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Episode guide > Season 3 > The Eyes of Tiresias

Season 3, Episode 2
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corner imageSummary info
Writer: David Renwick
Director: Keith Washington
Original broadcast date: (UK) 4 December 1999 on BBC1
Filmed in: 16:9 aspect ratio
Guest stars
Rebecca Front as Heidi Brayle
Margery Mason as Audrey Panguitch
Terence Hardiman as Andre Masson
Diana Weston as Delia Masson
James Gaddas as Craig Downey
Paul Blackthorne as Gino
Damien Goodwin as Josh
Peter Blake as Otto Danzigger
Alexandra Hogg as Maid
Stephen Frankham as Camera Operator
Clare Malcolmson as Rebecca Phillips
Nick Hamilton as Detective Inspector
Terry Bird as Security Guard

View guest cast

Read a behind the scenes account from this episode

Myths and legends - can Audrey really see into the future through her dreams? Jonathan and Maddy are at a party, along with a lot of other people. The bar is packed with people trying to get a drink and so Maddy decides to leave Jonathan to get the drinks while she goes to get some food. At the buffet table Maddy meets a man.

"You don't get much do you?" he comments about the food.

"Not lately" Maddy comments, not looking at her food.

Maddy, then realises what she's said and quickly recovers. She says he should have brought two plates up and promptly puts Jonathan's food on her own plate, creating one large portion.

Jonathan turns around from the bar to spy Maddy talking with this new man. He's not best pleased, but he doesn't look surprised. As he moves away with the drinks he bumps into a woman called Heidi, spilling the drinks all over himself. She apologises and then gives him her business card. Jonathan insists it's not necessary, but then she says, "I'm trying to give you my telephone number."

Jonathan stumbles a bit and then she admits she's joking, "Come on this is silly, I mucked up your suit, I'll pay for it ," she says.

Looking at her card, Heidi is a Location Manager. Before they can talk further the cabaret act starts and a magician appears on stage with two assistants holding what looks like a huge goldfish bowl. He holds a microphone and knells down as his assistants place the bowl over him. Behind him is a huge screen should the UK national lottery live on television. As we watch this we also see another woman in her own house cleaning out her goldfish bowl. This woman is in her own house and turns out to be Heidi's aunt. She returns to her chairs after cleaning the bowl and starts to read a book on myths and legends.

The magician proceeds to predict what each number will be before they fall out of the lottery machine, much to the amazement of the crowd. When the act finishes, Maddy pops up to the bar with an empty plate and says sorry for not getting him any, but she got distracted. Jonathan introduces Maddy to Heidi and it's obvious that Maddy's had a bit too much to drink! Maddy then proceeds to tell Heidi that Jonathan is a Capricorn, so single it's scary and that if she asks nicely he'll tell her how that trick was done. She then goes away to find her new friend and leaves Jonathan to explain the trick.

He says the live feed to the huge TV screen is probably on a few seconds delay - just enough time for an accomplice to tell the magician what the number is. An ear piece would be too obvious, so it's probably transmitted somehow through the microphone as a pulse using Morse code or something. Heidi doesn't seem totally convinced, and asks what if it wasn't done like that, what if he could actually see into the future? Not everyone is a fraud, she says. Jonathan then comments that he walked passed the magician's dressing room earlier on and saw his chest hair hanging up in a sketchley bag.

Heidi then suddenly remembers something else Maddy said early - that Jonathan lives in a windmill...

Meanwhile, Maddy is busy dancing with her new friend, clearly the worse for wear. She then leaves to go to the loo.

Heidi asks if it's okay for tomorrow at seven O'clock? Jonathan simply nods and sips his drink...the music is loud so he can't quite hear her properly. Heidi then has to go as she is staying with her aunt and doesn't want to get back too late. She asks for Jonathan's address and number which he writes down for her. She then kisses his cheek and leaves. Jonathan has a smug look on his face.

Maddy returns from the loo and finds her man for a slow dance. Jonathan has enough and decides to go home. We then see Maddy going home in a cab, but stopping off at her new friends place first. Maddy's have fun kissing her new friend, but says she can't come in. He can however come round to dinner tomorrow where she promises to impress him with the size of her portions!

