In three part BBC thriller The Mad Death an epidemic of rabies breaks out across the UK when a rabid cat is smuggled into the country. Michael Hilliard (Richard Heffer) and Dr Ann Maitland (Barbara Kellerman) are caught up in the middle of it.
The series was based on the novel by Nigel Slater (not the food writer) and in the late seventies rabies seemed to be in the public eye more than a bit. Generally because of the amount of people taking European camping holidays and the like. Rabies had been eradicated in the UK but was prevalent in other parts of Europe.
Cast: RICHARD HEFFER as Michael Hilliard; BARBARA KELLERMAN as Dr. Ann Maitland; RICHARD MORANT as Johnny Dalry; ED BISHOP as Tom Siegler; VALERIE HOLLIMAN as Norma Siegler; DEBBI BLYTHE as Jane Stoddard; VIVIENNE DIXON as Siegler’s secretary
Writer: Sean Hignett / Novel: Nigel Slater / Producer: Bob McIntosh / Music: Philip Sawyer / Director: Robert Young
UK / BBC One / 3×50 minutes / 16 – 30 July 1983
