THIRTEEN AGAINST FATE (1966) – Based on thirteen stand-alone crime stories by Georges Simenon, the creator of Jules Maigret, this BBC series was long thought lost except for three episodes which had gone unwiped by the penny-wise and pound-foolish broadcasters. In September of 2010, the entire series was discovered in America’s Library of Congress, finally making all thirteen episodes available.
None of the 50-minute productions featured Maigret and focused on more of a psychological thriller approach rather than traditional mystery story approach.
The episodes:
THE LODGER (June 19th) – Also known as The Tenant to avoid confusion with the Alfred Hitchcock films titled The Lodger. (One silent, one with sound.) In Belgium, a Turkish rug dealer hides out in a boarding house after committing a vicious murder to cover other crimes. His guilt and paranoia over being tracked down and arrested make things unbearable for him and his mistress. Starring Zia Mohyeddin, Gwendolyn Watts, Gemma Jones and Christopher George.
TRAPPED (June 26th) – Louis Bert, a carpenter turned petty criminal, lives in Nice with Constance, a wealthy woman he is conning. On the side he romances Lulu, a prostitute whom he passes off as his sister to the wealthy Constance.
When Lulu’s former pimp Jean is released from prison, he locates her in Nice and wants to take her back to the streets, killing Constance in the process. Louis hides all the evidence of the slaying and makes off with the late woman’s valuables, only to be caught and accused of being the murderer. Starring Keith Buckley, Sylvia Coleridge, Donald Eccles and Mary Webster. Continue reading
THE MAN HUNTER (1972) – This made for tv movie should not be confused with the later Ken Howard series of the same name about a 1930s bounty hunter. This telefilm starred Roy Thinnes as David Farrow, a Big Game hunter who plies his trade in jungle locations around the world. Farrow is hired to track down a deadly Cajun criminal who has fled into the Louisiana bayous. 
The Man Hunter opens with Clel and his boys pulling off a bank robbery which misfires, with Clel killing the son of the bank owner in the resulting violence. When the cops lose Bocock in the swampland the bank owner, Walter Sinclair (David Brian), seeks outside help.
HEIMSKRINGLA! OR THE STONED ANGELS – This was a pioneering presentation from WNET and first aired on November 6th, 1969. 
PETER PAN (1976) – This Hallmark/ ITV joint venture is not as good as the Mary Martin or Sandy Duncan versions or the original Disney animated movie, but its obscurity made it a “must review” item for Balladeer’s Blog. Dwight Hemion directed this telefilm with Andrew Birkin and American comedian Jack Burns (of Burns and Schreiber fame) adapting the screenplay. 
MIA FARROW, in her Rosemary’s Baby hairdo, portrays the title character with an accent on the little boy aspect of “the boy who wouldn’t grow up”. It’s interesting to watch her depict Peter’s cockiness as more like bravado to cover up how frightened he is. Not brilliant, but interesting. Her singing is okay.
RIVERBOAT (1959-1961) – We are less than a week away from Frontierado 2023, observed on Friday August 4th this year. For a combination Frontierado and Forgotten Television post Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at some of the best episodes of the old western series Riverboat. 
Grey Holden captained the Enterprise, but the more experienced Chief Pilot was Ben Frazer, played by the one and only Burt Reynolds. Riverboat was, for a television western, atypically set during the 1830s and 1840s. Some of my favorite episodes are historical fiction, featuring our heroes aiding Texas rebels during the Texas Revolution, clashing with river pirates, or encountering young Abraham Lincoln and a few other historical figures here and there. 
BETWEEN TIME AND TIMBUKTU – A SPACE FANTASY BY KURT VONNEGUT JR (March 13th) – Dated humor mars this generally well made 86-minute sci-fi story directed by Fred Barzyk and based on the writings of Kurt Vonnegut Jr. 
Balladeer’s Blog’s recurring feature Forgotten Television returns with this look at four television presentations of works by the Russian writer Anton Chekhov.
FIVE TOMORROWS – On February 5th 1970, Kurt Vonnegut Jr. hosted an NET Playhouse presentation of five short films which presented grim visions of the future. Vonnegut was interviewed and offered comments on the international shorts from the high flux beam reactor in Brookhaven (NY) National Laboratories’ center for advanced experimental research.
THE FEATHER AND FATHER GANG (1976-1977) – Happy Father’s Day, gentlemen! Back on Mother’s Day I reviewed 
In the tradition of Perry Mason and Matlock, Feather’s clients were always victims of frame jobs or bad circumstances, so her incorrigible father Harry inevitably resorted to extra-legal methods of clearing them. Papa Danton recruited some of his old conmen pals to help him in his efforts and dubbed the joint venture “the Feather and Father Gang.” 
A VERY MISSING PERSON (1972) – This made for tv movie was the pilot for an unsold series that was meant as another rotating slot in the ______Night Mystery Movie offerings from the networks back then. 
The last Withers mystery completed by Stuart Palmer during his lifetime was published in 1954, but he left behind an unfinished novel titled Hildegarde Withers Makes the Scene. Fletcher Flora used Palmer’s notes to finish the novel, which finally saw print in 1969. 
Balladeer's Blog 