At aunt Audrey's house, Heidi tries to sneak in without waking her. Audrey is still up however as she was having a bad dream which was quite disturbing. Heidi has a few calls to make before she turns in but notices her aunt is looking upset. Audrey then explains about her dream,

"A man was being murdered. An elderly man, French he seemed to be or a foreigner of some description. Someone had broken through a window, someone with a gun, and locked the door. And a man was about to be killed, was pleading for his life. And he just kept saying, Oh dear, Oh dear, Oh dear..."

Audrey isn't one for nightmares, but it was so vivid...

The following day we see a French sounding man called Andre Masson at his house having breakfast. The phone rings and his wife, Delia, answers the phone. It's a business colleague of Andre's who she is currently having an affair with called Craig Downey. He suggests they try and get away to their favour hotel for a while, she agrees but sounds business like so her husband doesn't suspect. Craig then says he may not be able to make his meeting with Andre dead on 12noon as he has a client that will be hard to get rid of earlier on. Delia tells her husband, but Andre is adamant that the meeting will begin at 12 noon.

Jonathan pads across the room in the all togetherBack at Jonathan's windmill, Jonathan wakes up after he hears a strange noise outside his window. He pads across his bedroom floor starkers (yes we get to see his bum) and opens his window. A camera crane, complete with camera proceeds to rise up past his window. He quickly shuts the window.

Once dressed he discovers Heidi downstairs along with a whole crew of people busy arranging stuff for a TV shoot. He asks what is going on,

"Come on you were fine about it last night. When I said. Our own mill had just fallen through, if I got straight on to the director and we did some rescheduling would tomorrow be okay to knock off a few exteriors?" she says.

"When did you say that?" Jonathan asks.

"Last night. I said if you don't mind us going upstairs and humping our gear about?" Heidi replies.

The penny drops and Jonathan realises why he agreed...

Jonathan phones Maddy who says she'll pop round and see him around 12ish to laugh at his misfortune. Jonathan says he'll introduce her to the sound engineer who is clearly her kind of guy. The sound engineer has his hands up one of the actresses dresses while she mucks about with a radio mic in her cleavage. The TV costume drama they are shooting is about a woman who gets chucked by her lover and then leaps to her death from a windmill sail.

The phone call is cut short as someone comes to Maddy's front door. It's her friend from last night bearing flowers. He apologises that things had to end before they could get to know each other better. Maddy's been going through her recipes and asks how a lobster would grab him for this evening's dinner? "Like this" he says while grabbing her bottom!

At the Masson office, Craig is waiting outside Andre's office door for his meeting. It's now 12:25, and considering he was told it would start at the crack of 12 O'clock he's not best pleased. Delia comes along and expresses surprise that they are still waiting. Craig says it's all to do with the power game, keeping them waiting. Then they hear a noise in Andre's office. Someone locks the office door from the inside and we hear Andre shouting at someone and then he says, "Oh dear, Oh dear, Oh dear..." A shot is then fired and Craig tries in vain to force the door open. Delia says it's pointless and they run round to the other door to Andre's office which leads into the garden (his office is the same place as his home). As soon as they get there, they notice the door has been forced and they find Andre Masson on the floor - dead. A gun lays on the floor near him and there is blood on the walls.

Back at Jonathan's windmill, nothing is happening. All the crew are sitting around doing nothing, some are even sleeping! Maddy comments that it's the most boring thing ever. Jonathan says they are waiting for a safety tag for the scaffolding, the builders erected it this morning but forgot to put the tag on, and are half way to another job in Swindon. Without the safety tag, none of the crew can go on the scaffolding so they can't film anything.

Maddy then receives a call on her mobile, it's her new friend ringing to see if they are "still on for tonight". Of course she says and hangs up. She tells Jonathan that she has a very good feeling about her new friend. In fact it's so good, it almost makes you wonder what the catch is.

Audrey is feeding her goldfish and tidying up whilst watching telly. It's a news report about the murder of Andre Masson. Audrey drops a vase when she realises her dream has come true.

