



On the set of DAY OF EXECUTION
DAY OF EXECUTION - My review.
What
we establish in the opening shot is McGill isn’t always the loner, he has
friends, loyal friends from the past, he occasionally socialises. He is
sometimes involved romantically, although we know it will never be a long term
commitment. His excuse is that ‘he’s a travelling man,’ in reality he knows
there’s no future, his life will always be on the edge and he doesn’t want
anyone hurt or sucked into the dangers he is shadowed by. The first scene is
the foundation stone the story builds from when we see McGill has been out
carousing with his friends. A short jazz music interlude is heard in the
background blasting out from the nightclub the three are emerging from. This
was composed by Edwin Astley, a cut from the Vivo music library. Astley was a
prolific musician responsible for a wide variety of TV themes for shows like
Dangerman and The Saint, in fact his arrangement for the latter reached number
five in the British single charts. Preparing for their journey home a car slows
up and the occupant cries out a deadly warning aimed at McGill, “Hey you, we’re
going to kill you Mariocki!” McGill is slightly bemused by their mistake
believing him to be someone else and responds half mockingly shouting after
them, “You crazy idiots! My name’s McGill!” This scene was shot at Pinewood
Studios. There was no incidental music (usually supplied by Albert Elms) during
the confrontation, only the actor’s voices. The main Ron Grainer theme follows
immediately after McGill’s line marking the real beginning of the show.
We see
the title of the episode on screen as we follow McGill’s car on its journey through London. It’s a noted
change from his more favoured model the Hillman Imp, this time it’s a Grey Ford
Zodiac, registration number EJU 444C. (During the series he adopts a variety of
vehicles, the main one being a lime green Hillman Imp registration number FHP
198C. Others included a red Imp FPX 627C, a grey Imp 109 GXH and a white Singer
Chamois JML 272B) There’s a stand in for Donald Sutherland, who appears to be
half asleep in the backseat. Sutherland was a dependable supporting player at
this time, this being his debut in the series. He would turn up on the guest
list later on in the production for the episode ‘Which Way did he go, McGill?’
where he played the villain of the piece and a man of many accents… none of
them recognisable! There’s a tartan rug strategically pulled over the double,
conveniently hiding his face leaving only a mop of reddy brown hair visible to
aid in confirming the identity of the character Willard, who is worse the wear
from drinking too much! The drive continues to Moira’s (McGill’s love interest)
flat, outside location Ennismore Gardens SW7, where he drops her off. Doubles
are used here of both McGill in the car and Moira as she leaves the car and
walks to her front door. The more eagle eyed might notice we can see a red
phone box where our hero has parked his car, however when he drove up to and left
the scene there is no call box! McGill returns to his apartment, he lives at 56
Clive Mansions, S.W.3 according to the dry cleaning register, yet later on when
a life insurance postcard is seen popping through his letter box the address
reads "Mr. McGill, Flat 7 Kingston Court SW7". Stranger still when
McGill picks this card up, the address side appears blank! At one stage we see on McGill’s phone that he
is at the Holborn exchange, though this seems be removed from subsequent shots.
The interior is clearly a set but for the outside view we find ourselves once
again in the vicinity of Ennismore Gardens, Greater London. Here he receives
his first threatening phone call. At that time he only regards this as a
nuisance over anything more sinister. The following day with his friend Willard
staying with him, we see them having breakfast suggesting its early morning yet
outside there’s the sound of an ice cream van chiming “Boys and girls come out
to Play”, and we see children racing after it. Bit too soon in the day for
lollies and cornets I would have thought! A small goof in this scene when
Willard is sipping on a cup of coffee while relaxing on the sofa recalling some
old memories of his and McGill’s college days, we see that the cup is half
full, zoom in for a close up and its empty, pan out to a medium shot and the
cup is half full again. McGill is busy upstairs getting ready, there’s a knock
at the door, he asks Willard to answer it. It’s the dry cleaning man delivering
one of McGill’s suits. When McGill asks his friend how much he has paid the
man, (Twenty seven shillings and sixpence!) he realises he has been
overcharged, then he notices the extra suit, checking the name tag it belongs
to Mariocki. The phone rings and once again it’s the men from the previous
evening continuing with their death threats. He chases after (well a stand in
does, the guy they use is of a stouter, shorter build and doesn’t even move the
same way as Richard Bradford), the dry cleaning man to ask what’s going on in
delivering a bogus suit? Before this scene we note McGill pulling on a dark
blue sweater, but by the time he reaches the dry cleaning van his sweater has
changed colour to light brown! Investigating further at the dry cleaning
premises, the young assistant is played by Sally Geeson, who was to become a
bigger household name through starring in the comedy series ‘Bless This House’
with acting veteran Sid James. Her older sister Judy, also appears in Man in a Suitcase
in the episode ‘Sweet Sue’, figuring in the title role of the story. The scene
looks like it was done to camera without Richard actually being there as we
don't see him but we do hear his voice.
