8
votes

In the late 70’s (possibly early 80’s) there was a much hyped multi-part TV movie that was supposed to be a murder mystery. There was a contest where people would write in with their solution before the final part aired.

It opened with Peter Ustinov dressed in Russian-style winder coat and hat, riding an escalator. Now I can't find anything like this under Peter Ustinov in IMDB so I might be remembering the name wrong.

It was about a murder on a spaceship traveling home from Mars, I think. One so-called clue was a white scarf.

Does anybody know what movie this was?

5
  • Are you sure that it is about a murder on a spaceship? Peter Ustinov starred in a series of TV Movies in the late seventies, early eighties as the character Hercule Poirot based on Agatha Christie mystery novels. – steelersquirrel Sep 12 '15 at 11:24
  • The one I'm thinking of was not Poirot. It was definitely on a space ship. – JDługosz Sep 12 '15 at 11:25
  • Sounds similar to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_Island_in_Outer_Space – Francisco V. Sep 12 '15 at 11:30
  • No, it was not Treasure Island. It was a murder mystery, with a viewer contest to guess the perpetrator. – JDługosz Sep 12 '15 at 11:40
  • Man, I was willing to swear that The Mouse On The Moon had Peter Ustinov in it. Oh well. – Mr Lister Sep 12 '15 at 14:15
10
votes

The movie is called Murder in Space from 1985. It does not star Peter Ustinov. It stars Wilford Brimley, who can easily be mistaken as Peter Ustinov. It aired as a Science Fiction Murder Mystery.

Murder in Space is a 1985 science fiction murder mystery movie set in the near future. The crew of an international space mission are on the return leg from Mars to Earth when an explosion occurs on the craft Conestoga, shortly after a series of murders starts. The crew of the returning craft are forbidden to return until the murderer is caught.

On its initial premier, the film was shown without the ending and a competition was set for the viewers to solve the mystery of who the murderer or murderers were. The conclusion of the film was shown several days later, with the contestants eliminated one by one until the winner correctly identified the killer or killers. The final 30 minutes of the film was shown at a later date when the mystery was solved.

2
  • Wilford Brimley easily mistaken as Peter Ustinov!? youtube.com/watch?v=_uHBFiAnpZs – faintsignal Feb 3 '17 at 17:41
  • @faintsignal Wut? Look at pics of them from 1985...Ustinov even has the moustache. It's not as apparent as Brimley's moustache, but...they both look like fat, bearded old men ;) Nice Lombard retort, btw ;) – steelersquirrel Feb 3 '17 at 20:03

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