Back at the windmill, Jonathan and Maddy join Heidi in one of the coaches on site where everyone eats lunch. Heidi gets a call on her mobile from Audrey about what's she's just heard on the news. Heidi then tells Maddy and Jonathan about her aunts dream and the death of Andre Masson. A spooky coincidence?

Later in the day, Heidi returns to her aunts. Audrey is clearly upset, that 12 hours before a man is murdered, a man she didn't know, she dreams about his death. To top it all, she had another dream this afternoon when she dropped off in her chair. This time she wrote some points down. Again it was a murder, but this time she saw a creature with wings and the initials "R.P"

At Maddy's flat her new friend has come round for dinner. He's just been to the loo and shouts out to Maddy asking how it's supposed to flush. She shouts back that the handle broke off and he has to put his hand in and pull the level from inside the cistern! He rolls up his sleeve and dives in.

Maddy kisses Gino, unaware that Josh is about to ring her door bell as well!As Maddy brings the food out and kisses her new friends there's a buzz at her front door. She answers it to find another man carrying a bottle of wine clearly expecting a dinner. He apologises for being late and proceeds to kiss Maddy much to her shock and surprise.

The following morning she phones Jonathan who immediately gets his own back and rubs her nose in it. It would seem, Maddy's new friend got a migraine and went home early from the party. She then went to the loo, and came back and proceeded to kiss and dance with someone else! She was definitely drunk that night! They arrange to go and visit auntie Audrey a little later. We see a dummy flying past the open door (the woman in the drama is clearly throwing herself from the sail!). Jonathan then hears the director bellow for another take as someone was talking upstairs in the windmill - namely Jonathan!. [Note this was in fact the real director of this episode Keith Washington!]

A man puts suitcases in the boot of a jaguar while his wife talks to the postman. After the postman leaves the woman looks distressed. We then see her driving along a country road. She glances at her passenger seat, there's a briefcase, a passport and plane tickets on it. As she looks back at the road she spots a tractor too late and swerves to avoid it. She crashes the car, killing herself instantly. The camera moves down to the number plate - it has "RP 13" on it...

At Audrey's house, Maddy and Jonathan talk to Heidi's aunt. Maddy wonders if the fact that Andre Masson had been in the news a lot due to a scandal about off shore investments, whether this could have made Audrey think of him. Audrey dismisses the idea, beside how could she have gotten his last words right? "Oh dear, Oh dear, Oh dear"is as near to "Adieu, Adieu, Adieu" (these were in fact Masson's last words - he was French) as you can get.

Jonathan has a look around Audrey's book collection and notices all the books on Greek myths and such like. Audrey describes the evening of her first dream. There was nothing good on telly so she curled up in her chair with Tiresias. She goes on to explain who Tiresias is, but Jonathan interrupts her,

"A blind soothsayer from Thebes who was given the gift of prophecy by the goddess Anthea, if memory serves." He says.

"Actually he's my goldfish," Audrey says, "Named after the soothsayer from Thebes."

Jonathan then notices that Audrey shops at the local marketplace for her goldfish food. He picks up a receipt from the stall where she bought the food from. Audrey says she does a lot of her shopping there on a Saturday afternoon. Maddy notices that Heidi looks confused - how did they go from Greek mythology to goldfish food? Maddy tells her not to worry, it will mean something later on, it's best not to ask.

Audrey then receives a phone call, it's her postman. He tells her about the woman who was in the car crash, her name was Rebecca Phillips. It would seem her second dream has come true. Maddy looks at Audrey's pad where she wrote down her notes earlier. Maddy asks about the "creature with wings". Audrey immediately replies a jaguar is a creature and a car has wings. Maddy tells her not to let it all upset her. But Audrey's had a third dream, one that foresees her own death. Now that the first two dreams have come true, she's convinced that someone will kill her in her bed with a sword. He's a one eyed man, without a mouth. Jonathan says it was just a nightmare, but Audrey's convinced it will happen. She becomes upset and asks them to leave.