McGill enlists the help of Jarvis
(Robert Urquhart), one of his newspaper friends to look into the Mariocki
business, but even he draws blanks half convinced it might have something to do
with McGill’s ex employers in the CIA. This scene is shot in a set built to
resemble an English pub. Weary of waiting to be served McGill suggests they try
a Steak House across the way, even promising a meal of Steak with Kidney, typical
English fare, in order to encourage his limey friend to join him! For some
light relief McGill spends a few hours with his girlfriend, Moira, played by Rosemary
Nicols. Later on Nicols found employment as one of the leading cast members in
another ITC series ‘Department S’. She is basically featured in this story to
mirror a past event which this episode centres on – a girl witnessing the death
of her lover. We are at her flat, (a simple set, no lived in look about it, and
a bit too orderly for a carefree young woman) where she attempts to amuse him with
some rather embarrassing dance steps which are accompanied with a recording of music
composed by Montague Phillips. This and a few unconvincing lines help to cover
the scene, but even these distractions don’t make McGill feel any easier in his
mind. He leaves, once again it’s a night time shoot, so not always necessary to
have Richard Bradford on the lot. Enter a double who is used a few times here.
A long shot from the camera under dimly lit conditions and you can pretty much
convince the average viewer they are still watching the same leading actor!
While McGill is making his way back home he finds himself once again in the
path of the speeding car, this time the message hits him (a stand in, then back
to a close up of Bradford for the reaction shot) in the form of a floral
funeral wreath thrown in his direction with the message “Mariocki Midnight”
taped across it. Following this he gets hijacked into a car chase through the
town. Kingston upon Thames is the location. We see Bentall’s department store four times and the Market
Place twice during this scene. Christmas lights are apparent in one of the
major department stores but strangely enough there doesn’t appear to be any
other signs that we were enjoying the season of goodwill! The close up shots of
Richard are done with background projection to give the impression he is
driving, and most of the scenes when he is in control of the wheel in earnest I.E.
at the traffic lights, were filmed at Pinewood, notably when we see the blonde
lady, Anita, (Maggie Wright) pull up alongside him in her car. She acknowledges
McGill with a smile and he reciprocates in the same flirtatious manner, then
alarmed when she proceeds to repeatedly scream out “Mariocki!” towards him,
spurring on the fast chase. After doing a frame by frame analysis of the scene,
I found that stunt drivers were used during some of the sections at Pinewood
too. The tinkling suspense music after McGill has finally caught up with the
vehicle, fuels the enigma of the ongoing pursuit of him when we discover the
now abandoned car carries the same number plates as his own.
Outside his apartment, (a studio set) he hears the phone ring and dashes to answer it only for the caller to hang up on him. He bangs down the receiver in annoyance and begins to pace around to get his thoughts in some sort of perspective, he’s puzzled to see a pair of shoes left at the top of the stairs suggesting there has been an intruder in his residence. He recovers his gun from his suitcase but exasperated when it won’t work. The apartment itself is compact exposing a wooden floor in the main room with part of it covered by a large rug. It also boasts a number of paintings on the walls and appears to be open plan, only one inside door which is for the bathroom while his bedroom is kept private with the aid of a curtain. One wonders about the vase of flowers inside, would he really stop to purchase these and arrange them in a decorative fashion? It all seems totally out of character. As for the view outside his window this is an obvious painted canvas of various rooftops and possibly a church steeple. After inquiring with the buildings caretaker, a bit of a hammy performance from Jimmy Gardner, if there had been any visitors to his apartment and getting no further clues from his vague replies, he once again meets up with Jarvis, this time in the cinema to discuss some possibilities and to try and find some answers. I wouldn’t have thought this was the ideal place if you wanted to talk! The production aired during their conversation was an old black and white episode from ‘Whiplash’. Unfortunately there’s no trace of a Mariocki in any of the old police files and documents Jarvis has managed to peruse through. McGill is convinced it must be hood stuff.
Back at McGill’s apartment, Willard is toying that it might be a revenge thing, blackmail or
something… McGill is slightly suspicious that his friend could be involved
because he’s so anxious to escape from the troubles. While seeing Willard off at the airport
McGill is surprised by an announcement (spoken by Brenda Lawrence) that a Mr
Mariocki is wanted at the main information desk. This is another set, and where
once again a double is utilised to race down the steps at the airport and head
towards the desired destination. After McGill responds to the request he has to
sign for a packet that has been left for him (posing as Mariocki). Note that when he attempts to write his
signature he realises he hasn’t clicked for the cartridge inside the pen to be
released, his reaction is so natural its makes it all the more convincing. He’s
given an envelope and on opening it up he discovers the contents – a B/W
photograph of a slain man. Disturbed by the image he leaves for home, while
getting into his parked car he looks up towards the sky and we see a plane
flying up, presumably carrying Willard off to Hamburg, his chosen destination.
As McGill enters his apartment we hear more incidental suspense music as he surveys his surroundings, we sense a plan is hatching inside his head. Realising the imminent danger he calls Moira to ask her to meet him in order to end the affair and keep her from harm. A rather chilly looking garden at Pinewood is used as the park, we see Moira dressed in winter clothes, it must have been cold when they filmed it, early morning I’m guessing, both have ‘fog breath’ at first although it does seem warmer later on in the scene as we watch McGill dash away and artificial lighting is used to give the impression of sunshine.
