mad  relative  in  the  BBC  archive. It  was  originally  a  radio  play by  Edward  Boyd , broadcast  in  1975. I  missed  the  first  episode.

Fresh  from  Blood  Money, stone-faced  Cavan  Kendall  plays  Talion, a  ruthless  hit  man  hired  to  take  out  the  leader  of  a  strange  cult  in  the  wilds  of  Scotland  after  a  bomb  in  London  kills  a  millionaire's  daughter. Tallon  infiltrates  the  cult  but  a   detective, Hardekker  ( Bernard  Horsfall )  and  his  son  ( an  unorthodox  procedure )  have  already  done  that  and  resent  him  getting  in  the  way. It  turns  out  the  cult  worship  Adolf  Hitler  and  Charles  Manson  ( the  first  time  I'd  heard  of  the  latter ).

There  are  a  number  of  killings  , largely  carried  out  by  James  Wynn, familiar  as  the  wimpy  science  teacher  Mr  Sutcliffe  from  Grange  Hill   but  here  playing  a  gay  psychopath. The  finale ,which  explains  the  title, is  suitably  gruesome.

It  would  be  worth  watching  again  so  let's  hope  they  see  fit  to  release  it  at  some  point.