Jonathan needs some more information, so Maddy takes herself off to the Masson household. Outside in the garden are a row of policemen on their hands and knees combing through the grass. As Maddy potters around, Delia Masson comes into the room demanding to know how much longer they will be. She's mistaken Maddy as a police detective! Delia then starts ranting that they are trying to prosecute an innocent man - namely Craig Downey. Apparently one of Craig's contact lenses was found next to the gun. Also there were a number of diary entries on Andre's computer - apparently Delia's secret affair with Craig wasn't so secret after all. Her husband knew all about it. However they also say that Craig threatened to kill Andre, something Delia clearly refuses to believe. Maddy then asks where Craig is now. Delia replies he'll be at the company's London office all day. She then asks Maddy if something can be done to stop reporters getting into the house. There was one yesterday who started questioning the staff. Maddy spots the police coming back towards the house, and decides to split - quickly!

She tells Jonathan what she's learned over the phone. Diary entries on Andre Massons PC? Not password protected? Almost as if they were meant to be found... Maddy asks how the filming is going, but it's raining outside so nothing is being done today. She asks if Heidi's in, but Jonathan says she's taken Audrey to the doctors. Suddenly Jonathan has a flash of inspiration and asks Maddy to check out the car crash woman and then to check if Downey had been burgled recently.

Someone is then seen breaking into Audrey's house and walking to wards the Goldfish bowl...

Maddy ends up in a skipMeanwhile Maddy has been to see Rebecca Phillips' husband and is now seen being thrown out of the London office where Craig Downey is. She then eyes some builders who are working on some scaffolding outside the office... Upstairs Downey is talking to the police protesting his innocence. He doesn't deny that the contact lens was his, it's one of many spares he kept at home, but how it got to be in Masson's office he doesn't know. He presumes it was taken in the burglary. It would seem when he arrived back from Geneva last Saturday he found his house had been done over. It's on record as he reported it to the local police office. He repeats that it was ludicrous to think he killed Andre Masson as he was in the next room with a number of witnesses. Before anything else can be said, a security guard enters Craig's office and promptly removes Maddy from the balcony outside. However, rather than escorting her to the front door, he proceeds to throw her down the rubbish chute which finishes in a skip down below!

At Audrey's house, Heidi wishes her aunt goodnight. Audrey's clearly uneasy...

Maddy tells Jonathan what's she's learned. She's amazed that he predicted that Craig Downey had been burgled. She then tells him about Rebecca Phillips, the woman who died in the car crash. Apparently she was scared of flying, and she was on her way to the airport when she crashed. Her husband believe she was so worried about flying that it cause a lapse in concentration causing her to crash.

Maddy then comments that Audrey's had three dreams - two of which have come true - in her shoes she'd be scared out of her mind. Jonathan comments there has only been one weird dream, the trick is to spot which one. Maddy asks for a clue, and Jonathan asks how much does she know about Greek mythology. Nothing she replies. Jonathan then says the key to this crime is to get inside an utterly devious mind. Maddy assumes he means Audrey, but he doesn't - he means Andre Masson. Maddy is confused - sometimes Jonathan makes no sense at all - like the 'buying her goldfish food at the market' thing - what was that about? Jonathan suddenly has another flash - the goldfish bowl, the one possibility he could have overlooked...

At Audrey's house a man enters and goes up the stairs - he carries a sword. He pulls back the covers and stabs, but there's no-one there. He then moves to the wardrobe which has louvre doors and pushes the sword between the slats. Blood proceeds to pours out between the slats...the man turns, he has one eye, like a Cyclops...

Audrey wakes up from her nightmare as the doorbell is ringing. It's Jonathan and Maddy. Jonathan proceeds to the living room and Maddy lifts up the goldfish bowl. Jonathan then explains all...

Dreams are not, he says, a window into the future. Instead of lumping the dreams together they needed to pick them apart. For a woman who fills her head with Greek mythology every night, explaining the one eyed man is easy - A Cyclops. As for the creature with wings, Jonathan suggests it could have been a Harpy - (R P..?) Rebecca Phillips is already scared about flying, and then word gets around via the local postman about Audrey's second dream. Death by a creature with wings - could be interpreted as a plane, and then R.P - her initials. It was an accident waiting to happen.

