The Hanged Man: Ring of Return (ITV 5 April 1975, Jane Seymour)

In Ring of Return two men fitting the descriptions of Lew and Crowe are wanted for the murder of Quentin, luckily Turtle is on hand to come up with the perfect alibi for them. Meanwhile Lew’s headstrong daughter returns home from Switzerland determined to take control of Lew’s business throwing the sale of the company up in the air.

Crowe tries to flush out Burnett’s would be killer by offering to do the job himself now that Quentin is dead but he is set up and arrested. The result though is that the killer comes out of the woodwork thinking he has Burnett on the ropes.

Burnett is shocked to discover that it is his own stepson is behind everything, years of hurt and frustration at being Lew’s whipping boy tipping him over the edge, not only is he planning to kill his step father but also his step sister too.

Everything comes together properly in this excellent final episode, a strong resolution and a believable one too with an ending that leaves things open enough that if there was to have been a second season (which unfortunately there wasn’t) things could have continued in a similar vein. Jane Seymour is cast quite against her usual type here too as Lew’s daughter who shows a similar kind of strength that has been a major character of Lew’s throughout the series.

production details
UK | ITV Network – Yorkshire Television

RUNNING TIME: 60 Minutes | AIRDATE: 5 April 1975

WRITER: Edmund Ward | DIRECTOR: Marc Miller

Series: The Hanged Man / Episode Eight of Eight

cast
COLIN BLAKELY as Lewis Burnett
MICHAEL WILLIAMS as Alan Crowe
JAMES GROUT as Sam McGuire
COLIN GEORGE as George Seagram
JOHN F. LANDRY as Turtle
RICHARD SHAW as Joe Hennessy
RICHARD BEBB as Sir Charles Hammond
KEITH VARNIER as Tony Hammond
JANE SEYMOUR as Laura Burnett
ANN MORRISH as Margaret Burnett
GEORGE MIKELL as Max Gunther
JOHN RAPLEY as Big Ears