The Smile Behind the Veil
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| “The Smile Behind the Veil” | |
|---|---|
| Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) episode | |
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| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 26 |
| Guest stars | Alex Scott Hilary Tindall Gary Watson |
| Written by | Gerald Kelsey |
| Directed by | Jeremy Summers |
| Production no. | 26 |
| Original airdate | 13 March 1970 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "[[]]" | – |
| List of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)episodes | |
The Smile Behind the Veil is the final episode of the popular 1969 ITC British television series Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) starring Mike Pratt, Kenneth Cope and Annette Andre. The episode was first broadcast on 13 March 1970 on the ITV. Directed by Jeremy Summers.
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[edit] Synopsis
Only a ghost would notice the smile behind the veil of a funeral mourner (Hilary Tyndall) to complete the entire series. As Jeannie visits Marty's grave, Marty stumbles upon a hidden murder mystery as the funeral mourners in the next grave look highly suspicious. He visits Jeff and begs him to pursue the case despite any physical evidence. Jeff refuses due to on going finanical difficulty but by chance he is on the way to visit a client in the vicinity of the perpetrators near Goldehurst and Marty is able to switch road signs to get him to visit their estate.
Jeff arrives innocently asking for directions but the guilty funeral mourners overlooking the will of their recently murdered friend search him and realise he is a private eye and lock him up. Soon enough they dump him in a river, where he nearly encounters death by drowning, saved by a fisherman from becoming a permanent white suited ghost like his firend Marty Hopkirk. Again by chance the fisherman Donald Seaton turns out to be a related to the murder case in that he believes his identity has been stolen by the funeral mourners whilst he was away in Australia, and hires Jeff on the case.
Jeff investigates the mansion and in doing so encounters the elderly housekeeper who like him is looking for official information to prove that the man at the funeral is an imposter. Jeff also tracks down a lead to a man in a farm barn who was once an employee of Donald Seaton but he is shot by one of the funeral mourners.
Eventually it turns out that Cynthia (Hilary Tindall) was actually once the wife of the real Donald Seaton but had divorced and that her new husband is pretending to be the real Seaton in order to sell off the large valuable estate. But this is not before Jeff Randall is thrown down a well leaving Marty to attract some passers-by to make a wish with a filthy dirty Randall replying "Get me out of this perishing well"!!!! as the series finishes.
[edit] Overview
[edit] Cast
- Mike Pratt as Jeff Randall
- Kenneth Cope as Marty Hopkirk
- Annette Andre as Jeannie Hopkirk
- John Bott ... Dyson
- David Forbes ... Police Constable
- Robin Hawdon ... Grant
- George Howe ... Brooks
- Freda Jackson ... Mrs. Evans
- Clare Jenkins ... Female Hiker
- Peter Jesson ... Hooper
- Peter Lawrence ... Policeman
- Michael Radford ... Male Hiker
- Alex Scott ... Seaton
- Hilary Tindall ... Cynthia
- Gary Watson ... Donald Seaton
[edit] Video and DVD release
The episode was released on VHS and several times on dvd with differing special features.
