| Genre: | thriller |
| Story: | George F. Kerr |
| Director: | Ray Menmuir |
| Country: | Australia |
| Language: | English |
| Runtime: | 60 mins |
| Company: | ABC |
| Network: | ABC |
| Released: | (Sydney, live)[1] [2] |
| Released2: | (Melbourne, tape)[3] [4] |
Blue Murder is an Australian live television play which aired in 1959 on ABC. Broadcast live in Sydney on 2 December 1959, a kinescope ("telerecording") was made of the broadcast so it could be shown in Melbourne (it is not known if it was also shown on ABC's then-new stations in Adelaide and Brisbane).[5]
It is not known if the kinescope recording still exists. Filmink magazine wrote "it sounds as if it would be great, campy fun."[6] It was one of several thrillers filmed in early Australian television.[7]
On Sydney's north shore, an ageing actress, Thelma Lane-Forest, is killed by her bitter and untalented son, Ricky. The son's girlfriend, Jeanette, has a brother, Philip, who is a theatre critic. A journalist, Lundy, also becomes involved.
The Sydney Morning Herald felt the plot was illogical, but also called it a "neatly constructed thriller, very competently produced" with "enough gloss on the writing and production to overcome any lingering questions raised by logic; and the play succeeded admirably on its own chosen level – it was craftsmanlike, thoroughly professional and pleasantly diverting."[8]
The story was also adapted into a radio play which was broadcast in 1960.[9]