Dying Day: Episode 4: Mr Skipling Fights Back

Alternative title
Mr Skipling Fights Back
Synopsis
Four-part psychological thriller. Anthony Skipling (McKellen) is an unassuming and seemingly harmless man who has neither friends nor enemies. He receives a tape cassette from a stranger on a train which contains a conversation, recorded in a pub, in which two men discuss a plan to murder him on a specific date. However, when the police come to listen to the recording, the voices have disappeared—leaving it to Skipling himself to unravel the mystery before his time runs out. In the final episode Skipling is talking to his estranged wife (Doris) about his anxiety that the date on which he is be murdered has been changed. He quotes Gloucester’s line from King Lear ‘As flies to wanton boys are we to th’ gods/ they kill us for their sport’ and ‘I am tied to the stake and I must stand the course’ (III vii). He tells his wife the lines are from King Lear. She replies ‘Because someone is in Shakespeare it doesn’t make it true’ and claims A’ level English has been his downfall. At the end of the first episode, the stranger from whom he received the tape is seen outside the train carriage with his eyes gouged out - another reference perhaps to Gloucester.
Series
Armchair Thriller
Language
English
Country
Great Britain
Medium
Television
Technical information
Colour / Sound
Transmission details
21 Feb 1980 at 20:00 (Channel: ITV)
Duration
30 mins

Credits

Director
Robert Tronson
Producer
Brenda Ennis
Writer
John Bowen
Production Design
Norman Garwood
Costume
Jill Silverside
Cast
Ian McKellenAnthony Skipling (Earl of Gloucester)
Gwyneth PowellDoris

Additional Details

Production type
Television and Radio Drama
Plays
King Lear
Subjects
Drama
Keywords
Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Notes

Notes
Available from retailers as ARMCHAIR THRILLER. VOL. 3: DYING DAY.
History
The four episodes were shown: 12,14,19,21 February 1980.

Production Company

Name

Thames Television

Archive

Name

BFI National Archive

Web
http://www.bfi.org.uk/archive-collections/searching-access-collections/research-viewing-services External site opens in new window
Phone
020 7255 1444
Fax
020 7436 0165
Address
21 Stephen Street
London
W1T 1LN

Distributor (Sale)

Name

Retail outlets

How to cite this record

Shakespeare, "Dying Day: Episode 4: Mr Skipling Fights Back". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/shakespeare/search/index.php/title/av70694 (Accessed 26 Nov 2024)