Series 2 — Episode 4
Bullseye

Production details

Episode 35
Production Number : 3508
VTR/ABC/1986
Teddington Studio 1

Schedule

Wednesday 19th September 1962

Thursday 20th Septmber 1962

Running time

Expected: 51′25″ + 2 commercial breaks 2.30
Actual running time with bumpers: 50′31″

The bumpers between the acts are generally 10 seconds from fade in to the “End of Act” bumper to the end of audio before the commercial, a 10 second still without audio, then cut to the next act bumper. This would play with the theme for around 10 seconds. Accordingly, with the episodes being in 3 acts, the running time of the action is approximately a minute less than listed above, minus the opening and closing credits (normally 0′16″, with a 2" fade, and anywhere from 0′41″ to 1′20″, hard cut or 1" fade or mix, respectively).

Regional broadcasts

TV Times listing

The TV Times made the surprising error of not listing the guest star Ronald Radd for this episode.

Episode availability

• Video - original footage held by Studio Canal, available on the Studio Canal series 1&2 DVD set
• Script - Tony Pelly’s copy of the camera script and scene breakdown
• Publicity Stills - at least 49

Murders

Click a name to see the face

Transport

Continuity and trivia

1. 1:33 — Jean presses play on the reel-to-reel player and the audio starts - but the reels don’t turn!
2. 2:30–3:21 — Brigadier Williamson tells George the War Office has never had a faulty weapon from Anderson’s, then pulls the trigger with no report, the hammer just clicks.
3. throughout - Every time they fire a gun, the videotape picture is distorted.
4. throughout - One of the cameras has a smudge on the lens at to top right of the screen.
5. 9:55 — Cade tells his broker to keep buying when the stock is 36/9, until it reaches 41/6. He then answers another call and he instructs the caller to make a further offer to Anderson’s shareholders - two Cade’s Holdings A shares per share, plus a cash offer of 1 shilling; he instructs them to stress that it’s the final offer.
6. 10:55 — Cade shows Cathy that his office is kept at 72°F to simulate his hotel suite in the Bahamas, the sunlight coming in the blinds artificially created by a 2kW carbon lamp. He says there are many other things in the room but as she only has four minutes she’d better make it up.
7. 14:40 — George tells Cathy that the rifle has a telescopic sight and when she says she prefers an open sight he tells her the Brigadier is the same - with the amount of practice he puts in he doesn’t need them. He also tells her that the old-fashioned butts are just for the directors to take pot-shots with, the real testing being done on an open range with precision cameras.
8. 16:30 — The inspector - could it be Inspector Marsh from Brief for Murder? - admits that there’s a slight disparity ("a few minutes") in the times between Cathy coming into the butts and Reynold’s time of death, although forensic science would show that there’s no hard and fast rules for short term rigor mortis.
9. 31:05 — Jean rings Young after finding the Brigadier, saying she “can’t take this place anymore”, she had thought the Brigadier was asleep when she brought in his letters and then she saw all the blood.
10. Steed made quite a tidy profit on those Anderson’s shares! He’d already made 12% by the beginning of the episode - he tells Cathy he’s already made between £5,000 and £6,000 (which seems to be around the 36/6 mark, as Cade is later heard to tell his broker it’s reached 36/9, see below).
11. Cade offers Cathy 43 shillings per share, and she says they’re worth more as he needs them to hold a majority interest. He agrees and offers 43/3, she counters with 43/6 and he accepts. Steed tells Cathy he has a 29,000 share holding (20% of the stock) which he bought for 32/6 and made a profit of 11s. per share but them Macnee fluffs his line (39:09) - he’s supposed to say “That’s sixteen thousand pounds” (as per the script - the figure is actually £15,950 — a 33.85% profit) but instead he says “That’s six thousand pounds!”. So much for being a shrewd investor!
12. 45:10 — a lighting technician, who had been pointing a hand-held lamp at Young for the previous shot, crosses the back of the set after the cameras are switched.