Room with a view Shoestring 2

Series 2, Episode 1:

Nobody believes Lettie Ross's story of murder, but

Radio West's 'Private Ear', Eddie Shoestring, is paid to listen…

Certainly something of a Hitchcockian note to begin the
series on as OAP Lettie Ross (a former showgirl,
another quirky characterisation for Shoestring,
charmingly played by Maddline Thomas) thinks she has
witnessed a murder in an empty flat across the road from
her own - but no one believes her.

Akin to "PRIVATE EAR", this opener concentrates very
much on the unravelling of the mystery, throwing in a red
herring or two before wrapping up with an unexpected
conclusion. Deliberately paced, we are very efficiently
reintroduced to the world of Eddie Shoestring & his job of
'private ear'.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS BY DENE:

An enjoyable start to a new series. Trevor Eve, and
indeed all the regulars, are comfortable with their
characters and provide great performances. The
Eddie/Erica relationship has shifted slightly to one of
friendship rather than relationship. Teaming Eddie with
his temporary "partner" Lettie works well. "Room With a
View" doffs its cap to Hitchcock's "Rear Window", but
surprises the viewer by turning the inspiration on its head
to reveal that the supposed victim is in fact, the
unfortunate voyeur.

Original BBC1 tx:

5 OCTOBER 1980

2105 - 2200hrs,

watched by 12.5 million

Filming dates:

31 March to 17 April 1980

(drn. 53'38")

"ROOM WITH A VIEW"

written by ROBERT BENNETT

directed by HENRY HERBERT

Lettie Ross witnesses a murder?

Lettie Ross, alone in her flat save for her marmalade cat Oedipus, looks from her window to see
the silhouette of what appears to be one person strangling another in the apartment opposite
her. Lettie is seventy six, and was once a music hall star. Her daughter and son-in-law do not
believe what she tells them. Lettie's only alternative is to contact Eddie.

Eddie visits the flat which the murder allegedly occurred in, accompanied by an estate agent.
The only change in the premises, the agent tells him, is the missing light cable in the kitchen.

Leacock, hired to survey the site the previous week, denies cutting the cable. Marianne, wife of
the last visitor to the premises, has no knowledge of her husband's interest in the flat. He's
strictly a country person, works for Eddie's old computer firm, and is currently on a business
trip to Germany.

Businessman Duke Winsor has an interests in the property. Eddie finds him unresponsive and,
visiting the flat again, is beaten up by two of Duke's workers. Duke warns Eddie to stay out of
his affairs, as the flat is now his property. Militant squatters working in accordance with Duke's
business plans rebuff Eddie's questions.

At Lettie's flat, the old woman realises that the light she saw in the opposite flat must have
come from a torch. Eddie decides that it is possible that someone may have been watching her
side of the street, from the window in which she saw the incident.

The flat below Lettie's is owned by a local concert hall, who let classical musicians relax there
before performances. Visiting the offices of the concert hall, manager Stephen Brook tells Eddie
that Russian pianist Alexei Lermontov is currently living there.

Visiting Lermontov after a concert, Eddie is asked to leave by a disgruntled Brook, who is seen
to leave in a jeep with Marianne moments later. Visiting his old computer firm, and Marianne's
husband's workplace, Eddie learns that the missing man is on holiday, allegedly abroad. An old
worker tells Eddie that he saw him arriving at a local hotel.

At the hotel, Eddie finds that Marianne's husband checked in but didn't open his suitcase.
Driving to Marianne's country house, Eddie follows Brooke and Marianne to a cliff-top where he
wrestles the former to the ground, in the belief that he is about to murder Marianne.

Brook reveals that Marianne's husband was watching them in the orchestra's flat, from his
vantage point opposite Lettie's window. When Brook investigated, he found Marianne's husband
had hanged himself. Lettie had seen Brook cutting the man down. Panicking, Brook threw the
body from the cliff-top where they now stand.

Back at Radio West, Eddie and Sonia watch with amusement as Don gets back in the studio
and interviews Lettie about her music hall days.

...and a glimpse into his
past as he returns to the
world of computers

Stephen Brook breaks down

Lettie's return to showbiz

Eddie takes a call in his
usual inimitable fashion

At one point in this story Eddie's search for Alan Fuller, (who is listed as having viewed the
property in which the 'murder' took place), takes him to Fennell's, where the man works as a
computer salesman. For the first time in the series we see Eddie surrounded by banks of
clattering computers, and he is very noticeably on edge - an effective nod to his past.

"ROOM WITH A VIEW" marked the fourth
(and last) appearance of Radio West studio
assistant Liz, played by JEANNA L'ESTY...

...and a second outing for the DJ featured in the
Series One episode "I'M A BELIEVER" (Actor
GEOFFREY BATEMAN, this time unbearded!)

Eddie is shown around the property...

...attracting the attention of its
new owner Duke Winsor