Category: Nightmare Man

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Nightmare Man

Part One

The Nightmare ManA quiet village on a Scottish island becomes the site of a disturbingly savage murder. A young woman’s remains – what’s left of them – are found near a golf course. Inspector Inskip, heading up the investigation, is alarmed to find that the wounds are not the work of any kind of bladed weapon: the woman was simply torn from limb to limb and left there. The man who found her, dentist Michael Gaffikin, is deeply disturbed when his expertise is called upon in the post-mortem to test a theory that the victim’s wounds were caused by teeth.

written by Robert Holmes
based on the novel “Child Of Vodyanoi” by David Wiltshire
directed by Douglas Camfield
music by Robert Stewart

The Nightmare ManCast: James Warwick (Michael Gaffikin), Celia Imrie (Fiona Patterson), Maurice Roeves (Inspector Inskip), Tom Watson (Dr. Goudry), Jonathan Newth (Colonel Howard), James Cosmo (Sergeant Carch), Fraser Wilson (PC Malcolmson), Tony Sibbald (Symonds), Elaine Wells (Mrs. MacKay)

Notes: Future Doctor Who director Graeme Harper (The Caves Of Androzani, Revelation Of The Daleks, Rise Of The Cybermen, Time Crash) was one of two production managers on this serial; he later cast Maurice Roeves in a hard-hitting major guest role in Caves Of Androzani. Harper and director Douglas Camfield had worked together numerous times since the 1960s.

LogBook entry by Earl Green

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Nightmare Man

Part Two

The Nightmare ManAs Michael Gaffikin’s help with the post-mortem reveals a pattern of teeth that are only partly human, other strange happenings take place on the island. A farmer reports that one of his sheep has been “torn apart,” while a Geiger counter at a Coast Guard building goes off momentarily. A member of the Coast Guard visiting the island has gone out of radio contact as well, prompting Inskip to conduct a search. But before Inskip and his entourage find the mutilated body of the missing Coast Guard man, they find some sort of vehicle washed ashore, unlike anything he’s seen before.

written by Robert Holmes
based on the novel “Child Of Vodyanoi” by David Wiltshire
directed by Douglas Camfield
music by Robert Stewart

The Nightmare ManCast: James Warwick (Michael Gaffikin), Maurice Roeves (Inspector Inskip), Celia Imrie (Fiona Patterson), Tom Watson (Dr. Goudry), Jonathan Newth (Colonel Howard), James Cosmo (Sergeant Carch), Fraser Wilson (PC Malcolmson), Jon Croft (McGrath), Ronald Forfar (Campbell), Jeffrey Stewart (Drummond), Elaine Wells (Mrs. MacKay)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Nightmare Man

Part Three

The Nightmare ManUnable to conceal the fact that something horrible is going on on the island, Inskip mobilizes every armed man in the village into a militia under his command. Another attack befalls a Coast Guard shed further inland, resulting in the deaths of three men, but leaving behind evidence. Fiona and Gaffikin also examine the evidence left at a prior crime scene, including a camera with an automatic trigger which is easily tripped by a spike in radiation, and a cassette left behind in a tape recorder. What they discover is confusing: the assailant behind the string of grisly killings is both human and inhuman.

written by Robert Holmes
based on the novel “Child Of Vodyanoi” by David Wiltshire
directed by Douglas Camfield
music by Robert Stewart

The Nightmare ManCast: James Warwick (Michael Gaffikin), Maurice Roeves (Inspector Inskip), Celia Imrie (Fiona Patterson), Tom Watson (Dr. Goudry), Jonathan Newth (Colonel Howard), James Cosmo (Sergeant Carch), Fraser Wilson (PC Malcolmson), Jon Croft (McGrath), Ronald Forfar (Campbell), Jeffrey Stewart (Drummond), Tony Sibbald (Symonds), Pat Gorman (The Killer), Robert Vowles (Lieutenant Carey)

LogBook entry by Earl Green

Categories
Nightmare Man

Part Four

The Nightmare ManWithout warning, Colonel Howard appears in full battledress and declares martial law, claiming that backup is on the way and that the island’s civilian population now answers to him. Inskip, skeptical, tries to phone the mainland for confirmation, only to discover that the line has been cut. Gaffikin and Fiona are ordered to assist the Colonel, who turns out not to be an officer of the British Army at all, but a Soviet operative working under a stolen identity – as are all of his newly-arrived men. They are here to retrieve the Vodyanoi, an experimental submarine with a symbiotic link to its pilot. That pilot became disconnected from the sub when it ran aground, resulting in the murderous creature stalking the island now. Colonel Howard – revealed to be Colonel Vladimir Kornilov – wishes to clean up the mess for the locals and leave without any further international incident, but even his expertise may not be enough to end the bloodlust of the Vodyanoi’s demented pilot.

The Nightmare Manwritten by Robert Holmes
based on the novel “Child Of Vodyanoi” by David Wiltshire
directed by Douglas Camfield
music by Robert Stewart

Cast: James Warwick (Michael Gaffikin), Jonathan Newth (Colonel Howard), Celia Imrie (Fiona Patterson), Maurice Roeves (Inspector Inskip), Tom Watson (Dr. Goudry), James Cosmo (Sergeant Carch), Jeffrey Stewart (Drummond), Robert Vowles (Lieutenant Carey), Pat Gorman (The Killer)

LogBook entry by Earl Green