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Rabies infects Britain…

Simply Media are on a roll with their revivification of dramas that scared the living daylights out of viewers in the 1980s. Hot on the heels of nuclear drama Threads comes The Mad Death, which actually preceded it in transmission, produced by BBC Scotland in 1983. It’s as terrifying a “what if?” scenario as Threads, playing into the fears of the time regarding a potential rabies outbreak (something that was increasingly talked about as the Channel Tunnel became increasingly likely to happen).

Based (loosely) on Nigel Slater’s novel, the series sets its stall out with its eerie opening titles, combining a tune that most watchers would have heard at school with distorted animal images. A post-Quatermass Barbara Kellerman and Ed Bishop (as the first human victim) are the most instantly recognisable faces now, but director Robert Young assembled a strong cast, with Brenda Bruce in particular horribly credible. The often briefly seen moments of horror accentuate the reality of what’s being discussed, and any pet owner will empathise with the agonies of some of the characters.

Verdict: It’s a three-part miniseries that could probably have been brought down to two 75-minute episodes (bits of part 2 feel a bit slow even by contemporary standards) but it’s still gripping television 35 years later. 8/10

Paul Simpson