Joseph Vadassy (Colin Jeavons) is a hard-up young language teacher who arrives in the South of France for a much-needed holiday clutching his most valuable possession – a camera.
A roll of film is completed and duly ready for collection at the village chemist. But his reception there – and the subsequent adventures which befall him – lead this bewildered little man to behave in a way he would never have thought possible.
Joseph is arrested on suspicion of espionage as much of the roll of film contains pictures of military installations. While he adamantly denies that he took those pictures, the authorities are understandably dubious.
The authorities allow him the opportunity to clear his name by taking part in an undercover operation to flush out the real culprits. If he fails, he will be deported under suspicion of espionage. If he succeeds, his reputation will remain intact.
He is allowed to return to his hotel – which is populated by an extremely cosmopolitan array of guests – and instructed to discover who amongst his fellow guests is responsible for the photographs.
As an ordinary citizen, Joseph has no legal rights, and as a traveller he is not afforded the police protection of a citizen. And so he embarks on a dangerous game of cat and mouse with the police using him as a pawn.
His pursuit of the guilty party brings him and his companion, Mary Skelton (Janet McIntire), into the greatest danger.
First televised by the BBC in 1953 as a six-part serial with Peter Cushing, Epitaph For A Spy was based on a novel by Eric Ambler.
Joseph Vadassy
Colin Jeavons Mary Skelton
Janet McIntyre Odette Martin
Sandra Barry Koche
Robert Crewdson Major Clandon-Hartley
William Fox Mrs Clandon-Hartley
Hana Maria Pravda Schimmler
Carl Jaffe Monsieur Duclos
Henry Oscar Beghin
Barry Shawzin Warren Skelton
Burnell Tucker Commissionaire
Peter Ducrow Roux
Frederick Jaeger Detective
Jack Smethurst Kurt
Paul Whitsun-Jones
