ABC Weekend TV
ABC Weekend TV launched the fourth and sixth independent television services in the UK, providing the weekend services for the Midlands and the North of England between 1956 and 1968.Â
The Trollenberg Terror (TV serial, 1956-57)
Unexplained and gruesome deaths among climbers of the fictional Mount Trollenberg in Switzerland are investigated.
One of two English sisters who form a psychic stage act receives a premonition of great danger associated with the mountain. As the cloud starts to move down the mountain, killing people along the way, the astronomers realise they are dealing with an invasion of aliens who have come from a dying world and have selected the mountainside’s cold as the environment which most resembles their home planet.
The series was written by Peter Key (the collective pseudonym of George F Kerr, Jack Cross and Giles Cooper) and produced and directed by QUENTIN LAWRENCE for ATV. There are no copies of the serial in the archives.
In 1958, a film version was produced by Robert S Baker and MONTY BERMAN for Eros Films (The Strange World Of Planet X), and was also directed by QUENTIN LAWRENCE. LAURENCE PAYNE and STUART SAUNDERS reprised their roles in the film.
Cast
SARAH LAWSON: "Sarah Pilgrim"
LAURENCE PAYNE: "Philip Truscott"
Ronan O'Casey: "Albert"
ROSEMARY MILLER: "Ann Pilgrim"
GLYN OWEN: "George Brett" (Eps 1-4)
Michael Anthony: "Petitjohn" (Eps 1-4)
FREDERICK SCHRECKER: "Dr Spielman" (Eps 3-6)
RAF De La TORRE: "Professor Crevet" (Eps 4-6)
STUART SAUNDERS: "Dr Dewhurst" (Eps 1,2)
Crew
Writer(s): Peter Key (George F Kerr, Jack Cross and Giles Cooper)
Producer(s): QUENTIN LAWRENCE for ATV
Director(s): QUENTIN LAWRENCE
Episodes
"The Mind Of Ann Pilgrim" (December 15, 1956)
At a lonely hotel in the Alps, sisters Sarah and Ann Pilgrim find their telepathy act is upset by strange outside influences.
"First Blood" (December 22, 1956)
Investigator Philip Truscott must probe the disappearance of one of his own men.
"The Giggle Of Madness" (December 29, 1956)
"The Power Of The Ixodes" (January 5, 1957)
"The Trap" (January 12, 1957)
The monster, which leaves a trail of slime wherever it goes, appears for the first time.
Episode 6 (January 19, 1957)
Broadcast on ATV London, ABC Weekend TV
The Trollenberg Terror in the news...
Manchester Evening News, December 8, 1956: Max North announced that a new ATV serial, called "The Trollenberg Terror", would be "a story of the Martians".
Leicester Evening Mail, December 14, 1956: Actresses Sarah Lawson and Rosemary Miller, who had never heard of each other despite only living a mile or two apart, will be playing sisters "Sarah and Ann Pilgrim, whose mind-reading variety act involves them in strange happenings."
Leicester Evening Mail, December 17 1956: John Ross wrote "Something sinister is happening among the snow peaks of the Swiss Alps, but up till now the viewer is left in the cold...we weren't taken far enough into the plot to make us count the days to next Saturday." He continued, "The supernatural terrors of Trollenberg faded into insignificance beside the inexplicable electronic mysteries of the Cook television set. By the time I had manipulated the picture back to normal there was nothing more terrifying on the screen than a slightly overwrought young man being presented with a cheque for ÂŁ3,200 for answering questions about British birds [on The 64,000 Question]. I hope to have better luck at Trollenberg with the second episode."
The Liverpool Echo, December 17, 1956: Norman Cook wrote "Aided by the occasional snatch of macabre music I was happily abandoning myself to a few moments of televised terror when, at the crucial moment, the strangest of outside influences began to create a treble image on my television screen."
Sunday Mercury, January 13, 1957: Ian Beauchamp declared that "QUENTIN LAWRENCE deserves praise for the handling of the new Channel 8 thriller 'The Trollenberg Terror'. It has all the power of the old silent films' serials like 'The Clutching Hand' and 'Clubfoot'."
Leicester Evening Mail, January 14, 1957: John Ross wrote "THE Trollenberg Terror surges to its sizzling climax. The last time we saw Sarah Lawson she had the tentacle of some nameless horror from outer space round her pretty neck. "They" have reached the observatory. Can the trapped ones escape the slimy terror? Next week we shall know, and we shall be darned disappointed if we don't meet one of "them" face to face."
