In A Dangerous Point of View Van der Valk and Kroon investigate the death of a man found in a flat that wasn’t his. The man, Zondag, turns out to be an ex-cop turned private detective and had paid the caretaker to let him stay in the flat whilst the owners were away.
In shades of Rear Window it soon becomes clear that Zondag was using the flat to spy on someone in the apartment block opposite – but who and why? Van der Valk takes up surveillance duty…
The most likely suspects seem to be young married couple Emma and Jos Busselink. Emma is the daughter of a prominent police chief.
Leon Vitali, who plays dodgy cinema projectionist Busselink, looks very much like Peter Firth with his shaggy perm. Kroon also gets the chance to get all groovy on us when he goes undercover as a hippie looking for a place to crash as he tries to work just what the Busselink’s are up to.
Leon Vitali wins the 1973 Peter Firth look alike of the year award.It’s quite a sad episode really, Emma has become an acid casualty whilst at university and Jos has been trying to bring her back to reality. Her father had actually set Zondag to watch them thinking that Jos was leading her astray. It was during a relapse that Emma was the one who actually killed the private detective. Van der Valk and Kroon track Jos and Emma to a fishing village (home to Jos’s brother Henk) but when Emma sees them she deliberately rides her bike into the water and drowns herself.
production details
UK / ITV – Thames / 1×50 minute episode / Broadcast Wednesday 19 September 1973 at 9.00pm
Writer: Jeremy Paul / Production Design: Mike Hall, Neville Green / Director: James Goddard
Series: Van der Valk Season 2 Episode 4
cast
Barry Foster as Van der Valk
Michael Latimer as Kroon
Susan Travers as Arlette
Lois Baxter as Emma
Leon Vitali as Jos Busselink
John Quarmby as Zondag
Pamela Duncan as Mrs Haakman
Roy Evans as Caretaker
Sally Sanders as Mrs Zondag
Bruce Bould as Sitskoorn
Margaret Ward as Tutor
Paul Hardwick as Holmeijer
Stefan Kalipha as Hippie
Barrie Houghton as Henk Busselink
