The Mark of Satan is a bit of an odd one but it does contain some quite unpleasant and disturbing scences. It centres around a hospital orderly, Edwyn Rord (Peter McEnery) who lives with his overbearing mother. They have a lodger, Stella (Georgina Hale), a young single parent with a baby.Edwyn works in the mortuary and assists in the post mortem of Mr. Holt, a man who died on the operating table following DIY brain surgery. Dr. Harris tells his assitant Markham and Edwyn that Holt believed he had been invaded by the devil and that the only way to get him out was to drill a hole into his temporal lobe. After cutting himself whilst stitching up Holts body Edwyn becomes increasingly convinced that he has also been invaded by the devil and that a conspiracy lead by his mother are using him in their experiment.
Edwyn is sure that the number 9 is used in the conspiracy as some form of code - he won £9 in a bet instead of £16, he was told to put Holts body in freezer No. 9, told to do 9 stitches when stitching up Holts body, he lives at No. 9.
Sure that the devil is at work, he seeks help from the local vicar, telling him that he believes his mother is responsible and that she killed his father, using Meningitis as a disguise for the infection. The vicar reads a passage from the bible and assures Edwyn that 666 is the number of the devil not 999, but Edwyn says that 3 nines are 27 and that 2 and 7 are 9. He then sees the hymn numbers 9,18,36 on the wall and flees from the church.
Edwyn decides to delve deeper into the reasons for Holts death and visits the library to read newspaper articles. He reads that Holt heard voices which told him that eating a baby would drive out the devil.
Upon his return home, so convinced that his mother is responsible, Edwyn kills her. Stella comes downstairs to find Edwyn standing over the dead body. She helps put the body in the chest freezer.
Whilst at work, the pressure becomes too much for Edwyn and he appears to suffer a breakdown. He wakes up, but lying in a bed. His vision blurred as if in a dream. He sees everyone around him including Stella, her boyfriend, Dr. Harris and Markham all talking about the conspiracy
Dr. Harris and another doctor, Dr. Manders then lead Edwyn to Stella's baby, but suddenly the vicar barges in to the room with a large cross and forces the crowd from the room.
We then see Edwyn sitting up in a hospital bed. His condition is discussed by Dr. Manders and Dr. Harris who conclude he's been suffering from acute paranoia. Dr. Manders asks Edwyn if the number 9 means anything to him but Edwyn says it does not. He's allowed to go home and to have his old job back.
When back at work Edwyn is sitting in the canteen. A colleague reads out an article about a virus and that the pathology lab and mortuary are closed. Edwyn takes an interest in the story and when he gets home he starts recollecting murdering his mother. He sees the conspirators again, all standing around the baby in its cot.
The closing scene sees Edwyn at work in the operating theatre. He waits for the nurse to leave and then locks himself in. He takes up a surgical drill, lies down on the operating table, turns on the drill and moves it towards his head.
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| Edwyn Rord Peter McEnery |
Stella Georgina Hale Well know in the UK for her role in the 70's TV series Budgie |
Dr. Harris Emrys James |
Markham Peter Birrel |
Priest Anthony Brown |
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| Dr. Manders Conrad Phillips |
Mrs Rord Annie Dyson |
Surgeon Peter Cartwright |
Sampson James Duggan |
Steve Andrew Bradford |
| Pritchard James Curran |
Policeman Chrispin Gillbard |
Production information for The Mark of Satan
| Script Don Shaw |
Director Don Leaver |
6th December 1980 (UK ITV)
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| Edwyn at work | The hymn numbers | Edwyn and Stella put his mother in the freezer | The evil group taunt Edwyn | The vicar to the rescue |
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| The vicar forces thr group away | Edwyn on the operating table | Edwyn attempts a bit of DIY surgery |
The church is Holy Cross Church in Greenford, Middlesex UB6 (Thanks to Rachael Marsh for informing me)
The hospital was Hillingdon Hospital (Thanks to Jim, a visitor to the site for informing me)
Do you know which buildings were used for Edwyns house or library ?
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