I quite liked this one, perhaps my favourite of "The Frighteners" so far.
Two former soldiers, Wood (John Thaw) and Leggett (George Innes) arrive at a remote cabin, used as a getaway by Rutherford (Robert Urquhart) whom Wood and Leggett served under some years previously. Though Rutherford doesn't remember them, they remember him and begin to tell a story about their dishonourable discharge and spell in military prison - more specifically, about the part that he had to play in it.
There's a real sense of foreboding to this episode. Wood and Leggett appear jovial on first arrival, but there's an undercurrent of threat, even from their first moments in the episode, that only heightens as the grudge they have against Rutherford is explained and their plan for revenge is acted out. All this is wonderfully performed by George Innes, whose face I recognised from numerous projects over the years, and, of course, by the legendary John Thaw, most famous for his 13 years as Inspector Morse on British Television.
The only element that I struggled with was the trial that they put Rutherford through to conclude the episode. I don't feel that it gelled with the idea that they were out for revenge. Wanting to kill him for what happened doesn't feel like it would have been proportional, but I might have understood it. . . but by the same token, this level of psychological torture, and specifically the time it all takes feels too much, if the plan was always just to scare him.
But, that came as a retrospective though after a solid half an hour of TV that kept me guessing and entertained.