Taggart: Knife Edge (1986)

The 4th mystery from the Taggart series from 1986. The discovery of a severed arm by a motorway makes for a gruesome case for Taggart, and soon after a leg is found in the river by a fisherman. Who the body is becomes something of a mystery, but chief suspect in their eyes is local butcher George Bryce. But in Taggart things are never as they at first seem, and halfway through their investigations there is a twist that nobody sees coming... Starring Mark McManus, Alastair Duncan, Alex Norton, Corinne Harris, June Watson, Dave Anderson, Claire Neilson, Christian Rodska, Siobhan Redmond, Iain Glen, Jan Wilson, Iain Anders, Robert Robertson, Harriet Buchan, Stuart Hepburn, Finlay Welsh, Nancy Mitchell and Louisa Scott. This is one of the famous Taggart episodes, notable for the appearance of Alex Norton - later to appear in Taggart as DCI Burke in the last of it's run - playing George Bryce, who is scattering body parts about Glasgow. Despite this, this wasn't one of my favourites when I first saw it as it seems to give away the identity of the killer straight away. But what you learn with writer Glenn Chandler is not to believe everything you see, so what may help (and confuse) viewers of this mystery is the revelation that Bryce is NOT the killer! This is all I will say, but it makes the mystery more absorbing knowing this. It is also very atmospheric, with the scene when Bryce is visited by Rosy French at his home at 1:17 especially striking. And you also have Taggart entertaining the possibility of cheating on his poor wife Jean - surely not? By the way, please note this does have some glitches, so apologies in advance, but this is due to it's age and cannot be helped.