ABC airs the sixth episode of Kolchak: The Night Stalker, based on the 1973 TV movie The Night Stalker and starring Darren McGavin. Madlyn Rhue guest stars.
Three people are dead, dying of spontaneous combustion. The common factor is their relationship to Ryder Bond, a famous conductor. In fact, witnesses report Bond’s presence at the site of each death. Nonetheless, the conductor has an iron-clad alibi during the time of each murder. When Kolchak investigates, he discovers that no known heat source could so completely immolate human bodies. Suspecting a supernatural source, he discovers that the individual responsible is a doppelganger, the ghost of a petty arsonist who was a fan of Bond. Now the doppelganger, which already looks like Bond, intends to take over the conductor’s body and life, and is waiting for the conductor to fall asleep. It can only strike at its victims when they are sleeping as well. Fighting to stay awake, Kolchak must unearth the arsonist’s body and convince the spirit that it is not, and never can be, Ryder Bond.
written by Bill S. Ballinger
directed by Don Weis
music by Gil MilleGuest Cast: Fred Beir (Ryder Bond), Phillip Carey (Sgt. Mayer), Madlyn Rhue (Maria), David Doyle (Cardinale)
Notes: The episode has a number of plot holes. The victims must be asleep to be immolated, but one dies while awake! The motive for its murders is also unclear. Firefall was edited together with The Energy Eater to make a TV movie called Crackle Of Death, and the episodes are normally only seen in that format.
LogBook entry by Steve Crowe