The Solitary Cyclist

Violet Smith has a new job and a new worry. She teaches music to Robert Carruthers in the country, staying at his house through the week, and every week on the ride to the railway station a man on a bicycle follows her. Same road every time, and the same follower. She takes the sensible step of consulting Holmes, who listens to her account and does not dismiss it as nerves. The railway station run is the one fixed point of her week, which is exactly what makes it predictable enough to be watched.

But nothing much happens on those rides, and that is exactly what makes them frightening. The fear lives in the routine. Then Carruthers proposes, which should be a happy turn, and Holmes reads it as part of the same problem. He sees a connection between the employer and the stalker, and the comfortable country arrangement starts to look like a trap being set. Holmes gives the case his full attention, which is never a good sign for the people involved.

Barbara Wilshere plays Violet with the right amount of sense and fright, and John Castle makes Carruthers pleasant in a way that never quite convinces. Michael Siberry's Woodley and Ellis Dale's Williamson circle the edges. Paul Annett directs, and the script comes from Arthur Conan Doyle, John Hawkesworth and Alan Plater, which gives the episode a playwright's patience with character. Sarah Aitchison, Simon Bleakley, Penelope Davis and Stafford Gordon complete the cast. Michael Cox produced, and Ken Morgan's cinematography makes the lanes look emptier than they are.

The story works because the threat is mostly psychological. A lonely road, a cyclist behind you, once a week, like clockwork. Holmes's interest in a country courtship turns out to be entirely justified, and the episode earns its quiet dread without a single dramatic flourish. It is a small story told properly, and it stays with you.