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 disappearedleaving 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 McKellen Anthony Skipling (Earl of Gloucester) Gwyneth Powell Doris
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
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)