The Aphrodite Inheritance

If The Lotus Eaters confirmed Michael J Bird as a leading television writer, Who Pays The Ferryman? made him a very hot property indeed. There was enormous demand for a third series and he began work almost immediately. For The Aphrodite Inheritance Bird switched his attention to Cyprus and, after the success of Ferryman, the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) was more than happy to co-operate.

The Aphrodite Inheritance was more of a thriller than Bird's previous creations, with the emphasis more on action and mystery than relationships. Hero David Collier arrives on Cyprus following the death of his brother, Barry, in what Collier believes was an accident. He meets the beautiful Helene and her mysterious companions, Basileos and Charalambous, who appear to know a great deal more about his brother's death than anyone is admitting. Slowly Collier is drawn deep into a complex conspiracy until neither he, nor the viewer, know who he can trust, particularly when it becomes apparent that someone is trying to kill him. The police, in the form of Inspector Dimas, don't believe a word Collier says, since every time he finds something, or someone, that could substantiate his story they inexplicably vanish.

In many ways the series was reminiscent of the BBC's Paul Temple, which had starred Francis Matthews in the early 70s. Bird had written for Paul Temple, and Aphrodite's inexplicable appearances and disappearances would not have been out of place in a Francis Durbridge thriller.

Location work, important as ever, was well handled and on the whole the production was very polished, although scenes of nocturnal action conducted around a sleeping David Collier did stretch credibility a little. One scene in particular, in which Collier awakens to use the bathroom, oblivious to another character carrying an unconscious adversary around the bedroom, would not have been out of place in a Whitehall farce.

Bird had something of a reputation as a 'spooky guy' and the showman in him undoubtedly liked to play it up. He told Radio Times that when he first contacted the CBC he had no idea what the story was going to be about. He was actually on the plane heading for Cyprus, and a potentially embarrassing meeting with CBC executives, when a story began to form in his mind. He said that by the time the plane landed he knew how it would go virtually scene by scene. It was an almost supernatural experience, but one further surprise awaited him. Bird's story was based on the discovery on Cyprus of the secret tomb of the goddess Aphrodite. What he didn't know was that there is a popular legend on Cyprus that a tomb does exist - buried somewhere on the island!