Next scene we are back at his apartment (those flowers in the vase
have lasted a long time!), after having told the caretaker earlier on he was
going away for a few days. He uses a torch rather than turning on the lights
and makes little noise so not to disturb, although he did pre-warn him a friend
would be staying there. The phone rings, McGill doesn’t answer it, the scene
cuts to the other side of the call and for the first time we are introduced to
the bad guys, Bradshaw played by former child actor, Jeremy Spencer and Peter
(in the pre-production script the character is called Pietro) – T.P. McKenna. We
also see Anita again, confirming she is involved with the whole set up.
The
following morning finds McGill asleep on his sofa with his revolver within
close reach, there’s also his torch, the phone and an ashtray sharing the same
table. His slumber is disturbed by the whirring sound of the elevator in the
passageway outside, it stops at floor number three.. his floor. Footsteps are
heard approaching his front door, almost cat like he springs into action and
places himself half barricaded behind the leather sofa arm with his gun poised
and targeted towards the door ready for any unwelcome intruder. He smiles to
himself when it turns out to be the daily newspaper getting delivered, the next
letterbox invasion emerges in the form of a postcard advertising a Life
Insurance Programme, which when contemplating his current uncertain situation,
he sees the humour in!
We get the impression of time having passed when in the
next scene we are back at the pub where Jarvis is enjoying a quiet drink. One
of his assistants (Richard James) enters looking for him and hands him a folder
entitled ‘Mariocki’. This engages him into action to inform McGill of the
contents, but McGill still alert and suspicious towards anyone trying to
contact him, refuses to answer the phone. Our trusty Ice Cream van is once
again pulled into the plot, still playing the same chimes and still teasing the
same bunch of children to run after it anxious to buy their treats. For some
reason McGill is drawn to the window by this sound only to be greeted by the
notice ‘Soon Mariocki!’ painted on the top of the van. This was perhaps a bit
too far-fetched. How could they be sure that McGill would look out of his
window at the ice cream van at the right time anyway?
Later on, it’s dark and we are back with Bradshaw, Peter, and Anita, but this time they have a guest – a sad, bruised and battered Willard who obviously hasn’t been enjoying their hospitality! The make-up used on Sutherland is very convincing, giving the impression of a swollen cheek and bruised eyes. Still in darkness Willard has now been released by his captors and sent back to McGill’s apartment in order to deliver their final message before the attack. It simply reads ‘Beirut’. Now everything becomes clear to McGill. It wasn’t a case of mistaken identity after all, they have the right man. He now knows the series of events are suggesting a revenge attack provoked from a previous assignment years before. McGill’s eyes narrow as we are given the answer using a flashback film of him at the scene of the killing incident.
To bring us back to the present we get a close up of the clock reading 11.40pm, giving us only twenty minutes to the promised deadline… We also see a collection of paperback books resting on the clock suggesting our McGill might be a bit of a reader during his quieter, more reflective moments. Titles included Sybille Bedford A Legacy, The Birds of Paradise by Paul Scott, The Heart of a Man by Erich Fromm, The Penguin Science Survey 1964 and Making of Places by Peter De Wies. Now fully aware of what’s going on he sees no reason to hide and turns on the lights and unlocks the front door almost inviting them to carry out their threats. He begins to prepare for the battle, while Willard, still suffering from the severe beating from the perpetrators, begs McGill to protect him, and he’s willing to pay him to save his life.
Another knock at the door, this time it’s Moira, who has been informed via a fabricated message that McGill had been badly hurt and she was needed over at his apartment immediately. The trap is set and McGill must use all his wits and strengths to protect himself, Moira and Willard…. The midnight hour is drawing closer, the scene is gripping and you are as tense as the hero waiting for the enemy to make their move. There’s a third member previously unseen in their gang, although he was part of the flashback scene, Carman, a non-speaking role played by Brian Peck, he’s there to set up their main firearm – a machine gun! This was perhaps a tad over the top but it made the message clear, it was kill or be killed. After exchanging a few words through the closed door with the villains asking if McGill knows who they are now, the onslaught is immediate and ferocious, McGill retaliated with his own weaponry fire bombs and bullets climaxing into a dramatically charged and rather brutal shoot out. (So much so it was edited out when they repeated the series on BBC2 in the morning slot) Willard and Moira make their escape from the situation and from the dark and dangerous world of McGill. McGill’s hardened professionalism is as razor sharp as it was during his CIA days as he surveys the damage and bodies left in his path. He yells out in the direction of his fleeing friends, ‘Willard You send me that cheque!’ Once again he has had to return to the world of ruthless killing where emotions and guilt are luxuries you cannot afford….
The episode was directed by Charles Crichton who directed four other episodes in the series. Richard liked and admired him a lot but didn’t think the feeling was mutual! There were no physical fisticuff fight scenes in this one, McGill didn’t smoke as much and it was one of the few stories which feature him having some sort of romantic interlude with a woman. The line ‘You crazy idiots, my name’s McGill!’ is almost as iconic as the series itself to the more devoted fan!
Sharman Towers 2016
