'Virtual Murder' crept into the B.B.C.-1 schedules in the summer of 1992 where, unsurprisingly, it went unnoticed. A brave attempt to do an offbeat mystery series in the manner of 'The Avengers', it starred the late Nicholas Clay as Dr.John Cornelius, a brilliant professor who specialises in investigating baffling crimes ( such as someone using a sonic device to melt great works of art, or a man dressed as Santa dumping a skeleton in a police station ), assisted by glamorous Samantha Valentine ( Kim Thomson ). Cornelius got through six cases before the B.B.C. called time. Its cancellation was a great shame; Clay and Thomson had sexual chemistry, the scripts were clever ( Philip Martin of 'Gangsters' fame wrote one: 'Meltdown To Murder' ) and guest-stars included Bernard Bresslaw, Julian Clary, Hywel Bennett, Richard Todd, and Tony Robinson. 'A Torch For Silverado' featured the late Jon Pertwee in his last television role. To add insult to injury, this fine show has yet to appear on U.K. Gold, much less D.V.D.
