The Secret Thread 1962
Director: Harold Clayton
Writers: Duncan Ross (television adaptation),
Grace Zaring Stone aka Ethel Vance (novel)
Rôle: Arnold Reed
Synopsis: A writer revisits his old childhood home in the East End which is now derelict. While there, he stumbles upon a gang of criminals using it as a place to store their stolen goods. One of them is a violent murderer. So, now he has to hide from them in the attic to avoid becoming their next victim.
Broadcast: 5 January 1962 BBCTV
Availability: No copy of this play is known to exist as the BBC usually wiped their programmes up until the early 1970s.
Maigret: Peter the Lett 1963
Director: Rudolph Cartier
Writers: Giles Cooper, Georges Simenon (based on his novel)
Rôle: Peter the Lett
Synopsis: Maigret is alarmed to learn that one of the most dangerous criminals in Europe is newly arrived in Paris.
Broadcast: 17 December 1963 BBCTV
Comment: Marius plays identical twins in this episode (the old good twin/evil twin trope is used effectively here) and he is very persuasive in his dual rôles. The action is filmed in Paris and Normandy in what is obviously the depths of winter, which makes for a very chilling atmosphere to the story.
Trivia: Marius wears the same long overcoat that he wore in Odette and The Treasure of San Teresa. He also wears the same black leatherjacket that he wore in Circle of Danger and Nachts auf den Straßen.
Availability: Blu Ray (restored version) 11 disc set of Maigret: The Complete Series (Network) will be released on 23 August 2021.