Manchester Evening News, January 19, 1957: Max North wrote "THE awful suspense, the gruesome truth is out tonight for viewers who make a habit of watching the Saturday horror serial, "The Trollenberg Terror." We were left last week with one tentacle round the neck of Sarah Lawson."
Electrode 93 (TV serial, 1957)
Electrode 93 is a mystery serial in seven parts, written by Douglas Riley, and produced for ABC. All episodes are believed lost. A scientist is experimenting with the control of the human brain.
Episodes
"The Testament of Dr Quorum": April 20, 1957, 9.45pm (ATV London, ABC Weekend TV)
Dr Quorum, a distinguished scientist whose clinic has become fashionable for psychiatric techniques, is conducting an experiment behind the locked door of his laboratory. His nephew is extremely curious - what is the experiment? What outstanding secret has the amazing Dr Quorum in his hands?
"Post Mortem": April 27, 1957, 10.00pm (ATV London, ABC Weekend TV)
Most important scientific discoveries have their martyrs, say Dr. Quorum. There's nothing more I can learn from animals. It is time to move on to the next stage.
"Operation Q": May 4, 1957, 9.45pm (ATV London, ABC Weekend TV)
As the climax of his experiments, Dr Quorum plans an operation - on himself - and entrusts it to his wife's lover.
"The Human Experiment": May 11, 1957, 10.00pm (ATV London, ABC Weekend TV)
"Operation Q" has been performed. Hugo Canning now has Quorum in his power and is exalted by the implication of Electrode 93.
"Remote Control": May 18, 1957, 9.45pm (ATV London, ABC Weekend TV)
When Philipson threatened to betray Dr Quorum's secret - he died - from an overdose of sodium amytal. When David Williams guesses the secret, he, too, is found drugged. Is Quorum a murderer as well as a genius?
"The Electrode Kills": May 25, 1957, 10.00pm (ATV London, ABC Weekend TV)
Electrode 93 in the hands of Dr Quorum achieves a miraculous cure. But power breeds over-confidence. Electrode 93 can kill as well as cure.
"Crisis": June 1, 1957, 9.45pm (ATV London, ABC Weekend TV)
Three men have died, but still Hugo Canning operates on Cabinet Minister John Beddoes, and brings him, too, under the deadly control of Electrode 93.
Cast
JENNIFER WILSON: "Kate Collins"
GRETA GYNT: "Carol Quorum"
DAVID LANGTON: "Hugo Canning"
GEORGE PRAVDA: "Dr Quorum"
RICHARD BEBB: "Dr Bill Herrick"
DAVID MARKHAM: "David Williams"
James Thomason: "Stephen Denham"
Crew
Writer(s): Douglas Riley
Producer(s): JOHN KNIGHT for ABC
Director(s): JOHN KNIGHT
Production design: Rex Spencer
Electrode 93 in the news...
Cathryn Rose, writing for both the Grimsby Evening Telegraph and Derby Evening Telegraph on April 12, 1957 announced the serial saying that it "concerns an eminent psychiatrist whose mysterious experiments at his London clinic involve his wife and a consulting surgeon in love with his wife."
The Birmingham Weekly Post and Midland Pictorial of April 18, 1957 featured an article about record numbers of television viewers. It said that "ABC TV celebrate Easter by starting a new spine-chilling serial...called 'Electrode 93'." It was expected that viewings figures are likely to reach six million. The article describes how production progressed, with the cast rehearsing and producer John Knight calling in in production designer Rex Spencer to draw up plans for the sets. Spencer visited surgeries and consulting rooms in order to get advice for the set of a Harley street clinic. The article infers that the performance will be live, and concludes that there are "more than 150 people working to give you, the viewer, 30 minutes of pleasure."
In the May 16, 1957 issue of The Stage, ran an article on what goes on "Behind the Scenes of a Television Serial" and the chosen production was Electrode 93. It generally follows the same lines as the article in the Birmingham Weekly Post from a month earlier but goes into more detail.
The May 24, 1957 edition of the Coventry Evening Telegraph incorrectly reported that the final episode of Electrode 93 would be broadcast the following evening. The Birmingham Weekly Post and Midland Pictorial published on the same day features Electrode 93 as the writer describes how the people in the "control room" switch between the programme and the commercial break.