Flower of Evil

1 9 6 1 (UK)
6 x 30 minute episodes

This short BBC series opened with Detective Inspector Mitchell of Scotland Yard (William Lucas) heading off on holiday to Austria with his wife, Ann (Betty McDowall).

The holiday in a little Austrian mountain village was cut short when the pair returned to their hotel room one evening to find the body of an unidentified stranger drowned in their bath with a mysteriously out-of-season narcissus flower floating in the water beside him.

When the Austrian police – led by the dogged Bezirkinspector Weidig (Meredith Edwards) – are called in to investigate, Mitchell finds himself drawn into a web of intrigue at the heart of which lies treasure plundered during World War II by the Nazis.

Joint investigations lead to the discovery of the Narcissus Organisation, a group of dastardly neo-Nazi Germans with a keen interest in stolen goods. The organisation is fronted by a mountain Health and Nature Camp run by Doctor Mylanos (Anthony Newlands) and his assistant, Erika (Patricia Haines).

Meanwhile, Chick, the breezy Welshman staying at the Mitchells’ hotel (David Davies), reveals himself to be a British agent.

The series failed to capture the imagination of the British viewing public.

Detective Inspector Mitchell
William Lucas
Ann Mitchell
Betty McDowall
Dr Mylanos
Anthony Newlands
Otto Schneider
Aubrey Morris
Erika
Patricia Haines
Chick Moore
David Davies
Voelckers
Marshall Jones
Bezirkinspector Weidig
Meredith Edwards
Lutz
Bruno Barnabe
Kramer
Lane Meddick
Weichtmeister Renz
Howard Pays
Greta Lessing
Felicity Young
Langley
Edward Harvey
Wulf
David Jackson

Episodes

The Treasure of the Lake | The Camp in the Mountains | The One That Got Away | Death Warrants for Six | The Ultimatum | Twelve Hours to Zero