A Star Is Gorn

Zack Zolar is a pop star at the end of his patience, and he has decided the simplest way out is to die. Faking his own death, he reasons, solves everything at once. His plan has the logic of a man who has spent too long in the company of people who only want things from him. Terry, who has somehow become the keeper of a man who isn't dead, spends the episode protecting Zack from the people who would very much like to profit from his demise. His manager, Cyril Ash, and a record producer, John Sutton, both see the death as an opportunity. A posthumous single is the best publicity a record can get.

But the recording of that final hit ends up in Arthur's lock-up through the kind of mix-up that only ever happens in these stories, and Arthur, recognising a gold mine, wants in. Mel Smith plays the manager with a salesman's grin, and Charles Kay's producer is the quieter menace behind it. Terry is left to keep the peace between professional vultures and an Arthur who has suddenly become the third one. Mike Holoway plays Zack, and also turns up as Albert Trout and Alan Trent, a triple performance that must have delighted somebody in casting.

Tony Hoare and Leon Griffiths wrote it, Ian Toynton directed. Primi Townsend plays Sharon, Glynn Edwards appears as Dave, Peter Childs as Rycott, Michael Troughton as Melish, and Jackie Smith-Wood plays Jessica Trent. Dennis Waterman and George Cole lead.

The joke at the centre is a good one. Death is the best marketing a record can have, and everyone in the episode knows it except the man who's supposed to be dead. Terry's loyalty to Zack is the only honest thing in the story, and it's what keeps the whole thing warm instead of sour. The tape sells, the star stays hidden, and the music business carries on being the music business.