This week, we’re listening to another episode of Vanishing Point, the mind-bending Canadian series from the 1980s. “Split Second” is an adaptation of a story by Daphne du Maurier about a woman who leaves her home for a short walk and returns to find the world is not as she left it. Is she the victim of an elaborate crime? Is she suffering from amnesia or hallucinating her own identity? What if Ebeneezer Scrooge were a heavier sleeper? Listen for yourself and find out! Then vote and let us know what you think!
I actually didn’t really like this show. The inner monologue having both the echo and the whispering to it made it feel, to me, far too intrusive. It was jarring. More than that, it was too calm. It felt less like a dream state to me, and more like the classic unflappable “Oh my, there’s a monkey flying the plane! Isn’t it curious how well it can land?” reaction. I felt the same when she went to sleep in that room; it didn’t seem dream-like, it just felt weird and dumb for her to do. Even her actual speech suffered… Read more »
Thank you! I truly hated this one, and was feeling self-conscious about it. I was listening to it in the car, and kept hitting the skip button…are they at the castle yet? No? Skip, skip, skip. It doesn’t help that by now I’ve encountered many, many variations on this sort of story. Person suddenly finds themself in a world that looks familiar, except that the details are wrong and no one recognizes them? That’s the basic premise of any number of Twilight Zone episodes. The difference is that in the Twilight Zone, all of that stuff with the protagonist running… Read more »
Dear MORLS (and everyone)- I just feel a need to stand up and say, as an avid MORLS listener of several years, how much I disagree with you guys on the music of Nightfall. I’m 52, and I grew up in the age of chunky synth music (if you enjoyed 70s/80s-era Dr. Who, I feel it’s hypocrisy to disparage Nightfall’s musical score) – Nightfall’s music is absolute gold to me (as is the music of it’s possibly more refined descendant, Vanishing Point, on display here). The *only* criticism I may have about Nightfall’s music is that at times it’s too… Read more »