Antiques dealer Michael Roberts buys a scrying glass and on his way home a terrified young woman called Allison begs him to give her a lift since she claims she's being pursued . Driving her to his home Michael goes in to the kitchen to fix them both a drink and when he returns to the living room he finds both Allison and the scrying glass have both disappeared
This is traditional Hammer studio fare , an unapologetic homage to Dennis Wheatley who was still a very popular author back when this was first broadcast . Despite being broadcast in 1980 and being repeated again circa 1985 I can't recall a single scene from this episode even more surprising since it features Paul Darrow - for ever known as Kerr Avon from BLAKES 7 - in a villainous role . Certainly with a dark Satanic plot juxtaposed with the everyday surroundings of small market towns and antique dealings it's an episode that would have stuck in the mind of a teenager watching it in the 1980s
Being less than an hour long probably benefits the story to a degree since it's rather stream lined and pacy lacking any padding . It does suffer from some remarkable contrivances such as Michael Roberts and Simon Andrews being bitter business rivals who does damsel in distress Allison manage to hitch a lift from ? None other than Michael which sets up the story in a way that only seems to happen in badly contrived films and TV shows , you'd think there was sort of cosmic joke the way things happen in these situations but that's taking things a little too seriously and for what it is The Guardian Of The Abyss is a fairly entertaining horror adventure
