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No Time to Die is the fifth episode of the tenth season of Columbo and the sixtieth episode overall. It first aired on February 15, 1992 and was directed by Alan J. Levi. In addition to Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo, the episode stars Thomas Calabro, Joanna Going and Daniel McDonald, with Dan Butler and Donald Moffat in key supporting roles.

No Time to Die differs from the typical Columbo formula in many ways, perhaps moreso than any other episode. This is the only episode of the entire series in which there is no murder committed, and Columbo himself never even meets the main villain. Instead the plot focuses on a race-against-time with Columbo leading a task force of detectives after his own nephew's bride is abducted by a deranged stalker on their wedding night. This was one of two Season 10 episodes which was adapted from a story from the 87th Precinct novel series by Ed McBain, in this case the 1976 novel So Long as You Both Shall Live. The other was Undercover, adapted from Jigsaw.

This episode is often considered by fans to be one of the very worst, alongside entries such as Undercover and Last Salute to the Commodore.

Cast[]

  • Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo.
  • Thomas Calabro as Detective Andy Parma, Columbo's nephew who invites his uncle to speak at his wedding as his own parents have sadly passed away. He follows in his uncle's footsteps by being a police officer working for the L.A.P.D..
  • Joanna Going as Melissa Alexandra Hayes, Andy's blushing bride. She is an aspiring supermodel who has only been in the business a few months; long enough to get the attention of Rudy Strassa.
  • Daniel McDonald as Rudy "Doc" Strassa, a mentally-unstable doctor who is obsessed with Melissa. He abducts her on her wedding night, planning to force her to marry him and then, once the new marriage has been "consummated", cut her throat and his own, mimicking the fashion in which his parents died.
  • Donald Moffat as Sheldon Hayes, Melissa's wealthy father, a successful real estate developer who owns as many as seven shopping malls.
  • Patricia Huston as Louise Hayes, Melissa's frail mother who takes ill during the wedding and subsequently sleeps throughout the rest of the adventure, never being made aware of Melissa's abduction.
  • Dan Butler as Sergeant Robert Goodman, Andy's best friend on the force.
  • Doug Savant as Detective Dennis Mulrooney, another one of Andy's close friends from work.
  • Daniel Davis as Alex Varrick, a fashion photographer who "discovered" Melissa and gave her her start in the modelling business.
  • Lance LeGault as the Police Captain, Andy's superior.
  • Juliet Mills as Eileen Hacker, one of the top editors in the fashion industry.
  • David Byrd as Bill Bailey, the hotel's cantankerous caretaker. Byrd previously had a small role in Murder: A Self Portrait, attending the Bassett Hound competition alongside Columbo and Dog.
  • Cliff Emmich as Tubby Comfort, Sergeant Goodman's underworld informant.
  • Don Swayze as Albert Wagner, a drug-dealing lowlife who's brother was killed by Andy in the line of duty some years previously. He swore revenge, initially making him a prime suspect in Melissa's disappearance.
Columbo (season 10)
1."Columbo Goes to College" 2."Caution: Murder Can Be Hazardous to Your Health" 3."Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star" 4."Death Hits the Jackpot" 5."No Time to Die" 6."A Bird in the Hand..." 7."It's All in the Game" 8."Butterfly in Shades of Grey" 9."Undercover" 10."Strange Bedfellows" 11."A Trace of Murder" 12."Ashes to Ashes" 13."Murder with Too Many Notes" 14."Columbo Likes the Nightlife"
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