The Jensen Code

Series partial overview

The story begins with 16-year-old Terry Connor alone in a cavern 100 feet underground during a potholing expedition. The senior Outward Bound instructor, Alex, has been missing in the depths of the subterranean pot named 'Wilmer Deep' after retrieving a torch Terry had dropped. When Alex returns without the torch, he insists he was away for ten minutes, but Terry knows it was over two hours.

Alex suggests Terry suffered hallucinations from the confined darkness. Upon surfacing, Terry believes he saw a man watching them; Alex again dismisses it as hallucination and says Terry is not suited for potholing, excluding him from the next day's expedition. Back at the centre, fellow students, led by Jacko, rib Terry. Convinced they are being watched, Terry learns from others that a Ministry of Defence research establishment is nearby, increasing his unease.

The next day, Terry is assigned a solo trek above ground but decides to return to Wilmer Deep to prove his courage. He goes to Granny Powell's farmhouse for the key to the cave gate, where he unexpectedly meets Alex accompanied by Kurtz, the man Terry had seen spying. Alex appears vague and does not recall setting Terry the trekking task.

Production

The Jensen Code was created by Carey Harrison, with Alan Coleman and Jonathan Wright-Miller directing and Coleman also producing. The cave sequences were shot at Clearwell Caves.

Though originally produced in colour, the 625-line PAL colour master tapes were discarded or wiped. Episode Six survives in colour, but its audio is damaged and both sound and picture cut out before the end; this episode appeared as an unrestored extra on the 2009 Network DVD set. The complete thirteen episodes are only available on DVD as 16mm black-and-white telerecordings, made for markets without colour broadcasting.