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Quiet As A Nun





PLOT


The novel begins with the death of a nun who apparently starved herself to death in a ruined tower (the "Tower of Ivory") adjoining the grounds of the Convent of the Blessed Eleanor, a nunnery and girl's school. Television reporter Jemima Shore , who knew the nun as a child, and knew she was heiress to one of the largest fortunes in Britain, remembers their childhood, and the formidable Reverend Mother Ancilla who has asked her to investigate. The tension builds when the boarding girls tell the investigator that the Black Nun - the malevolent spectre reputed to appear whenever a death is about to take place within the grounds - has been sighted again.


TV SERIES


First shown on 11 April 1978 and in twice weekly episodes until 27 April 1978, with Maria Aitken starring as Jemima Shore, this proved to be the most successful and infamous of the series to the detriment of the show as a whole, as subsequent stories failed to create the same impact on viewers. After only two series, ''Armchair Thriller'' was dropped.

The final minutes of the third episode (18 April 1978) are still regarded as one of the most memorably terrifying moments on British TV, remarkable for a series shown before the traditional 9pm "watershed" for anything that may be considered too frightening for children. Jemima Shore climbs a ladder to the attic of the Tower of Ivory, only to find the Black Nun (black because there is no face beneath her veil) waiting for her, rocking backwards and forwards in a rocking chair. Miss Shore screams before receiving a blow to the head, falling to the bottom of the Tower unconscious.


EPISODES (AND ORIGINAL AIRING DATES)

  • Part One, ''The Tower'' - 11th April

  • Part Two, ''The Chapel'' - 13th April

  • Part Three, ''The Black Nun'' - 18th April

  • Part Four, ''Witness And Wills'' - 20th April

  • Part Five, ''Powers Of Darkness'' - 25th April

  • Part Six, ''Death And Decision'' - 27th April



CAST