It only needs a few sinister words from a computer to ruin the Reynolds.

EPISODE GUIDE

CAST & CREW

Original BBC1 tx: 9 NOVEMBER 1980 2105 - 2155hrs, watched by 12 million Filming dates: 20 April to 7 May 1980 (drn. 52'00")

Mary Reynolds' husband takes his own life after they are plagued by debt collectors

SYNOPSIS BY NICK:

NICK'S REVIEW:

Marek Kanievska again directs an episode of "Shoestring" which presents a series of striking images. The two most prominent of these are Tim Reynolds' surreal, slow motion leap from the side of the building, falling headfirst towards the camera, and Eddie being threatened with a broken bottle (the camera is positioned inside this makeshift weapon, and Eve looks directly into the lens, which is ringed with broken glass). The episode's other chief visual touch is Packer and Walsh's dark, stylish form of transport - a black Citroen DS. "Utmost Good Faith" manages to evoke a strange feeling of claustrophobia, through the presence of the pressures of debt-collectors and the inhuman world of computer records. Although it has many standout moments, I feel that these don't cohere to make a satisfying whole.

In the tense climax Eddie find himself at the wrong end of a broken bottle

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS BY DENE:

A bleak, hard-hitting Marek Kanievska opening here -- played without dialogue -- as Tim Reynolds, threatened by debt collectors, takes his own life by throwing himself from a construction rig. This is the gripping prelude to a marvellous episode, one of my favourites. Potentially this tale of a conspiracy to place businesses on a 'bad debtors' list, and wait for them to fail before moving in with an absurd offer, perhaps doesn't sound that exciting but it's in the characterisation of Eddie that makes this a classic (which is not to do Andrew Payne's ingenious story a disservice). We are treated to a very good presentation of what makes Eddie 'tick' here. From the moment he suspects that it is in fact simple computer fraud to blame for the Reynolds' misfortune, his sense of injustice is evident - his life was almost destroyed by computers, and here we get an understanding of what it is he hates so much about them. The menacing, matter-of-fact debt collectors, Mrs Walsh and Mr Parker, who make Mary Reynolds' life such a misery in this episode, are a bit reminiscent of Mr Wint & Mr Kidd from Diamonds Are Forever I think. I don't know if Andrew Payne is a film buff or not, but 5 years after this he wrote the homage-filled Minder on the Orient-Express!

In one scene in "UTMOST GOOD FAITH", the familiar registration plate of Eddie's cortina has changed! Usually VUC 959M, it briefly becomes PLC 628R during a sequence wherein Eddie's path is blocked by a milk float. Television productions usually have more than one car on hand for reasons of stuntwork, accidents, second units etc.

EPISODE GUIDE