That leaves Audrey's first dream. Now assuming that it isn't out there with the fairies you have to assume two things. One - that the events of the murder were predetermined and two - that they managed to find their way into Audrey's dream. Reading up on Andre Masson, he was about to be nailed for business fraud. He'd been creaming millions off the company for over ten years. We can also assume he wasn't too chuffed that his wife was having an affair with one of the senior directors, Craig Downey.

Andre Masson takes Craig's lensNow, assume for a minute that Masson has had enough and he decides to top himself. Only, in order to get his own back he's going to make it look like Craig Downey killed him. At some point when no-one is around to hear, Masson creates a recording of someone trying to kill him. He creates a CD and then plants it at Craig Downey's house, switching it for a Frank Sinartra CD. At the same time he takes a contact lens to leave next to his body, proving Downey was in the room.

Now everything is set. Masson sets up a meeting so Downey is waiting outside the room. Masson then proceeds to repeat what he recorded previously, locking the door himself and then kills himself. Downey is outside the door, obviously in the clear. Or is he? Not only will the police find his contact lens, but there are the diary entries - probably fabricated. Soon the police will twig to a time shift murder. They'd search Downey's flat and find the CD. They would then claim that Downey had killed Masson earlier and what they all heard at 12:30 was in fact the CD recording, which Downey programmed the computer to play. Prosecution rests. The plan would have worked as well, but for one detail. Downey is burgled. Along with all the usual stuff, video, hi-fi etc., all his CDs are stolen as well.

But how do the events of the murder get into Audrey's dream? The fact that she shopped at a market had some distinct possibilities. It's not hard to imagine that the stolen CDs find there way onto a market stall, and then Audrey buying the CD with the recording on. Later that night Audrey puts the new CD in her machine (it's one of those CD players which can take three discs at a time). By the time her new CD comes round, she's nodded off in her chair and then she hears the recording Masson made, but thinks it's all a dream.

As a theory goes, it's quite solid. However that's all it is - a theory. What Jonathan needs is some proof to back it up with. Earlier that day Jonathan took the liberty of looking around Audrey's house. He found an empty CD case, but no computer disk. However, this evening Maddy's comment jogs his memory - the one place the disk could have slid out of sight that he didn't try was underneath the goldfish bowl. He then produces the disk and puts it in Audrey's CD player. It plays the recording Masson made...

Case closed.

Jonathan can't keep his face from being in shot when he stands in for an actor with the flu.The following day Maddy visits Jonathan at his windmill. Heidi and co are still there filming a scene. Maddy asks why as they weren't supposed to have finished the day before. Sadly one reverse shot didn't come out as the negative was all foggy. The leading actor has gone down with food poisoning, so they just needed someone of the same height and build to stand in. The scene being shot involves a man and a woman kissing. The director shouts cut as they are still catching the side of the man's face - and as he's just a stand in that won't do. The man turns round and to Maddy's surprise it's Jonathan! The crew set up for another take, while Jonathan is handed a fan to cool down. His costume is black in colour and it's a very hot day. Maddy notices the clapper board now has "take 15" written on it...

Maddy's mobile phone rings - it's Gino (one of her new friends from the party), the call goes as follows:-

"What kind of ideal arrangement?" she says, "I beg your...take it in turns to sleep with me? Am I hearing right?"

"What? No! We were just saying, sorry the other night was such a cock up. If you wanted to get together for a beer or whatever, no agenda!" A confused Gino replies. He's sitting outside a pub with Maddy's other new friend, called Josh.

"I mean you have got some nerve the pair of you. Asking me to share my body, with two men, on a rota basis! I'll think about it, promising nothing mind." Maddy smiles. She's made up her side of the conversation just for Jonathan's benefit!

"You know there's a word for what you are," Jonathan says.

"Predictable?" Maddy replies.

corner imageGuest cast
Heidi Brayle Audrey Panguitch Andre Masson Delia Masson
Heidi Brayle Audrey Panguitch Andre Masson Delia Masson
Craig Downey
Craig Downey
Gino
Gino
Josh Otto Danzigger
Otto Danzigger
Maid
Maid
Camera Operator
Camera Operator
Rebecca Phillips
Rebecca Phillips
Detective Inspector
Detective Inspector
Security Guard
Security Guard
     
Season 3, Episode 2
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