An episode guide and review by Matthew Newton

VIRTUAL MURDER was a drama series that didn't take itself seriously, a brave attitude in the early 90s when it was first shown and which was probably its downfall. The series concerned the somewhat offbeat adventures of Dr John Cornelius, a university psychologist who helped the police in their enquiries. The following is basically an episode guide for the six episodes that made up the series, together with my personal review and comments.

A BBC Pebble Mill Production. Colour. BBC1

Produced and created by Harry Robertson and Brian Degas
Executive Producer Barry Hanson
Technical Advisors Dr Clive Hollin and Professor Kevin Howells
Designers Ian Ashurst and Roy Barrett (A Bone to Pick only)
Music Composed and Performed by Harry Robertson

REGULAR CAST: Nicholas Clay (Dr John Cornelius), Kim Thomson (Samantha Valentine), Stephen Yardley (Inspector Cadogan), Alan David (Professor Owen Griffiths), Jude Akuwudike (Sergeant Gummer), Carole Boyd (Miss Phoebe Littlejohn).

Episode 6
DREAMS IMAGIC (28th August 1992)

Writer Harry Robertson
Director Peter Rose

Dreams Imagic is a computer software company which specialises in Virtual Reality, the system of creating a computer environment for a person to enter. The company have created a revolutionary new method of achieving this using lasers and Cornelius is called in because the managing director fears industrial espionage. However, it would appear that there is already something going on and someone is using the Virtual Reality system to kill...

GUEST CAST: Steven O'Donnell (Reggie Milsom), Pat O'Toole (Annie Piper), Sean Pertwee (Matt Andries), Sarah Lam (Liang Ti), Mark Caven (John Jacoby), David Allister (Professor Vere Percival), Tim Preece (Professor Wilbur Gutteridge), Arthur White (Security Guard), Ellie Darvill (Miss Miniver), Morgan Jones (Greg Gunning), Takashi Kawahara (Yam Yamazaki), Martin Phillips (Motor Cop), Tim Stern (Albert).

The final episode of the series was I suspect intended to be the first; it was written by one of the creators of the show, it was implied that Cornelius and Cadogan had never met prior to the Dreams Imagic murders and the title of the series seems to be linked in with the theme of Virtual Reality. A slightly weaker episode, it's probably easy to see why it wasn't transmitted first, having a strange atmosphere untypical of the rest of the series. Putting it last also tried to heighten the drama at the end - is Cornelius dead? - but it would have been totally alien to the series to have done something as serious as killing off the main character. The episode had no big name guest stars, but several familiar faces including the second Pertwee to appear in the series.